All-Time Top Five: Hair Products

Hair is complicated, period. It can be hard to manage and incredibly time consuming. To avoid wasting too much time trying to tame my tresses, I always kept my hair short—that is, until college when I ran out of money and got the $7 haircut from hell using a coupon from the newspaper. At one point during the visit, the stylist (who was the manager!) held scissors to my scalp and repeatedly joked she’d snip my tiny ponytail if I didn’t like her team. I left with a two-inch, square patch of “side bangs” and a newfound fear of visiting the salon.

Ever since then, I’ve had long hair.

It wasn’t on purpose; it just took a few years to have enough money to start visiting a more professional stylist. Over that time, it grew… And grew, and grew, and grew. And once it was so long I didn’t feel like cutting it off again. Now I’m here, and I’m still liking it long—although I assume that will change eventually, because taking care of long hair is a pain in the ass. Combing it after a shower is a small workout, and that’s only the first step.

To cope with the extra labor, I’ve simplified my hair routine to focus on five ride-or-die products. These items do right by me every time, and I cannot recommend them enough.

REDKEN COLOR EXTEND SHAMPOO | Get ready to be shocked: I color my hair. (Ha!) The Redken Color Extend Shampoo keeps my red dye looking bold and beautiful for weeks upon weeks. I’ve been using this brand for nearly a decade and love to stock up during liter sales at Ulta and Beauty Brands.

Get it here.

REDKEN COLOR EXTEND CONDITIONER | Another shocker for ya: Coloring your hair can be incredibly drying. (Gasp!) The partner to the aforementioned shampoo, this Redken Color Extend Conditioner moisturizes your damaged hair without weighing it down.

Get it here.

REDKEN HAIR CLEANSING CREAM SHAMPOO | For the longest time, I thought I kept leaving conditioner in my hair after showering because I’d get a weird waxy feeling on the top of my head. Turns out, it was built-up product. (Ew.) Redken Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo cuts through leftover dry shampoo, hair spray, and leave-in conditioner. Yay for clean hair.

Get it here.

IT’S A 10 MIRACLE LEAVE-IN PRODUCT | I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: The It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In Product changed the texture of my hair forever. FOREVER. My hair went from semi-frizzly and constantly tangled to sleek and smooth thanks exclusively to this must-have item. I’ve tried swapping out similar products or cutting this post-shower step all together only to find out a week or so later that It’s a 10 was the secret to all my good hair days. Buy it in bulk and thank me later.

Get it here.

BATISTE TROPICAL DRY SHAMPOO | Working from home comes with so many perks, one of which is washing your hair less. From washing my hair less, I have started to realize I like how my hair looks on the second and sometimes even third day… assuming I use this dry shampoo. It smells like coconuts and refreshes your mane—and it can be found fairly consistently at T.J.Maxx and Marshall’s for only a few bucks.

Get it here.

 

Am I missing any good ones? Tell me your favorites!

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