Everything I did to get my hair the longest and healthiest it's ever been

From products to treatments (plus a few very exciting updates)

Hello!

Firstly, if you were expecting this letter to be ‘dupe culture part 2’, my apologies! There have been some interesting developments on that topic that I wanted to include, so that story will be coming next week. I also had some timelier things to discuss, so here are a few very fun updates.

I’m so excited to share that The Vanity will now be landing twice-weekly! I have been so overwhelmed by the incredible response to this literal ‘vanity’ project of mine, which is why I’m so thrilled to be able to level it up a little and focus on it further as we head into 2025.

As of next week, you’ll get one letter on Tuesday (like this one, today!) that focuses on recommendations and detailed reviews, including all the best products, treatments and shopping edits. Then you’ll have another post drop later in the week on Friday, which will be either an essay on beauty or wellness with a heavy opinion lean (we know I have loads of those), our monthly On Reflection guest, or a podcast episode.

Dropping in your inbox this Friday will be our first guest in The Vanity’s monthly On Reflection series, where we take a look inside the beauty and wellness rituals of interesting people. Personally, I’ve always loved this particular type of story, and it’s been sorely lacking in recent years.

It was always my intention to bring the old school beauty questionnaire back, albeit with an updated twist. It’s a little snapshot into who someone is and what they do, via their routines – from the products that can always be found in their bathroom, to the treatments they’re actually getting results from, to the ways that they show up for themselves each day to cultivate a healthy mindset.

My first guest will come as no surprise if you know me, but when I asked a bunch of my readers who they’d most like to hear from, she was also by far the most requested. Intrigued? Make sure you’re signed up to receive the first instalment straight to your inbox this Friday.

Next on the agenda, the podcast! I’m going to introduce The Vanity’s monthly podcast, which will be hosted right here on Substack. Expect a mix of solo records, where I opine on current trends and answer your questions, and guest episodes, where I deep-dive topics across beauty and wellness with someone cool and insightful. For all of the above, I would love to know what you’d like to listen to! Let me know in the comments.

I hope that all sounds as exciting to you as it feels for me! I honestly am so grateful to you for subscribing, and I can’t wait to create even more for this community. As the result of my greater time commitment to this newsletter, I will also be turning on paid subscriptions from this week onwards.

While most of my newsletters will remain free, there will be certain pieces per month behind a full or partial paywall that are solely dedicated to paid subscribers. I am thankful for your support in allowing me to keep the majority of The Vanity free to read <3

Thank you again for being here! I was reminded this week of how beauty – even with all its complexities – can be such a joyful, communal experience. I received feedback from a reader that they had bought a pre-makeup glow serum that I had recommended, and they told me how much happiness and confidence it had brought them.

The industry at large has a lot to answer for, but to me, thoughtful critique doesn’t negate anything that makes you feel happy, polished, or indeed offers a small respite from the mounting horrors of modern life.

Love you!

KL x

---

My hair is officially the longest and healthiest it’s ever been. Here’s how I did it.

It feels like everyone I meet at the moment correctly clocks that I’m a receptive audience for their ‘healthy hair journey’. Such is the infuriating, elusive pursuit of possessing ‘good hair’, surface-level conversation often turns to the topic before proper introductions are even made.

As usual, I blame TikTok for riling us all up about haircare. The skincare obsession that peaked during the pandemic left many with a heightened Beauty Loop level at MECCA, a lowered savings account, perhaps a slightly-battered skin barrier and enough cognitive dissonance to be primed for the skinification of hair.

Short-form video on the platform saw us crowd-source personal intel on the best routines and products for flourishing lengths and fast repair, and brands were ready to swoop in with product offerings that were heavily skincare-coded; ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, peptides and niacinamide, innovations in scalp serums and masks, and repositioning haircare as a wellness practice.

In relation to the latter, my first instinct is to eye-roll – but more than any other aspect of my grooming rituals, I do notice an annoyingly significant uplift in my energy levels when my hair is looking precisely the way that I like it to. As more products entered the market and education in the category increased, we collectively considered our current habits and whether we could be affording extra real estate in our beauty routines to our hair.

My own ‘healthy hair journey’ began a little over two years ago, when I decided that I wanted it to be really, really long again. After a few years of a blunt bob, my hair had been hovering at an indecisive length just below my collarbones. I typically prefer extremes and I also have zero patience, so I got 22-inch extensions as a shortcut and began experimenting with ways to organically grow my own lengths into existence. Here’s how I did it.

THEN: March 2022, the day I dyed my hair back to brunette, when it was a little below shoulder length. NOW: November 2024, waist-length and super healthy

I completely ditched the permanent hair dye

Around this same time, I had arrived at the boring yet inevitable realisation that meets many of us in our thirties: that my natural hair colour (slightly tweaked) was actually what suited my features the most. I needed a warmer shade variation than my own ashy dark brown to keep my fair skin from throwing grey, but that could be served by a semi-permanent tinted gloss treatment.

I returned to a shade that was similar enough to my own, before adding depth and subtle warmth to the colour via a hair gloss salon treatment. Hair gloss treatments have been big on social media for a little while now, as they up the shine without compromising the health of the hair, often contain bond-building actives and they’re way more lo-fi in terms of the time and cash commitment.

(L) April 2022: Only a month later and already significantly longer. (R) October 2022, as the relics of my life as a pseudo-blonde continued to grow out

I began getting a tinted gloss every few months, which kept my hair looking fresh and polished for at least 8 weeks. A full head of foils would typically hold me caped and captive to the salon chair for upwards of five hours, forced to confront every pore under cruel lighting and charging me at least $400 for the privilege.

Now I simply booked in for a blow dry, maybe a trim and luxuriated at the basin for an extra 20-30 minutes as the gloss treatment did its thing. It costs around $80 for the treatment and I’m always relieved to be in and out in an hour – no sheepish mid-appointment pilgrimage to top up my parking – and in the weeks following, there would be no obvious fading or re-growth to disguise at the roots.

I’ve had both the Wella SHINEFINITY and O&M CLEAN.liquid services, and highly recommend both for either enhancing the colour you have with a tint, or opting for a clear gloss to add shine and hydration. My hair has been so much healthier since I made the switch. I made a Reel in February this year that shows a bit of the process.

I switched up my styling habits

An offensively bouncy barrel curl that’s piping hot off the tong used to be my kryptonite, but all that heat was doing my hair no favours. During the pandemic, I started experimenting with different air-dry techniques until eventually I landed on a minimal routine that implied far greater effort than it actually required.

I’d follow my usual wash and condition routine, spritz in a styling treatment (sometimes moisturising, like the Robe Haircare Leave-In Treatment, but usually a wave spray like Ceremonia’s Guava Beach Waves, depending on how my hair was feeling) then I’d halve it down the centre, tuck it all behind my ears and twirl the mid-lengths on each side outwards, so that the ends twisted together into a kind of wet, limp rope. Sounds weird, but when left for an hour or so it dries my fine hair into the perfect effortless wave, heat-free.

(L) December 2023: My hair has grown so much in a year, but the thickness took a hit after I decided to remove my hair extensions with pliers. (R) February 2024: After a fresh gloss and trim to cut off ratty ends that were stunting my growth! Density slowly returning after the pliers incident

Of course I could never give up the styling tools altogether, but I only used them on the days I wanted a little something extra. I’d go for my beloved Dyson Airstrait Straightener if I was in a rush (my hair is naturally straight, so a single pass is all it really takes) or the ghd Duet Blow Dry Brush. Both style with air rather than heat, which always makes my hair feel softer as a result.

I reprioritised the basics

Your hair is actually at its most fragile when it’s wet so post-shower, I stopped aggressively thrusting a brush through my soaking wet ends and instead combed it (mine is a monogrammed Officine Universelle Buly comb from Paris but this one from Crown Affair is equally chic) placed it straight into a hair towel for a solid 20 minutes, or longer if I’m feeling lazy.

The micro-fibre towel absorbs the excess water to bring the moisture levels down to ‘damp’ by the time you’re ready for styling. I use the Aquis Hair Wrap or Aquis FLIP, which you can get from MECCA, and it’s cut down my styling time significantly as the drying part is basically done. The STRAAND Woven Microfibre Hair Towel is great, or for something that’s a touch more affordable, I like the Manicare RapidDry Hair Turban.

(L) May 2024: A beautiful moment touching up my friend Grace’s makeup at her wedding, which also captured the extreme difference in my natural hair length two years later. I also hadn’t styled it; this was completely air-dried. (R) July 2024: So shiny!

I know this is going to read as embarrassingly basic, but I truly forgot how important it is to… brush one’s hair lol. I’d run a bristle through it before I left the house but I rarely thought to take it with me for intermittent detangling. Best practice is actually to brush your hair three times per day to stimulate the scalp and strengthen the hair follicles, and regularly smoothing has also meant it breaks less and yeah, looks loads better. I adore my Briogeo Vegan Boar Bristle Hair Brush, love the Lady Jayne Purse-Sized Boar Bristle Brush and I’m not above begging to get my hands on the La Bonne Brosse N.01 The Universal Brush.

I levelled up my haircare staples

I’ve called the Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub With Sea Salt my favourite beauty product of all time, and it’s no exaggeration. I would take this with me to a desert island, just so that I could experience the addictive follicular levity that my hair is afforded after each use. I use it once per week, alternating with my Robe Haircare Lengthening Shampoo and Conditioner, which in tandem have seriously reduced my shedding.

I was always sceptical about growth serums, but I began introducing them to my hair routine a year ago and noticed an immediate acceleration in length and thickness. My fave would have to be the TYPEBEA G1 Overnight Boosting Peptide Serum because not only does it actually work, it also leaves no heavy residue – so it won’t make your hair greasy and it can be applied literally whenever. I also love the VEGAMOUR Gro+ Advanced Hair Serum, a new supercharged version of the original formula that balances the scalp and promotes hair density (I have the baby hairs to prove it).

Once per week, usually after my scalp scrub, I gave my hair an extra treatment to keep it hydrated and focus on repair. The Virtue Labs Restorative Treatment Mask is my absolute favourite, as it immediately makes my hair feel stronger but also silkier – I’ve repurchased it countless times, and probably always will. Once washed out, I’d follow with the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Bond Repair Serum to reinforce any broken bonds and split ends.

See? Officially the longest and healthiest it’s ever been.

katelancaster

A post shared by @katelancaster

Are you on your healthy hair journey? Tell me what’s been working and what hasn’t.