A daily hair styling routine is vital to the health of your hair. Knowing what to do each day to have good hair is a grey area because it is different for everyone. I’m going to break it down in this post for you today to help you create your own daily hair styling routine to follow.
I want to start by explaining why it’s different for everyone, just in case this isn’t clear.
You see as a hairstylist I have learned, what is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly!
Or in other words, if you wash your hair every day it’s mind boggling that someone would go 2-3 days between washes. I assure you though neither is “abnormal” because there are SO MANY people that care for their hair in all different ways!
In this post my goal is to help anybody with any hair washing schedule. So, I’m going to break up the routine into day 1, day 2 and day 3. If you are an every day washer you want to just keep repeating day 1. If you wash every 2 days you would want to rotate back and forth between day 1 and day 2. If you wash your hair less often (I see you!) after you’ve done day 1, day 2 and day 3 keep repeating day 3 until wash day again and then bounce back to day 1.
Remember to also incorporate the Weekly Haircare Routine into this. Do this by substituting a wash day with the Weekly Haircare Routine once a week.
I’m also going to try and include all hair types. If no hair type is mentioned with an instruction it means it is good for all hair types. If I’m listing an action that is only appropriate for a specific hair type I will definitely make it clear.
As always, if you try something based on my recommendation in this or any of my other posts and it’s not right for your hair, make that mental note and try something else! Do not rely on everything I say to be 100% right for everyone!
Just like a skin care routine is carefully crafted to not only fit into your lifestyle but also you skin type and preferrences, not every product or styling technique will work on every single head of hair and you are the CEO of your hair so if you aren’t feeling it, change it!
DAY 1: Wash Day
Wash day is a big day in your hair styling routine because you will be taking your hair from a stressed out state to a fragile state and back to properly fueled and ready to take back on the world.
When your hair has been exposed to the sun and different environmental factors it becomes stressed out. When it tangles or getting loaded with product it becomes more stressed out. When you use multiple days of hot tools on top of layers of products and the build up of daily life, it becomes stressed out.
This is why I say on your wash day your hair starts off stressed out.
Now I know, you daily washers are thinking you don’t have to worry about this because I said build up at least 3 times in that explanation and YOU, well, you wash every day.
Unfortunately though, the second part is fragile. What happens when your hair is washed is it is stripped of everything including its natural oils. Natural oils are good for our hair because it acts as a natural protector.
Just like a callous is formed on our skin because of a constant rubbing or touching of it (think about your feet) the more you strip it off the quicker it grows back. It grows back because it is protecting that area from the abuse.
If your hair gets really oily really quickly you may need to train your hair to go longer between washes. Long story short, if you are a daily washer, try going a day between washes once a week and see if it helps!
Remember this is a not for everyone and of rule. Do NOT feel guilty or like you are doing something wrong if you just don’t feel like this one fits.
Ok back to wash day!
All product selection is important to making sure your hair is being treated properly during your daily hair styling routine.
Make sure you have picked out a quality shampoo that will support your hair goals. I wrote this post on the best Moisturizing Shampoo’s and Conditioners to help you on that journey.
If you are a multiple day skipper make sure after you shampoo your hair feels clean. If you feel like it needs a second wash, DO IT!
Of course condition next. You only want to use a light daily conditioner. Stay away from anything too heavy or nourishing unless you are rehabbing your hair from extreme damage. If this is you, make sure to consult with a professional hairdresser in your area about what to use and how to take care of your hair.
After you have shampoo’d and conditioned your hair and you are out of the shower towel dry your hair a bit to keep it from dripping everywhere and apply your favorite serum, leave in conditioner or detangler.
This will look different based on what you want your hair to look like and what its current type is.
Lets say you have super fine hair but a ton of it and it tangles super easily but also gets weighed down easily. You want to find a product that fits that description. I promise, its out there! Be the detective and go find it.
After your initial product that you put on your hair for nourishment, you want to follow up with a base product.
In my clients I typically go for a wet product, like a cream, gel, mousse or a spray. Something that if you put it on your hair when it was dry it would clearly not make sense. Of course, with 5 BAZILLION products on the market in the hair industry there are going to be a few rando’s that are actually sprays that go on dry hair but those are specialty products so just keep an eye out and always read descriptions.
The descriptions of your hair products are like the clues to help you along your detective journey!
Now, to figure out what you want this second product to do!
Often times its going to be the foundation of your style. If you have frizzy wavy or curly hair and you are blow drying it out and plan to use an iron of any kind you definitely want to use some kind of anti-humectant blow dry lotion or spray that hopefully has a heat protectant built in. If you can’t find a twofer….you know you have just to use two products during this part.
If you have fine limp hair, you want to use something that has a little bit of hold but not any stickiness. Adding your product in little amounts at a time and getting know how your hair feels with each amount is how you will figure out this step in your hair.
Once you have applied your nourishing product AND your foundational product(s), you want to move on to the styling part of your hair.
This post is not about that so I’m not going to go into detail here. Blow dry, diffuse, air dry…however you choose to do this part…do it!
After you hair is dry its time to evaluate.
How does it look?
This next part is called your finishing product!
Do you need a little extra hold for the beauty waves you put in with your wand? I would go for a light hold hair spray.
Do your natural curls need a little more oomph? Go for a salt spray or texturizing spray.
Is your blonde hair feeling dull and lifeless? This can be another great opportunity to use a serum or light hair oil to apply on the ends. Don’t forget too almost every brand has a shine spray that does just that! Adds a ton of shine to your hair. Its extra fun for events, photoshoots and festivals!
So to recap Day 1:
- Wash
- Condition
- Nourishing product
- Foundational product(s)
- Finishing product
This will give your hair the complete hair styling routine package to get you through the day, or two or three…which bring me to…
Day 2: The Revival
If you are here at day I have great news…these last two are pretty short but also not a concrete in detail.
On day 2 you want to revive your hair back into the same look or transform it into a second look.
I am naturally very curly so my curls tend to last me two days with just a little water sprayed on it to reshape the curls on their own. If water doesn’t work in your hair I would reach for a spray that will help coat the curls and help them reform or if it doesn’t look like they are going to go back, throw part of it up or put a pin in it toward the front to add a little pizzazz! This actually work great on any hair type as a day two or day three style!
If you hair is smoother and you need an overhaul, another trick is to get back out your blow dryer and do a dry style. A dry style is where you brush out your hair and break it up into a few big sections, blow drying like if it were actually wet but because its dry it’ll only take a fraction of the amount of time in each section. If you hair seems like its not doing anything a small mist of water or a conditioning spray can help before doing the dry blow out.
Some people choose to wear their hair straight on day 1 and then their hair more easily holds a curl or waves with slightly dirty hair so they plan to save the curling portion for day 2. If this is you, I recommend applying a it of heat protection to your hair and do a light blow dry then add I your curls or waves.
Finishing up your second day style with a bit of serum or light hair oil will help re-nourish it and prepare it for the day.
Day 3: The Overhaul
I didn’t actually plan to name the days of this hair styling routine when I first started writing this so don’t judge me on those! Lol.
The Overhaul or day 3 is also quite simple. Its basically a repeat of day 2, figuring out what ways you can pin your hair or revive it to last one more day.
This is the day I recommend reaching for the dry shampoo if you haven’t already! I don’t recommend dry shampoo on day 1 although it is also ok to use on day 2, only because it does build up and make the hair feel really gritty and would probably make you want to wash right away.
I love it though for soaking up those not so cute oils that form at our scalp and add some fun volume to your style. Although we don’t want oils at the scalp we do actually need them on the ends.
If you didn’t add a serum or light hair oil to your ends on day 2 it is very important you do here on day 3 because the hair needs regular nourishment and when you go longer between washes, this is where your hair is getting that nourishment.
Think of it as a daily vitamin. Which is why its important you find one you love in your hair. This could be a different one for each day if you find the same one builds up and weighs down more than you want over time.
Remember not all products are created equally so you will want to try a bunch of different ones and switch it up if the one you’re using as often as you want!
If you re a 3 day or more between washes it is even more important that you also incorporate a the Weekly Haircare Routine in. This will include a clarifying shampoo and a deep conditioning treatment and trust me your hair will thank you!
I hope that this guide has helped you get closer to a personalized daily hair care routine!
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I am considering doing a series of posts going over hair care routine for specific hair types. For example haircare routine for curly hair, or mens hair, or fine hair, or bleached damaged hair….I think you get the point. Please comment below if you would be interested in this and let me know your hair type so I make sure and include it in the series!
Thanks as always for reading and commenting and being a valuable part of my blogs existence!!
If you have any other post ideas, also leave those in the comments below so I know the kind of things you want to read about!
Cheers!
