As a little girl, I wanted to grow up and do hair. I cut the hair off all my dolls and my barbies, and played beauty shop when I could. I can actually wield a pair of hair cutting scissors pretty well.
But for some reason, I grew up and decided not to do that, but instead to become a social worker.....wow...far stretch. But I still love hair and products too. I know a lot of little tricks. Curly hair, straight hair, short, long, hong duck dong.
I've always changed my hairstyle frequently but my least favorite was a really short cut I got after dyl was born. I hated it. If you had a bad hair day, there was no out. So I grew it out, and have never cut it off since, and I'll never go that short again.
I've had bangs, and grew them out numerous times. I've had perms, and straightened. My hair is naturally straight but I fought that for many years. I permed my hair but it took a perm really well, plus I knew which products to use, and how to fix it.
I haven't had a perm for about 3 yrs now? The growout process was tough, but it can be alleviated by using the tool I showed Emma when I visited there last. This is what I use now, and when I needed to straighten a partially permed do, a
Hot Brush. This smoothes, and straightens. But you need to use it when your hair is just slightly damp.
For perms, I have the following advice. First of all, I have a pet peeve with people who have perms, and then brush their hair. Don't do that. Just don't. The least amount of messing with it, the better. I always got compliments on my hair, and told it looked like natural curl. Here is a picture of the last time my hair was permed.
this picture is not very good, I'll look for a better one and post it.
tips for permed hair:
Use a
diffuser, only this type, with the large cup.
Use a product that helps soften, and clump the curls together. When you wash your hair, run your fingers through it in the shower with the conditioner, and from that point, use NO combs, picks or brushes. When you take the towel off, apply your product, then scrunch the hair with your hands, and loosen the hair gently by putting your fingers on your scalp and wiggling your hair around, I hope this is making sense? Let it air dry for while, then finish it off with the diffuser. Spray it with an aerosol spray such as Sebastian Shaper Plus hairspray, one of my favs.
If you have naturally curly hair, or a perm with not much curl left, you can really enhance the curls with that diffuser. Instead of letting it air dry, you apply a firm hold product, then you dry the entire head with the diffuser, gathering large sections of hair into the cup of the diffuser, hold it up to the scalp and let it stay there until you can't stand the heat, then move onto another section. You will be amazed at how a diffuser can bring out the curls in your hair, but of course you have to finish it up with a firm hold spray. You can achieve the same thing by scrunching with your hands, but it's way easier with the diffuser. And don't use a cheap diffuser that comes with your blowdryer, you HAVE to use the large cupped one. Period, don't argue with me.
There are a lot of hair care products on the market, and frankly I've become a little confused recently. The hairspray is the easiest for me to decide on whether or not I like it. Some that I like are:
Sebastian Shaper Plus
Big Sexy Hair
Paul Mitchell Fast Drying Sculpting Spray
One of my all time favorite product lines is Aveda. These are only available in certain salons, that have to be Aveda certified.....That means either they sell exclusively Aveda products, or keep it to a minimum of other types. We have ONE in town. That's it.
My favorite product from Aveda is the Deep Penetrating Hair Revitalizer. I use it about twice a week, and boy does it make your hair soft and sleek. And it smells DIVINE.
As for shampoos and such, I think that a lot of brands are comparable, and I can't seem to find just one that I'm loyal too. I switch off and on a lot. I'm now going to show you my "collection". Don't be ashamed of me. I have issues....
First we have the gels, root pumps, hairsprays, etc...
Then we have the different shampoos and conditioners I switch around all the time, and this picture does not include the stuff in the shower....Oops.....
yeah, I'm bad....sue me....but I love products! Smells, packaging, whatever. I'm just a sucker.
Lets hear from all of you about your favorite hair products and why that is!!
feel free to join in with pictures of your h air as well, or ask advice!
