Blogs
Introducing the perfect simple haircare routine
Wouldn’t it be great to have an easy to use, whenever you wanted, regardless of your hair type or routine? That’s exactly why we created the Make My Day range. Make My Day adds a little something extra to your daily hair care. Featuring our iconic sweet vanilla scent, signature milk proteins and fruit extracts, Make My Day is the perfect first step into the world of milk_shake. Simple, enjoyable at-home care. We believe that hair care should be three things: Effective. Your hair should look & feel amazing. Healthy. Not only for hair, but for people and the planet too! Enjoyable. With unique textures and delicious scents to create a memorable experience. Our latest hair care range ticks all of these boxes and makes it easy. Make my Day provides a perfect entry point to a prestige hair care line without the pretense. Designed for frequent use that benefits all hair types and textures with our iconic sweet vanilla scent, Make My Day creates a simple, enjoyable hair care experience. /Shampoo: A nourishing cleanser that is gentle enough for daily use /Conditioner: A luxurious texture that delivers just the right dose of hydration /Whipped Cream: Our original, fan-favorite formula with updated packaging Want to get started on the right foot? Make my Day also has an in-salon treatment! The Make My Day treatment is customizable to treat your hair concerns, can be performed along with color services and is the perfect addition to any cut and styling appointment.
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The best shampoos for taking care of your hair color
After you step out of the salon with a fresh new cut and color, you want it to last...right? Once you’ve spent time and money at the salon most of us want our color to stay fresh, vibrant and brass-free. Choosing the right shampoo and conditioner to care for your new hair color is mostly determined by which color service you’ve had. Let’s break it down by shade, to keep your new color healthy and beautiful. Color maintaining vs. Pigmented shampoos The hottest thing in hair color maintenance these days are pigmented shampoos. These tinted formulas have small amounts of pigment added to the formula to counteract brassy tones in hair. While they are a fantastic way to keep your color more neutral (as opposed to warm-toned) they don’t actually preserve your color. For that, you need a color maintainer shampoo. These types of shampoos are specially formulated to maintain vibrancy, hydrate and preserve the tone of your color. Our milk_shake colour maintainer shampoo & flower power colour maintainer shampoo both include integrity 41 which acts as a powerful color protector. Milk_shake pigmented shampoos: Silver shine shampoo / for light to very light cool toned blondes, gray, and white hairIcy Blond / for ultra-light, ashy blondes Cold Brunette / for dark blondes, and light to dark brunettes Best shampoo for Blondes If you are a natural or color-treated light to ultra-light blonde or you have grey or white hair, you’ll want to cleanse once per week with silver shine shampoo and conditioner. This violet pigmented shampoo works to counteract brassy undertones that commonly pop up a week or two after a blonding service, as toner begins to fade. If you have ultra-light or platinum hair you will want to keep it cool and clear with our Icy blond shampoo & conditioner. This dramatic black pigmented shampoo deposits ash tones onto the hair. This means that it will give your ultra-light hair a cool, grey tone. In between your silver shine wash days, we recommend either our moisture plus, or integrity nourishing shampoo—depending on the condition of your hair. Blonding services can be very hard on your hair’s health and it’s important to give it a little extra love afterwards Moisture plus shampoo & conditioner / for dry hair Integrity nourishing shampoo & conditioner / for very dry or damaged hair. Best shampoo for brunettes/ redheads If you are a natural or color treated brunette who tends to pull warm—cold brunette shampoo and conditioner is for you. This blue pigmented duo counteracts the orange-ish brassy tones that are commonly found in darker tones. Using cold brunette shampoo & conditioner once per week can keep your chocolate, mocha, and espresso tones clear, rich, and brass-free. In between cold brunette cleanses—or if you are a natural or color treated redhead—you will want to follow up with our colour maintainer shampoo and conditioner. Available in two formulas, this powerful duo keeps color hydrated, vibrant, and shiny. Colour maintainer shampoo & conditioner / sulfate free, with milk proteins & integrity 41 complex Flower Power colour maintainer shampoo & conditioner / vegan-friendly with soy proteins & integrity 41 complex.
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How to tell if you have hard water & what it means for your hair
Many things can impact your hair’s overall health, wellbeing, and appearance. One of the biggest culprits may even be lurking in your shower. The water you use to cleanse your hair may be doing more harm than good. Hard water contains minerals and trace metals that can do serious damage to your hair, as they build up over time. Let’s review some tell-tale signs of hard water and talk about what you can do to mitigate the effects on your hair. How to tell if you have hard water First off, let’s talk about what makes water hard vs. soft. Hard water contains trace amounts of minerals like calcium, and/or metals such as copper, lead, and iron. Both can build up on surfaces, causing discoloration. Softened water is typically run through a salt-based filtration system to help remove these elements. You will notice with soft water that your soaps make a richer lather and can take a little longer to rinse. There are a couple of easy ways to determine whether your water is considered “hard”. First, look at your sink and tub or shower drains. If you notice a ring of discoloration, it’s likely that there are elements in your water causing it. You may also notice a film or build up on your shower head or around your bath tub. This is a sign of excessive calcium build up, which can actualyl cause plumbing issues. If you notice that your hair is looking dull and your hair color less vibrant, your water could be part of the problem. While these are all signs that you could have hard water, the best way to be sure is to have your water tested. *FUN FACT: if you have a local pet shop with a fish department, they may offer free water testing. Otherwise, ask at your local hardware store. They often stock mail-in kits. ow to get rid of hard water build up on your hair There are a few solutions for treating and preventing hard water build up on your hair. The first (& easiest!) is to use a detoxifying shampoo 1-2x per week like milk_shake Deep Detox shampoo. This gentle, yet powerful cleanser removes up to 55.5% of copper and 63.% of lead from hair lengths and ends as well as product build up and excessive oils from the scalp. You can also install a water softener, or filter on your shower head, to prevent hard water from reaching your hair in the first place.
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How to find your curl type (& why it matters!)
If you’re new to embracing your natural hair texture, the amount of info out there can feel overwhelming. One really good place to start is figuring out which curl pattern you have. Your curl pattern is a great place to begin learning what your hair needs to look and feel it’s best. FUN FACT! Most people have more than one curl pattern—as if it couldn’t get MORE confusing 😅 the trick is to look at which type you have the most of and start there. Why curl pattern is important Generally, anyone who is not a Type 1 (straight hair) is considered a “curly’. Even if you have just the slightest bend in your hair, believe it or not it impacts your hair’s overall health. This is because that bend impacts how the natural oils in your scalp travel down the hair shaft. Anytime that oil meets a bend in the hair, it gets stopped in its tracks. This is why the tighter the curl pattern, the drier the hair. Folks with tighter curls have oils that are stopped higher up, meaning their hair needs a little more moisture along the lengths and ends. Type 2: Wavy Hair Type 2a: You have a loose wave that generally starts below the ears. May be straight in some places. Type 2b: Your hair may be mostly straight at the roots with a defined “S” shaped curl pattern starting at the mid lengths. Type 2c: Your waves are likely more defined and start higher up, towards the roots. You may have a mixture of curls and ringlets, with your waves. Our favorite care products for wavy hair: Curl Passion Shampoo & Conditioner & Leave-in Type 3: Curly Hair Type 3a: You likely have loose curls, with a large diameter (similar to a piece of sidewalk chalk) Type 3b: Your hair looks like classic ringlets, with a defined “s” shape and a mid-sized diameter (about the size of a marker). Type 3c: Your curls are likely very dense, and tightly coiled with a small diameter (the size of a pencil) Our favorite care products for curly hair: Curl Passion Shampoo & Conditioner, Mask & Leave-in Type 4: Coily Hair Type 4a: Your curls are likely very dense, and springy. Your hair is more than likely on the finer side. Type 4b: Your curls are tightly coiled and likely do not follow the same “s” shaped pattern of the other curl types. If you were to lay one of your curls out, it would probably look more like a “z”. Type 4c: Your curls are less defined than a 4b but have a similar shape and circumference. Our favorite care products for curly hair: Curl Passion Shampoo, Integrity Shampoo & Conditioner, Curl Passion Mask & Leave-in.
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HELP! I overused my purple shampoo!
If you have cool-toned blonde hair, chances are your stylist sent you home with silver shine to help neutralize brass. While purple shampoo can do wonders for keeping cool tones in hair, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. So, what do you do when you’ve used too much purple shampoo? Why hair turns purple First off, let’s talk about why your hair may be turning purple after using a pigmented shampoo. Here are a few reasons why this could be happening: There’s no yellow or brassiness present on the hair Using the silver shine too often Leaving it on the hair too long Using the wrong Silver Shine strength If you don’t have any underlying brassiness in your hair, there is nothing for the purple pigment to counteract—which will leave your hair looking purple. Tinted shampoo is not preventative, so feel free to use it when you see yellow tones start to appear in your hair (typically 1-2 weeks after your color service) If you are using silver shine daily, chances are you’ve got a purple tinge to your hair. Pigmented shampoos are not designed to be used frequently, so step one is to cut back on usage. Another common issue is leaving silver shine on your hair for a long time. The longer the shampoo/ conditioner stays on your hair, the more pigment is deposited. If you notice a purple cast to your hair after using silver shine, try rinsing it out a little sooner. How to fix “purple shampoo hair” The good news is silver shine pigments are temporary it last one or two washes. If you don’t want to wait that long, there are a few steps that you can take to remove the purple pigment from your hair. Shampoo with either milk_shake deep cleansing shampoo or another non-pigmented shampoo right when you notice too much purple tone in your hair. Let the shampoo sit on your hair for 3-5 mins, repeat if necessary. Follow -up the shampoo with a non-pigmented conditioner or hair treatment.
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