Tips for Styling Long Hair
There’s nothing quite like having lusciously long hair, but there’s also no denying that it can sometimes be a pain to maintain and style. Prone to tangles, wear and tear, and breakages, long hair presents its own set of challenges that need to be overcome if you want to style your locks to perfection.
That’s where HerStyler can help. Read on as we share some of our top tips for styling long hair quickly, easily, and professionally.
Always Prep Your Hair First
Due to all of the extra length you’re dealing with, long hair can sometimes feel quite unmanageable. An unruly mane is always so much harder to style, making it important to understand how to tame and prep your hair before you even begin to think about styling it.
This starts by making sure that your hair is clean. However, it doesn’t need to be squeaky clean. If you want to avoid dry ends, then you’ll need to refrain from shampooing your hair too often. A dry shampoo may be all you need in between washes. That said, when it comes to using a conditioner, go all out. Products like the HerStyler Rosehip & Sage Conditioner will leave your hair feeling softer and smoother when you come to style it. Rich conditioners will also help to keep the dry ends of your hair feeling moisturized.
If you plan on using a heated styling tool to style your long hair, then a heat protectant is always a must. Whether you use a spray, a serum, or anything else, run the product through your locks and make sure that it coats all of your strands. This way, it will take the brunt of the heat damage emitted by your styling tools, enabling you to style your hair without leaving it feeling damaged.
Don’t yet have a go-to heat protectant? Check out HerStyler’s Marula Hair Nourishing Serum. Although it contains marula oil, it doesn’t leave the hair feeling greasy. Instead, it provides a smooth and glossy finish while keeping each strand feeling protected against heat damage.
Give Your Hair Enough Time to Air Dry
The hair keeps itself moisturized with sebum produced by the scalp. This natural oil slowly makes its way down each strand of hair, moisturizing as it goes. This means that, by the time it reaches the ends of long hair, there isn’t much of it left, if any at all – it’s highly likely that you’ll have washed your hair by now, which starts the whole cycle once again.
As you can imagine, this leaves the ends of long hair extremely susceptible to dryness. In turn, this can cause brittle and fragile strands that easily break.
As mentioned earlier, one way to overcome this is to make sure that you aren’t over-washing your hair. When you do wash your hair, you should ideally give it a good amount of time to air dry before you start blasting it with your blow dryer. This way, you won’t need to subject it to that heat for quite as long, which will prevent your strands from drying out even further.
Of course, using a professional-quality blow dryer can also help to keep the appearance of heat damage to a minimum. With its red LED technology and negative ion technology, the HerStyler LED Pro Luxe Dryer more than meets the mark if you’re trying to ensure that your long hair looks as healthy and as moisturized as possible.
Invest in the Right Styling Tools
Let’s face it – long hair can be time-consuming to style. Use the wrong styling tool, such as a mini hair straightener, and the process can seem all the more tedious.
At HerStyler, we believe that hair styling should be fun, but this can only be the case if you pick the right styling tools for the task (and hair) at hand.
When looking for a hair straightener for long hair, pick one with slightly larger plates, such as the HerStyler Colorful Seasons 8 Hot Pink. These plates measure 1.25”, whereas most other flat irons come with plates that are sized 1” or less. The larger plates will help to speed up how long it takes to straighten long hair. Even better, with an adjustable temperature control dial, ceramic plates, and infrared technology, you’ll be able to confidently straighten and style your hair without having to worry about leaving it looking damaged.
Going with a larger size isn’t quite so simple when choosing a hair curler. A larger barrel will give you larger curls, which will definitely be faster in terms of daily styling, but what happens when you want tighter spirals? That’s where the HerStyler Rose Gold Titanium 3P Curler saves the day. This curler contains three different barrels to give you the ultimate in choice and flexibility when curling your long hair. Again, you’ll have different temperatures to choose from, enabling you to adapt your styling session to your hair type.
Learn How to Safely Detangle Your Long Hair
No matter how careful you may try to be, tangles are usually inevitable at some point when you have long hair. The longer your locks, the more prone you’ll be to tangles, making it worth spending some time learning how to safely de-tangle those knots. While you may be tempted to simply tug at them with your comb, this will only lead to breakages and split ends, which you definitely want to avoid!
To start with, you’ll need a good detangling tool. Our top choice would be the HerStyler Pro Detangler Brush. It features extended, flexible bristles that will gently unravel the tangles in your hair. It also happens to be heat friendly, meaning that you can use it for styling your locks, as well as for detangling.
Now that you have the right tool, let’s move on to technique. Most importantly, never detangle dry hair. Ideally, it should be slightly damp – just enough to give it some extra lubrication but not so wet that it loses its elasticity and bounce.
Don’t start attacking random parts of your hair with your brush either. Instead, work in small, organized sections. Start at the ends of your hair, working your way upwards. This helps to cut back on the damage that can be caused when the root is pulled back too roughly. If you find that your hair starts to dry out while you’re detangling, spray on some extra water whenever you need it.
Try Out Different Hairstyles
One of the biggest advantages when it comes to having long hair is being able to experiment with so many fun hairstyles.
While that may be the case in theory, it’s also very easy to fall into a rut when it comes to styling long hair. You end up going with the same hairstyles each and every day. Unfortunately, this can end up damaging your locks. It means that you’re always placing pressure on your hair and roots in the same areas each day, which could result in breakages and hair loss.
If that wasn’t enough of a reason to motivate you to try out a few new hairstyles, here is some extra inspiration for styles that work beautifully with long hair:
Sleek and Straight
Super sleek and straight long hair never fails to look impressive. For this style, you’ll need to make sure that your hair is completely tangle-free and that you have a good straightener. The 1.25” ceramic plates on the HerStyler Pink Blossom Fusion make this flat iron ideal for straightening long locks.
Beachy Waves
Beachy waves are all about texture, meaning that they can be much faster to create than super straight locks. Depending on your hair’s natural texture and type, you won’t necessarily need to curl all of your hair – strategically placed waves may be all you need to add some beachy movement to your mane. With its tapered, dual-sized barrel, HerStyler’s Beach Curler is perfect for this. Twirl your hair around both barrels to leave it looking effortlessly wavy.
Braids
If you’re looking for something more intricate and you’ve got some time to practice, then you can never go wrong with a beautiful braid. There are so many out there, from Swedish crown braids to the waterfall braid. Some may look pretty complex, but they can be surprisingly simple to create once you understand the technique behind them. They’re also ideal for when you’re having a bad hair day, which, let’s be honest, can be a common occurrence when you have long hair.
A Side Part
You don’t need to spend hours creating a complicated braid if you’re looking for a way to transform your look – simply switching to a side part can do this too. A side part can have quite a dramatic edge to it, making it a great way to change things up if you usually rock a center part. Likewise, if side parts are already your daily go-to, either go with a center part or swap which side of your head your side part falls on.
Get Regular Trims
If you want your hair to be as easy to style as possible, then it needs to look and feel healthy. For this, you’ll need regular trims.
If you’ve spent years trying to achieve your long and lustrous locks, watching the ends get trimmed away can seem painful. However, trust us, in the long run, this is the way to go. A trim every 6-8 weeks will remove any split ends, therefore preventing further damage. It will keep your hair looking fresh and vibrant, which is so important with long hair. Plus, regular trims can also encourage hair growth – you’ll regain that lost length in no time!
Summary
If you’re new to styling long hair, the task can seem quite daunting at first. However, don’t be put off. Long hair leaves you open to trying so many exciting new styles and styling tools. You’ll be able to get creative in a way that’s impossible with shorter hair. So long as you care for your length in the right way and give your locks what they need, it won’t be long before you soon realize how enjoyable styling long hair can be!
Click here to check out more bestselling styling tools and hair care products from HerStyler.
