16 Easy Ways to Soften Your Hair for Smooth, Silky Strands

Few things can feel as powerful as that moment you step out of the salon with bouncy, shiny, silky soft hair. You know the feeling, right? Even though it can feel impossible to DIY professional-looking hairstyles, it’s certainly possible to soften your hair at home with a few expert-recommended tricks.

Celebrity hairstylist and Moroccanoil ambassador, Tatiana Dudley, says that things such as medication, illness, age, and/or water intake can affect your overall health and lead you to softer (or less soft) hair. 

Furthermore, we know that hair damage plays a major factor in determining the softness of our hair. After all, we’ve all seen what hot tools and hair dye can do to our strands. Fear not, in most cases, there are ways to revive brittle, wiry hair. Dudley recommends her PMH treatment protocol, which stands for “protein, moisture, hydration”—referring to the types of products and the formula that she uses.

Apart from that sleeping on satin pillowcases and taking supplements to using a deep conditioner and a high-quality hairbrush, keep scrolling for their tips.

MEET THE EXPERT

• Tatiana Dudley is a Texas-based celebrity hairstylist and Moroccanoil Ambassador.
• Holly Dear is a hair artist, trichologist, and owner of House of Dear and House of Dear Salon in Dallas, Texas.
• George Kyriakos is a New York-based celebrity hairstylist with more than 20 years of experience. He is also the founder and creator of stylebookings.com.

01of 16

Maintain a Healthy pH Balance

According to Dudley, for your hair to achieve its best results it is important to use porosity equalizers to maintain a healthy pH balance. “The healthy pH balance for hair is a range from 3.6-5.5,” explains Dear. “If hair gets to a more alkali level or uses products with alkali ingredients, that will cause the hair follicles to expand and release needed moisture. This affects the moisture and shine, making the hair brittle and dull, so products that are pH-balanced for the hair are a must.”

She recommends House of Dear’s Wash and Rinse ($38) on a daily basis for its gentle-cleansing, strengthening, and hydrating properties and maintaining a healthy ph balance.

02of 16

Use the Right Shampoo and Conditioner

The amount of times you wash your hair—with the right products—is also key. “Don’t over wash your hair—try to go two to three days of not using shampoo between washes,” says Kyriakos. “You can rinse your hair every day and use conditioners but over-shampooing can dry out your hair and scalp. Natural oils help the shine and condition of your hair.” For a great shine, he recommends Fekkai’s Brilliant Shine Shampoo ($25) and Conditioner ($25).

If you haven’t used a clarifying shampoo in a while, it may be time to. This will help you to rid your hair of all the product buildup and impurities that it collects on the day-to-day. Because these kinds of shampoos strip the hair, limit your use to just once a week or when you feel like you need a really deep clean.¹

03 of 16

Remove Moisture from Hair Before Blow-Drying

Once you’ve stepped out of the shower and applied your skincare regimen, it’s time to focus on your hair. Kyriakos emphasizes the importance of towel-drying your hair as best as possible to remove as much moisture as you can. We love microfiber towels as they keep frizz at bay and don’t rough up the cuticle when towel-drying.

04 of 16

Choose a Good Hair Brush

Instead of ripping a hairbrush through tangles and knots with reckless abandon post-shower, take a cue from your stylist. After you’ve squeezed out most of the water with your micro-fiber towel, gently work your way from the ends of your hair to the roots while brushing. We recommend a detangling brush or a wide-tooth comb. The more gentle you are when combing and brushing your hair after washing it, the less breakage and frizz you’ll create, and the smoother and softer your hair will feel. 

When hair is dry and ready to be styled, Kyriakos recommends a boar bristle brush with a metal barrel. “When the barrel heats up, it acts like a curling iron or flat iron smoothing the hair as you blow it dry,” he says. “Using a boar bristle brush helps promote healthy hair growth by massaging the scalp, increasing blood flow, and unclogging the hair follicles,” adds Dear.

05 of 16

Use Hair Serums

Shampoo and conditioner are very important, but you also need to pay close attention to the styling products you use when trying to achieve soft, shiny hair. Of course, everyone’s hair needs a different product combination, but a great place to start is with three main products: hair oil, frizz-reducing/smoothing serum, and blow-dry spray. Use them all, or stick with just one, depending on what your hair needs. 

Hair oil is a bit of a miracle worker as it’s able to hydrate, soften, detangle, reduce frizz, and tame unruly hair. Apply it after towel drying and before brushing or using any other product. Concentrate it primarily on the ends of your hair, using a very small amount in the mid-shaft area and toward the scalp. If your hair has a tendency to get oily or greasy, be sure to keep the product away from your roots.

Even if your hair isn’t terribly frizzy or unruly, a smoothing serum, such as Living Proof’s Smooth Styling Serum ($36), can make all the difference in your blowout. Apply your smoothing serum on freshly combed, slightly air-dried hair. To do so, rub the product between the palms of your hands and work it through your hair with your fingertips. Comb through to make sure the product is evenly distributed.​

06 of 16

Deep Condition Frequently

Between heat styling, hair coloring, and other external factors, many of us put our hair through the ringer. That’s why it’s so important to incorporate a deep conditioner into your routine to keep strands strong and healthy. “Doing it two to three times per month helps maintain a healthy balance of moisture,” says Dudley. She recommends Moroccanoil’s Intense Hydrating Mask ($42) as it acts quickly as in: it only needs five to seven minutes to work.

07of 16

Use Products Based on Your Hair Texture

Dear highly recommends using proper products for your hair texture to help you achieve your desired results. “For curly or textured hair, moisture is the key to healthy-looking curls,” says Kyriakos, who recommends Eva NYC’s Gotta Bounce Curl Cream ($16) thanks to aloe leaf and cactus flower, which help to hydrate hair.

08 of 16

Invest in Quality Styling Tools

Getting a great salon-perfect blowout is a combination of skill, great products, and using the right tools. Whether you prefer to wear your hair curly or straight, invest in a professional quality hair dryer (with a diffuser attachment for curls) for the times when you heat style your hair.

Dear prefers the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer ($429.99) as it’s “engineered to protect the hair from extreme heat damage and help increase smoothness, increase shine, and decrease frizz and flyaways.”

09 of 16

Blow-Dry Hair in the Right Direction

Once your hair is about 50-80% air dried is the sweet spot of when you should start blow drying. And when you do blow dry, try to angle the blow dryer in a downward motion, says Kyriakos. “You want the air to flow downward so that the hot air smooths the hair shaft.”

10 of 16

Consider Taking Supplements

In addition to incorporating a healthy dose of vitamin C into your diet– which promotes the overall health of your hair and skin– Kyriakos recommends the supplement Nutrafol ($88). “It helps your hair from the inside out,” he says of the supplement which aids in stronger, thicker hair and reduces thinning.

11 of 16

Sleep on a Silk Pillowcase

The fibers on traditional pillowcases can cause micro-tears in your hair, which in turn can create dryness, frizz, and a slightly rougher texture. To help maintain softness, opt for a silk or satin pillowcase which can help prevent any abrasion.

12 of 16

Alternatively, Use a Silk Bonnet

Keep hair tucked away and out of your face while you sleep with a silk bonnet. Plus, if you have a hairstyle you’d like to extend, this will help to elongate its life.

13 of 16

Don’t Over-Process Your Hair

According to Kyriakos, if you color or highlight your hair, do-not over process it. “Talk to your colorist about reducing the frequency of your visits,” he says. If your hair needs to be stripped of buildup and residue, try Fekkai’s Apple Cider Detox Rinse ($28), a favorite of Kyriakos’s.

14 of 16

Use Heat Protectant

If you think that cranking your flat iron up to the highest heat will make your hair straighter, think again. Use the medium settings on your hot tools and curling irons along with a heat protectant ahead of styling. “Use a hair primer or heat protector on damp hair before blowing out. I really like Kérastase products — they are a bit expensive but you can use less of the product because it’s so concentrated,” says Kyriakos. “The Résistance Ciment Thermique Blow Dry Primer ($45) and Genesis Défense Thermique Blow Dry Primer ($46) are my two favorite products for prepping the hair.”

15 of 16

Complete the Look

Once you’re happy with your blow-out, finish the hair with an oil for extra shine. We suggest applying a few drops of the Squigs Gooseberry Delight Hair Oil ($34) into the palms of your hands and smoothing it over the top layer of your hair.

16 of 16

Drink Plenty of Water

As simple as this sounds, Dudley says this is a non-negotiable for super-soft hair. “It’s a factor that’s often overlooked, but it plays a big role in the hydration and softness of the hair,” she explains.

HydraFacial Keravive Is Like a Facial for Your Scalp

Many of our daily habits—like using styling products, skipping washes in favor of dry shampoo, and even the water we use to wash our hair—can contribute to buildup on the hair and scalp. Scalp buildup can leave hair feeling at once dry and greasy, trapping natural oils at the roots and preventing necessary hydration from nourishing your strands.

One treatment that aims to target this problem is HydraFacial Keravive, a three-step scalp facial designed to deeply cleanse and hydrate your scalp, ultimately creating the optimal environment for new hair growth.

A hydrated, deeply-cleansed, healthy scalp sounds like a dream come true. But are the claims supported by experts? To understand the truth behind the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment, we turned to dermatologists Michele S. Green, MD, and Ava Shamban, MD. Below, we break down everything you need to know about the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment.

On the other hand; What Is the HydraFacial Keravive Scalp Treatment?

The HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment is a three-step protocol that combines modalities that work in tandem for scalp health and benefits to create a more optimal follicular environment for hair growth, says Shamban. It utilizes the same vortex technology as the HydraFacial facial treatment, making it ideal for those looking for a deeper cleanse and added hydration, explains Shamban: “It is literally a facial for the scalp.”

“Often we forget that the scalp is a part of our skin and requires the right skincare to help maintain hair growth and proper scalp health,” shares Green. Shamban agrees, adding that our dermis does not stop the hairline: The scalp skin is thicker, more sebaceous, and has hundreds of thousands more pores and follicles, but it is part of the skin organ shared over the entire body.

“HydraFacial Keravive cleanses and exfoliates, lifting off debris, dead skin cells, product build-up, and plenty of [accumulated] environmental sludge,” explains Shamban. “Then, [it] infuses a proprietary blend of growth factors and antioxidants that simultaneously hydrate, nourish, and stimulate the scalp while hydrating the follicles.”

Benefits of a HydraFacial Keravive Scalp Treatment

• Hydrates the scalp
• Clears clogged hair follicles
• Removes dead skin buildup and scalp congestion
• Boosts circulation in and around the scalp
• Reduces dryness, itching, flaking, and inflammation
•  Creates a more optimal follicular environment for hair growth

The HydraFacial Keravive treatment is designed to address myriad scalp issues, including “general and more intensive scalp care and conditions,” explains Shamban. These general concerns include low scalp hydration, clogged hair follicles, dead skin buildup or scalp congestion, poor circulation in and around the scalp, dryness, itching, flaking, and inflammation, she tells us. It can also provide a boost to generally dull, dehydrated hair that lacks density and luster. More intensive scalp conditions that can benefit from the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment are general atopic dermatitis and eczema, according to Shamban.

Does the HydraFacial Keravive Scalp Treatment Help Hair Grow?

The HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment is not itself responsible for hair growth. “It does not regrow hair or reverse genetic or hormonal pattern losses per se, but it will create [a better] environment for hair, clean the playing field for growth, and support our strands of keratin protein to look healthy and lush,” says Shamban.

Green explains that the HydraFacial Keravive Peptide Complex Solution delivers nourishing ingredients with growth factors and skin proteins to promote a healthier scalp and fuller-looking hair. “From a healthier scalp grows healthier hair,” adds Shamban. “When the scalp is well hydrated and nourished and is free of debris, sebum, and the buildup that prevents ideal oxygenation and circulation to the follicles, we find the best conditions for our most optimal hair growth.” She adds that because it cleanses the scalp, it also works well as a precursor or supplement to PRP/PRF exosome therapies or topicals like minoxidil, as it helps to clear the field for better absorption.

How to Prepare for a HydraFacial Keravive Scalp Treatment

HydraFacial Keravive for the scalp is a quick in-office treatment, making it a perfect “lunchtime” procedure, explains Green. Little to no preparation is required before the treatment. “For best results, we counsel patients to come to the treatment with clean, dry hair free of any styling products,” says Shamban. “They can wash [their hair] the day before the treatment and do not necessarily need to wash day of, as long as no styling products are added.”

What to Expect During a HydraFacial Keravive Scalp Treatment

In general, the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment is quick (usually about 30 minutes) and painless. Green calls it “a relaxing facial for the scalp” and says you will feel a gentle suction from the vortex technology and a mild cooling sensation as the solutions are administered during the treatment.

The treatment itself is very similar to the HydraFacial for the face. Shamban says the practitioner takes a small hand applicator (similar to a vacuum) and works in small sections. “They move the wand over the hairline in a rhythmic method, allowing their vortex technology to extract the debris, impurities, and dirt, which is suctioned into a depository, while the device uses a methodology to deliver a peptide complex infusion to the dermis,” explains Shamban.

Green shared the three steps of the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment:

• Step 1: Cleanse & Exfoliate: This is where the unique HydraFacial vortex technology extracts dirt, oil, dead skin cells, and other impurities to clean the scalp and hair follicles while stimulating scalp circulation. Green says that by stimulating circulation, essential nutrients and oxygen are efficiently delivered to the scalp to maintain scalp and follicle health.
• Step 2: Stimulate & Nourish: Next, the HydraFacial Keravive peptide complex solution is delivered to the scalp. This contains a proprietary blend of growth factors and skin proteins that hydrate hair follicles and improve the appearance and health of a dry scalp and dull hair.
• Step 3: Extend & Enhance: The third and final step is actually done post-visit as an at-home treatment. “The results of the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment are optimized through continued at-home care,” explains Green. Patients use the HydraFacial Keravive peptide complex spray for daily stimulation. She recommends continuous use of this take-home spray for three to four weeks post-treatment, as daily use will enhance the success of the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment.

Potential Side Effects

There are few to no potential negative side effects from a HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment. “Generally, there are none,” says Shamban. “It can work for almost all types of hair and skin.” Green agrees, adding that it is a very safe and non-invasive treatment with minimal side effects. “Rarely, some patients may have some minor itching or redness which resolves without treatment,” she says.

The Cost

In general, you can expect the treatment to cost between $500-$750 (not including the cost of the at-home spray to use after the treatment).

Both experts explain that the cost of a single HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment can vary depending on several factors, including where you live and where you get the treatment, such as a medspa versus a dermatologist’s office.

Aftercare

Your hair should be allowed to dry naturally following the HydraFacial Keravive treatment, and Green says it is best to wait six to twelve hours before washing your hair. Patients should use the HydraFacial Keravive take-home spray daily beginning the day after treatment, says Shamban. “Simply apply one to two sprays per area of concern daily, putting the spray nozzle less than an inch to the scalp before bed. Massage the solution for 30-60 seconds with fingertips,” she explains.

Shamban says that using the take-home spray regularly will extend the benefits of the treatment and maintain the health of the scalp. “A slightly different blend from the in-office treatment, the home care will normalize pH, protect the barrier, provide ongoing scalp cellular turnover and soothe any inflammation or irritation,” she says. “Additional or extended scalp massage for added circulation is excellent, which you can do yourself or ask a partner—just five minutes with the serum or alone.”

According to Shamban and Green, patients looking to optimize the benefits of the treatment should aim to have it done once a month for three months, using the at-home spray between.

The Final Takeaway

The HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment is a low-risk and minimally invasive scalp treatment that has many benefits to the health of your scalp and hair. While it does not directly influence hair growth, the HydraFacial Keravive scalp treatment can help to promote new growth by creating an optimal environment for follicles and improving the appearance of existing hair.