girls using heat protectant and dry shampoo

Mom Knows Best: 8 Hair Tips and Tricks Our Editors Learned from Mom

It's true, mom really does know best!

It’s no secret, mom knows best. From boy advice to navigating school, we often find later in life our mothers tend to be right about so many things. One instance we’ve found this to be especially true in is hair.

Remember that middle school hair trend we thought was the best idea ever or endless days of flat-ironing your hair? We all know deep down many of us made these same hair faux pas that our mothers weren’t crazy about. Luckily, we’ve learned many hair tips from our mothers along the way that we still use to this day. Keep scrolling to check out our hair tips from mom.

8 Hair Tips We’ve Learned from Our Mothers

The hair tips and tricks we gather from our mothers over the years are always classic. Whether it’s advice about not going to bed with wet hair or embracing your natural hair texture, these are tips we can truly carry with us the rest of our lives.

1. Never Lay Down on Wet Hair

girl with dark brown wet hair
Don’t damage strands or your scalp healthy by laying on wet hair.

Going to bed with wet hair is something so many people do. However, our Editor-in-Chief, Milena has learned from an early age that this may not be the best way to care for your strands.

My Colombian mom has taught me many lessons and has given plenty of valuable advice about many topics, especially when it comes to hair care and hairstyles. Many of her views I’m passing down to my daughters because they work. She taught me a couple of things about laying down with wet hair, but not because of catching a cold, but because of damaging my hair and scalp,” explains Milena.
My mom believed that damp hair allows for bacteria growths on the scalp resulting in a dry, itchy, scaly scalp. She said that sleeping on wet hair damage the hair follicles, creating breakage and frizz. Therefore, I never lay on my damp hair.”

2. Mom Knows Best: Toning Makes a World of Difference

girl with ashy blonde hair
Toning is a game-changer, especially for blonde shades.

It’s so much fun to play around with new hair colors, but it’s also very important to know the importance of toning your strands too. Soe, Senior Editor at All Things Hair en Español shares how she learned this crucial tip from her mother.

So from my mom, I’d say that’s where my love for all things beauty came from. In terms of hair, she loved to dye it and experiment with different shades and tones. She taught me how something as simple as toning brassy undertones with an ashy color can do wonders!

3. Skipping Hair Washes is Actually a Good Thing

girl with curly hair using dry shampoo
Extend the time between washed with dry shampoo.

It may sound counterintuitive, but not washing your hair every day is actually healthy for your hair. I’m sure many of us wish we’d learn this from a young age like Miriam, our Deputy Editor did.

I grew up with three older sisters and I joke that sometimes it was like having four moms. Between the four of them, beauty tips and tricks were plentiful and I was given a lot of hair advice in particular. When we were in our teenage years my mom introduced us to the idea of skipping hair washes. Not only did this speed up our showers and help us save some hot water for the next sister in line, but it also helped us build healthy hair habits from a young age. Skipping washes stopped us from drying our hair out and causing unnecessary stress to our strands.

When skipping washes, we love using a dry shampoo like TRESemmé Volumizing Dry Shampoo. We love this dry shampoo because it gives your hair an instant lift while absorbing excess oil.

4. Mom Knows Best: Embrace Your Natural Hair Texture

girl with wavy lob and bangs
Embrace your natural hair texture.

Being comfortable and confident with your natural hair texture is so important. There is no reason why should feel like you have to curl, straighten, or wave your hair every single day. Luckily, Caitlin, our Associate Editor, learned this early on from her mom and could not be more thankful.

I have naturally wavy hair, so in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, I thought I had to straighten my hair every day because that’s how other kids in school styled their hair. I would be so embarrassed if I had to wear my hair wavy to school.

During these years, my mom always told me how pretty my wavy hair was and how it looked nicer on me than straight hair. She also would say that just because kids at school straightened their hair, didn’t mean I had to follow along. When I got to 10th grade, it honestly just clicked one day. What can I say? Mom knows best. Now I absolutely love my wavy hair, and hardly ever straighten my strands. I just wish I started this sooner!

5. Don’t Wear Very Tight Hairstyles

girl wearing ariana grande inspired high ponytail
Tight styles can cause more damage than you realize.

We’ve all seen those trendy tight ponytails and braids. While these may look cute, the style can do more harm than good to our strands over time. Milena, our Editor-in-Chief, learned this from a young age, which helped her maintain healthy hair throughout her life.

My mom was also against hairstyles that were too tight. She didn’t let me or my sister do high ponytails, buns, and braids because they procured premature balding (and of course, it was a no-no to sleep with those styles). I thought she was exaggerating, but as I became a beauty editor and interviewed many experts, it turned out that she was right. Tight hairstyles create early alopecia because of the tension put on the hairline. When they say mom knows best, they are hundred percent right, and my mom surely knows about hair.

6. Mom Knows Best: Deep Condition Weekly

girl applying a hair mask
Once you use a hair mask, you’ll never look back!

Many people don’t discover the importance of deep conditioning until their early adult years. However, Soe, Senior Editor at All Things Hair en Español took this important tip from her mom.

Weekly deep conditioning was her favorite. To this day, I still do a weekly hair mask, but since I’ve got premature white hair (just like her!) I add some of my hair colors to do a deep conditioning gloss/toner at home.

Nexxus Humectress Moisture Restoring Masque is one of our favorite ways to nourish our strands! We love this masque because it instantly makes your strands smoother and softer. Plus, it lasts for days after use.

7. Heat Protectant is a Must

girl spraying tresemme heat protectant in her hair
Always use a heat protectant!

If there’s any hair advice we’d give it definitely is to use a heat protectant no matter what. Miriam, our Deputy Editor was lucky enough to learn this from a young age, preventing her from accidentally damaging her tresses.

I distinctly remember a bin of hot tools on the shelf in the bathroom complete with a hairdryer, curling iron, and flat iron. In the next bin over was a collection of coordinating hair products my mother bought for us. This included a heat protectant spray to use before using any hot tools to ensure we weren’t doing any unnecessary damage to our strands. “Mom knows best” is an understatement when it comes to my mother and her beauty advice. To this day we still love taking a trip to the beauty counter together to test out products and see what’s new in the world of beauty.
One of our favorite heat protectants is TRESemmé Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray because it protects your strands without weighing them down or leaving a residue behind.

8. Don’t Use Hot Tools Every Day

girl getting her hair straightened
It doesn’t hurt to lay off the hot tools.

Daily use of hot tools is one of the most common and easiest ways to damage hair. Sure, we may like the result, but it’s also good to give your hair a break. Caitlin, our Associate Editor, discovered learned this from her mom and never looked back.

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with embracing my natural hair texture. When I was in middle school I couldn’t figure out why my hair was always so dry and frizzy after blow drying it. Since mom knows best, she taught me how the high heat from the blow dryer dries out my hair, making it frizzy and not as soft. This may seem like common sense now, but I’m so happy she taught me that when she did. To this day, I only blow dry my hair if I absolutely have to. I’m sure she saved my hair a lot of damage too.

From heat protectant to deep conditioners, mom knows best when it comes to hair care. Let us know what hair tips you have learned from your mom over the years?

 

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