Haul of Fame

Gym Hair

I've been spending a lot of time at the gym lately, and have had to adapt my hair routine so I feel like I can go out in public afterwards. Through some blogs and recommendations, I've managed to find a few products that can make my hair looks even better leaving than before my workout. 

Dry Shampoo

Let me share with you the secret to making dry shampoo most effective that I learned on twitter: 

Use it before you need it. 

Instead of waiting until fighting with your hair when it's an oily mess, using dry shampoo preventatively means any moisture is absorbed at the roots and keeps your hair itself fresh and dry. This works great when you spray your hair with dry shampoo before bed to extend a style or blowout, but is extra effective before a workout. Right now I'm using the Klorane Dry Shampoo I stocked up on in France, but I've been hearing great things about the Pantene version at a fraction of the price, so I'll be restocking with that when it's time. This works great for low intensity workouts when you're not going to become a sweaty mess.

Hair Masks

Hair masks work better the longer you leave it on. So when I already know I'm going to be having the kind of workout where I'm going to need to wash my hair anyways, I'll often multitask and put a mask on my hair and braid it before starting. The heat from your hair helps it work, and giving it a full hour to soak in makes it even more effective. I'm lucky that my gym has a sauna, and the extra heat and steam before rinsing the mask out make my hair feel even healthier (which is so needed after all the bleaching I did in 2016). The one I keep in my gym bag is Olaplex, since it's a small bottle with a light consistency and no odor. 

The Wet Brush

It looks like a normal hairbrush, but the bristles are so bendy and gentle you can brush your hair wet without any breakage or pulling. It seems to work even better while you're rinsing your hair directly in the water and easily gets rid of any tangles. I wish I had this when I was a kid. And this is *so* much better than the Tangle Teaser that Sephora keeps pushing.

Beachy Waves

As nice as my gym changing rooms are, I'm usually pretty eager to rush out and I don't have the time or the tools to do a proper blowout. I have never managed to get those easy effortless waves and any salt product just left my hair looking like a dry mess - until I read an amazing tip in the great blog, The Beauty Department. They made me realize that those times when you're actually on a beach and have that great hair, it's not just the salt water, but the fact that you're not brushing your hair either. So now when I need to blowdry my hair at the gym, I use the Wet Brush in the shower, but then I don't touch it again. After towel drying while I get dressed I just finger comb, put some moroccan oil on the ends, and spray my favourite salt spray on, Lush Sea Spray. While I blow dry I wrap pieces around my hands like a curling iron, and I'm left with natural looking waves.