How to Cocktail Your Styling Products for Endless Good Hair Days

Not sure how to combine shine sprays, volumizing mousses, moisturizing creams, and sculpting pomades to create a customized effect? Master the art of mixing and matchingaka cocktailingyour hair products with this easy to use guide.

To Activate Your Natural Waves

Styling cream + wave spray

Comb a lightweight styling cream like Living proof. Perfect hair Day (PhD) 5-in-1 Styling Treatment through damp hair to prevent frizz as it air dries. Spray on texture-boosting OUAI Wave Spray before your hair dries and scrunch to bring out your natural waves. Once your hair is dry, add a few more sprays of wave spray for a mermaid-worthy look that last all day.

To Boost Your Blowouts Volume

Mousse + volumizing spray

This cocktail of products provides serious volume: Mist your damp hair with Bumble and bumble. Thickening Spray, which helps plump strands and creates a foundation for your style. Add Bumble and bumble. Thickening Full Form Mousse to the roots for lift and through the lengths for hold, then blow dry.

To Resuscitate Dirty Hair

Dry shampoo + gloss

If your second day hair is a greasy mess, two products are better than one. Degrease your roots with a few sprays of dry shampoo (were addicted to amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo), then polish frizzed out ends with a glossing cream. Oribe Curl Gloss smooths flyaways and seals hairs cuticle and packs unmatched shine.

To Defuzz and Define Curls

Leave-in conditioner + twist butter

Curl patterns are like fingerprints: No two are the same. Thats why curly girls are pros at creating custom product cocktails their unique hair. One combo that works well for a wide range of textures? Leave-in conditioner for moisture, combined with gel to help ringlets hold their shape and shine. Curl Keeper by Curly Hair Solutions Leave-In Conditioner hydrates curls for softness and shine, while Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter shapes curls for a long-lasting look.

To Go Sleek, Straight, and Shiny

Heat protectant + oil

If youre a consistent user of hot tools for styling, you need a duo that protects against damage and adds major (non-greasy) shine. Prep damp hair with a heat protectant like Number 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect which adds luster and volume as it defends against your dryers heat. Before you fire up your flat iron, smooth a few drops of Nature Lab Smooth Hair Oil through the ends of your hair for natural shine.

To Hydrate Dry Coils and Curls

Co-wash + hair masque

Curly girls know: coily hair can be finicky. To keep your curls in check without stripping moisture, start by massaging a hydrating co-wash (an all-in-one cleanser and conditioner) like DevaCurl No-Poo Original Zero Lather Conditioning Cleanser into wet hair, focusing on the scalp. Follow by raking Oribe Moisture & Control Deep Treatment Masque from roots to ends, then leave on the hair for at least ten minutes. Bonus points if you hang out in your steamy bathroom while it soaks in to make it penetrate even deeper into the hair shaft.

For Perfectly Piece-y Short Hair

Pomade + hairspray

Short-haired girls can benefit from layering products, too. Use your fingertips to apply a wax-based styler like Bumble and bumble. Sumotech to tousle your ends. Finish off with a non-crunchy hairspray like amikas Fluxus Touchable Hairspray to keep your pieces in place and to protect from humidity.