Ever since I was a little girl, I always liked to play with my hair. My mom used to do my hair every day when I went to school in elementary school - braids, pigtails, pony tails...half pony tails and the works. When I started going to high school, I was always sporting the high pony, and then later I let my hair down. I've cut my hair super short (hated it...and it was because my then hair dresser was so slow that I had started bobbing my head since I was falling asleep, and he ended up cutting it lopsided!) and I've also grown out my hair super long (one layer to the small of my back). I had highlights previously (and had a mishap in my last time getting highlights - I always get a sandy brown colour but the hair stylist gave me blonde. Yep. BLONDE. On dark Asian hair, that looks so trampy...the worst is that I was working in a professional environment too!) but now I stopped and I've tried dying my hair a semi-permanent medium brown to no avail...some how my hair doesn't take colour quite well...or maybe I just need to try a different brand.
That aside, hair care routines (or routines in general) seem to be a topic of interest for a lot of people, so I figured I might as well discuss the products that I feel work best for me. My hair is pretty thick (thicker than your average Asian hair), much to my mom's surprise considering I had....no hair when I was a kid! My dad begs to differ - he just tell us that my hair was "fine" back then, therefore looking "non-existent".
Anyways, back to my hair profile:
1) I have thick, dark hair. It's not coarse and generally does not require much styling for it to be straight (if any at all)
2) My current hair cut (and the one I've had since I was 15) is long layers with it being shorter in front and longer in the back going in a "V" shape. I prefer long layers because it is easier to manage and for me, requires no styling at all for it to look good.
3) My scalp is not that greasy, and as such I wash my hair only every other day. I can go 2 days without washing it in the winter because it's cold, but once it's summer, every other day is a must or else I feel gross with shiny looking hair, in a bad way.
4) I at times get dandruff in the very cold seasons due to dry weather, or if my scalp/pillow case are not clean or greasy. I will discuss some of my quick fixes for this problem that I have been using and are effective (and inexpensive).
Like I said, I only wash my hair every other day. I am not brand loyal to any particular shampoo - I usually stick to whatever smells good, is on sale and doesn't make my hair feel weighed down. Here are the ones I've used and circulate through:
These are currently in my bathroom: Aveeno Pure renewal shampoo (sulfate free), TRESemme Touchable softness shampoo and TRESemme Naturals Vibrantly Smooth Conditioner
I use the Aveeno one once a week to get rid of residue in my hair and give it a bit of a "deep clean". The reason I bought the Touchable softness shampoo was because my hair was frazzled from the harsh winter, and this one was supposed to be good for dry and brittle hair. From my experience, it's worked pretty well. I had a ton of split ends, and though the only way to get rid of those is to cut them off (thus I went to the hairdresser before my London trip), this helped to make my ends look a bit better. The conditioner is one of the best ones I've tried and a little goes a long way. My hair gets severely tangled after washing (no idea why) and this always works like a charm to smooth it out so it's easier to comb through, and also has left my hair very soft and smooth.
Fructis Sleek and Shine is another shampoo that I used to use (and cycle through) - my hair isn't typically dry but I like to use moisturizing shampoos just to make sure that it stays nice, shiny and healthy. This one smells like fruit (duh) and I like the gel-like consistency. I also used to use the Fructis Anti-Dandruff shampoo that came in a similar bottle, but I haven't seen it recently and a new one has come out in a grey bottle. I don't know if that one is any good though as I have yet to try it, but if I do get a bout of dandruff in the future I'll try it out and see if it stands up to the previous formula.
These are the three that I've tried in the pat - Hello Hydration smells like coconuts (very tropical), Tousle me Softly had a slightly more floral fruity smell and Drama Clean was a very "clean" fresh smell.
Back then I purchased Herbal Essences because there were a lot of in-store coupons circulating. When I was younger I had tried Herbal Essences (older formula) because my mom had said it smelled really good, however, it dried my hair out so much I hated it! So when they came out with new bottles (and hopefully new formulas), I decided to give it a shot.
I purchased Tousle Me Softly mainly because I wanted to see if the claim to get "wavy hair" without having to put product in would work. I can't say it did...although I suppose my hair didn't always dry and become straight. But it was definitely a hit with the boyfriend, because he loved how my hair smelled whenever I washed it.
Drama clean was my first "deep clean" shampoo and I was hardly impressed, because the end result after washing felt like just any other shampoo would make me feel. So if you are looking for a deep clean shampoo, I would recommend the Aveeno one. I have the TRESemme deep clean shampoo in my stockpile right now, so when I finish the Aveeno one I'm going to give that one a try and compare the two. In addition to the above mentioned shampoos, I use Finesse as well because my mom has a huge stock pile of it (and also because my brother hates Fructis and Herbal Essence. What can I say, he's a guy.)
For conditioners - I am usually not very picky and will just pick whichever one claims to be moisturizing. All conditioners seem to work around the same for me (aside from my most current one which is a pretty good leader compared to all of them).
One brand of shampoo that I have been scarred for life from trying is Pantene. When I was around 16 I used it (shampoo and conditioner) and oh my gosh, worst experience ever. It was so thick and creamy that it left my hair weighed down and it looked like I didn't wash it! I had dried my hair and my hair looked like I hadn't washed it in 5 days! I proceeded to get back in the shower and rinse (because I thought I probably didn't rinse it properly) but my hair didn't look any better and subsequently I had to wash it again the next morning.
So like I said, I wash my hair every other day - shampoo and conditioner (for the days I am in crunch for time or come home super late, I use dry shampoo - see my dry shampoo review for the two that I use). I will occasionally use a deep conditioner - the one of choice is Fructis Sleek & Shine Frizz control deep treatment. They don't sell this in stores anymore and I had purchased two bottles at the L'Oreal Sale last year in November. A good equivalent from the Fructis line would be their new Morrocan Sleek Oil line. If I don't use my deep conditioner (this is just for ease of time), I melt around 2 tbsp of coconut oil and cover my hair (dampened) with it, then wrap with a plastic bag for around 1 to 2 hours before washing out. I tried mixing honey into it but that left a very big mess in my sink (hahaha) and I just think it's easier with just the coconut oil.
As per my Lush haul entry, I recently purchased H'Suan Wen Hua, and as such I've been using that once a week to also get my hair ready for summer (and also the fact that I have an engagement photo session coming up in a few months). I put this one 25 minutes before I hit the shower so I can wash it off right away first thing. After all the masks, shampooing, conditioning and towel drying, I apply my Josie Maran Argan Oil - I pump two pumps into my palms, rub them together and then distribute it mainly between the middle and the ends of my hair. Whatever is left on my hands I put on the top of my hair and finger it through behind (else it gets really greasy).
(Image courtesy of Sephora) Josie Maran products are only available at Sephora. It costs around $39 for the large bottle
What I like about this oil is that it's pretty lightweight on my hair, doesn't leave a greasy feeling and smells really good. It's also 100% natural, so fewer chemicals on your hair makes it feel and look cleaner as well. If your hair is fine, I don't think this is a good product for you - my mom tried it out and she has extremely fine (and dry) hair, and she felt that this weighed it down a lot.
Styling Products
I don't style my hair a lot, but whenever I decide to blow dry, flat iron or curl my hair, I always use a heat protectant. My go-to heat protectant of choice is TRESemme's Heat Tamer Protective Spray
I know people who dislike the bulky nozzle, however I actually like it because it's easier to control the amount of product that gets dispensed in the spray. It also smells good - slightly fruity. It doesn't leave a residue and dries up really fast.
When I curl my hair, I use this, curl and then once everything has cooled off, I use hair spray. I'll be honest though...I hate hair spray. I loathe it so much. When I went to the Wedding Expo earlier on this year and got a free hair trial, the girl sprayed SO MUCH hair spray my hair was crunchy. And I hate crunchy hair! My grandma has a lot of different hair sprays at home so I've tried a few aerosol ones in the past already and hate them all, which is why whenever I curl my hair, they fall out so fast (my hair doesn't hold curl really well either because it's so soft - I generally have to amp up the heat, and that is really no good for my hair). I also found out that aerosol hair sprays don't give me the freedom of determining how much product I want out, which could be the reason for the crunch (I am too heavy handed). Oh and not to mention that all those sprays really make me gag. So I ended up purchasing the Herbal Essence Tousle Me Softly Flexible Style Hairspray, which has a regular spritz bottle nozzle:
(I took the picture from the Herbal Essence website because I have the old packaging for the spray, in case people are interested in purchasing it...better for you to find it in this packaging rather than mine!)
The hair spray is a lot more watery obviously, but I feel like I can work it better and can determine how much and how little I want. Sometimes instead of spraying directly onto my hair, I just spray it in my hand instead. It smells much better than normal hair spray, and it doesn't leave my hair feeling crunchy or gelled even if I spray a bit too much.
Hair tools that I use
Nothing mind blowing...the things I use to style my hair are:
* Wide tooth comb from Goody (purple), purchased at WalMart for nominal price
* Large rectangular brush with wider bristles, purchased many years ago at the drugstore for around $5
* Conair 2-in-1 curling and straightening iron, purchased at WalMart for $19.99
I hope this has been relatively helpful to you! If you have any questions about any areas of my routine that I may have not touched upon, or any questions about the products I use, please leave a comment below!
Disclaimer: I was not paid to do a review of any products mentioned here, nor was I sent any of these products for review NOR was I required to make a review for any of these products. I have purchased all these products with my own money and I only give my honest opinion on them.
Readers: What products do you use as part of your hair care routine? Also, what is your take on hair spray? If you have any recommendations, feel free to leave a comment below!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment