It's currently the end of November 2014. Today, I got my hair cut. The last time I got my hair cut was mid February 2014. How do I go so long between visit without getting split ends? Today I'm sharing my really simple 'no fuss' hair care regime with you, and you don't need to spend a lot of money either.

I only ever get my hair cut when it starts feeling dry and knots too easily, or if the ends start looking dry and split. I haven't have a split end in years. I used to get them ALL the time. This time, I went 9 months before my ends started to feel dry.

Shampoo & Conditioner

I switched to a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner a very long time ago, probably a decade ago now. I remember when I first did it, my hair looked and felt pretty dull & lifeless for at least 2 weeks. I persisted with it and got over that initial hurdle. Traditional salon shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils. Once it's stripped, traditional conditioners coat your hair to give it a sheen and glow again. Why mainstream hair care products are designed to do that, I have no idea. When you use a natural shampoo, the oils aren't stripped from your hair, so the formulation of the conditioner is completely different and doesn't leave a coating on your hair.

I remember in my early 'salon' days being told to wash my hair with a strong clarifying conditioner once every few weeks to get the build up of product off my hair. WTF? You can forget about that nonsense when you switch to natural hair products.

To choose the product that's right for you, visit the natural shampoo category and use the REFINE SEARCH feature to narrow down your hair type. Popular picks are the Acure range and the Beauty & The Bees shampoo bars. A sampler pack of their 6 bestsellers is available to purchase.

You may also be interested to know that my husband, who has been using the same natural products for years now, volunteered to do the 'No 'POO' thing for an experiment, and decided not to wash his hair at all. While most people experience several weeks of really oily and dirty feeling hair while they adjust, doing the 'no shampoo' thing from natural shampoo is actually pretty simple with virtually no greasy / feral stage. It was an interesting experiment.

Weekly Hair Treatment

This is what allows me to go 9 months between haircuts. Before I was doing this, I would go once every 3-4 months. It's dirt cheap, simple, and you can do your whole body at the same time. What do I use? Some fancy rare oil in a little bottle with a $200 price tag or miracle touted by celebrities? Nope. I use coconut oil. Ok, the celebrity thing is true, people like Sophia Vergara from Modern Family use this as their hair treatment too. So does Lorna Jane.

I just take a dessert spoon full and rub it in to my hair. I leave it there for about 20 minutes and then shampoo it out. The picture above shows the oil in my hair (left) and the photo on the right was taken about an hour later. The only thing that happened in this time was me shampooing my hair (twice) then using a regular conditioner, running a rake through my hair while it was wet, scrunched it up a bit with my hands and allowed it to dry naturally. No styling products, no curling wands, no straighteners. With my new short layered bob and a little humidity in the air, I get instant curl and take advantage of it.

Other Tips

  • Don't swim in chlorine pools.
  • Don't spend massive amounts of time out in the sun without a hat on.
  • Don't blow dry your hair or use a straightener or hot rollers every day.
  • Switch up your shampoo & conditioner once in a while so your hair doesn't get used to one product (I do the same with my natural skin care regime too)
  • Style your hair with natural products. I actually use the Beauty & The Bees Conditioning Bars for a bit of definition in my curls, otherwise, take a click through to the natural hair styling products and pick something that suits you.