The shampoo/conditioning process is very important in creating volume. It’s actually almost more important to know how to properly shampoo/condition so that you can prevent weighing down your hair. It is so easy to overdose on heavy conditioners thinking you’re repairing your hair, when you’re actually caking on more and more build-up, causing small tiny hair. So sad y’all.

So, here are my steps for the best, most volumizing shampoo to create enormous hair.

Step 1: Use a good shampoo, of course! A volumizing shampoo is always a plus, or a clarifying shampoo to remove product and pollution build-up. Be careful with clarifying shampoos though, they can strip your hair. You don’t want to use them more than once a week or every other.

Step 2: Shampoo thoroughly. Get all that dirt and grime out. I’ve mentioned before that it is good to shampoo twice if your hair is extra dirty or hasn’t been shampooed in a while. You don’t want to use much shampoo each time, just about the size of, or a little bigger than a quarter. You usually wont get much of a lather the first shampoo, and when you get a big lather the second time around, it means the hair is clean. While you’re shampooing, really make sure you scrub every single inch of your head. I’m surprised how often I see clients that have very dirty hair underneath, and really only rub in a small circle with their palm on the top of their head. They skip out on the scrubbing with the pads of their fingertips and they don’t get the sides, nape or crown properly cleaned! Lots of detail, but make sure you scrub!

Step 3: Avoid over-conditioning. This one is extremely important in preventing flat hair. To apply conditioner the right way, put a small amount in your palm, then start at the bottom of your hair and work it through upwards, combing through the strands. I don’t even put it at the roots, because my natural oils moisturize that part and the conditioner will only weigh the roots down! The next part is vital….rinse like crazy. A lot of people get out of the shower with slimy hair, it should be soft, but not slimy. Rinse well!

Also, I would say not to use a moisturizing conditioner unless your hair is incredibly damaged or over-processed. A moisturizing conditioner will be too rich and too heavy. Think Pantene Pro-V. I know it is a really good detangler, but it is too heavy and it will pull your hair down like crisco. All conditioners will be moisturizing to a degree, so again, unless your hair really needs the extra moisture, I’d go for a lighter volumizing one.

So, here is a short list of my favorite volumizing shampoos. (conditioners from all the following are good too, but this post is a little more focused on the shampoo!)

Q by Heather: I’m a lifelong blondie and just recently took the plunge into red.  Everyone keeps telling me that red fades the fastest, so what do you recommend for preserving the color so I can extend the time between colorings as long as possible?

I have very fine, soft, limp hair, and have found a color-safe volumizing shampoo/conditioner that I LOVE, so I’d prefer to continue using those, merely adding color protecting products to these products and not replacing my shampoo and conditioner.

A by Reagan: Going from blond to not blond is tricky. Blonds tend to have more porosity than everyone else, so the color fades the fastest. It’s also true that red fades faster that other tones, so you are in double fade fast mode. Here is my recipe for preserving color…

~Use Shampoo for color treated hair (which you’re doing Heath! Good job! Can I call you Heath?)
~ Shampoo less often. Remember how much I like dirty hair? Here is another perk to dirty hair…shampoo strips your color little by little every time you do it. So the less you do it, the less you are stripping! I don’t want stripper hair!
~Use a color depositing Shampoo once in a while (maybe once a week? once every other week?). You have to get one that closely matches your color level. I recommend this one.

*Note* I posted this picture of Christina Hendricks because she is a natural blond who went red when she was just a little girl! And also I posted this picture of her because Madmen is my favorite show and her character is the main reason for that..

With this edition of “Hair Answers” I won’t be posting a question. I have had several emails about this, so I’m going to do a general answer to hopefully satisfy the many questions I’ve gotten about hair loss. This is one of those topics that I felt a need to bump up the list because it is one that is actually a real problem, rather than “I want to look exactly like Scarlet Johansson and I don’t so my life sucks..” <-that isn’t really a real question I’ve gotten. Don’t get your feelings hurt!

Back to hair loss….

The majority of my clients suffering from hair loss, are losing it in relation to having a new baby, but there are many reasons for alopecia. Sickness, surgery, weight loss/gain or anything else causing emotional or physical stress. I’m not an expert (or a doctor) with making your hair grow thicker and more quickly, but I am an expert in hiding bald spots and figuring out the right cut. I have a client who was very sick and her medication caused her hair to fall out in clumps. She has several bald spots that were causing her a lot of stress, but together we have figured out a great way to conceal them! I’m telling you, no one knows she has bald spots. Not her boyfriend, not her friends. No one other than me and her mom.

The Pregnancy Fringe is what I call the short hairs all around a woman’s hairline after she delivers a baby. Most women lose a lot of hair in the front, and those baby hairs stick up straight and can look kind of funny. The best way I have found to deal with the pregnancy fringe, is to angle or cut bangs in the front. Blow dry your hair down into your face to force the hairs to lay down, the bangs/angling will cover up those little fringies. Use a product with hold (I recommend a wax) to keep those babies in place. The worst thing you can do is pull your hair all the way back with no part. It draws attention to your new strange hairline and all your baby fine front hairs. Don’t do this. And if you insist on it, don’t come crying to me when people ask you how old your new baby is when you aren’t even with her/him.

Thin hair and bald spots are a little trickier, but aren’t hopeless cases. The first thing you want to do is tell your stylist about your situation and ask for a cut that creates fullness. Most likely this will be a haircut with minor graduation, not anything choppy or severe. Avoid anything too long.

Now I want you to be open minded to my next few suggestions…..

Hair powder. This bumble and bumble product (above img) is a life savor. You can buy it in a shade close to your own and spray it to cover up bald spots or too much scalp showing through very thin hair. It is unbelievable how natural it looks. If you are self conscious about bald spots or extremely thinning hair, you really need to try this product.

Extensions. You don’t have to spend thousands on the permanent extensions, but if you have thin hair you might want to invest in some clip ins. The client I mentioned earlier uses some just for thickening, along with the hair powder, and I swear you would never know she has lost half of her hair. Really. It’s the type of situation where we both cry and hug each other at the end of an appointment.

Highlights. Subtle highlights can add more dimension to your hair. It makes it look fuller. Pretty much on everyone! But careful not to damage your hair with over processing!

Eat Healthy, take care of yourself, take vitamins and get enough sleep. These are the best ways to keep your hair growing in healthy. But if you are really concerned about severe hair loss, you should see your doctor.

Guys, I’m not going to rest until everyone I meet has better hair than they did the day before.

Goodnight.

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Q by Michelle: I have a 9 year old daughter with very curly hair that is just above her shoulder. When she is active within 5 minutes her head/hair begins to smell like little boys dirty socks. The smell is horrible and only goes away if she shampoos. She is starting PE this year in school and she really does not want to smell in school. Any tips on any products that might help. Thanks

A by Reagan: Ok michelle, I’m wondering if she shampoos her own hair, or if you help her. Because the first (and most simple) reason I thought of for this, is that maybe her hair isn’t being properly shampooed. It’s likely since her hair is very curly, she probably has a lot of volume and it’s easy to feel like your getting a really good, squeaky clean lather when in reality the shampoo might not even be getting to her scalp! The build-up and dirt that isn’t getting cleaned will be the cause of odor. Again, this is the most simple cause I can think of, but I wont be surprised at all if it is the culprit. Have your daughter (or help her) shampoo her hair like this:
1~make sure hair is totally wet before putting in shampoo
2~put shampoo in your hands and rub together
3~scrub, scrub, scrub scalp and hair. Really make sure you are getting underneath her hair and touching the scalp. Did you know you aren’t even supposed to get much of a lather with the first shampoo? if you do, then you didn’t let your hair get very dirty, or you are using too much shampoo.
4~rinse repeat. the second shampoo is supposed to lather a lot. that means the hair is clean!
5~condition ends and rinse

You can try a variety of shampoos if you haven’t already, and you might try sending her to school with a dry shampoo in her backpack to spray after gym. They have a nice fragrance similar to regular shampoo and they soak up odor.

I hope these suggestions help, but if they don’t, you might want to take your daughter to a dermatologist. Just in case. Good luck!

I can’t believe you guys like my hair! I’ve gotten more than a few emails asking for my hair’s step by step.  I guess I can’t feel too cool, because apparently I have a very common hair texture, and it can take a little bit of time to figure it out. I flat ironed my hair every single day for probably 5 years before one day I accidentally air dried it and someone gave me a huge compliment. My head then immediately communicated to my hair the following conversation…

Brain- “Hey hair, what do you say we take it easy on the damage and 45 minute daily styling?”

Hair-”I thought you’d never ask.”

…And I (we) never looked back.

Here is my hair’s step by step:

Step 1~Shower. Maybe. I’m only going to say this once (except I think I’ve said this more than once) I usually shampoo once every 4-5 days. Please like me anyway.
Step 2~Towel dry.
Step 3~Apply product. I use all or some of the following: Redken Outshine (A cream), Redken Full frame (a mousse), Garnier Wonder Waves (a miracle spray of beachiness), It’s a ten (detangler and leave in treatment),  L’Oreal Proffessionel Architexture (a wax) and Redken Anti snap. I genuinely use all (and others on occasion) of these products. I’ll start out with a cream after I towel dry, then wonder waves spray or a mousse, then I continue to scrunch until the cows come home or until my hair is dry, then I rub some wax in my hands and scrunch again!
Step 4~Scrunch more. Just do it and stop complaining.
Step 5~Maybe blow dry my fringe (bangs) if I feel like it or need to. I’m going to do a bang/fringe tutorial soon
Step 6~Dance.
Step 7~Wear for 4 or 5 days with no regrets. And maybe use a little hairspray.

*guys, this was really hard (I swear I accidentally wrote “haird” when I meant hard) for me. I guess it’s because I do my hair different every day! Sometimes I leave the house with nothing in my hair, sometimes I use everything on this list. I guess I don’t like to be chained to anything, but these products I’ve suggested really are what have been consistantly great for me. I hope it helps and that you have all the hair success you always dreamed of. And if you don’t then I think you should repeat step 6.

Love,
Reagan

Also, please forgive the picture. I had a hard time finding a decent picture that wasn’t the side of my head.

Q by Auro: I got (ummm … had) mid back wavy dark hair. Love it but mostly tie it in a bun on a daily basis. On special occasions I open it out, run a curling iron through it and feel fabulous
So I have been toying with the idea of chopping of my hair.  Have done so two times in the last 10 years. Love it for a month or two and then can’t wait for it to grow back.
Anyway – fast forward to yesterday. I went in for a hair cut armed with pictures of long, medium, short styles and one that I did not quite like. Discussed it with my hairdresser and we decided to keep it long but shape it up so that it looked changed.
By the time she was done it was by my neck. She styled it and it flipped and looked exactly like a photo I told her I did not like Anyway – in the heat of the moment I decided what the hell, just chop the back so it does not look flippy like that !!
Now I have short hair And I sit her shocked and stunned 24 hours later. My husband is quite amused by my reaction and tells me its just hair ! I know there is no magic pill and I know it will eventually grow.
But is there any advice you have in the meantime. What would you tell a client ?
I know I am being super vague here – but as you see I am emotionally scared
Much love,
Auro

A by Reagan: I bet a hundred people will read your question and cry and nod their heads because they are or have been there with you Auro. I am still in the honey moon phase of short hair, I am LOVING it, but let’s be honest, it wont be for long. Soon I’ll be pulling on my hair and brushing it 100x on each side in attmepts to stimulate my hair follacles so they’ll grow faster.

Here is a short list of ways to get your hair back.

~Keep it healthy. As healthy as possible. Dry, damaged ends will break off, making your hair shorter! K?
~Get regular trims. I like to yell at my clients *I don’t really yell at them ever* when they refuse to cut their hair because they are growing it out. If you keep, nice, healthy, moist, blunt, lush ends, they will continue to grow DOWN instead of damage and dry-ness growing UP your hair shaft, breaking off inches of your hair. That is where the confusion of “cutting you hair makes it grow faster” comes from. It doesn’t actually make it grow faster, it just ensures it will continue to grow in the right direction. Your hair will end up the length you want to achieve more quickly if it is (say it with me) kept healthy! Woohoo! Team Healthy Hair!
~Deep Condition. Buy a good deep conditioner at a salon or beauty supply and use once a week or every other week. Leave on for 15-30 minutes before rinsing.  Again, keeping hair healthy and preventing damage.
~Find a stylist you trust. There aren’t many things more frustrating (when it comes to hair) than having several months of growth cut off because the stylist doesn’t understand the difference between a 1/2 inch and 5 inches. It has happened to me. It has probably happened to you. PS I dont do that to people. It is my goal in life to be a trustworthy stylist.
~Comb, Massage and Brush hair. You thought I was kidding about stimulating your hair follacles. It’s a real thing! If you stimulate them, they produce more quickly. Before showering, brush your scalp medium to hard with a bristle brush to loosen up any buildup on the scalp and to stimulate those little guys. Top it off with a clarifying shampoo every few weeks. (never over do the clarifying shampoo!!)
~Finally, talk to your hair, tell it that it’s doing a good job. Tell it you’re proud of it. Caress it. I don’t know if that helps. But it’s just one of those things that is like a “why not?” sort of situation.

Hey, do you guys want to sit back and covet some pretty hair with me? Nothing like starting out your day in seething jealousy!

Dont cry guys. Your hair will be long soon.

Sorry I never credit my photos. I need to work on a better photo storing system…

Q by Ashley: I have a two year old with hair identical to the girls in the photo you posted here. No one in our home has curly hair so my partner and I are drawing a blank on how to care for it. We wash her hair about once a week, some times less and use a conditioner every time she bathes to remove the knots (with our fingers). Beyond that its a total mess. Is there a no fuss (and natural) way to tame her hair? Would you please post about caring for curly/wavy hair?
Pretty please and Thank you!
-A

A by Reagan: Buy this product. This is my biggest seller by a landslide. I recommend this product to almost all of my clients, many men included, but as soon as I find out they have kids it goes from a recommended product, to a must have product. This is the best de-tangler I have ever used. It is a leave-in conditioner, a smoothing cream, a de-tangler, anti-frizz and a little hold all in one.  Kids hate to have their hair brushed, and it can become a rat’s nest (as my mom often called my hair growing up), so a great de-tangler is the most important, if not the only product you need for children.

When using this product on your daughter’s dry hair, you would want to spray just water on it first to get damp on top and wet on ends, then spray It’s a Ten in the palm of your hands, rub together and then apply evenly to her hair. Then gently comb or brush through. I usually spray enough in my hands to be about the same size as a small grape, but you’ll learn what is right for her after you’ve used a few times. Also, you can spray directly into her hair, I just prefer my hands first so that I can deposit onto the hair more carefully.

This product is kind of expensive, but very very worth it. Good luck!

Q by Julie: I have medium long, super thick, curly in the back, straighter in the front hair.  I hate washing it.  The first day I wash my hair looks pretty good, just letting it air dry.  The second, not too good.  The third, I’m pushing it.  Do you have any suggestions (besides washing it again) for maintaining a good style with curly hair the day after washing?  Also, what do you mean use a flat iron for wave?????  That blew my mind!

A by Reagan: I have a tutorial in the works for the flat iron waves. I have had so many questions about it. You guys are going to go completely ape when you see it. Seriously, you’ll go pretty ape.

Your question is one that I love. I am constantly trying to convince my clients that washing your hair less isn’t gross, dirty or bad hygiene. Nothing, not any conditioner, is better for your hair than it’s own natural oils. So, great job on wanting to wash it less. Since I’m such a fan of the multiple day style, you can bet I rocked a sometimes 5 day look with my long hair (sometimes even more with my short, that might be sort of gross.). What works best for me, and many people that I have recommended this to, is to simply spray your hair with just water the next day. If my hair has gotten a little weird in some spots…straight, flat, etc, I’ll spray a little  water with a spray bottle, apply some more product and scrunch like I usually would. I’m talking a few sprays for each section. Your hair will be a little damp, not any where near sopping.Want to know a secret? My wavy huge hair and I have been using this….

In fact, we’ve been using this like crazy. One time, my friend Kim told me she used this and that I should try it. I was like “nu uh, sister. I am a professional and a snob. I will not use Garnier”. But this stuff is awesome for us wavy, beachy b****es. Point of this is that I will spray some plain water (how many times am I going to share that step?) then I will scrunch, then I will spray this all over and scrunch again. Your hair will become the opposite of what it is now. Meaning, it is going to progressively get better, prettier and awesomer each day. Instead of suckier. (PS you don’t have to use this garnier stuff. You can use whatever product you like to begin with. This has been something I have especially loved since my hair has gotten bigger)

Last but not least…ironically I am just getting to this at the bottom of the post when the image is at the top. Dry shampoo will prevent your hair from looking and smelling oily/dirty. I have used such brands as Pssssst, Oscar Blandi and my personal favorite, Batiste. I feel like dry shampoo is still a secret to most women. It is probably my favorite beauty product ever. In fact, if I ever went on survivor, I’d bring dry shampoo as my luxury item. Then i would talk to it like it was my own little Wilson.

Thanks for the great question Julie! I hope this helps!