5 Tips For Styling Your Hair

A lot of women struggle to tame their manes and are often left frustrated when their hairstyles fall short of their expectations. Fighting with frizzy, unmanageable hair texture, unruly bangs, and rebellious curls can take hours on end. Styling your own hair at home can feel like a nightmare, but it doesn’t need to be. Here are 5 tips to help you have beautifully styled hair every time.

1. DON'T USE TOO MANY PRODUCTS
This is a common mistake that most of us make. Pilling on a product after product onto our heads, hoping that they’ll help us get the look we are trying to achieve. The truth is, using too many products may be the reason why your hair refuses to cooperate.

Product build-up often leaves hair greasy, flat, and dull, and may even cause product dandruff as tiny specks of excess product fall off your hair. Besides overwhelming your hair, using too many products is costly and time-consuming. The secret is to use minimal products and stick to the basics.

To create the style that I'm wearing in these photos, I curled my hair that I'd washed the day before, using the Lee Stafford CoCo LoCo tong (also available here) which I love for its long barrel as whether I'm wearing my hair extensions or not, it curls all of my hair in one go, brushed the curls through once they'd cooled and I spritzed the Lee Stafford CoCo LoCo Coconut Hairspray to hold it in place. This is my secret to getting the look of a big bouncy blow-dry on second day hair.

2. DON'T OVER WASH YOUR HAIR
Washing your hair too often has been another common mistake we are all guilty of making. While this may seem like a harmless habit, it is actually detrimental to the health of your hair. Our scalps produce sebum oil, which keeps hair strands healthy and shiny. Washing your hair too often strips away this natural oil and leaves your scalp and hair dry and it can actually encourage your hair to produce even more oil which, if you're an oily hair gal like me, you don't want! I wash my hair every 3 days.

Also, when your hair is freshly washed, it can also be harder to style; curls drop out more easily and you don't have as much grit or hold when pinning your hair up.

3. LEARN HOW TO BLOW DRY
Learning how to give yourself the perfect, lasting blowout is the holy grail of hair styling. A good blow dry is the best base for any hair style and your hair dresser will be able to talk you through how to maintain your look at home the next time you get your hair done. Watch what they're doing in the mirror when they're drying your hair and look out for the types of brushes they're using.

There are many techniques to blow drying hair depending on the texture. Straight or wavy hair is easier to blow-dry while curly or coarse hair may take a little more practice. Regardless of the texture, make sure not to blow-dry your hair everyday as excessive heat exposure can dry it out and damage it and always make sure you that use a protection spray when you do.

4. Use the Right Heated Tools
There are so many heated tools available on the market that it can be easy to get confused and pick the wrong ones. Not all heated tools are created equal and it is important that you find heated tools designed for your hair type. This will ensure you get the best results with minimal heat exposure, especially when it comes to straighteners. Check out OGLF’s guide for the best hair straighteners.

5. Find Styles that Work for You
The reason you’re having a hard time styling your hair may be because of the style you’ve chosen. It is important to understand your hair type, so you know what your hair is capable of doing. Embrace your natural hair texture, so you don’t have to spend hours manipulating your hair with styling tools. Look for hairstyles that suit what nature gave you rather than losing your sanity trying to get your hair to do what it wasn’t created to do.

With these 5 simple tips, you’ll soon be on your way to easy and effortless mane-styling. Remember to work with your hair type and avoid hairstyles that are difficult to perfect at home as they will only stress you out. Find styles and tools that suit you and always protect your hair from heat damage and excessive washing. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to keep your hair healthy.

Remember my tips for later & pin this image!

MY OUTFIT
Of course all great hair styles require a beautiful outfit and if you love my frill bardot playsuit then you'll find it at Simply Be. I love the floral pattern in blue against the black backdrop. It's the perfect throw on and look fabulous outfit for a summer evening or those afternoons in a beer garden that turn into evenings out!

I'd suggest going up a size in this particular piece as I found it to be a little snug around my tummy. I'm wearing a size 24 if that helps any of you with your sizing choices.

What are your top tips for styling your hair?