Hair.by.Hanby

Tips on Tuesday 💡

You could be spending hundreds on beautiful hair and accidentally working against it every time you shower.

Super hot water strips moisture, fades color, and can leave your hair feeling rough and frizzy. A simple switch to warm water (with a quick cool rinse if you can tolerate it!) helps preserve your color, maintain shine, and keep your hair healthier between appointments.

Question for you: Are you a lava-hot shower person, or do you keep it warm? 👇

Can I ask you a genuine question?

Imagine you've been wearing your hair long for years. You sit down in your stylist's chair and say, "I'm ready. Cut it all off."

Or "I'm tired of my regular hair color and I wanna do red."

What do you hope happens next?

💇‍♀️ Grab the cape and get started?

OR

💬 Slow things down and ask a few questions before making a big change? Maybe even have your stylist tell you no.

I've heard clients say they hated that their stylist never let them try anything new. I've also met plenty of people who wish someone had talked them through a decision they regretted later.

I think the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.

The goal isn't to talk you out of your ideas—it's to make sure we're making the right decision for you.

Where do you land?
Team "I pay you to do the job" or Team "keep me sane"?

Tips on Tuesday: "I started working out more, and now I feel like I need to wash my hair every day. Is that bad?"

First of all, congratulations on working out more! 🎉

Second, no—I don't want your hair goals getting in the way of your health goals.
A lot of people hear that washing your hair every day is "bad," but the truth is that your scalp doesn't know what some influencer on TikTok said. 😅

If you're sweating heavily during workouts, your scalp may genuinely need to be cleansed more often. Sweat mixed with oil, dry shampoo, and styling products can leave your scalp feeling uncomfortable and your hair looking less than fresh.

But that doesn't mean you have to use a traditional shampoo every single day.
One of my favorite tricks is to alternate between a shampoo day and a co-wash day.
Think of a co-wash as the middle ground between shampooing and doing nothing at all. It gently cleanses away sweat and light buildup while helping maintain moisture.

Here's what that might look like:
🧴 Monday: Shampoo + Conditioner
🏋️ Tuesday: Workout + Co-Wash
🧴 Wednesday: Shampoo + Conditioner
🏋️ Thursday: Workout + Co-Wash
And so on.

My favorite options:
✨ Davines LOVE Curl Cleansing Cream — despite the name, it's not just for curly hair. It's one of my favorite gentle cleansers for clients who need a refresh between shampoo days.
✨ Kevin Murphy RE.STORE — cleanses and conditions in one step while helping keep hair from feeling stripped.

You'll still want a regular shampoo in your routine to remove heavier buildup, but a co-wash can be a great option if you're finding yourself stuck between "my scalp is sweaty" and "I don't want to overdo it."

The bottom line?
I'd much rather see you washing your hair a little more often than skipping workouts to preserve a blowout.

Healthy body. Healthy scalp. Healthy hair. We can have all three.
😉

Hey friends! 👋
I've been really bad about taking pictures lately, so I thought I'd fill the void with a few old photos and tell you a little more about me.

I started playing music in 4th grade when I learned the cello. I absolutely loved it. Before long, I added viola and upright bass to the mix.

By 7th grade, I was playing bass in jazz band when my band director asked if I'd be interested in joining regular band and learning a band instrument.
Of course I said yes.

The problem was, I had no idea what to choose.
I told him how much I loved the cello and asked what would be similar. His answer? Trombone.

He sent me home with a trombone for the weekend, and I taught myself how to play. My poor mom listened to those first few hours and finally said, "I don't think that's how it's supposed to sound." 😅
Thankfully, I figured it out.

By high school, music had completely taken over my life. I was in jazz band, symphonic band, marching band, and orchestra. When the school introduced a new percussion ensemble, I joined that too and learned xylophone.

Somewhere between freshman and sophomore year, I joined Drum & Bugle Corps, a highly competitive marching music activity, and started playing baritone.

Around that same time, my band director began campaigning for me to switch to tuba because we desperately needed one.
I was not interested.
In fact, I distinctly remember saying, "Tuba is boring. Tuba players are gross."

Turns out I was very, very wrong.
Tuba eventually became one of my favorite instruments and even helped earn me a trip to perform at Carnegie Hall. 😎

By my senior year, my schedule looked completely ridiculous:

🎺 Lead trombone in Zero Period Jazz Band
🎺 Bass trombone in Midday Jazz Band
🎶 Tuba in Symphonic Band
🎶 Sousaphone in Marching Band
🎶 Vibraphone in Percussion Ensemble
🎻 Cello in Orchestra
🎹 Secretly taking piano lessons for Jazz Choir behind my parents' backs

Apparently I never met an instrument I didn't want to try.
After high school, I earned two music performance degrees from Shoreline Community College in Seattle before heading to the University of North Texas to study music education.

The years that followed were filled w

Tips on Tuesday: Your Hair History Isn't a Dirty Little Confession

One of the most helpful things you can do before a color, lightening, or texture service is tell your stylist everything your hair has been through.

And I mean everything.

Box color? Tell me. Salon color from another stylist? Tell me. A "temporary" color from six months ago? Tell me. Henna? DEFINITELY tell me.

This isn't about judgment. I promise I'm not keeping score, and I'm certainly not here to shame anyone for coloring their hair at home. My job is simply to understand what's living inside your hair so I can give you the safest, most predictable results possible.

Hair has a long memory.
That dark color you applied a year ago may still be affecting how your hair lightens today. Even if your hair looks blonde now, there could be underlying color history that changes how it reacts to bleach, color removers, or corrective work.

And henna? That's the big one. Henna can react unpredictably with professional color and lightener, making it one of the most important things for your stylist to know about.

The same goes for texture services. If you've had your hair lightened in the past, even if it feels healthy, a perm may not be the best option. Previously lightened hair is often more fragile and can struggle to handle another chemical process.

The more I know, the better I can:
✨ Protect the integrity of your hair ✨ Set realistic expectations ✨ Create a plan that gets you where you want to go safely ✨ Avoid unwanted surprises

So if you're sitting in my chair wondering whether to mention that box dye from last fall... mention it.
I promise I'd rather know your hair history than have to solve a mystery. 🕵️‍♀️💇‍♀️

The secret to great hair isn't a makeover. It's maintenance.

I post a lot of vivid colors, major transformations, and dramatic before-and-afters, but honestly? A lot of my days are filled with good old-fashioned gray coverage and haircuts.

Add in some unlicensed therapy, a lot of laughter, and solving the world's problems one appointment at a time. 😅

So here's some "boring" hair... except there's really no such thing. Fresh color, healthy hair, and leaving feeling like yourself again is its own kind of transformation. ✨