In order to fully embrace and incorporate a healthy hair care regimen for yourself, it is important to understand that products as well as technique are two factors that can make or break your regimen. For example, if you have great products but you improperly comb through your hair or don't know how to effectively condition your hair, your hair care regimen will not be at its optimal level. Or vice versa, if you have excellent technique but don't know how to choose the right products for your hair, your hair may be shedding and breaking in your hands even though you execute your technique beautifully. 

Here are a few tips on how to optimize both your technique as well as your hair products in order to create a healthier hair care regimen: 

Technique: There are many ways to learn proper technique. For example, you can watch YouTube videos showing the right way to shampoo/condition, trim, comb, brush, relax, color, etc. your hair. However, you need to be careful about who you watch and how you implement their technique. For example, how someone shampoos their hair may not work for you because they have a different hair texture or style that would make their technique ineffective for you. In addition, someone may simply be implementing a technique that luckily worked for them, but would most likely not work for most people who tried to do the exact same work on their own hair. Or, that person may have beautiful hair but may not have the same hair goals as you do, so their chemical treatments or how they take care of their hair may not work for you because their technique would directly interfere with your goal to make your hair thicker, longer, etc.

That said, I encourage you to consider learning how to take care of your hair by watching someone who knows how to take care of your hair and has proven their ability to do so. For example, you can go to a trusted family member, a friend, or your stylist to learn proper technique if they have already proven to you that their technique works, and it will help you reach your hair goals. While you watch their technique, ask questions and let them know that you are making changes to your hair care regimen in order to meet a particular goal. Hopefully, they will explain to you their technique and how you can implement it on your own (without needing their help or their services). While you implement their technique on your tresses, be very aware of every step you take and find ways to improve it in order to take the technique to the next level in your regimen. 

Products:  In order to determine which hair products work for you, do not fall for promotional hype. Be incredibly careful with how a product is advertised, or how someone tries to sell the product to you. If someone is financially profiting from selling or advertising a product to you, they may be more influenced by their pocket more so than selling you the right product for your hair. That said, if you are tempted to buy a particular item, don't jump on it right away. Go online and do your research on it (e.g., What have people said about the product? What chemicals are in the product? Would those chemicals interfere with certain hair goals that I currently have?). If you happen to come across too many negative reviews by others on the product, you should be a bit more hesitant to shell out your cash for such an item. If possible, purchase or get a free sample of a product before purchasing the real thing. At least that way, you're not paying the full price for an item that will just collect dust on your shelf anyway. 

Tip: If your stylist has used the product on your hair with positive results over a long period of time, you should consider inquiring about the product because 1) it is great to be consistent with the products used on your hair at the hair salon as well as at home; and 2) chances are that the product is a right fit for you. If you're not interested in always running to the salon to purchase the product, you can try to find the product online or check out other products that have a similar or better chemical composition that will work for you (but make sure you are purchasing from a legit seller who has the right to sell that product). Based on my experience, you want to avoid using drugstore shampoos and conditioners. They tend not to have high quality ingredients, and if they do, they tend to be at the bottom of the ingredients list (which means that there isn't much of that high quality ingredient in the product). 

-Written by: Cafe Belle's Healthy Hair Care Barista