The winner of the Lemons&Lace giveaway is ALI! I’ll be emailing you to get you in touch with your new headband!  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions about my hair care regime.  My hair has become my trademark of sorts with it’s anything goes, beachy wave-like style. I often hear “my hair could never do that!” or “you have the best hair” — and I really don’t believe either of these statements.  My hair is really not anything super fancy.  It’s not super thick, not super thin.  Not super curly, not super straight.  It’s pretty dang average.  The best thing it’s got going for it is it’s long, which definitely has it’s pros and cons.  Sometimes I dream of shorter, more manageable hair.  But the reality is, I have come to embrace my hair in all it’s glory and faults and today I’m showing you all my tricks to have fabulous, long hair with personality in minutes flat.  Because I bet you 20 bucks you could have wild, beachy, no-fuss-hair too.

First I’ll talk about length.  My hair grew super fast over the summer (I’m talking like 4 inches, at least!) because I made a deal with myself that I would not blow dry it.  I know, that might scare you.. a lot.  It scared me too.  I would have never believed I could have the hair that could just air-dry and be fine.  The Frizz! What about the frizz, I thought?  But I found ways around all of that.  But if you want your hair to grow super fast, or get healthy quick, packing away your blow dryer should be your first step.  And now?  I hardly ever use my blow dryer.  Vitamins will also help launch your hair into Kardashian territory before you even know it.  You can buy specific “hair and nail” vitamins or simply take prenatals as your daily multi vitamin.  Vitamins will help thicken it up, too. (like after you have a baby and 1/3 of your hair falls out like mine does…)

So here are the products I can’t live without…

1. Wen – I was sold on Wen watching a late night infomercial.  I was seriously amazed and grabbing for my phone.  When I resisted the urge to be the biggest cliche – falling for a hair care product at 2am on an infomercial – I was kicking myself for the rest of the week.  When I sawMaskcara posting about her love affair with Wen, I knew nothing was going to hold me back.  It was literally love at first use.  After the first wash, I could tell my hair was softer, shinier, and much more manageable.  It just gets better with time.  Over the Christmas break I ran out of it and used my old shampoo for a few weeks until I got some more.. It was 2 weeks of hell!  I couldn’t believe how dry and brittle my hair felt.  Needless to say, I put it on Santa’s rush list and have been in silky hair bliss ever since.  TRY IT.  It really is that amazing.  I first tried the pomegranate scent and loved it, then I bought the two pack with the sweet almond mint and every time I use it I feel like I’m in a fancy-schmancy salon.  I would recommend both.

2. Organic Coconut Oil –  Over the last few months, I have fallen hard for coconut oil.  It started with using it with cooking and in smoothies, then it replaced my daily face moisturizer, lotion for my girls, and now it is my miracle deep conditioner.  Miracle!  I tried this for the first time last weekend and was seriously amazed at the results.

– Saturate your hair completely in coconut oil, starting at the ends (I used about 1/4 cup for all my hair) – cover with plastic shower cap or grocery bag.
– leave on for 15 minutes under a blow-dyer (heating it will open up your hair cuticles) or 30 minutes without heat.
– wash with 2 cycles of shampoo, then condition. (I washed with regular shampoo once, then with Wen)
– Dry and enjoy!

This deep condition made my hair shine like the top of the Chrysler building!  My hair looked freshly colored and felt so, so healthy.  After one time, my ends looked so much less dry and my hair held it’s curl better for the following days. (4 to be exact) I will be doing this once a week from here on out.

Bonus! You can buy this anywhere.  I got mine at walmart for like $8.  Totally worth it. (especially when I use it for everything else under the sun)

3- Burts Bees Baby Lotion – My hair has a huge tendency to get frizzy.  I have just enough natural wave to cause myself to look like a willow brush if I’m not careful.  I have tried a million different hair products to battle the frizz, but nothing satisfies my silky locks like Burts Bees.  May sound weird, but I apply just a dab (dime size) into my hair when it’s still damp.  I usually scrunch it into the bottom, then smooth out the top with whatever is left on my hands.  This simple step is the difference of Hollywood waves to rats nest for me.  It makes my curls nice and silky, not crunchy and calms down those extra frizzy pieces.  Plus, it’s good for your hair just like your skin.  And it smells like pure heaven!
**If you’re really trying to strong-arm the frizz, try using a t-shirt to dry your hair rather than a towel.  Simply put your hair through the head hole and wrap the shirt around into a turban.  I actually soaks up the water like you wouldn’t believe and leaves behind gorgeous non-frizzy locks.

4- Not Your Mother’s Kinky Moves – This stuff I originally heard about from Cara Loren when she used it in her beachy waves hair tutorial.  I would have assumed it was super expensive, but I remembered seeing the brand at walmart.  I think I bought it for under $4 and am in love!  This was perfect for my wavy-not-quite-curly hair.  Totally defined my curls better and helped them last for days!  This will be my BFF in the summer time, I just know it.  It’s really smooth like cream, not stiff at all like gel so it keeps your hair nice and soft – which is always the goal for beachy waves.  Whether your hair is naturally curly, or you curl it with the curling iron, I think you’ll love this.

5- Surf Spray – This stuff is awesome, but I actually don’t use the bumble and bumble brand – I make my own.

DIY Surf Spray:
– 4 oz warm water
– 3 tsp epsom salt
– 2 squirts water based hair gel
– dash of Moroccan oil (optional)
ta-da! The perfect surf spray!

With all the stuff I use to make my hair soft and silky, I need a little grime in there to give it some extra body.  Sea Salt spray is my right-hand-man.  I usually spray while my hair is damp after washing, then I spray to dampen it everyday after, with a smidge of some Burts Bees for smoothing.  My wavy hair gets better as the days go by.  I usually go 4-5 days before washing with this style… which brings me to my final must-have.

6- Dry Shampoo – I am not quite sure what we did in the world before dry shampoo.  Certainly not wash our hair everyday.(?!) I love this product for the obvious reasons, but one thing I rely on this for is body.  I have tried a handful of dry shampoos and so far, Kenra is my favorite.  I like Pssssst! okay, but its not as heavy and doesn’t give me the body I love.  Not Your Mother’s brand is a total waste of your time.  I should work up a post on all my dry shampoo findings, but Nat The Fat Rat has done my job for you here. Next on my list to try is got2b and big sexy hair’s.  I’ve heard wonderful things!

So there it is, y’all!  My tips for battling even the most unmanageable hair without blow drying!  I now blow dry my hair once every couple months if I want to feel fancy and straighten it.  But my hair has seen a vast improvement from just simply letting it be who it really is.

Do you have any hair must-haves?  I would love to hear!

If you try any of these suggestions, I’d love to know how it goes – tag me on instagram @cassmiller or #cassmillerfashionfriday

xo, C