hair part deux

I got a few emails about my hair, and Im kind of ashamed to do this so late, but I guess it gives me something to blog about. i dont know how helpful this will be, but if i can answer some questions im happy. i get really humble when people talk about my hair, because for the last one and half years it has been hard work after a particular haircut that required me to wash and straighten my hair everyday for a year. whoever said using ghd doesnt screw up your hair beyond belief never met me ;) so firstly let me give you three precautions, think long and hard before you a)buy a straightening iron b) wash your hair more than 3-4 times a week and c) get a haircut that involes putting in a million layers or cutting into your hair i should say.. this supposeldy frames your face, but really it just changes the texture of your hair and cuts out ALOT of beautiful natural volume. It's been three years since i got a layer cut and I still havent grown them all out. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of diffrence in length that is cut to suit your natural texture.. anything else. well. just don't go there.

now.. bullet points.
at home:

• I eat lots of nuts, pinenuts, macadamias and pistachios to be specific, but whatever is in season is good! I've heard brazil nuts are good for the hair, but I cant stand the taste.. its probably easier to just eat whichever ones you like, it will help you keep doing it in the long run. I also eat alot of sushi and sashimi and seafood type foods.. lots of omega and what not in there. Im not really good with drinking lots of water in winter, but I do drink a good 12 cups of green tea a day.. mostly because Im bored or hungry but appently its good for the hair too.. i got that ones as a bonus.
  

• Use good products. expensive isnt always better but i suggest not using pantene, herbal, garneier or anything you can buy at the supermarket. except klorane. klorane is good if you can get past the mens cologne smell. anything else is ridden with cheap silicones, will work for maybe two weeks and then your hair will feel exactly the same because of cone buildup. there also isnt much point in spending say 50$ on a kerastase mask only to use it with pantene shampoo.. cones will make sure your money goes to waste ;) for refrence I use kerastase bain prevention and bain de force shampoo.. kinda wierd using hairloss shampoo but i use it mainly for balnacing the ph on my scalp and the de force for protein to keep hair from snapping. I'm not to sure how i feel about kerastase to be honest, alot of their products such as most of the nutrive range are utter crap. Its a very hit and miss brand, but from experience their protein line ( everything n the green bottles) is damn good and everything in orange or white that is suppose to moisturise, fails horibly. something like loreal or redken are much better for that. but to cut it short, these two shampoos are awsome for what i need, the 15% of my hair shop thing gives me helps to numb the pain..



• use a mask as conditioner. a little will go a long way, and also helps when you dont have time to sit for 30mins every week. 10mins everytime you wash is just as good! again loreal, redken and kerastase are the best ive tried.
  
  
• get a good brush. no more 20dollar brushes that break every 3 months. theyre probably plastic and will break your hair. i bought a mason pearson as peters of kensington hundreds of years back, it was only 100$ and i dont plan on buying a new one anytime soon. the boar bristles distribute natural oils and stimulate your scalp.. and dont rip your hair.



• try not to use styling tools. no matter how good they are and no matter how much protective whatever you put in your hair it shouldnt be done on a daily basis. i am living proof.. if i could show you how crappy my hair was after a year of it I would! im sure id scare alot of people.



• try not to wash your hair to often. It dries it out horribly and no matter how much leave in or moisture you put into your hair, it wont give you back that natural layer your stripping away. your hair will be a little oily at first, thi is where dry shampoo comes in and is a total life saver.. but after about a month your hair will adjust and be perfect.
  

at the hairdresser:

• again, work with your texture i guess.. it will save you alot of time and bad hair days.



• for hairstyles, talk to your hairdresser, i know very little about what suits peoples face shapes.. i was one of those people who cut out photos of hair styles and wantd stuff that didnt suit my face shape and id have to straighten bits of hair and whatever everyday to make the hair the way i wanted to do. The best hairstyle in my opinin is one where you can wake up and do minimal styling and just be happy with it.. waking up at 5am to blowdry your hair for an hour isnt fun :(



• with hairdying.. dont go nuts. I know thats very funny coming from someone with white blonde hair, but its only a few shades lighter than my natural hair, it take me 15-20mins of 6% bleach every two months to get my regroth fix. thats less than dyng black hair with packet hair dye. Its not the worst, but ofcourse its not beautiful virgin hair. Some people have gorgeous shades of brown hair ( which is my favourite hair colour, like a chocolate brown ) and then ruin it by bleaching it, sadly no products can give you back the beautiful shin natural hair has. Im gonna get off the soap box now, but again, work with your natural hair colour, a little lighter or darker works the best. The picture at the top of this post is probably the best way to describe my natural hair, sadly getting a tad darker.

hairstyling:

• For everyday style, I usually wear my hair down. After washing I either put some leave in into the hair and let it air dry for an almost straight, sightly wavy around the edges and bottoms of hair. Or I put in some surf spray (I've tried a few, and I cant really recommend any one in particular, I purchase whatever is easier to buy at that moment.. I like bumble and bumble, but Ive had a few bottles with too much salt which dry out hair, right now Im using David Babaii beach spray which I picked up in priceline a few weeks ago).
• I always put in volumising root spay into hair, with every style I do. Gives a bit of texture, and good for keeping volume for a good few days. I also use dry shampoo for texture and clean hair in the mornings. I do this instead of having to tease my hair when I put it into a high ponytail. I brush my fringe back, and just tie the rest into a ponytail, add a bit of salt spray. Or after tieing hair into a ponytail i twist it upon itself and make a high messy bun.
• I straighten hair for special ocassions I staighten hair, saturated in heat protective cream.

I think thats probably it!