Ouidad: The Curl Experts

In honor of my grandpa’s 80^th birthday, the entire family (extended ‘n all that jazz) gathered in Rochester, NY, to properly celebrate my pop’s life.

With 7 hours to spare, my spunky 16-year-old cousin, Lisa, waltzed down the stairs with blond hair, covered in vampire blood. Semi -permanent vampire blood, that is.

Lisa and I!

Yes, Lisa and her band of high school gal pals all decided to be “different” and die their beautiful heads of hair into something that closely resembled that of a scene from the Twilight saga.

Well, one where Edward eats Bella for breakfast during Chapter 1, that is.

After 10 minutes of listening to my Aunt, (Lisa’s mom) interchangeably call her a freak and a vampire, I knew I had to step in, do some damage control and solve this hairy situation.

After washing her hair with some preeeeetty strong shampoo, (we even applied dish detergent to the red stripes directly) Lisa’s hair felt like genuine straw. Because I wouldn’t dare travel without my handy dandy Ouidad weapons, I quickly remembered I’d packed my Moisture Lock Leave In Conditioner.

So, there we were, the two of us sitting in the bathroom bonding over her vampire mishap and my clutch product realization. After applying the Leave-In, I styled her hair curly (using a mixture of the Leave-In and Tress Effects Styling Gel) to help hide the stripes of “blood.”

Not only did the Leave-In make her hair incredibly soft, but it also left her wavy curls controlled. This is EXACTLY why I never travel without this product, especially during the summer; it softens broken ends, smoothes the scars of chlorine, and even helps make (in this case) streaks of morbid vampire blood look a bit more, well, “lively.”

For those of you who’ve abused your hair with blow dryers, flat irons, curling irons, chlorine or even semi-permanaent red dye, Ouidad’s Moisture Lock Leave-In is just for you. It’s light weight texture leaves your hair feeling healthy, not oily, and your curls bouncy, not droopy.

*For best results: mix a little into your normal styling routine or apply directly to your ends while damp.

If Ouidad’s Leave-In could help turn Lisa’s bloody situation around, I think it could save you from your sorry dry woes.

Ouidad the Vampire Slayer Love,

J

WIN Ouidad’s Latest Curly Innovation HERE

Shampooing regularly is a necessity.  The hard part is figuring out what “regularly” means for your hair.  To set the record straight: daily shampooing is not a necessity, but more a matter of personal preference.

Image compliments of: hair-styles-secrets-revealed.com

When deciding how often you should shampoo, it’s tempting to take simple tips advising that a cleansing schedule should be based on whether your hair is normal, oily or dry.  The trouble is that some scalps have all three of these conditions.  Ouidad says that both the texture of your hair and styling techniques are the best way to create the right shampooing routine.

People often mistake curly hair as dry hair, and recommend fewer washes.  However this can clog your hair follicles with debris and oily white flakes.  Ouidad has a solution: base it on your curl pattern.  Once you know your curl pattern – loose, curly or kinky – determining the appropriate shampooing frequency is much simpler.

• Loose curls tend to be coarse/strong and can be washed as much as 4-5 times a week, although Ouidad recommends less. Always use a shampoo with a low pH.

• For the curly pattern, it’s best to shampoo every second or third day with a moisturizing shampoo like Clear and Gentle.  This type of hair requires constant hydration so it’s important to rinse daily with warm water and follow up with a detangling rinse like our Balancing Rinse Essential Daily Conditioner.

• For kinky hair, shampooing once a week (or twice if you’re very active) is best.  It’s important to remember that kinky hair is very fine and delicate despite its voluminous appearance.  A moisture-rich shampoo like our Curl Quencher works best on kinky hair because it is extra gentle and nutrient-rich.

Now that you know how often to shampoo, it’s time to focus on the how to shampoo.  It sounds simple enough, lather, rinse, repeat….but watch this blog for Step 2: How to Work Those Suds, and Ouidad will teach you the Ouidad Way to shampoo your hair, keeping your curls healthy and intact.