Taking Hair Care Into Your Own Hands: Real Mamas Share Their Top Tips!

Happy Sunday mamas! It's an even happier Sunday since we're smack in the middle of this long holiday weekend, which marks the start of summer (at least for those of us in the Northern hemisphere) and a more hopeful season ahead.

We don't know about you but one thing that's taken a bit of a hit while we've been in lockdown is our hair care. We've definitely been missing regularly scheduled trips to the salon and having our beloved stylists repair all the damage and split-ends we manage to collect in between visits. We can't wait to get back in those salon chairs soon, but in the meantime, these locks need some love.

So we turned to all of you, our Baby2Body mamas, to get your top tips on how you're caring for your hair right now. To make it clear, not all mamas are mavens with their hair care, so if you're struggling too you're not alone! One of our wonderful Ambassadors followed up with this when we reached out asking for top hair tips, and it had us rolling with laughter because, girl, we can relate:

"My hair is like my absolute weakest point skills wise... PS thanks though because your DM gave my husband a HUGE laugh (‘who wants hair advice from you Hahahah’) DEAD."

We love it when you keep it real with us, because we're here to keep it real with you. But we did get great advice on how some ladies are rocking second day (and 3rd, and 4th day) hairstyles, reducing breakage, embracing your natural looks, and we're sharing their top tips and go-to products!

At-Home Hair Care & Styling Tips from Real Mamas

Jessika, mama of 1, @jbyrdxsmith

"For no-fuss hairstyles, I love my Micale Lynn headbands! With my mom horns (aka baby hairs), they have been a lifesaver. My top tip right now is to keep it simple: make braids and dry shampoo your best friends.

My favorite hair product right now is AG Hair Fast Food Leave In Conditioner, and since most of us aren't heat-styling right now it's a great time to rehab your hair!"

Reandi, mama of 1, @cheerfullygrey

"My go to hairstyle is definitely my natural curls, and having an easy wakeup-wet-and work hairstyle is amazing and I only use products in the Fibre Force range from Schwarzkopf.

My secret to full and bouncy curls: always wash your hair with cold water, don’t wash out all of the conditioner, and scrunch your hair with a t-shirt to dry, don’t rub it with a towel!"

Karrie, expecting her 2nd, @karriehughes

"I love my pregnancy hair, it's so much easier to manage! I have curly hair and I mainly use Aveda smooth products for relaxing the curl and Aveda dry remedy mask for weekly treatments.

I’m really missing blowouts right now, but I'm using the lockdown as a way to not wash and ‘do’ my hair as often. I’m hoping by leaving it for longer the natural oils will benefit the shine and dryness."

Sabrina, expecting her 2nd, @svbrxna

"My go-to hairstyle is definitely leaving it loose and curly because ponytails always seem to give me headaches.

My go to hair products are: OGX Quenching Coconut Curls Hair Butter (leaves my hair smelling great and super moisturized), Mizani True Textures Refresher Milk (great for those days dry shampoo can’t even help), and Miss Jessie’s Multi Cultural Curls (great for keeping curly hair from becoming frizzy)."

Casey, mama of 1, @casey_himes

"I love Matrix Biolage Colorlast shampoo and conditioner. I follow it with Kenra Perfect Blowout cream before styling. My go-to styling (shown in the picture!) is using a 1-1/4 inch curling iron for loose curls.

To help mend split-ends and maintain healthy hair I use Truly Split End Treatment hair mask once a week which has natural ingredients such as avocado and Argan oil."

Courtney, mama of 1, @courtneyleeyogini

"For my hair care I keep it real low maintenance, especially through quarantine. I use all natural products, no parabens etc, I don’t dye my hair (yet) and have allowed a few grays to come through.

Honestly, some days I love it ('aging with grace'!) and some days I can't stop researching organic products to get this head fully blonde again! Lol. My hair is often thrown in a bun or ponytail because I just love it long!"

Sarah, mama of 1, @sarah_nahum

Sarah has some of the most envious long locks we've ever seen, so when she sent us through a whole rundown of her top tips, we couldn't resist sharing it all with you. To wrap up this round up, here's her full list of hair care tips below:

Reducing hair washing days: "From my experience (keeping in mind I do have really thick, long hair), I've gotten the best results when I wash my hair once to twice a week. Over-washing and hard water can cause your hair to become very fragile-and prone to breakage. I also make sure to brush my hair before I shower and make sure to be very gentle when drying it with a towel."

Passing on ponytails: "What most people don’t know is that using ponytails can lead to hair breakage. Tight ponytails are in style and look super sexy, but they pull on your scalp and cause tension to your hair follicles. When I need to tie up your hair, I put it in a bun and use a hair clip to hold it together."

Cutting your own hair: "Getting haircuts often is crucial for maintaining healthy, long hair. But you don't need to go to the salon all the time! I bought professional scissors (because regular scissors are usually not sharp enough and can cause hair damage) and give myself a haircut once a month. I split up my hair into sections and start trimming away the split ends. Even pre-quarantine I was keeping my professional haircuts to a limit of twice a year."

Getting the right nutrients: "To give my hair the nutrients it needs I take biotin once a day in addition to doing a hair mask once a week. Also, hair is primarily made of protein, and to make sure I'm getting enough protein to support it I have a protein shake every day. Gotta give your hair the love it deserves!" (We always recommend consulting your healthcare professional beforestarting with any supplements).

Protecting hair from heat: Lastly, I always make sure to use heat-protection spray whenever straight ironing, blow drying, or curling my hair. I have really thick hair, so after showering it takes about 12 hours to fully dry! I oftentimes don't want to spend the whole day with wet hair so I will often use a blow dryer to dry my hair, but I always, always use a heat protection spray -- which is so important!

Do you have any holy grail hair products or go to styling habits that you're loving right now? We'd love to hear them in the comments below!

For more healthy hair care tips specific to pregnancy and early motherhood, be sure to download the Baby2Body app.