Hippie Hair
Hair. The way it moves when we walk, falling about our shoulders and rolling down our backs. The way that light weaves through it in the late afternoon sun, reflecting and refracting it into life. If left to it’s own devices, hair will grow and grow……Sometimes down towards the floor, sometimes out into the cosmos.
To me, hippie hair means hair that is allowed it’s own personality. It appears alive…..Perfectly discheveled with a soft halo around it that makes it glow. Hippie hair has not been fought and beat into submission. Hippie hair has it’s own story tell and It moves through life in real time. 
It is a slow honey pour, rippling and alive. It shows it’s history in the way it bends and curls or hangs in perfect texture, separating and gathering together in the ends and daring the brush. Hippie hair is natural and wild and free.
Joni, Janis and Stevie knew about hippie hair. They were iconic women of the 60’s. They were free women, artists and feminists with great hair. Stevie’s hair was long and blonde and wild
. Joni had the classic messy braids. Janis looked like a beautiful and insane cave woman.Jimi and Robert ruled that hippie man hair scene with the messy afro and the dream-girl man curls.
Thanks to the natural hair movement and babes like the Olsen twins, Hippie hair is sweeping the beauty scene in a big way. The great news is that hippie hair is more a state of mind than an actual styling method. It means accepting your own natural hair texture, and then learning to love it. So put down your shampoo bottles and shine serum, ladies. It is time to let your hair get dirty.
Let their be frizz.
Let’s talk about the obsession with fighting frizz. Not all hair types are meant to be smooth. Frizz-fighting efforts using silicone based products and heat styling are very drying to the hair and just make the problem worse in the long term. If your hair is naturally smooth, yay for you! If your hair is curly, coarse, or frizzy you lucked out too, because your hair has more of a range of personality. It is likely more at the mercy of the weather ( Humidity! Embrace it!) There is nothing wrong with a little frizz. The hippie hair goddesses smile on frizz.
Grow hair, grow.
Wish your hair would grow longer and faster? Put down the biotin bottle and go straight to the source. Horsetail plant grows wild literally all over the place. It can be found in most apothecary and natural remedy shop. You can buy it online here.
Horsetail has the highest silica content of any plant in the north American plant kingdom. Silica is the building blocks of collagen and aids in protein building…..precisely what your hair needs to grow long, strong, and healthy. Drinking horsetail tea is a much cheaper and more effective way to get a strong dose of silica into your system. Just steep, strain and drink!
Making sure to get plenty of folic acid, iron, and B and D vitamins will also help stimulate hair growth. Juicing is great for healthy hair.
Start brushing your hair
Seem counter-intuitive to achieving that perfectly discheveled look? Here is the trick……Instead of shampooing your hair when it starts to feel oily and heavy at the scalp, bust out your brush. A boar bristle cushion brush to be exact. This is the most essential hair care tool that exists. I highly recommend investing in a Mason Pearson brush. It will be yours for life.
Once a week at least, when you normally would feel the need to reach for the suds bottle, brush your hair very thoroughly, from all angles. Take some time. Meditate on it while you do it. Honor yourself with this little time-honored self care ritual. A good brushing followed by a warm water rinse will even out your hair from root to ends…..No more greasy scalp and dry ends. Brushing is the perfect way to ‘wash’ your hair without stripping it. Make peace with your natural oils and move them through your hair.
Braids
Braids are a hippie-hair styling must.
Go for messy braids on the 3rd day to hide the fact that instead of re-washing and styling your hair this morning, you were dancing to Fleetwood Mac with your kids.
Inspire hippie hair fantasy. Wear your hair in 2 braids like Joni. It is suprisingly sexy.
At night, a loose braid will protect your hair and keep it out of the way. Wake up to soft pretty waves!
Stop shampooing
Did you know that when you shampoo your hair, you are stripping out precisely everything that your hair needs to naturally protect itself from damage and the elements? This is a major hippie-hair no-no. Try and get down to one wash a week.
Try going no-poo. I love the Apple Cider Vinegar/Baking soda method, for keeping that perfect hippie hair balance of clean but not too clean, for days on end.
When it is time for a no-poo or a wash, always protect your ends by applying an oil like coconut or avocado to them when they are dry….pre-wash.
hippie hair must have’s
Maximize your Hippie Hair with a good brush.
Get yourself some hair powder. Not the spray in kind. Go for the kind that you can sprinkle in. When your hair needs a pick me up, sprinkle your powder on your brush and brush your hair. The powder will soak up some of the oil, and add a bit of texture.
A sea-salt texture spray is a hippie-hair secret weapon. Here is the best part about it……You can make it with salt and water by mixing a tablespoon of sea salt in 8 oz or warm water. You can also bottle actual sea water and use it. If you are in the market, I love this texture spray because it combines the texturizing power of salt with the grippy-ness of Green Tea Extract and moisture and protection of Aloe.
Spray salt spray into your dry hair anytime it seems flat and needs a boost of tousled texture-y perfection. You can also spray it in your damp hair and then dry your hair in braids for massive hippie wave action.
Once you have your hippie hair methods down, you will find freedom with the wildness of your natural hair! Rock it, don’t hide it. Tell your friends about it.
