I’m really excited about this one, guys. Lauren is my longtime friend and stylist, and I’ve never met anyone more knowledgeable about hair. At just 25, she is the co-owner of a popular DC area salon, Elements McLean. She is certified in a myriad of cutting and coloring techniques and her styles have been featured in international hair magazines seen in over 30 countries. Despite the fact that she and her husband welcomed a new baby just a few weeks ago, she generously agreed to write a guest blog for me. (Because good hair can’t wait.) My name is Lauren Ramey. My father, Irving Russo, and I own an organic hair salon that is dedicated to our guests’ health, the health of their hair and the environment. I got inspired to do hair simply from watching my father my entire childhood. He has been doing hair for 51 years, and has more passion for this industry than I have ever seen anyone have for anything. He has been my mentor, critic and biggest supporter, and I am truly blessed to be able to share his passion with him every day.

One of my biggest goals as a hairstylist is to give my guests the tools they need to carry their in-salon looks over into their daily lives. Here are a few of my tips and tricks to get the job done in a fun and healthy way.

Haircut Frequency: I recommend having your hair cut/trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks. There are a few reasons for that. One is that your hair will lose its shape. Layering and styling techniques only hold up for so long, and reshaping will make styling at home easier and less stressful. The other reason is simply for health purposes. Have you ever been bored and looked at the ends of your hair to find split ends? Those split ends have a nasty habit of traveling upwards through the strands of your hair and can eventually create frizz and damage. Trimming every 6 to 8 weeks prevents that issue.

Product Ingredients To Watch Out For: These are a few ingredients to be mindful of when choosing a hair care product (or any other beauty product):

• Sulfates are lathering agents that companies add to shampoos to make them lather up like in TV commercials. They have no purpose other than to make bubbles. Look for Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate.
• Parabens are preservatives that keep products good for long periods of time. Parabens have been found in large percentages of breast cancer tissue, and can be highly carcinogenic. Look for methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben, and benzylparaben.
• Phthalates are plastics that companies add to their hair care products to make hair look shiny. They coat the hair and weigh it down, eventually leading to the desire to switch products. Without phthalates, there is no need to have three different kinds of shampoo in your shower to rotate through.
• Mineral Oil also coats hair, preventing good proteins and moisture from getting into the inner cortex of the hair to heal from the inside out.
• Gluten is the last ingredient to watch out for. Most people know about gluten as a food denomination. It is a wheat protein that can be ingested, but it is also added into products as a strengthening agent. Just as people can be sensitive to eating gluten, one can be equally affected by it topically. Gluten protein can dry out the hair and scalp and can inflame skin.

Making Your Color Last: If you buy an expensive, dry-clean only cashmere sweater and you take it home and throw it in the wash with your dirty towels, is that not a huge waste of money? Isn’t it going to ruin the fabric and color of the sweater? The same holds true for hair. Why go to a salon and pay your stylist big bucks to make your hair shiny and bright just to go home and wash your hair with shampoo that contains plastics and artificial oils? It will taint the color, make it wash out faster, and instantly take out the beautiful shine we all want to keep around. If you’re using shampoo and conditioner that enhance your color, there is no need to worry about how often you are washing.

Heat Styling Tips: Using hot tools can be a fun styling aid, but they can also be mismanaged and can create long-term damage. The biggest thing I always say when you are new to using a blow dryer, curling iron or flat iron: practice, practice, practice with the tool turned OFF first. There is no shame in getting the hang of round brushing your hair without the blow dryer on, barrel curling without heat, or running the flat iron through sans steam. Practicing will save you from scorching your hands or burning your hair to a crisp. Watch your temperatures, too. It’s easier to start cool and build up to the temperature properly, rather than cranking your tools up and not knowing whether they will be too hot.

Once you know your way around hot tools, try a few of my little tricks:

• When using the blow dryer, don’t pick up a brush until your hair is at least 80% dry. Hair does not style when wet. Round brushing your hair while sopping wet is a waste of your time, and puts more stress on the hair (and aches in your arms).
• When using the curling iron, curl each side AWAY from your face. By placing the barrel behind the section you are curling, you will curl the hair back and away. This will create a beautiful windswept look, and keep the hair from falling forward all day.
• When using a flat iron, take smaller sections to create a more consistent look and cut down on time. I use the face as a guide to section out the hair for ironing. For the first section, use the tops of your ears as a marker. Use your pointer fingers or a comb as your sectioning tool and everything below your ears gets ironed first. Clip or tie up all hair you aren’t working on. For section 2, use the outermost edges of your eyebrows. To split up sections 3 and 4, divide the remaining hair using your temples as the midpoint. Splitting up your hair into 4 sections may sound tedious and seem like it’ll take longer, but give it a try. You may be surprised how much shinier and more uniform it comes out.

Using Food Products As “Natural” Haircare: I know a lot of people swear by a good avocado masque or olive oil treatment, and that’s great. But there are a few reasons why raw food shouldn’t be used as a form of hair care. The molecules in raw foods are too large to penetrate the cortex of the hair. So when you are putting olive oil, avocado, egg, or vinegar on your hair as a treatment, it is only working on the outside.

In reality, all forms of hair renewal and healing start from the inside. While it may feel as though your hair seems healthier, it’s only temporary. Once all traces of the food rinse off, your hair will return to the state it was in before the treatment. These treatments can alter the way hair color processes at the salon as well.

Vinegar is a huge one to be mindful of. Having vinegar on your scalp before a color process can irritate the scalp and cause undesirable results in color. I’m not saying any hair care product made with food ingredients is bad, though. In these products, the ingredients are processed, making them more useful for penetrating the hair. In short, I would stick with manufactured products instead of food in the raw.

Hair Trends For 2015: Long hair is in, and controlled chaos is the name of the game. It has been a trend for the last couple of years, and it isn’t losing steam. Messy braids, boho waves, and long ponytails are walking the runways this year.

I hope I have given a little insight into keeping styling fun while maintaining the health of your hair. Remember that hair is your most permanent fashion accessory, and that there’s nothing wrong with trying something new. It can change the way others see you, and how you see yourself!