How to Use Every Type of Hair Product

 

Is there anything that can give you a quicker boost of confidence than a good hair day? When I’m having a good hair day, I feel like I’ve had a vial of liquid luck, and everything is going my way. Thankfully, you don’t have to wait for luck to strike to have a good hair day. Good hair is created with proper maintenance, the right products, and a few styling tips and tricks. Today I’m sharing how to use every type of hair product, so that you can have a good hair day each and every day!

Shampoo and Conditioner

The first step to good hair is proper maintenance, so you’ll want to choose the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair type. I’m going to be doing a full post on the best shampoos and conditioners for each hair type next week, but here’s the bottom line. I recommend having two shampoos (one gentle shampoo, one clarifying shampoo) and two conditioners (one normal conditioner, one deep conditioner) in your beauty arsenal. 

So why do you need the assortment? On normal days, your hair really isn’t that dirty, so you just want to gently cleanse and condition away excess oil, dirt, and styling products from your hair to give it a fresh start. I always opt for a moisturizing formula, and when my hair is color-treated, I aim to use sulfate-free products. If you’re looking for a high-quality and budget-friendly shampoo and conditioner combo that’s safe for color-treated hair, check out the Cibu Color Shampoo and Conditioner at Hair Cuttery.

The Cibu Color Shampoo is sulfate-free, but it still has a great and moisturizing lather. Plus, the green tea-infused formula is safe for color-treated hair and prevents color fading. The Cibu Color Conditioner is paraben-free, and it has a moisturizing formula that strengthens, detangles, and conditions your hair while sealing in your color. I’ve regularly used both products for the past three weeks, and my hair is looking and feeling great! 

If you’re not familiar with Cibu, here’s a quick overview. Their professional-quality products are developed by a collective of 10,000 hair stylists, and all of their products made in the USA. Cibu focuses on creating high-performance and color-safe hair styling products that are inspired by nature. The results is luxurious products with an affordable price tag that help you re-create your hair stylist’s work at home.

Once you have your hair product collection in place, I recommend washing your hair only as needed. I tend to wash my hair with normal shampoo and conditioner twice a week, and then I use a clarifying shampoo once a week to deep clean my scalp and remove all of the product residue that’s built up over the past week. Since clarifying shampoo can strip your color, use it with caution if you have color-treated hair. Also, be sure to always follow up a clarifying treatment with a deep conditioner to replenish the moisture in your hair and scalp!

Volumizing Hair Product

If you’re looking to pump up the volume in your roots, I recommend using two volumizing hair products: root booster spray and volumizing mousse. These products can help you achieve va-va-voom hair when used properly; however, too much product can leave your hair flat and greasy. Here’s how I use both products to achieve bouncy and voluminous hair.

Root Booster Spray

After washing and towel-drying your hair until it’s about 75% dry, take out your root booster spray and shake the bottle to distribute the contents. Next, section your hair so that you roots are exposed, and spritz the spray onto your hair with the bottle approximately 5 inches away from your scalp. Keep parting your hair in different places until the product has been evenly applied to all of your roots. The key to using the right amount of product is to keep the bottle at least 5 inches away from head and to use short and quick bursts of spray. As with all hair products, start off with less product than you need. You can always add more!

Lately, I’ve been really impressed with the Cibu High Top Root Booster spray. It sprays evenly, and the formula gives my roots an extra boost of volume without weighing down my hair. This volumizing spray features ginseng to boost volume, bamboo to strengthen hair, and the perfect amount of flexible hold to control frizz and flyaways near your roots.

Hair Mousse

Hair mousse is another great product to add volume and shine to your hair. I like to use it after applying my root booster spray while my hair is still wet. After shaking the bottle thoroughly, I recommend dispensing a golf ball-sized amount of volumizing hair mousse to your hand. Next use your fingertips to gently massage the products into your roots and then disperse the remaining product along the lengths of your hair. In addition to boosting volume, hair mousse adds a light hold that will keep your hair smooth and shiny throughout the day.

One of my favorite mousse products on the market is the Cibu Shang High Volumizing Mousse. I was first introduced to this product by my Hair Cuttery stylist last year (see how she styled my hair here), and I was thrilled to get the chance to try it out over the past few weeks. I love that the formula is alcohol-free, so you’ll see the results you want without drying out your hair. The formula features ginseng and soy protein to keep your hair looking and feeling great, and this volumizing mousse does exact what it claims. It provides extra formula with a soft finish. If you struggle with flat hair or just need a little bit of extra control for styling, definitely try to incorporate a volumizing hair mousse into your beauty routine.

Smoothing Hair Products and Heat Protectants

The key to a smooth and shiny blowout is the right combination of products. Without question, I always recommend using a heat protectant protect if you plan on using any type of heat on your hair. In addition, I like to use a smoothing cream or blow dry treatment plus a few drops of moisturizing oil to reduce frizz and smooth out split ends. The key to using this combination of products is to use the right amount of products on the right parts of your hair. Too much or misplaced product will lead to flat and greasy hair!

Smoothing Cream

While my hair is still damp, I dispense a dime-sized amount of smoothing cream onto my finger tips, and I rub the product together between my hands to warm and disperse the product evenly. Then I’ll gently run my hands through my hair from underneath my ears to the ends of my hair. A smoothing cream like the Cibu Shimmer Smoothing Cream calms frizz, resists humidity, and reduces blow dry time, so you can achieve a salon-quality blowout at home. I love that the Cibu smoothing cream also includes argan oil to nourish your hair with extra moisture!

Hair Oil

If your hair is dry and frizzy, I highly recommend incorporating a hair oil into your hair care routine. I know that applying oil to clean hair may seem counterproductive, but I promise that the right oil will make your hair look smooth, shiny, and not the least bit greasy. While your hair is still damp, apply one to two drops of hair oil to the ends of your hair. If you have any excess product, you can run it through your hair up to your ear. After blowdrying your hair, you can also add one to two additional drops to the ends of your hair if you still notice frizzy split ends. 

If you’re looking for a moisturizing hair oil, check out the Cibu Shine Squad Argan Oil Treatment from Hair Cuttery. Argan oil is my preferred choice for hair oil, and this formula adds shine and moisture to your hair while eliminating frizz and sealing the hair’s cuticle. Plus, this product can act as a heat protectant, so you can eliminate another step from your hair routine! And if you have extra product on your hands after applying it to your hair, simply rub it into your skin for a luxurious moisturizing treatment.

Shine Products

Shine products are usually to hair oil, so they can be applied the exact same way that you’d use your moisturizing hair oil. While both products are similar, shine drops usually focus more on boosting the shine and brilliance in your hair rather than adding moisturize. If you’re not sure which product to use, the Cibu Shine Squad Gloss Drops from Hair Cuttery are a great mid-point product.

The formula of the Cibu shine drops features agave to add major shine to your hair, but it also features argan oil to smooth and hydrate and rice protein to strengthen your hair. If you have fine or oily hair, I’d recommend choosing the shine drops over the argan oil. It’s slightly lighter but will produce the same effects. If your hair is more on the dry and frizzy side, choose the argan oil to give your hair an extra dose of moisture. Or do what I do and use a drop or two of each product!

Whether you’re using hair oils or shine products, remember to add product slowly. It’s always better to add too little product than too much. If your hair still needs more moisture after blow-drying, you can easily add a few more drops of product; however, if you apply too much product, you’ll have to wash your hair and start over!

Hairspray

Hairspray may seem fairly self-explanatory, but you’d be surprised that I see people misusing hairspray all the time. And more often than that, I hear people complain about how much they hate hairspray. I mean, we all know that hairspray has a bad reputation. People don’t like crispy and crunchy hair, and I don’t blame them. Despite what your may think about hairspray, I promise you that hairspray can produce amazing results if you use the right formula with the right technique. 


You’ve probably noticed a few ongoing trends in this post, but I’m going to lay them out again just to drill them into your brain. 1. Choose products with a formula that’s right for your hair type and needs. 2. Once you have the right products, you have to use them with proper technique. 3. Always, always, always apply hair products in small and gradual amounts. You can always add more product, but you can’t take it away. These three basic rules couldn’t be more important when it comes to hairspray. Apply the right hairspray in the right way, and you hair will look sleek all day long. Use the wrong product in the wrong way, and you’ll have a helmet instead of a hairstyle. 

Unless I’m headed to some sort of intense performance, I almost always use a light to medium-hold hairspray. These lighter hairsprays will help lock in your style without the stereotypical feel of hairspray, so your hard work will last for hours on end. After blowdrying my hair, I like to spray hairspray evenly over my entire head. Always hold the hairspray bottle around 5 inches from your face to distribute the product evenly and avoid creating wet spots on your hair. After a quick spritz, I’ll run my fingers through my hair to make sure that my hair dries in the intended position and doesn’t stick together. If I need extra hold or volume, I’ll continue this process until I reach the desired result.


If there are any small pieces of hair that need to be placed in a specific spot, I’ll hold them in place and spritz them directly with hairspray. As a finishing touch, I always spray a small amount of hairspray onto my fingertips and run it along my part to gently glue down any flyaway hairs or frizz. No matter what hairstyle you’re trying to accomplish, I’d recommend using less hairspray than you think you need. Trust me, a little bit can go a long way!

If you’re looking for a foolproof hairspray, I highly recommend checking out the Cibu Finista Hair Spray during your next trip to Hair Cuttery. It’s a medium hold hair spray that features a humidity-resistant and paraben-free formula that’s packed with great ingredients like argan oil and coconut oil. I’ve used it over the past three weeks for heat styling and to add extra hold to my hairstyles, and I’ve been really impressed with the results. It keeps my hair in its intended style without weighing it down or adding a crunchy residue. 
 
Now that you know how to use every type of hair product in your collection, I’m confident that you’ll be able to create beautiful hairstyles at home. It might be impossible to replicate your hair stylist’s talent with a blow dryer or curing iron, but now you know how to use hair products just like a professional. Your hair’s going to look better than ever, and you won’t have mystery hair products collecting dust in your bathroom! 

If  you’re looking for great hair styling products, definitely check out the Cibu line of products. I have been impressed with every product that I’ve tried from their collection. You can find Cibu products at Salon Cielo, Bubbles Hair Salons, select Hair Cuttery locations, and online at CibuForHair.com. If you’re not sure which products are right for your hair, I’d definitely recommend consulting a professional hair stylist. My stylist at Hair Cuttery has been extremely helpful with hair product recommendations (see my experience at Hair Cuttery here and here). 

In addition to great advice, they also offer a full range of services including cuts (see my haircut before and after), coloring (see my hair tint before and after), styling, and more at over 800 locations throughout the U.S.. You can find the closest Hair Cuttery to you here and stay up to date on Cibu’s current promotions by following them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.