Archive for the ‘Hair Care’ Category:
Remedies for Porous Hair
My hair has really been dealt a damaging blow after I unwittingly colored the base color myself, and then only days later went and got it highlighted. I think the stylist also over highlighted my hair and let it develop to too light a color as well, but at any rate, my hair isn’t looking too good these days. In fact, it’s looking downright porous and fried on most days when I blow it dry. Especially on my wash days.
I have to use a ton of hair product just to cover up the damage, so that’s when I started doing some internet searches on good remedies for extremely porous, dried out hair. I came up with some really good natural ones actually that I hadn’t heard of before to help treat this condition. I already have a million conditioners in my collection, but what I need was an intense treatment or remedy directed at porosity, which was my problem.
So I found a few that I’ll share with you today. Obviously, the first one is to use an extremely emollient, thick conditioner. Try using a conditioner that is “deep conditioning” or is for damaged or dry hair specifically. This helps to fill in he porosity and make your hair “whole” again.
Porous hair also responds horribly to moisture in the air (humidity). Because it is so porous and “holy”, it soaks up moisture, and expands rapidly, making your hair look big and frizzy – not a good combo.
Ok, here goes the remedies I found for porous hair then. The first one is apple cider vinegar, or ACV. If you spritz this in your hair as a rinse, and can stand the bitter smell (beware not to get it in your eyes), then you will notice a difference in the shine and reduced porosity in your hair. It’s got a great natural acid in it that helps seal and coat the hair shaft to reduce porosity. It’s cheap, and it’s all natural.
Another natural remedy for porous hair is coconut oil. I know, you’re afraid it might weigh your hair down, right? Just use it sparingly, or use it as a night treatment and then be sure to rinse it out in the morning if you like. Coconut oil is a great beauty remedy to have around for a plethora of other problems as well. Some even use it as a natural sunscreen and moisturizer for their skin. If you don’t like oil, you can try cocoa butter, just be sure to get the real stuff.
In addition to an apple cider vinegar rinse, you can also try a beer rinse. The hops and natural acids in the beer do the same thing as apple cider vinegar, they help to nourish and coat and protect the hair.
If you’ve read this blog before, you know that I’m a self proclaimed experimenter when it comes to beauty products, beauty regimens and salon treatments, and probably most of all, hair care products. I’m not sure why, but there are just very few hair products that totally blow me away. I have a few favorites, sure, but I always am on the lookout for that one product that will really do exactly what it says for my hair. What I’m really after now is to rebuild the strength and lustre of my hair after I colored it and then had it highlighted right after.
It’s very dry now, because I colored it at home with a base color, then I went and got it highlighted at the salon. I think it was just too much processing for my poor hair to handle in just a short week, and now I’m suffering the after effects of dullness and breakage.
So, I was on the lookout for a product that would help mend my hair and make it look healthier, bouncier, and shinier, and also help to strengthen it’s now poor resolve. I have noticed quite a bit of breakage right around my face, to the point where when I put my hair up, there is a section that completely sticks out because it broke off, that didn’t stick out before. Needless to say, that’s definitely a sign that your hair is pretty weak and brittle.
I happened to find the Chi Keratin Mist on sale for $7.99, so I picked it up. It was actually a generously sized bottle, so I was surprised that it was so cheap, especially considering Chi makes the best selling and most acclaimed flat irons out there.
I had hopes, but not high expectations, that this product might help to infuse some much needed strength into my hair since that is how it is advertised, as a strengthening product with keratin protein chains. SO, I’ve only tried it twice. I think I like it, but there is definitely a few things I don’ t like about it. It did seem to make my hair drying less time consuming, and it did seem to make my hair feel softer, but it didn’t make it LOOK any softer or healthier, which was what I was after. I’m hoping with more treatments it will actually make my hair look less frizzy and dry, but thus far it has not performed that way.
I did not like the heavy cologne-like smell of the product, it made me feel like I was spraying all kinds of heavy chemicals on my head, and the nozzle needs to dispense more product at once, it’s kind of a pain to keep pressing down with very little coming out, you feel like you have to spray it twenty times just to get enough product coverage.
Ones of the biggest secrets to healthy looking, shiny and bouncy hair, I’m convinced, is to get it trimmed at least once every eight weeks. Since your hair grows at an average of about 1/2 inch every month, if you are trying to grow your hair out, then you can just opt to get it “tipped” and get the dead ends removed so that the length is left largely intact.
But make sure you tell you stylist you are trying to grow it out, or kiss your length goodbye every time you go to get a trim. When most stylists see any sort of dead end, they go for the jugular, and usually remove more than they need to unless you make it known that you are growing your locks out longer.
I think that one of the biggest secrets to keeping beautiful, frizz free curls in your hair is that same, that is, getting trims often. Because you are constantly having the dead ends removed, and this is the primary reason that the cuticle of the hair shaft looks so roughed up and frizzy all the time if you go too long in between hair cuts, getting these frequent mini maintenance trims is key to really maintaining the health, integrity, bounce and shine of your head of hair. It will also make your curls more intense since you don’t have the dead ends weighing them down.
You may want to look into a protein based heat protective spray to spray on you curls every time you blow your hair dry, or if you are going to use some sort of heated styling tool on your hair. I just watched a video of a stylist who advised that most people (including me) don’t know it, but every time you blow your hair dry or use hot styling instruments on it, it actually loses some of it’s protein fibers.
A good heat protectant that contains these proteins will help to not only ward off any heat related styling damage, but also will help to replenish those lost proteins as well. Once in a while, you may want to try a vinegar rinse on the hair, to remove any styling product buildup and to help restore shine.
The natural acids in apple cider vinegar help to not only cleanse away dull and drying deposits from hair styling products, but they also help to increase the surface reflections, which hence increases the shine factor, which as any of you with curls know, is the main attraction of curls – that and separation and bounce!
I just LOVE when I find great beauty deals at TJ Maxx or any other markdown store that offer markdowns on famous name brands. TJ Maxx has really upped the ante when it comes to putting out beauty products that are the retail rejects, so to speak. I’ve found some of my greatest discoveries there, not the least of which is the Virtual Laser moisturizing, light bending day cream that helsp make your skin look brighter and less lined.
Yes, I’m very bummed that I couldn’t find this product any more at TJ Maxx, it looks like my luck may have run out with that one, but oh well, I may have to pay retail for it again. Well, in it’s place, I found one of the Rusk hair care products, which I must say are appearing with startling frequency on the shelves of TJ Maxx. I hope the line is not in danger of going down, because this may not be a good sign for the brand in general, but then again they may have some sort of exclusive agreement with TJ Maxx that I don’t know about.
Rusk is a good, quality hair care line that is reasonably priced, but not really “cheap” per se. It wouldn’t be marketed as a budget hair care product, but it certainly isn’t as pricey as some of the other high end hari care products, and it’s just as good. Enough on Rusk in general though. Let me tell you about my ridiculously cheap find at TJ Maxx.
I found two Rusk products packaged together at TJ Maxx on clearance for eight bucks. Yes, eight bucks, and I get two products for that too! That’s like drugstore cheapo product prices! One of the products was the Rusk Priming cream, which is a shine boosting, strength boosting cream that helps to mend and repair and make the hair sleaker. It is meant to help smooth the cuticle in preparation for the application of any other products, like the next one I’m going to talk about, which is the one that came with it in the package incidentally, the Softwear serum.
Rusk Softwear serum is a velvety, clear serum that is reminiscent of the biosilk shine drops that so many people have used, but it seems a bit more weighty and heavy than that. It is probably made of silicone polymers, but it’s goal is to provide weightless, bouncy shine. You apply it when you are ready to blow your hair dry, or after you apply the Priming cream.
I liked these hair products. One thing I noticed is that it gave me a sort of ropey, texturized type of look. These are awesome products if you want that texturized, sort of Gisele Bundchen, beachy body wave look. If you were just going for a sleek, straight and shiny look, you should probably just go for the the Softwear serum though.
I really, really hate when I have bad experiences at salons. Especially expensive salons, and you’d think they would be minimized at the places where you dish out more money to get your hair coiffed, washed and blown, but sometimes those are where I have had the highest incidents of bad customer experiences. So, when I read about this one salon online by where I work, I was of course skeptical, however I desperately needed a haircut after I got not such a great trim a few weeks ago that still left my ends pretty ragged looking.
My hair was dry and “old” looking, and I knew that a great trim would really make it look like it had some life again. So I called this upscale salon called Salon Blu, in the Mayfield Heights area where I work, and haircuts cost $48, and booked a quickie appointment for the same day on my lunch. I figured what could it hurt, if it wasn’t great I wouldn’t go back, if it was, I’d consider at least coming there part of the time to get my hair done.
I got a hairstylist named Janine, who was incidentally moving to Florida shortly (just my luck of course), and she was great. She was easy to talk to and gave really fast, but high quality service, and I felt like she listened to exactly what I needed and knew exactly what I wanted. The salon uses Bumble and Bumble products, which I don’t have a whole lot of experience with, so I wasn’t sure how I’d like them, but I actually ended up buying one of their hair care products, a little bottle of their Defrizz serum that fits into a purse it’s so small, for those emergency hair fixes where you’re hair looks dry and frizzy. I’ll be reviewing that shortly of course.
It was a great surprise though, sometimes when you just find a place by chance and it’s a last minute thing, that’s when you make the greatest discoveries. I plan on going back there, even though the stylist that I had won’t be there, and trying out another one since I like the people who worked there and the environment seemed very laid back and not too “full of itself” like some of the more upscale salons tend to be. I’ll definitely recommend them, and hope that I’ll get another great stylist again next time.
The last time I went to the hairstylist, he told me that (what he doesn’t know is that every other stylist has told me this as well) my scalp was dry and my hair seemed to be healthy but have a lot of dry spots (he was sugarcoating it, I know this). He suggested that I try a scalp treatment and leave it on for thirty minutes, preferably more, and the longer the better.
He recommended that I just buy one online or in a natural health store instead of spend a lot of money on one, so I went to the grocery store and just bought some Scalpicin which is an anti itch and moisturizing scalp treatment that is medicated.
It worked just fine, but I was still looking for something that would really moisturize my scalp instead of just treat it for itchiness and flakiness. He said that a healthy scalp means healthy hair, and that if I got my scalp to a point where it wasn’t so dried out and flaking, which I’ve had a problem with my entire life, then my hair would also become healthier. So, I figured it was about time I started taking care of my scalp and giving it some serious attention, or else the most expensive, time consuming hair treatments would be in vain.
I started reading about what kind of natural treatments were good for a dry scalp, and I read that essential, nonprocessed oils were usually very good for nurturing and moisturizing dry scalps. Some of the essential oils that were the most highly recommended for dry scalp were jojoba oil and tea tree oil, both of which are antibacterial and astringent in nature. I thought it odd since these are often used for drying out skin, so I read on a little further, and found that vitamine E oils and moisturizing essential oils might be good for really dry scalps.
That’s when I remembered that I had purchased some sweet almond oil at a natural health food and beauty product store out in California (Berkeley, where my sister lives). I decided to give it a whirl. I thought that it would be good for my scalp and maybe even good for the roots of my hair, sort of like a hot oil treatment since I would get into our infrared sauna while I had the oil on my scalp.
I have it on now as we speak, and it feels great. I have no itching whatsoever, and the oil felt great on the drier, more irritated parts of my scalp. I’ll let you know if it doesn’t turn out well, but so far so good. So if you have scalp issues, this may be the ticket for you – and it’s not all the expensive either.
I went and got a much needed hair cut about a week and a half ago, and I actually had a new guy do my hair. I go to an Aveda salon, and I’ve had the worst luck with every single hairdresser that gets assigned to me either quitting or being let go. Just my luck! Going to an Aveda salon, of course they try to sell the products to you, which I obligingly try, but not all the time. Aveda products are great (not all of them though, at least not on my hair), but they aren’t exactly easy on the wallet. Some of them are reasonable, but some of them are pretty pricey.
The hair care product I’m reviewing for you today I would say fits into the pricey category, so I was a little hesitant to try it. However, I went for it after the hair dresser assured me that they would take it back no questions if I didn’t like it. It costs somewhere around $24 for a 6.7 oz tube of the Dry Remedy conditioner, and since I use quite a bit of conditioner on my hair because it is long, I knew this would not last very long, so this was sort of an investment for me! I did buy it though, declining the shampoo and other accompanying products in the line, since I could have easily dropped close to a hundred bucks if I would have gotten all of them.
I used it the other day finally. I like it a lot actually. Not only does it have that trademark Aveda woodsy smell that I love so much, but it infused moisture into my hair that wasn’t at all oily of greasy, it just seemed that my hair “sucked it right up”. My hair appeared softer, smoother and more shiny the next day, and plus it had that leftover natural scent that I love so much.
This Dry Remedy formulation contains something called “buriti”. I had to look up what that was, since it was the featured ingredient on the front of the tube. Buriti is a type of palm tree that grows in Brazil and in the Amazon forest in certain areas. It produces a nut or fruit which probably is where the oil is extracted from. It’s known for it’s emollience, so it’s the perfect additive for a natural hair care product like this anti-drying one from Aveda. Will I try the shampoo and other products in this line?
Honestly not any time soon, it’s button down the purse straps time here in our household, and there are plenty of other, cheaper products that I like for my hair, so the other ones will have to wait a while before I try them, this one is great though, and I won’t be returning it.
After seeing ads for the Kronos hair care system, which promises to help reverse the dryness and dullness that come with aging hair, as well as reverse and repair damage that has been done to the hair after years of styling, heating and pulling, I naturally got curious. Heck, any product that promises beautiful, younger, shinier looking hair will interest most women, and quite a few men as well since a guy with nice hair is pretty much a chick magnet.
I myself have experienced so many mixed reviews on products that I spent a boatload of money on that let me down, so it never shocks me when a hair care product that is priced extremely high does not meet a lot of people’s expectations. And, I’m sorry to say, but there seem to be quite a few bad reviews of the Kronos system, with some of the good reviews sounding very rehearsed and a little too flowery, which makes me suspect they might be planted, but I could be wrong, so I suggest you do this research for yourself and see what your gut tells you first before you jump to any conclusions.
And heck, if the company offers an ironclad return guarantee, then you really don’t have anything to lose if the product turns out to be a complete disaster. I almost purchased this product to provide you guys with a personal review of my own, however, funds are low right now and it’s the holiday season and quite frankly I’m very mixed on whether this hair care product works or not, and whether even buying the trial size, which I believe is over fifty bucks, is even worth it to figure out if it does work. Plus, if I couldn’t get my money back I’d be pretty peeved right about now, if that is, it didn’t work.
I will admit, this product is very intriguing. After all, the points they make about your hair drying out and becoming more dull with less color and vibrance over time are 100% true. I see those telltale signs of aging in my own hair. I noticed that the older I get, the harder it is to get my hair shine, and of course I have those pesky wiry, dry grays popping up allover too, which definitely doesn’t help your hair look “young and fresh”. I would love if a product really did help to reverse the signs of aging in your hair.
I have found that the supplement by Futurebiotics, their hair skin and nails vitamin, has done wonders for the lustre, shine and growth rate of my hair. I find that when I stop taking it, my hair gets duller and seems to fall out more easily, so I do believe that it helps, plus it’s very reasonably priced and I find that taking only one a day gives me the results I’m looking for. Of course, I still have bad hair days, and I’d love an external product that could really make my hair dazzle every day, but I wonder if that exists.
Ok, now let me tell you how I got great, messy, sexy bedhead waves with the Victoria’s Secret Hair care products that I just reviewed in the previous post. It’s pretty easy, but you have to wash your hair at night for this to work, either that, or have several hours for the hair to “set” in the bun that you have to create. I shower at night all the time, so this is easy for me to maintain, and I’m going to be using this technique for a long time to come, and these products as well, as long as they stay around. Here’s how you get messy bedhead that still has great shine and texture..
First, I use my normal, all natural shampoo that I always use. I did not buy the Victoria’s Secret shampoo so I don’t know how that works, but I am stuck on using natural shampoos, because I find that they don’t damage or rough up my hair as much since they have no chemicals or sodium laurel sulfate in them. Once I shampoo (twice, I like to get my hair pretty clean because I believe the conditioner sinks in better), I slicked on a generous dallop of the Victorias Secret So Sexy Glossing Conditioner. I let this soak in for a good few minutes while I was performing my other shower duties.
I rinsed this out thoroughly with warm water. When I got out, I combed my hair to get any tangles out, and I sprayed a generous amount of the Victoria’s Secret Wave Enhancing spray in my hair. I got my Babyliss Pro ionic ceramic dryer out and dried only the crown of my head, upside down, until it was fairly dry, but the rest of my hair was still damp – not wet, but just damp.
I ran my fingers through my hair to get any tangles out. Then, with two long bobby pins out, I brought my hair into a high pony tail like position, and twisted it into a very high bun on my head. It has to be high enough so it doesn’t rub on your pillow when you lay down, for comfort and so that you don’t end up mussing it up too much. Then when you get up in the morning and take it down, what you see is TONS of body and wave. I add a few of my own curls with my large barreled curling iron, and voila, you’ve got great beach waves for the day.
You can spritz it with a little hair spray to make sure it holds too. You can also spritz it with a little shine spray which adds to the shine. What you’ve got is great, separated, shiny, textuurized waves. It’s actually supposed to be one of Gisele Bundchen’s secrets to her long, gorgeous beachwaves, so you can enjoy this look too – and it’s easy!
Ok, so I was looking for some new hair products that would help create a great new, somewhat messy bedhead look, yet still defined and shiny, for my upcoming trip to Vegas where I also am getting married! I was in Victoria’s Secret by chance, and saw that they had a line of hair care products called “So Sexy” in their signature pink colors, and asked the sales lady (who was new by the way, but who was really friendly and helpful). She told me that she was newer, but she’d heard a few people rave about these hair products, and also one guy who bought a bunch for his girlfriend because they were thrilled the line had come back after a hiatus.
I thought, what they hey, and bought three of the products because they were three for $24, which isn’t a bad price, and I was in need of two of the items anyways. I bought the glossing conditioner, the brilliant shine mist, and the wave enhancing spray. In short, I love 2 of them, the other, I probably will not buy again, although it performed fine, I just wasn’t crazy about the spray pump it came in, which kept getting stuck and when it finally came loose, it unleashed a huge pump that was too much on one single area of my hair.
That was the shine mist. I did like that it was aerosol style though, because it did evenly distribute the product when it worked correctly, but that was rarely unfortunately. If they put this is a better bottle, I would consider buying it again, but there are so many other good shine mist products out there, I figure why bother?
Now, I want to talk about the two Victoria’s Secret hair care products that I really loved. Let me state first up front that these products are very strongly scented like a sultry Victoria’s secret fragrance, and that might turn a lot of consumers off, but once I saw the way they made my hair look, I decided I could live with the extremely potent smell, even though I still don’t care for it as I’m not into extremely scented products, which Victoria’s Secret has always had a habit of doing.
The two I loved were the Wave Enhancing spray and the Glossing conditioner. These were absolutely wonderful. On the next post, I’m going to tell you how I use these products to get a great, sexy, textured, bedhead look by washing your hair at night and letting it set. It’s super easy and addictive. These products are great at creating body without frizz, and texture without dryness. They are also great at making the hair shiny without weighing it down.
If I could change one thing it would be the heavy scent, but these products will be a staple in my hair care collection as long as they stay around, which is hopefully for good this time, but I know how transient some of these store brands can be. This just happens to be a case where a store’s brand actually is way better than a lot of the more well known competition. And it’s reasonably priced, which I love. The packaging is fun and pink, and they are very generously sized bottles of product for the price as well.
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