The best routine...

[Fia]

...is the one that you can stick to and do.

It's so easy, especially in the beginning to want to try all the different kinds of cleansers, conditioners, deep conditioners, oiling and what else you have and see mentioned on these boards. It's so easy to go overboard and try to do all at once. And the end result is usually one of the two - 1) you burn yourself out with all the things you try to do to your hair, "so much to do, so little time" is the mantra for this one; or 2) you end up overloading your hair with all the things you want to try and end up in a mess where you can't sort out what's beneficial and what doesn't work.

Tread gently into the world of hair care and don't try to do it all in one go. Experiment cautiously and from a base that you know works, if nothing else and you don't yet have an established routine, from the base of what you do now. If you change everything at once you have no way of knowing which of your experiments turn out successful. And perhaps most important of all, don't try to cram everything into your routine, the most successful routine is the one where you can consistently do what's in it. Enough to keep your hair healthy and in good shape for future growth; minimal enough that you can stick to it even when life throws its magnitude of things at you.

[lapushka]

Yes, I experimented with not only products when I first came here, but with dye upon dye as well. It took me years to let go of that, and finally grow out. If you keep dying it impulsively one color to the next, like it was with me, it's very hard to gain length.

Important with experimenting is, one thing at a time, for a long time, if then you don't like it, move on to something else. It might be difficult at first to directly find a routine that works, but take it slowly.

Good advice, and it needs to be repeated sometimes.
:thumbsup:

[Reyesuela]

It can take a LONG time for your head to adjust to a new routine. Cutting my shampooing from daily to twice a week (once a week never worked--I get SD/dandruff then) took about 4 months. :D If I'd done a ton of stuff at once, who knows what was working and what wasn't?

Of course, now I have to wash daily to prevent scalp irritation from minoxidil buildup, but it was cool while it lasted. :P

The average woman spends something like 75 minutes doing hair and makeup every morning. My makeup routine, with a face wash and lotion and sunblock, is sub-10 min. My hair routine is 5 min in the morning, 5 min in the evening, and then while the tub is filling, plus washing time, so less than 20 min total, plus extra 5-10 min one day a week.