take care of yo' hair!

1. Avoid heat tools
When and where possible, avoid using heat tools daily. For me, that looks like air drying my hair and trying to keep my curling iron use to 2-3 times a week. Maybe for you that looks like straightening your hair twice a week and embracing our natural wave a few more days a week. Whatever that may look like for you, I promise that as soon as you start, you'll see a lot more life in your hair.

2. Don't wash it every day (Please shower and wash your body every day though!)
Washing your hair every day washes a lot of the natural essential oils your hair produces to keep it conditioned. In fact washing your hair every day dries it out more!  Initially, your hair might be oily while you start to phase out daily washes but that is because you scalp is overproducing its natural oils (called sebum) to compensate for all that time you were stripping it away by using harsh shampoos daily. Give it a few weeks to train your scalp. In the mean time, try out dry shampoos to see what works best for you! Let your natural oils condition your hair. It will prevent breakage AND strengthen your hair!

3. Trim trim trim!
Recommendations about how often to trim vary by hair professional but the message is always consistent: trim trim trim your hair often to avoid breakage. If you're trying to grow out your hair, plan for trims every 4-6 weeks. Split ends untrimmed will split further up the shaft causing more breakage. Maintaining a length? Shoot for trims 6-8 weeks. Some people trim at home. That's not for me, but maybe its for you. Check out tutorials here, here, and here.

4. Deep condition
Deep condition and treat your tresses to some pampering. For me, that's about every 2 weeks (if I can remember). My go-to deep conditioner is coconut oil. It's simple to use and already in my pantry. I've heard great great things about this L'Oreal EverCreme masque and loved this Ojon conditioner when I got it in my Birchbox.

5. Use a wide tooth comb
A wide tooth comb is much gentler on your wet hair than a regular comb or a brush. For the love of all things good, please please please do not use a brush on your wet hair. The pull of a brush completely snags and breaks strands. A wide tooth comb pulls on your hair a lot less, so while it might take a few more comb throughs to detangle completely, it is much gentler option. Be sure to start from the ends and work you way up as to not pull too much.