I get this question all the time: RxBarbie, how do you have such perfect Disney princess hair?
Hahaha, truth is, I don’t. But I’m really good at tricking you into thinking I do because I hide a lot of the damage well in how I style my hair. There’s a lot of different things I do to maintain it and for those interested in going blonde, a word of warning - it’s a LOT of upkeep. If you’re ready to commit to it and the money it takes to maintain it, then go for it. But if it’s something you’re not sure about that you’ll actually want to keep for that long or spend time taking care of, don’t waste your time. You’ll damage your hair. I’ve committed to it for the past 10 years and truth be told, I’m still not ready to give it up!
Here are my not-so-secret hair secrets to my Rapunzel Barbie locks.
Go to a professional - If you think you can achieve this from cheap box dye, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I hope you’re happy with the garbage orange anime hair you’re able to get. You’ll end up paying more just to get it fixed. Don’t learn the hard way. Find a good stylist. Don’t just book an appointment and let them give you just anyone to do your hair. Ask who is the best at bleaching hair. Ask for photos. It’s 2019, stylists should have decent photos of their clients hair whom they’ve transformed. If not, thank u, NEXT. Also, if you have dark-black-as-my-soul Asian hair like me, know that you’re not going to get to blonde in one sitting. It took me several stylists and several processes until I found the right girl, as well as achieving my desired shade. I get a double process every time for my root touch-ups. Speaking of…
Follow your stylist’s recommendations for touch-ups - when I was in college, I was dirt poor. But I still wanted to be blonde. So I would go longer than recommended in between visits because I simply didn’t have the money. Unfortunately, my hair suffered. The longer the root grows out, the harder it is to touch up. You might get ugly ratchet gold bands in your hair this way from the two different colors not matching up because you go too long in between. I go every 4-6 weeks. I HATE seeing roots. Personally to me, roots look ratchet. Plus you can just tell between when the roots are intentional or if you’re just a cheap ass hoe. Trust me, people know.
Use the good shit - Throw out all your drug store shampoo and conditioner. Regardless of if your hair is colored or not, stop using terrible products on your hair. INVEST in the good stuff. You’ll notice a big difference. Biolage’s Colorlast shampoo and conditioner is my go-to and Matrix So Silver for getting rid of the brassiness. I’ve also recently started the Olaplex shampoo and conditioner so I rotate that with my Biolage. My hairstylist also uses Olaplex mixed into my bleach for my touch-ups. My favorite leave-in spray is also It’s a 10, which I’ve been using for years and has done wonders for my hair. They also make a hair mask, which I’m a huge fan of too and use it once a month or so to deep condition my hair. It makes my hair feel so silky and soft. If your hair feels like straw, this product is a lifesaver!
Invest in a good hair dryer and hair tools - In college I used a cheap hair dryer. When I graduated, I wanted to upgrade my tools. I bit the bullet one year and finally invested in the T3 Featherweight. It was expensive but if you love your hair, it’s worth it. I’ve had this hairdryer for 5 years and it’s still going strong as opposed to those drugstore hair dryers that crap out on you after a year and fry your hair. My T3 cuts my drying time down as well as leaves it feeling nice and soft, not frizzy or smelling like burnt hair. I don’t think they sell the specific model I own anymore because it’s well, 5 years old, but I can stand behind the brand and say it’s worth it and the product is quality. I own both the home and travel version of the Featherweight dryer and love both. They even come in different colors for the travel dryer. I can’t attest to the newer models but if it’s anything like the original, it’s just as bomb with the quality. It’s an initially expensive purchase, but over time, you’ll have invested in a quality product you don’t have to replace every year, and your hair will thank you in the long run. My curling iron isn’t anything special though. I just use the Hot Tools gold iron. I settled on this one after reading so many reviews back in college. I tried upgrading over the years to a ceramic, tourmaline, titanium, whatever, but always ended coming back to the gold iron because it holds my curls so well. I even bought a T3 curler to compare a higher end brand and ended up returning it because it didn’t hold a candle to my Hot Tools iron, which was not only more effective at creating beautiful curls but it's a cheaper tool for once. My straightener, or flat iron as some call it, is the GHD Classic. I went through a number of flat irons back in college, from Conair, to Amika to Chi, but thank god for Sephora’s return policy and customer reviews because I finally ended up settling on this one and I’ve had it for almost 5 years now, with no issues. Granted, I don’t straighten my hair often because I prefer a wavy/curly look but when I do, one pass is all I need through this iron. I also use the chase method if that helps you at all.
Use heat protectant spray - I don’t have a preference in this category, really. I’ve been using the Tresemme one forever, and I mix it up from time to time with trial sizes of other brands I get from beauty conventions. No matter what, just use a heat protectant when styling with hot hair tools. Whether blow drying, curling, straightening, whatever, just use it. My gold curling iron is the one hair tool that does the most damage since the metal isn’t coated with anything that would lessen the damage on my hair so heat protectant in this case is definitely a must.
Don’t wash your hair every day - I know it sounds gross, but look it up. The secret to having good hair is to not wash it so much. I’m not saying let it get gross and smelly - you still need to keep up proper hygiene! But don’t wash it daily. Washing your hair too much and often will strip it of its natural oils which can benefit your scalp and hair. My coworker used to think I was gross until she tried it and never in her life did she receive so many compliments on how nice her hair looked. Plus, day old hair is a lot easier to work with and hold it’s style once you set it. Freshly washed hair won’t hold up as well. This is one of my secrets to how my curls look so nice. I’ll run a curling iron through my hair a day after or so and not only does it help my hair look so much better, the polished look I tricked you into thinking I have is due to those natural oils. So instead of my hair looking “dirty,” now it looks event-ready and perfect for the day. Sometimes I get a few days out of the curls too by starting the first day I curl it with tight curls and then brushing it lightly the next day for a more wavy look. If I want to further prolong it, I’ll braid my hair before I go to bed and in the morning I’ll take out the braids and ta-da, easy cute crimped waves for the next day. If you’re still lazy, put it up in a cute messy bun, use some styling creme to smoothen out any loose bits and you’re good to go. Luckily for me, or unluckily I should say because the root of this is due to all the bleach and chemical processing, my hair is very drying so it doesn’t get very oily quick or often. Which is my other secret as to how I’m able to go so often between washes. (And yes you still have to shower. Hello shower cap!)
Vitamins - One thing I will tell you that WILL save you some money is don’t buy into the garbage Instagram models and their hair vitamins. Look closely. Half those girls are wearing wigs and extensions. And the other half already had long hair before they sold out to those overpriced vitamins. All you really need is a good multivitamin if you really want to take something for hair growth. Make sure it has biotin and B vitamins. Fish oil is good too if you’re able to stomach it. I have no issue with fish oil so I love it. But if you’re not into vitamins, eating a regular, healthy, well-balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals will also do the trick. If you eat garbage daily, well, your body will show that you eat garbage, translated into poor hair growth among other health issues.
Hair Oils - I actually benefit from the one fact that I don’t use a lot of styling products on my hair. That might be my one hair secret honestly. I don’t use hairspray AT ALL on my curls, or mousse or styling creme. When I style my hair I literally just spray it with It’s a 10 when it’s wet, blow dry it out, spray it again with heat tamer and then curl it and lightly run my fingers through it to give it some volume and go. My curls will stay for a good 2-3 days. Every morning, I’ll simply use one pump of Bumble and Bumble’s hair oil through my strands evenly, and lightly blow dry it on a lower heat setting to “wake it up” so it doesn’t look so bed-heady and my curls are revived and good to go for the day. Granted this won’t work for everyone. Some people’s curls simply won’t stay without hair spray. Healthy, virgin hair has this problem the most. But count your blessings, it means you have beautiful healthy hair! My curls stay because my hair is so badly damaged from the bleach it takes whatever shape I put into it and stays that way, kind of like the dent your hair retains when you wear it in a ponytail for too long. Blessing and a curse. Because now the only way to get rid of it is to have to wash my hair and start anew. Another oil I really like is Morrocan Oil. My hairdresser gave me a bottle of this back in college and I really liked it. It’s just more expensive for a smaller amount of it. I’m currently on the Bumble and Bumble because I was given it in a gift set and it was a big size for a sample bottle and has lasted me over a few years for a small bottle. Back in college days, when I was on a budget, I used the Aussie Smoothing Serum which I really liked too. When I run out of my Bumble and Bumble, I might switch back to that for a bit as I liked the smell it left in my hair and it does a similar job anyway to the other brands. My hair is very dry and damaged from all the bleaching it’s been through, so these oils are a big help in giving it back some life and making it look healthy and shiny.
And there, you have it. This is pretty much all I do to my hair and all the products I use. You can find most of them at Ulta, Sephora or your local beauty store. Or just Google everything online. I linked everything and the photos should be clickable as well.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I also bathe in the tears of my enemies. That’s the true secret ingredient behind my Disney princess locks!
