Katie Dunbar Hair

Coffee with Katie ☕

Monday morning. Coffee poured, laptop open, trying to get myself organized for the week…and maybe get my life together while I’m at it. 😂

Does September feel a little bit like January to anyone else?

I swear summer just started, and somehow here we are. School is back, football is in full swing, and our calendar suddenly has somewhere we need to be almost every night.

And I’m realizing I should probably get myself back into some kind of routine too.

You know…have dinner figured out before 5:00, keep track of who needs to be where, and maybe actually remember to deep condition my hair once a week. 😂

Nothing major. Just getting back to the little things that somehow disappeared over summer.

There’s something about September that feels like a little January reset.

Anyone else trying to get their life together this month? 😂

Montana summers can be a lot on our hair — sun, heat, lake days, dry air and, this year, all that August smoke.

By September you might notice your hair just feels…different. A little rougher, duller, more tangled or harder to manage.

Before buying a whole new hair routine, start simple.

Add a deep-conditioning masque once a week for a few weeks and see how your hair responds.

Sometimes your hair just needs a little moisture and consistency. 🤍

Save this one for your next wash day.

One of my favorite things about doing hair has very little to do with hair.

It’s the conversations.

Over the years I’ve heard about new jobs, weddings, babies, teenagers, vacations, aging parents, really great days and really hard ones.

Sometimes we talk for two hours.

Sometimes you sit down and say, “I don’t really feel like talking today.”

Both are completely okay.

There’s something pretty special about getting to be a small part of someone’s life every few weeks.

And I don’t take that for granted.

How often should I really wash my hair ?

I get this question a lot and let me reassure you
You are not the first person to have googled this question

Here's the truth: there isn't one magic number, and there's no medal for going the longest between washes. Between work, kids, workouts, and everything else, your schedule is already full enough without adding hair guilt to it.
How often you wash depends on your scalp — not your calendar, and definitely not what worked for your coworker or your favorite influencer.
The Bottom Line:
Listen to your scalp, not TikTok.
When it feels oily, itchy, or heavy, it's time — no more calculations required.

Random thought I keep having — August always sneaks up on me because I forget it's basically the calm before the "back to school, everything's chaos" storm.

I was thinking about my own calendar this morning and honestly, root touch-ups are one of those things that's so easy to keep pushing off... until suddenly it's October and you're squeezing it in between three other things. If you've been meaning to get in, now's honestly such a good window before everyone's schedule explodes.

Anyway, that's my unsolicited Monday thought for you ☕ hope your week starts off easy.

Are you damaging your hair while you sleep?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes, you could be damaging your hair while you sleep.

All that tossing on the pillow = friction = tangles, frizz, breakage. 😩

Don't stress, you don't need some crazy 12-step bedtime routine for your hair on top of your nightly routiune.
Just little stuff:
a smoother pillowcase
loosely tie up long hair
skip the tight elastics
don't crawl into bed soaking wet.

Basically pick ONE easy habit you'll actually stick to instead of five you'll ditch by Tuesday.

Your hair should fit your life not the other way around.

Ok has anyone else noticed their hair feeling extra dry the last couple weeks?

Between lake days, fair week dust, and this sun we've had, hair's basically been through it this month. If yours feels more like straw than usual, it's not just you — it's just been a rough season for hair around here. A good deep conditioner and pulling back on the heat styling for a bit goes a long way.

Before we even look at Pinterest...

I have one question.

**How often do you WANT to come to the salon to maintain your color?**

Not how often your roots tell you to.

How often actually fits your life?

Because your answer changes everything.

Two guests can show me the exact same inspiration picture...
..and leave with two completely different color plans.

Why?

Because beautiful hair isn't just about how it looks on day one.

It's about creating a color you'll still love six or eight weeks later.

💜 That's what I mean when I say **Hair Color That Fits Your Life.**

I don't build your color around Pinterest.

I build it around **you.**

✨ So tell me...

**If you could choose your perfect salon schedule, how often would you WANT to come in?** 💜

Had a really good convo with a guest this week that I keep thinking about.

She asked me "how do you cover gray without it looking like... gray coverage, you know?" and honestly that's such a good question because I think a lot of people assume solid coverage = good coverage. But it's actually the opposite — flat color is what makes it obvious. The blended, dimensional stuff is what makes people go "wait, is that natural?"

So what does "blended and dimensional" actually mean? Instead of painting every strand the exact same shade (which is what makes hair look like a solid helmet of color), I'll weave in a couple of tones close to your natural color — some slightly lighter, some slightly darker — so the gray blends into the mix instead of standing out against flat color. It mimics the way hair naturally grows in, with subtle variation instead of one uniform tone. That's the whole "wait, is that natural?" effect.

I cannot believe fair week is already here.

Like genuinely, where did this summer go?
Is anyone going to the rodeo this week?
What's your favorite part of fair week — the rodeo, the food, the rides, all of it?

(Also — if you're out there in all that fairground dust, do your hair a favor and throw a little leave-in conditioner or hair oil on before you go. Dust and dry air pull moisture out of your hair fast, and a braid or low pony helps keep it from turning into straw by the end of the night.)

Kalispell in August just moves at double speed, I swear.