20 Hair Tips That Will Make Managing Your Mane Easier

If you’re like the rest of us, you have good hair days and you have bad hair days — the difference is the latter can make managing your hair feel like a dreadful experience. 

The good news is that there are quite a few hair hacks and tips that you can add to your hair care routine to help keep your strands in shape. They’re simple to execute, but they can make a big difference in the appearance of your hair and lessen the difficulty that comes along with managing it. But luckily, there are plenty of hair tips and tricks that can make styling your hair easier, and we’re sharing them, below. 

1. Use Dry Shampoo On Fine, Oily Hair 

If you have fine hair that often gets weighed down by grease, implementing a dry shampoo into your routine can change the game. 

In between proper washes, use the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Tinted Dry Shampoo for Blonde Hair if you have light hair, and the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Tinted Dry Shampoo for Brown Hair if you have brown hair. This tinted dry shampoo formula soaks up excess oil to refresh your hair without leaving behind white residue like dry shampoos. Spraying it generously at your roots will help you prolong the time in between washing your hair. 

2. Save Conditioner for Your Ends 

Focus mainly on your lengths and ends when conditioning. Avoiding your scalp area when applying conditioner can help prevent your hair from looking greasy. The more product buildup at your roots, the greasier and more weighed down your hair will look and feel. 

3. Brush Your Hair the Right Way 

Investing in a high quality hair brush — like a boar bristle brush — can enhance the shine and smoothness of your hair. It helps to evenly and gently distribute your hair’s natural oils through the lengths of your strands. 

And, when using a brush — regardless of what kind it is — being gentle is key. That means you should start from the bottom of your hair and work your way up to carefully detangle any knots. You should also avoid brushing your hair while it’s wet because that’s when it’s most fragile.

4. Create a Fuller-Looking Ponytail

You can fake the look of a full, voluminous ponytail even when you have thin hair. The trick behind creating a fuller-looking style is to actually create two ponytails. 

Gather the hair above your ears to create a half ponytail and secure it with a hair elastic. Then, take the first ponytail you just created and flip it forward to the top of your head to move it out of the way. Create a second ponytail using the remaining bottom section of hair. Make sure to secure the second ponytail directly below the base of the first ponytail so that it’s hidden from plain sight. The two ponies should layer on top of one another and give the visual effect of a single long ponytail that's extra voluminous. 

5. Keep Your Ponytail Lifted With Bobby Pins 

It’s never a bad idea to have a few bobby pins on you at all times. Using bobby pins is one way you can help to keep your ponytail from falling flat during the day. 

After you’ve tied up your ponytail, prop it up with two to three bobby pins by sliding the bobby pins over the hair tie on the bottom part of the ponytail, placing them at a steep, diagonal angle. 

6. Tease Your Hair In Sections to Create Volume

Instead of backcombing just the top layer of your hair using a fine-toothed comb to achieve more volume, split your hair into multiple sections. Then, tease each section to pump up the volume. This will create more overall volume as well as evenly distribute the fullness throughout your hair. 

7. Use Eyeshadow to Help Make Your Hair Look Fuller 

If you have gaps in your hair — especially when it’s in a bun or ponytail — you can camouflage them with eyeshadow. Find a shade that best matches your hair color, and then using a small blending brush, use the eyeshadow to fill in your hair part to help give the illusion of fuller hair. 

A matte eyeshadow, like the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Monos Eyeshadow in Matte-Ison Avenue, will create a more natural appearance than one with a metallic finish. 

8. Star Blow Drying Your Hair At the Roots 

Contrary to popular belief, wrapping your hair around a brush and blow drying it is actually not the best way to get a professional-looking blowout. Instead, place a round brush at your roots and blow dry this area first before making your way down to your ends. Doing this ensures that you’re able to smooth the top sections of your hair to avoid flyaways. 

9. Cover Up Gray Roots At Home 

You don’t need to head to the salon every time you see a few gray hairs pop up. Try the L'Oréal Paris Magic Root Cover Up Spray next time you have a few stray grays to cover. This lightweight, quick-dry spray will help conceal gray roots without leaving behind any sticky residue. Available in multiple shades of blonde, brown, red, and black, this root cover up spray lasts one shampoo. With just a few spritzes at your roots, you’ll be able to cover gray hair in seconds. 

The L’Oréal Paris Magic Root Precision Pen is also a great option to conceal grays on-the-go. All you need to do is rotate the bottom of the concealer counter-clockwise to dispense color onto the brush. Then, lightly dab the brush onto your grays to conceal away. Allow it to dry for one minute and you’re good to go.

10. Wash Your Hair In Lukewarm Water 

Steamy showers might feel oh-so-good, but they’re really not that great for your hair (or skin, really). Very hot water can strip your hair of essential oils, making it feel dry and even stripping your hair color if you have color-treated hair. Lower the dial and opt for shampooing in lukewarm temps instead. 

11. Create Beachy Waves Without Using Heat 

You don’t need a curling iron to create beach waves. There are several ways to create heatless curls, — one of them being scrunching your hair with hair mousse to enhance your natural wave pattern. 

Apply a dollop of the L'Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle CURVE IT Elastic Curl Mousse to your hands and then massage it into damp hair starting at your roots. It works to define your curls and make sure they’re long lasting. 

12. Use a Toothbrush to Help Tame Flyaways 

This hair hack sounds strange, but it’s actually quite effective at taming flyaways. If you don’t have an edge brush, take an unused toothbrush and spray it with a little bit of hair spray, like the L'Oréal Paris Satin Extra Strong Hold, Light Hairspray Unscented. Then, use the toothbrush to gently comb back any flyaways.

13. Trade a Traditional Towel for a Microfiber Towel

It’s tempting to rough-dry your hair with your towel after shampooing and conditioning, but you may want to rethink this. Traditional cotton or terry cloth towels can cause friction and be rough on your hair leading to hair damage. Instead grab an old cotton T-shirt or a microfiber towel which will be gentler than your bath towel. Then, pat — don’t aggressively rub — your hair to soak up any excess water.

14. Sleep With a Bun 

You can create waves while you sleep by twisting your hair up into a bun before bed. Plus, the higher the bun, the more lift you can help to create at your roots. Release the bun in the AM and watch those loose waves roll down your back.

Editor’s tip: Be sure not to do this regularly as sleeping in any kind of tension style can be bad for your hair. 

15. Use Dryer Sheets to Tame Static

If you get static hair in dry weather then you know how frustrating it can be. Get rid of any unwanted static by grabbing a dryer sheet and smoothing it over your strands. In just seconds, it will help you kiss static goodbye. 

16. Use a Flatiron to Create Braid Waves 

If you’re short on time, you can give your hair that instant loose, wavy definition you crave with braid waves. Braid small sections of hair throughout your head and then use your flat iron to go over your braids. Allow your hair to cool before undoing your braids and styling your newly wavy strands.

17. Get Faux Short Hair

If you’ve had the desire to spontaneously try a short haircut, but you’re afraid of the chop, this is the hair hack for you. You can see what you’d look like with short hair before you commit by creating a faux lob or faux bob hairstyle. All you’ll need to fool people into thinking you underwent a hair transformation is some hair clips, hair ties and hair spray. 

18. Use Purple Shampoo to Keep Brass At Bay

If you have blonde hair or very light colored hair that’s starting to lean brassy — yellow or orange in tone — you don’t need to run to the salon. Instead, try using a purple shampoo, like the L'Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Brass Toning Purple Shampoo, and follow up with a purple conditioner, like the L'Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Brass Toning Purple Conditioner. The purple pigments work to counteract the unwanted warm tones in your hair, while these formulas keep the hair hydrated and smooth. 

Bonus tip: You can also enlist the power of a hair gloss, like the L'Oréal Paris Le Color Gloss One Step In-Shower Toning Gloss. It's a toning gloss that can be used in just fifteen minutes in the shower to tone the color of your hair while deeply conditioning. 

19. Give Your Hair a Temporary Color Change 

With constantly changing hair color trends, it can be difficult to commit to just one — and switching up your ‘do permanently can be pretty intimidating. Luckily, you don’t have to make a commitment, thanks to temporary hair color. 

Take your pick from the many shades in the L’Oréal Paris Colorista Hair Makeup Temporary 1-Day Hair Color Spray. Spritz your chosen hue onto your hair and enjoy the fun switch-up until your next shampoo session when it will wash out with ease. 

20. Use a Sock to Create Your Bun 

If you want to create a full-looking bun in minutes, you’ll love this easy hack. Simply take a sock, preferably one in a shade that resembles your hair color, and cut off the toe end. Roll the sock into itself until you’re left with a donut hole sock. 

To use the sock bun, put your hair into a ponytail where you want your bun to be placed. Then, pull your ponytail through the hole of your sock bun so that the sock is at the end of your ponytail. Tuck the ends of your hair into the opening of the sock and roll the sock bun, with your hair, towards the base of your ponytail. Once the sock bun is at the base, pin it into place. You’ll be left with an instantly smooth and voluminous bun.

Next: How to Master Bathrobe Curls Just in Time for Prom

Edited and photographed by: Alyssa Kaplan