How To Care For Your Hair When You Unpin
We put our hair through a lot as pinups. We set it, curl it,
tease it, sleek it, roll it, pin it and spray it. But when it is time to unpin
and for us to finally brush out and wash our hair - how do we take care of it
so we can maintain its health and vitality? We should not be abusing our hair,
that is why it deserves its own self care days, or should I say hair care
days.
Personally, I like to give my hair and skin full unpinned
days, in order to ensure they have the chance to restore back to their natural
health. Healthy hair, will perform and style with more ease. Whereas dry,
damaged hair will always be screaming out for more products in order to get it
to behave.
"How you wash your hair and the products you use can go
a long way toward maintaining smooth, shiny hair." - American Academy of Dermatology Association.
I learnt fairly quickly in the pinup game that my hair wash
days were just as important as my hair set days. By making the simple switch to
quality hair care products (not just whatever was on special and the cheapest
at the grocery shop) ended up saving me time when styling my hair into pinup
and vintage inspired do's.
So let's start at the time when you are itching (sometimes literally!) to get the in shower and wash your hair after a few days of heavy pinup styling.
Step 1: Detangle
You should always first brush your hair to remove all knots.
If you have tease in your hair, ensure you safely remove
it first. If it's all a little painful and just the brush won't do, a
few sprays of my favourite Muk leave in
conditioner works wonders as a detangler (mutli-use product - yes
please!). This is also a great product to use if you prefer to not dry brush
your hair - a bit of moisture can protect against any further unwanted
damage.
Related: Will Teasing DamageMy Hair?
You also want to use a wide toothed brush or specific detangling brush. This will help
get through your hair and get any of those last knots and built up product out.
Always make sure you can easily glide your brush through your hair before you
wash it. If you have any stray strands of hair stuck in your brush, make this part
of your routine to quickly pick them out to keep your brush that little bit
cleaner.
Related: How To Clean YourHairbrushes
Step 2: Cleanse
Ok, let me step you through how many products I sometimes
have in my hair by wash day after a few solid days of styling: setting
solution, argan oil, working hairspray, pomade, finishing hairspray, dry
shampoo. Yep, that's just a bit. So you want to make sure you get all of that
product out of your hair before you go in with your traditional shampoo and
conditioner - because sometimes just a shampoo will not do! I had a fellow
hairdresser suggest this product to me and so far nothing has come near to how
easy it cleanses my hair (I even use it to clean pin curl clips too!)
A little goes a long way with the Natural
Look clarifying shampoo. My 1 L bottle is still going strong 3 years later.
Just a small amount will have you in a sweet lather, cleansing all those
products out of your precious hair. I find just one round using this shampoo
does well but I have had to do two rounds when I do actually *ahem* abuse my
hair with too many products. This will give your hair a squeaky clean feel -
remember it is a clarifying shampoo so you will need to follow it up with your
regular shampoo and conditioner.
Step 3: Shampoo & Conditioner
Now we should all know how to do the next step yeah? You can
just go in with your regular favourite shampoo and conditioner. This is a very
personal product and you will have your favourites and what works best for you
- on all wash days, not just post-pinned up hair days.
Below are some links to products that worked for me and that
I am currently using:
When I had coloured hair:
Natural Look Colourance shine
enhancing range
Now with my natural colour:
Ethique Solid Bars - Mintasy Solid Shampoo
+ Curlosity Co-wash Conditioner
Step 4: Conditioning Mask
Now this step is a GAME CHANGER! I was referred this product
by a fellow pinup who rocks the most vibrant colourful hair and I was always in
awe of how it was in such good health and always looked so shiney and felt so
smooth. She said this was her 'little secret' and it makes a huge difference to
your hair care routine. The Muk 1 minute
treatment!
Confession time:
#1 I do sometimes leave this in for longer than 1 minute as
I clean the shower when this is in.
#2 I sometimes do a Zohan dance and repeat that my hair will
be 'silky smooth' in his accent.
Get yourself a wide toothed comb to keep in the shower as well to comb this through your hair. I love this one as it has extra grips on the handle because trust me when I say this conditioning treatment works wonders on your hair, the product itself is also quite slippery. And when you wash it out - I dare you not to say 'silky smooth'! (BTW if you haven't watched Don't Mess with the Zohan, do so and get back to me for we are always quoting it in our household!)
Step 5: Leave in Conditioner and Wrap
Now that you have had your 'me time', don't just rub the
crap out of your hair and fuzz it all back up. I have recently been taking on
some curly girl hair care techniques and not using a towel to rough dry my hair
has made a huge difference. You may not feel the need to put in any more
conditioning to your hair after the Muk 1 minute
treatment. But for even just regular wash days when I don't need to follow
all of the above steps to fully cleanse and condition my hair back to it's
happy health, I use a few more sprays of the Muk leave in conditioner,
comb it through my hair and squeeze out as much moisture as possible using an
old t-shirt. Then I wrap my hair up in a hair towel to suck out a bit more of
the moisture.
This step helps you to avoid any extra heat, if you do wish
to blow dry your hair it won't take as long. But I like to keep my hair wrapped
for at least 30 minutes and then brush out and air dry my hair on unpinned
days.
Step 6: Minimise Heat
Speaking of heat, it is best if you give your hair a break
after all of that lovin' you just put into it - especially if heat setting is
your preferredcurling method. I understand if some days you simply don't have the time to
be parading around in a hair towel and then air dry your hair - but please, for
the sake of your hair, if you have to then blow dry it after you wash it
(or even use the straightener on a couple of strands or your fringe) please use
low heat settings and add in an extra layer of protection with a heat protector spray -
your hair will thank you for it!
Please keep in mind that I have suggested products that have
worked well for me. Hair care products (especially shampoo and conditioners)
will have different results for different types of hair. Your hairdresser will
know you and your hair best, so listen to their suggestions for products that
may work best for you too.
You will notice I have suggested mostly Muk hair products - this is because I not only love this brand, but I personally use a lot of products from their range for styling as well.
Renae xoxo