my favorite hair products right now.

Aside from sucking your will to live right outta you, winter also sucks the moisture right out of your hair and skin. Did you guys know that? I had a friend recently show her kids snow for the first time. They drove from Oakland to Tahoe (a mere 3-4 hours and they went from mild, spring-like weather to full-blown winter), and played in the snow for a weekend. Then drove back. Isn’t that cute? I thought that was so cute. SO CUTE AHNIKA. DO YOU HEAR ME YELLING HOW CUTE IT IS?My skin and hair show the signs of winter dryness big time. Especially if I’m not drinking enough water (nothing–no skin routine, no fancy products can take the place of hydration, people!). Think of all the fluctuating temps! Into cars blowing dry heat at our faces, back out in freezing wind, into warm houses (ours is forced hot air–also drying!). It’s not ideal. My hair feels drier, my skin feels drier. It’s not ideal, but it’s real so I’ve tried to find a few things that help. Here’s what they are:

// Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner: this really is the bomb. My Mom used mine recently, and when I returned home she said, “I have never thought shampoo and conditioner could really make a huge difference, but I realize I was wrong.” She was almost incredulous. She also is not used to spending that much on shampoo and conditioner, which may have added to her incredulity. I get it. But hide it from your husband and your kids. It’s yours and only yours. Make it last! It really does give volume, and it’s my go-to now. I’ve used it exclusively for over a year. I used to dabble in various ones… no longer! P.S. despite it being clean, it does lather!

// Moroccan Oil: This stuff smells amazing. Like, I feel like I’m queen when I run it through my hair. A reader tip was to run it through damp hair–though directions say you can use it in damp or dry hair. It does not make my hair the least bit oily. I was worried it would! After all, it is oil. But no. Here’s what I do–after washing my hair, I’ll do one pump and run it through all the ends. Then, style as usual. If I’m blow drying my hair, this will also act as a heat protector. I’ve never really taken heat protecting seriously, but I keep seeing mention of it and then when I got my last trim I asked my hairdresser if she uses it and she gave me an emphatic, “always.” I think it also makes my hair healthier overall too?

// Hair Mask: So, this has this strange cult following for being a… hair mask. But I googled hair masks maybe in like… November? October? And found so much written up about this hair mask. I used it once and was like… meh. Used it again but left it on for awhile before rinsing it out and I did feel like I had smooth, shiny, healthy hair. So, I’m going to say it’s a win. Note–the bottle is silly small given the price. I didn’t totally realize that. Even so, it has a good chunk of uses in it (I suppose that somewhat depends on the thickness and length of your hair).

Any hair secrets you want to let me in on?