I have the kind of hair that is thick and wavy on a good day but becomes flat and greasy so quickly that I could never be one of those people who does not shampoo — I have tried. But my hair’s most confounding issue by far is static. From November until April, it is as if my hair develops its own electrical current, exacerbated by hats, coats, radiators, space heaters, the warmth of human touch, etc. I thought I had tried everything: hair oils, hair serums, using more and less conditioner, rubbing a dryer sheet on my hair, and, in one desperate moment, spraying it with Static Guard, which kind of worked but made me smell very bad. I had resigned to learn to love this static, or else go back to the pixie cut for which my bone structure is really not suited.
So when my friend offered me her old bottle of Davines OI All in One Milk for hair (she is elegantly allergic to the the milk’s rose scent), I figured why not? At worst, it would not work. I sprayed the stuff on damp post-shower hair and was shocked when this elixir — a hair milk, of all things — actually worked. I draped my hair over the hissing radiator. No static. I put on my puffer coat, rubbing my rose-milked hair all over it. No static. I stood in front of a hair dryer blowing at my head on full-blast. No static!
Apparently the milk’s secret ingredient is something from the Amazon called “roucou oil,” which has antioxidant, UV-protective, and de-frizzing qualities — whatever it is, the stuff works. And not only IS my hair static-free for the first time in years, but it also looks really nice. Not as if I have gotten a professional blowout, but somewhere closer to that than my normal look, which ranges from Jagged Little Pill-era Alanis to Jan Brady. With this, my hair looks lustrous and supple — more like a cohesive unit than someone who just had a balloon rubbed on her head.
More Strat–approved hair treatments
In our beauty writer Rio Viera-Newton’s guide to hair treatments for bleached hair, she raved about the Ouai leave-in conditioner: “After I’ve washed out whatever mask I’ve used, I spray this leave-in conditioner into my towel-dried, damp hair. It just gives my hair that one final kick of moisture and nourishment it needs to ensure it feels perfectly silky and smooth once dry.”
In the same guide, Rio also raved about this Gisou oil: “I use hair oils by keeping them by my side at all time and running one or two pumps through the ends of my hair whenever it’s feeling dry. And I’m obsessed, obsessed, obsessed with this oil. It’s super thick and honestly looks like you’re about to apply straight-up honey onto your hair, but it never makes my hair feel weird and heavy. When I apply this it feels like I am pumping life back into my strands.”
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