Hey you! I hope you’re having the best day so far. For some silly reason, you have enjoyed my control freak rituals and accepted me as one of your own so... I’m still here!! Me, your average suburban girl, striving to do the absolute most humanly possible.

As you know, I’m certainly not a shower and go kind of girl in any aspect of life (waving to my fellow Capricorns). I plan out when I’m going to wash my hair so I can plan out when I’m going to put effort into making my hair exactly the way I envision it to be. I respect people who can just “go” and still look like they have their life in order. However, I know at this point I look my best when my hair has a lot of effort behind it. I love my hair, but I love my hair more when I can manipulate its fate from humidity and pillows.

Prelude

My first first first step when my hair—which is wavy, thick, and color-treated—is out of the shower is to stay calm and make each move with intention. No towel scrunching or shaking and absolutely no brushing, just gently finger combing it into its proper place, adjusting it and convincing it that it’s meant to be here and we’re in this together.

Serum + Oils

Next, I whip up a little magic potion of lotions that will set the tone for the moisturized sleekness to come. My dream is for my hair to feel like a silky orange kitten (I imagine he is named Creamsicle) who just looks this way because my carefree spirit sends energy of sunshine from my heart all the way up to my scalp and out into the ends of my golden waves. You know what I mean? Recipe is as follows: 2 pumps Bumble and Bumble Protective Repair Fluid and 1 pump of Sisley Precious Hair Oil. The $luxe$ combo checks the three major boxes for me: nutrition, shine and moisture.

The Art of Drying

I wait until my hair is 80-90% dry in all of its weird, uneven, kinda-fluffy glory. Then, I stretch, crack my fingers and lay out my tools to begin the procedure. I use the powerful Harry Josh blow dryer and a Boars Hair brush from Christophe Robin just to smooth out my ends, pointing the nozzle down and manipulate my front pieces into bounciness. Don’t forget to do a quick cool shot at the end, it seals the deal and you can blow it down your shirt to help swerve the impending pitters.

Hot Tools

OK, I know I could stop here but my T3 curling iron is already heating up and I’m going for gold (Sienna Miller waves)!! I use the biggest barrel available and do the Anh Co Tran method, making a seemingly natural wave pattern. Very sneaky stuff. ;)

Put a bow on it!

Just kidding. My last part is to take all of that hard work and put a coat of armour that will not only make it look like none of this happened and I’m just a naturally beautiful human on the beach who didn’t just spend an hour on her hair but also keep it that way for 2-3 days. I outstretch my arm very dramatically with the Rahua Voluminous Spray in hand using my other arm to lift up random sections of my hair and mist. I love this stuff and swear it makes all of the above last at least one day longer than it would without it. Last but not least, I use a corn chip dip’s worth of the Rahua Cream Wax which gives my ends texture and is the best frizz insurance money can buy.

Done. Now I just stand back and appreciate my work and hope I run into a local celeb today. Hugs!

—Samantha Wilson

Photos via the author.