When Kate Middleton walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey last April -- with her lustrous chestnut brown hair in loose, elegant curls -- brides-to-be everywhere put down their bobby pins. Her stylist, James Pryce, described the style as “romantic waves,” and said the Duchess had chosen the look because she wanted to “feel like herself” when she married Prince William.

Today, long and loose styles are the most popular look for brides, says Eli Mancha of Chicago’s Bang! Salon, named Hairstylist of the Year at the 2011 North American Hairstyling Awards.

The key to making cascading hair work on your own wedding day isn’t a diamond tiara but shiny, healthy tresses. We asked Mancha for advice on how to get your long hair ready for the big day.

Avoid a Pre-wedding-day Split
Even though you’ll be growing your hair or keeping its length in the months leading up to your wedding, you still want to maintain the ends to prevent splitting. “A trim is necessary at least once every three months to keep the ends fresh,” says Mancha. You might also want to invest in a silk or satin pillowcase to prevent breakage. “The ends of long hair can be very fragile, especially if your hair is fine or color-treated,” says Mancha, “and it can catch on the cotton fibers of traditional pillowcases.”

Rehearse Your Color
Start coloring your hair six months in advance so you’ll have time for at least two touch-ups, and any necessary fine-tuning before the big day. Schedule your final color appointment for a week before your wedding, “so it looks fresh and shiny but more natural than freshly colored hair,” says Mancha. You might also consider a gloss or cellophane treatment. “For blondes, a gloss will tone out any brassiness,” he says, “and it will add richness to darker shades. It also acts as a topcoat, smoothing down all your ends, producing incredible shine and locking in the color so it won’t fade during your honeymoon.”

Find Your Perfect Product Match
Choose the shampoo and conditioner that’s designed for your hair texture: curly, straight, fine or thick. You might also consider products specially formulated for long hair, which has been exposed to more washes, styling and environmental damage than short hair. Wash your hair every other day, applying shampoo to the roots, but only put shampoo on the ends about once a week. Using a leave-in conditioner after your final rinse will provide the extra moisture your thirsty ends need.

Final Prep
“I usually tell my brides to wash their hair the night before the wedding,” says Mancha. “Sleeping on the hair gives a little bit of natural body. What’s more, freshly washed hair is very slippery and won’t hold a style as well. If you are going to have any curl or wave added to your hair, I recommend you or your stylist use a flat iron to create the curls. Not only are flat iron curls more modern and natural-looking, I find that they last longer. You get a slightly more squared curl, which defies gravity better than a curl created by a round surface.”

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/anneleven

If you love the look of your hair when it’s shiny, glossy and straight, you might be saving up for an in-salon keratin straightening treatment, or tried one already. At a cost of $200 to $500, these treatments promise to turn even the frizziest, most unruly manes into manageable sleek locks, with results that last for months.

But recent headlines have warned of the hazards of these treatments. It turns out that formaldehyde fumes from the smoothing ingredients, which are sealed into the hair with a flatiron, can cause lung, eye and skin irritation. This is true, government investigations found, even of treatments that are advertised as being formaldehyde-free. That’s led some stylists to don gas masks while providing smoothing treatments and to offer masks to their clients as well.

OK, so this news might hit you like the blow of learning that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren’t real. But don’t despair. Some simple shower-to-sidewalk steps will help you achieve smooth, shiny hair -- without putting your health at risk.

1. Pick the right shampoo and conditioner. Sun, heat-styling, chlorinated water and chemical styling processes leach protein from hair and make curly hair especially difficult to manage or style straight, says Lindsey Watts, an educator for Empire Beauty Schools. Shampoos and conditioners that are protein-enhanced temporarily smooth the outer portion of the hair fiber, making strands glossier and more manageable, says Dr. Jeni Thomas, a senior scientist with Pantene’s research and development team. Look for products that are labeled acid- or pH-balanced; many contain hydrolyzed keratin.

2. Be gentle with wet hair. Curly hair is especially fragile when it’s wet, so blot -- don’t scrub -- hair with a towel to dry. Keep in mind that those super-plush towels that feel so good against your wet skin aren’t the best choice for blotting your hair. The makers of CURL-ease, a completely flat towel, point out that strands of hair can get caught in the loops of regular terry towels, leading to frizz. You might want to invest in a towel designed for drying hair. Some are made of microfibers that whisk water away quickly, cutting drying time.

4. Detangle with care. Use a wide-tooth comb to gently separate curls. Finer hair may require a leave-in conditioner or detangling product, while thicker smoothing creams and straightening lotions often work best on coarser, curlier hair, says Domingo Serquinia, co-owner of the Paint Shop Beverly Hills salon in Los Angeles.

5. Practice healthy heat habits. To minimize heat damage, coat locks with a thermal protection product, allow to partially air-dry, then blow hair completely dry. Be patient; use clips to divide your hair into several sections and then place a round boar-bristle brush under a 3-inch section of hair. Attach a condenser nozzle to your dryer and hold so the airflow aims downward to smooth, not ruffle, the cuticle. Before releasing the brush, hit the “Cool” button on your dryer. “Letting the dried hair cool while it’s still held tightly in the brush will help set the smooth, shiny style in place,” says Thomas.

6. Add a spritz of shine. Spray your hairbrush or your palms with a shine spray and run it lightly through your hair. If you apply the spray directly to your hair, you’ll likely get too much product on your locks, and that extra moisture could lead to frizz.

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/anouchka

Some women are blessed with hair that goes from wet to wonderful without any help at all. For the rest of us, only professional intervention seems to tame our manes. The good news: With practice, patience and some expert instruction, it’s easy to recreate a professional-looking blowout at home.

Here is a step-by-step guide to getting sleek, polished tresses on your own.  

1. Gather the right tools You’ll need a wide-tooth comb; a hand mirror; styling products; a blow-dryer with a nozzle; a round, ventilated bristle brush; and six hinged hair clips.

2. Gently blot hair with a towel Vigorous rubbing can create frizz and tangles.

3. Apply styling product Steve Lococo, who teaches blow-drying classes at his Borelli salon in Beverly Hills, Calif., suggests using a leave-in volumizing or lifting spray on the roots to give lift to limp hair. If your hair is wavy or medium-bodied, also apply an anti-frizz serum or other anti-humectant product from roots to ends. 

4. Blow out the excess moisture until hair is about 80 percent dry Concentrate heat at the roots and don’t try to control individual strands. If your hair tends to become limp or flat, add volume by bending over while drying. 

5. Section the front Lococo suggests beginning with an arch that spans the top of your head, running from ear to ear. Part that hair horizontally, creating two sections. Coil each section into a rope and secure with a hair clip.

6. Section the back Working from top to bottom, draw three horizontal parts across the back of your head from ear to ear; coil and secure all but the bottom section.

7. Wrap hair around a round brush As you wrap, pull hair at a taut 45-degree angle to your head and finish drying your hair completely. Begin with the loose bottom section in the back and continue working from back to front. Point the blow-dryer nozzle at an angle to aim air across the surface of strands and into the brush.

8. Subdivide the tough sections In areas where hair is thick or especially wavy, separate the larger sections into smaller ones that will dry faster and be easier to handle.

9. Check your work in a hand mirror Look for still-damp or unruly strands. Repeat the drying process, allowing hair to set by cooling momentarily on the brush before unwinding.  

Advanced Tips

• Use a natural bristle brush, suggests John Doucette, director of student salons for Empire Beauty Schools. The gentle boar bristles prevent hair damage and help smooth the cuticle, a process that enhances shine.

• If you make your part on the side, dry it with your hair parted in the center, suggests Muriel Mastey, who leads Hair Bootcamp classes at her West Hollywood, Calif., salon, Point de Vue. The switch helps keep hair from falling flat.

• Keep the nozzle at least an inch away from the hair to avoid heat damage.

• Use your hair dryer’s “cool shot” feature to finish each piece with a blast of cooler air and “set” the curl.

• Unwinding the hair with a twist of the brush instead of pulling it out straight results in smoother, shinier hair with a bit of wave.

• To help your blowout last longer, Mastey suggests using a root lifter or amplifier at the start of the blow-drying process. The product can help lift hair slightly from the scalp, where body heat and perspiration may flatten it or add frizz.

• If you’ve achieved that straight-smooth look, a light mist of hair spray can help prolong the shiny perfection of your blowout. But be warned, if there’s any frizz in your hair, hair spray will preserve that too.

Whether you’re wearing your hair loose and tousled, sleek and smooth or in an updo, nothing ruins the look of your hairstyle like split ends. It’s the equivalent of donning a gorgeous designer dress with a hem that’s unraveling.

The Science of Split Ends
Split ends are the result of hair that’s been pushed -- literally -- to its breaking point. Hot styling tools, excessive friction, chemical processes like coloring or straightening, all weaken the protective cuticle that surrounds the delicate hair fiber. When enough stress is put on the cuticle, it loses its grip on the inner fiber and the ends fray into two or more strands.

If you have thick hair, you’re especially likely to suffer those roughed-up ends. That’s because, as researchers have discovered, the structure of thick hair is less flexible than fine hair, making it more vulnerable to breakage. What’s more, medium and thick hair fibers also rub up against each other more often than fine fibers, and this friction can cause the cuticle to chip.

Want to keep your ends intact? Just follow these five rules.  

1. Limit highlighting to only three or four times a year, says Kazumi Morton, a Beverly Hills colorist whose celebrity clients include Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. “Because highlighting is done with bleach, it weakens the hair cuticle and makes it more porous,” Morton says. (Regular color doesn’t create this type of damage.)

2. Use hot tools with care. “Your hair is technically dead and doesn’t have nerve endings,” says Morton, “so you’re not aware of how you’re burning it by overuse of curling irons and flat irons.” Don’t let the temperature of your flat iron go above 350 degrees if your hair is thick, or over 300 degrees if it’s fine. Keep your curling iron on a medium setting. When you blow-dry your hair, first rough dry it without a brush -- holding the dryer a few inches above your head -- until it’s 80 or 90 percent dry. Then, with the nozzle attached, keep the dryer moving through your hair in a downward direction, so you’re not applying direct heat to any one area for more than a second or two.

3. Handle wet hair gently. Hair swells when it’s wet, becoming fragile and vulnerable to damage. Brushes can snag your hair, shredding the ends. The best way to detangle knots after you’ve shampooed and conditioned your hair is to use a wide-tooth comb or pick, moving it slowly through your hair.

4. Strengthen your hair’s natural defenses with a fortifying leave-in conditioner.  Pantene’s Split End Repair Keratin Protection Crème helps seal ends that are already fraying, protects against heat damage and boosts hair’s keratin structure to prevent future split ends. Two other split-end smoothers: Pureology’s Essential Repair Split End Correcting Treatment and Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Pure Treatment Oil.

5. Get regular trims. Chopping off just a quarter- or half-inch every two or three months will prevent already frazzled ends from splitting up the hair shaft. Plus, it will create the smooth, sharp lines that show off your cut and color to its most dazzling advantage.

Sun, surf, steamy days and sultry nights -- all the things you love about summer also make it the toughest season for managing curly hair. But instead of hiding your ringlets under a scarf, follow these tips from the pros and learn how to care for your hair ’round the clock.

1. Ready, set, wet. Sticky summer days may send you to the shower, but washing your hair every day can lather away the nutrients that help keep it manageable, says George Gonzalez, owner of George: The Salon in Chicago, and a hair stylist at the spa at Harpo Studios. Instead, a few times a week, just wet your hair in the shower without shampooing. Apply a conditioner, rinse out and follow with a leave-in conditioner.

2. Wash and protect. Curly hair’s twisty structure impedes the flow of natural oils, leaving your hair prone to feeling rough and dry, says Dr. Jeni Thomas, senior scientist for Pantene. “If you have curly hair, avoid clarifying shampoo,” says Thomas. “A clarifying shampoo offers zero protection from damage, especially when hair is in its most vulnerable state -- wet.” Opt for a moisturizing shampoo that is specially formulated for curly hair and you’ll whisk away summer’s stubborn buildup and styling residue while defending your locks against damage and frizz.

3. Quench thirsty curls. “Curly hair has more protein and less moisture than straight hair, so it seeks to balance itself by absorbing any available moisture,” says Craig Carter, an ethnic-hair expert with the Carlos Lobo Salon in New York City. If your hair is parched, it will pull moisture from the humid air, leading hair shafts to become puffy and frizzy. A weekly deep-conditioning mask will help curly hair stay well-hydrated and will create a humidity barrier.

4. Put down the hot styling tools. Make that half-hour walk or drive to work your drying time and embrace your hair’s natural texture. “In a perfect world, I would love to wet everyone’s hair, put on conditioner and let it air-dry,” says celebrity hairstylist Daven Mayeda. She advocates styling curly hair without direct heat whenever possible -- and that’s especially true in summer, when your hair is already getting a light frying from sun exposure.

5. Use portion control. Applying products to curly hair should be more like buttering toast slices than tossing a salad. “If you want a uniform curl pattern, you need a uniform application of styling product,” says Gonzalez. Try this: Emulsify a small amount of product by rubbing it between your hands, and then apply -- starting at the ends and coating the entire strand -- up to the scalp.

6. Prepare to defeat beach head. Exposing the porous cuticle of curly hair to wind, salt and moisture at the beach will lead to frizz in a flash, says Gonzalez. “The trick to avoiding this is to coat the cuticle with thick leave-in conditioners or with styling gels,” he says.

7. Soak, coat, dunk. If you swim in the ocean or in chlorinated pools, rinse your curls before and after you get out of the water, then apply leave-in conditioner. “Spray-on conditioner is great for wavy hair or hair that’s fine and curly,” says Gonzalez, “but if your hair is coarse or frizz-prone, a cream or thicker leave-in conditioner is best.”

8. Sleep silky. A satin pillowcase helps keep curls from tangling and won’t soak up natural oils as much as cotton, says Ebony Mikila, a hairstylist at Paint Shop Beverly Hills salon. Avoiding friction is important, adds Thomas, because the complex web of curly hair’s rough fibers can rub against each other, causing damage.