5 Tweaks for Better Hair

Photo: Kenneth Willardt/Trunk Archive

Last week, Oscar Blandi told me that fried food is just as bad for your hair as it is for your butt—and I thought I knew a lot about beauty. So what other wisdom could this hair genius impart? He works magic on women like Emma Watson, Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes, and Sofia Vergara, but I wanted to know what a mere mortal could do to get all around better hair. Here are his top five tips.

•  Don’t abuse your hair and then expect products to fix it:  “The biggest mistake is neglecting it, then at the last minute trying to fix it. It’s impossible,” Blandi says. He recommends a trim every six to seven weeks to keep ends looking healthy, especially if you’re a slave to heat tools (that includes your blow dryer).

• Use conditioner even if you have fine or thin hair: Conditioner makes your hair easier to comb through, so if you skip it because you think it weighs down your hair, you may ultimately be doing a bigger disservice to yourself. Yanking a comb through tangled hair, particularly if it’s dry because you don’t use conditioner, will damage hair even further. Just use a bit on the ends and you shouldn’t have a problem with limpness.

• Don’t wash your hair everyday: “People love to wash their dishes until they squeak,” Blandi says. “But don’t do that to your hair!” A little oil on your head is a good thing—it prevents flyaways, dryness, weakness and hair breakage. Washing too much strips the natural oils, so make dry shampoo your friend on your no-wash days. And speaking of dry shampoo…

• Use dry shampoo more creatively: Blandi was one of the dry shampoo pioneers and has found dozens of ways to use the product in the years since launching his own. Instead of just aiming it at your part and spraying, Blandi likes to spray it on his fingers and massage into the scalp. He also sprays it on the middle of the hair for a volume boost. And if your hair needs a pick-me-up in the middle of the day, spray some onto your comb or brush and run it through your hair.

• There’s one styling product everyone should own: texturizer. “It’s instant gratification, regardless of your style,” Blandi claims. Texturizers can muss up hair a bit (in the good way) and add volume, without the crunchiness of hair spray.