Brides often ask me whether they should wash their hair the day before or two days before. Somewhere along the way the advice became two days, and it is repeated so often that nobody questions it. Let me uncomplicate it.
The real answer: the day before, unless your hair gets oily fast, in which case the morning before is fine but not the morning of.
The reason for not washing the morning of is slip. Freshly clean, conditioned hair is coated and slick, and product cannot grip it. Pins slide, curls fall, and an updo built on it will not hold its shape. This is true regardless of your hair type.
The reason two days can be too long is buildup. By day two, most hair has enough oil at the root that an updo looks flat and slightly greasy by the reception. The crown absorbs it first and that is exactly the part that needs volume.
My instruction, which I send to every bride: wash the night before, condition from the ears down only, and dry it fully before bed. Sleep on silk. That gives you clean hair with just enough natural grip.
If your hair is very fine, add one thing: a light texture spray at the root the next morning before I arrive. Not mousse, not oil. Just grip.
And if it rains, or you swim, or anything else happens: wash it again and dry it. One clean wash is not the problem. Oil and product buildup is.
Want the full morning instruction list? inquire. Bride hair is $1,000 in the Bride Experience, and the full investment is online.
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