Bekah is a stylist at Janet + Janes Medspa + Hair Studio. She started hairstyling and esthetics because she loves to help people feel uplifted and beautiful in their own skin. In her work, she is always learning, honing her skills, and trying new things. So, she is excited to have this opportunity to share what she has learned with you!
Q: How often should I be washing my hair?
A: Washing our hair too often is a common mistake that can dry it out. The natural oils on your scalp keep your hair protected and healthy. How often you should wash your hair depends on your lifestyle and hair type. Generally, I recommend every 3rd or 4th day. But active people might need to wash more frequently.
Q: What can I do to make my hair grow faster?
A: Regular hair cuts are very important. Trimming off split ends stops them from splitting further up the shaft and allows it to grow longer. A healthy body grows healthy hair! Getting exercise, adequate rest, drinking lots of water, taking multivitamins, and eating a balanced diet with lots of omegas and fatty acids, all contribute to a healthy body and will promote hair growth.
Q: Are all hair straighteners created equally?
A: You definitely get what you pay for when it comes to hair straighteners. There are a few key things that set them apart. A quality product will have even heat all the way across the plates, and will have a governor on the heat level so you can’t easily damage your hair (if you use it at the proper heat level). Professional straighteners are also made with higher grade materials (ceramic, titanium, tourmaline, to name a few), that are less damaging to your hair.
Q: What are some common mistakes you see people making with their hair?
A: (1) Using too high of heat with your straightener/iron. If you can cook your chicken at 450° then you shouldn’t apply the same heat to your hair! Certain hair types can withstand different temperatures, so it’s important to find the setting that will do the job, without damaging your hair. Try to keep irons & blow dryers as low as you can.
(2) Using cheap products. It’s very common to see people using low end products that create a heavy build up of wax, minerals, chemicals, etc. The reason they are cheaper, is because of the amount of fillers, and low quality materials being put into them. It’s much more costly to produce a clean product with lots of active ingredients, hence the higher price, but a much higher performance as well. Bargain products feel great at first, but end up weighing down and damaging your hair in the long run.
(3) Believing everything you see on Pinterest. Most “home remedy” and DIY hair masks, colors, treatments, etc, just don’t work! We’ve all seen those videos where someone uses a bizarre concoction to transform their hair. People have tried using nearly everything in their pantry to improve their hair, and most of the time it does nothing, or it ends in disaster. I often have clients coming in needing help in undoing the damage.
Q: Does using coconut oil in your hair help keep it healthy?
As a general rule, no! Raw coconut oil is too large of a molecular size to penetrate your hair or skin. It just coats your hair making it feel soft at the time, but it stops any other nutrients from getting into your hair, damaging it in the long run. The combination of raw coconut oil and heat is especially damaging. You will see some hair products advertise coconut oil as an ingredient, but the oil is broken down so it can actually be absorbed into the hair.