Camila Alves Shares 'New Mom Hair' Style Tips

Although she hosts Bravo’s hair-styling show Shear Genius, which begins its third season tonight, Camila Alves doesn’t advocate making drastic lock changes soon after giving birth.

She would know: Matthew McConaughey’s girlfriend welcomed daughter Vida just one month ago, and she's also mom to their 18-month-old son Levi.

“Do not cut the hair,” the 28-year-old model says. “When you first have a baby and you’re pregnant, you’re hormonal and you’re going through all these changes. Your body’s not back to where it needs to be. The last thing you need if you have long hair is to have short hair. The last thing you need is to deal with something new. I would say to keep what you have and try to make the best of it. If you want to change your color, go for it, but don’t do anything dramatic. You don’t need anything drastic and dramatic after you go through something like that.”

The Brazilian bombshell debuted her post-baby bod to rave reviews during the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute to Neil Young held in Los Angeles on Jan. 29.

Having gone through two pregnancies, Camila is a pro at hiding her bump early on – which included when she taped Shear Genius last spring.

“I just found out I was pregnant,” she says. “I was actually sick during the whole time shooting, and I couldn’t tell anybody. People were like ‘Why is she drinking so much Club Soda on the set?’. And clothes started to not fit anymore. They were like, ‘What’s going on here?’ ”

“I couldn’t tell anybody," she adds. "And it definitely did get tricky because the people in wardrobe would go, ‘Well, we fit this on you a week ago, and now it doesn’t fit you anymore.' The flowy stuff definitely helped. Things that had layers on it. I’d say layers, but not heavy layers, because that makes you look bigger.”

When the hair chemicals got to be too much, Camila would step out for a breath of fresh air. She also got welcome visits from Matthew and Levi.

“Some of my days were 19-hour days. They’d either come to the set, or I’d see them early in the morning and kiss them when I got home – they were already in bed. It was definitely tricky to have the family and the show at the same time because the hours were long. But we worked it out.”

How is she balancing now with two babies and a boyfriend?

“I’m not even sure myself,” she laughs. “I have my mom here, who has been giving me a good hand, and I'm just trying to keep everything as smooth as I can. I love working. It’s part of my life. It’s what I like to do. We try and keep a good balance.”

Family time is what she cherishes most. She shares her most precious moment.

“Coming home with Vida and her meeting Levi,” she says. “That was a pretty neat moment.”

Have Matthew and Camila gotten 18-month-old Levi’s hair cut yet?

“We haven’t cut his hair yet,” she tells me, brushing off when they intend to take him for his first trip to the salon.

Hmm, how does Matthew like her to style her hair?

“As natural as possible,” she tells me. “I try to keep my hair as simple as I can, so it can do it’s own thing. I try to wash my hair once a week. People think you have to wash your hair all the time, but, actually, you need to let your hair produce its own oils and be healthy on its own. I try to not use a lot of chemicals.”