Styling my hair is something I’ve been doing since I was a little girl. I always enjoyed braiding my hair before bed and waking up with wavy hair for the rest of the day. As I got older, I started using hair crimpers (90’s babies, remember those?!), and then I moved on to heatless rollers, curling irons, hot rollers, etc. – the rest is history!

The point is, I genuinely enjoy testing out hair tools, which means I need to ensure I’m taking care of my hair in between all the styling sessions I give myself. So, I decided to put together an updated list of all my hair must-haves when it comes to styling and caring/protecting my hair.

Hair Care

When it comes to haircare, I keep it pretty simple. My hair washes are pretty frequent (nearly every day unless I’ve curled my hair and want it to last a few days), and I don’t use too many products apart from dry shampoo in between washes. In fact, my shampoo and conditioner is pretty simple too – I use Dove! However, when I do color my hair, I stick to Redken shampoo for color-treated hair. I also get regular haircuts to avoid getting split ends. I typically go in every nine to 10 weeks. Here are the items I use the most for haircare:

• Deep Condition – My favorite deep conditioner is this Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Mask. Not only does it smells great, it really makes a difference in my hair – it’s so much softer after I use it. I don’t have a specific time of how long I leave it in my hair for, but I always try to put it in my hair at the beginning of my shower. I use it about once every two weeks or more frequently if I’ve been using hot tools more often that week.
• Leave-In Conditioner – A leave-in conditioner is something I always experimented with and can’t seem to stick with just one brand. However, the one I’ve been using lately is the Healthy Sexy Hair So You Want It All Leave-In Treatment. It smells amazing and really conditions your hair. While it is meant to be used on wet/damp hair, I also like how it defines my second-day curls. It really livens them up again without weighing your hair down.
• Wet Brush – I’m very picky about hair brushes, and I was really surprised with the difference I felt using the Wet Brush for the first time. It’s been years since, and I have no plans to switch to a different hair brush anytime soon. this brush really makes brushing wet hair easier and painless.

When I feel like my hair needs some extra love, I use this serum at the ends of my hair. It’s easy to overdo it and give yourself a greasy hair look, so use a very small amount!

Hair Styling

My hair is naturally pin-straight, so it lacks volume. This is why it’s important for me to try and get as much volume as I can any time I style my hair. But with that, it’s even more important for me to protect my hair whenever I’m using a hot tool. Since I had to do my hair a lot when I worked in TV as a news reporter, I learned what works and what doesn’t work on my hair. Here’s a list of my most-used (for years) hairstyling products:

• Dry Shampoo – I have found two different dry shampoos that work best on my hair: Billie Floof dry shampoo and Batiste. Both do what they’re meant to and soak up oils, but I have found that they work even better together. For max volume, I will sprinkle in Billie’s dry shampoo (I get the one for brunettes) first, and then add in a few sprays of Batiste’s dry shampoo, but I do NOT massage it in. I do all this the night before and wake up with amazing volume. This is how I prepped my hair for TV if I was going to be in the studio hosting one of our shows.
• Heat Protectant Spray – This is an absolute MUST if you plan on using a hot tool on your hair. I didn’t start using a heat protectant spray until after college. In fact, I don’t think I even knew it was a thing back then. I just know that when I did start using a heat protectant spray, I noticed a difference immediately. My ends weren’t as fried and my hair didn’t smell like it was burning whenever I used a hot tool. My favorite one is the Chi Iron Guard Spray. I’ve been using it for years and it has never done me wrong.
• Hairspray – I used to go through hairspray so quickly when I worked in TV, but now I can’t seem to get through one can! I’ve tried several different brands, but I always go back to TRESemmé Hair Spray Extra Hold. It smells nice and actually holds style – also it doesn’t make your hair crunchy!
• Smoothing Sealant – This isn’t a product I used when I worked in TV, but I wish I had known about it then! I recently got a sample of Drybar’s Liquid Glass Miracle Smoothing Sealant and I was blown away by how well it works. I also tried a different brand of smoothing sealant, but it didn’t work as well. Liquid Glass really smooths your hair down, grabbing all those baby hairs and making your hair look like it’s straight out of a TV commercial. I noticed the biggest difference after blow-drying my hair and seeing close to zero baby hairs sticking up. Usually, it’s the complete opposite and my baby hairs get very frizzy after blow-drying. Another plus to Liquid Glass is the amazing shine you get. This is definitely staying on my must-have hair styling list.

I hope you found my list helpful! Let me know if there are any hair products you’d like for me to test out!

-Shop the Post-

*Disclaimer: Some affiliate links may be used, which I may earn a small commission from (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.