Do your own at-home Deep Conditioner

Alrighty... We have a new question posted by SarAnderson; "What can I use for a deep conditioner without having to go to the salon, but having that same "light, silky" feel?"

So you want the salon look without the salon, eh? Ok, I have a lot of pointers and tips for you!

-First, you need to make sure that you really have a great salon brand, professional conditioner. I suggest Lavender Mint, both the shampoo and the conditioner. If you are going to have a "salon feel" you need to have the salon equipment! This type of shampoo/conditioner is my favorite, it is color safe (won't fade your color), moisturizing, and smells amazing!! You can get this at any Paul Mitchell school, store, etc.

-Second thing, When you get in the shower, the first thing to do is wash your hair. I know most do anyways. Once you get the shampoo washed out, try and drain as much water out of your hair as you can. Then apply a generous amount of conditioner onto your hair. Having a plastic shower cap is a vital part of this step. Put the shower cap on your head, trapping all of the conditioned hair inside it. the conditioner should not be rinsed out, it should still be in your hair. Continue with your shower. When you are finished with your shower, do not rinse the conditioner out.

-Get out of the shower and get your blow dryer out. Once you are dry, dressed or not, that's your prerogative, haha, blow dry your hair, still inside the shower cap, for a few minutes, until you feel that your hair is very warm or even hot, whatever you can handle. Your hair should still be pretty wet, we are not necessarily trying to dry it, we are just trying to get it hot. Getting your hair warm/hot is going to open up the cuticles on the hair. Opening up those cuticles are going to help the conditioner deep inside the hair shaft.

-After you have blow dried the hair, made it pretty warm if not hot, you need to let it cool, not necessarily cold, but it needs to not be warm at all. Letting your hair cool will close the cuticle in your hair shaft. Closing the hair shaft while the conditioner is still in the hair will help trap the conditioner in your hair, hence, a deep condition... :) This could take a while, anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour. If your hair gets cooler quicker, awesome! Mine just takes a while.

-Go back in the shower and rinse your hair... this is the challenging part... you need to rinse it with as cold of water as you can possibly stand. It's easier in a salon, because only your head gets wet and cold.... but this time, its your whole body.. uhhh... my least favorite part too, I know.. I

know... Some people could even stick their head in the sink or down in the shower, but I don't like doing that- I HATE water in my face... Anyways, rinse your hair out with cold water, just like I mentioned in the last step, it closes the cuticles, trapping the conditioner in the hair, leaving you with that soft, silky feel you were wanting!

You're finished! Congrats! You did your own salon style deep condition, right in your own home! :)

Go have an unBAD HAIR DAY.

Salon Brands VERSES Store Brands

I was asked the question recently from Mrs. Payne, "Is buying shampoo/conditioner from the store really bad for your hair compared to the EXPENSIVE salon brands? I know they say, "you pay for what you get" but c'mon. I can't afford to spend that much money!"

Well, every time I talk about styling products with my clients, this subject is almost always discussed! I, being a Paul Mitchell hair stylist, will compare store brands wot Paul Mitchell brands;

STORE BRAND shampoos and conditioners, as a whole, contain more detergents then SALON BRANDS. They can dry out your hair and scalp, causing your body to produce more oils to try and compensate for the loss of moisture. When there is no moisture in the hair, and your scalp is producing more oils. you wash your hair more, and washing your hair more will fade any hair coloring and toning. On top of all of that, STORE BRANDS have a higher PH level then the SALON BRANDS, making it more harsh on your hair, which also strips your hair color.

I remember when I was growing up, I used store brands on my hair. I felt like it was just fine, but I had completely natural hair. After I moved out of the house, I started highlighting my hair, and I felt my hair get more and more dry. I finally started using Paul Mitchell hair products, specifically, Paul Mitchell Instant Moisturizer. WORLD OF A DIFFERENCE!!!

I was reading people's opinions online and I noticed a lot of the same thing, yes, SALON BRANDS are more expensive, but you do not have to use as much of the actual shampoo as you do with STORE BRANDS. In other words, you do not need to use as much shampoo of the SALON BRAND shampoo and conditioner then you do with the STORE BRANDS. So, if you pace yourself on the nicer shampoos and conditioners, I bet you would find it to be more worth it to you.

Damaged and colored hair needs a better type of shampoo. In my experience, I have not met many people with natural healthy hair. Almost every woman I know has some type of color or highlights in their hair. If you are going to get your hair colored, you should know what coloring/bleaching your hair does. It is damaging, it dries out the hair, we all know this! But we all do it anyways, because ultimately, it's beautiful and makes us feel so amazing and sexy! RIGHT? RIGHT!! And there is nothing wrong with that. We just need to treat it right if we want it to continue to look amazing.

Ultimately, you are the commander in chief of your hair. I'm not asking anyone to buy anything, I am simply giving my readers answers to their questions! Thank you for your question, Mrs. Payne. I hope I have answered your question to your satisfaction. :)

Go have an unBAD HAIR DAY.

unBAD HAIR DAY. Ask me anything!!

OKAY EVERYONE! It's time for some hair talk. I am your girl for any advise. I want to make everyone have a unBAD HAIR DAY every day! I know this blog is new, and I am not as familiar to blogging, but don't let that fool you on my hair knowledge. Let me know what questions you have, I will answer them. Get asking!

Just so you know, I am a Paul Mitchell hair stylist. So any comparing will be with Paul Mitchell products, since that is the product I specialize in. Thanks. <3

Go have an unBAD HAIR DAY.