My Tried and True Products: Haircare

This post may be more correctly named: Taming the Beast that is My Hair: Struggling with a Lion(ess) Mane.
I'm going to be totally honest here, I'm about as fussy with my hair as I can get fussy about anything. I have some pretty wild hair. I'm Irish and Portuguese mostly which means I have some solidly Western European hair. For those playing at home, it's thick, coarse, and really curly/wavy. It's keep you warm in winter, make you wish you were dead it's so hot in summer kinda hair. Except that it has no real curl pattern to speak of: some of it is curly, some of it is wavy, and for some unknowable reason, some parts are straight. Needless to say, if not handled correctly, it can be an absolute nightmare. BUT I've actually found some products that make it pretty easy to deal with and I thought I would share them with you in case there are some other girls out there who are struggling with the same hair and are looking for some help.

To begin with, considering the fact that I have more hair than is humanly necessary, I wash my hair twice a week. Once on Sunday, once on Wednesday. I used to use dry shampoo on the in between days, BUT after doing that for almost a year, I find that I don't need it anymore. My scalp has acclimated and I don't get greasy for at least 4 days, usually 5.

Now, as far as shampoo and conditioner go, I'm pretty easy going. I  make sure whatever shampoo I use is sulfate free (with the exception of the dandruff shampoo you see above. That was for an obnoxious case of flaky scalp...and didn't work) and the conditioners are thicker and have a moisturizing focus, rather than something like volumizing. As you can see, I have a few shampoos that I alternate between, depending on the condition of my hair when I want to wash it.

The one product I SWEAR by is the Redken Nature's Rescue Refining Sea Polish which is on the top shelf of the picture you see. Yes, it's a mouthful, and it's honestly one of the weirdest products I've ever used but it's fantastic. It leaves my hair soft, smooth (normal people could probably get away without conditioning if they used this)  and is the only high end product I'm willing to splash out on as far as hair is concerned. It is an exfoliator for your hair. Yup, that's right, your hair. I use it once every two or three washes, just to give my hair a bit of a refresh. Try it out, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Now, once I get out of the shower is when the real work begins. Styling crazy hair like mine is all about the products that you use and I've finally found a set I'm super happy with.

NOTE: After reading this, you may think, "Holy crap! That's a lot of stuff she's putting in her hair!" I have very thick, very coarse hair that tends to be on the dryer side after color treating it for nearly a decade. My hair can actually take this much product in it without looking greasy or gross. People with fine, thin hair should absolutely stay away from this routine. 

First, while still in the shower, I gather my hair twist, just to get the excess moisture out. Then, I do that again with my towel when I get out (my hair is literally a cham-wow Just when you think you got all the water out, there's more!) Then I comb my hair out.

Once I've gotten most of the water out of my hair, I spray it from root to tip with the Paul Mitchell Color Lock UV Protection Spray. I've found that it works really well for protecting color treated hair from fading. I notice my color lasting a lot longer when I use this.

Next, I spray just my ends with Macadamia Natural Oil's Detangler. Now, I tried not doing this a couple of times, assuming that the three products I put in my hair after would do just fine. That was a mistake. My hair didn't look any worse when all was said and done, but I noticed a distinct lack of softness to my hair that I typically have when I use all five. It just adds a little more moisture to my hair and helps my ends stay conditioned.

At this point, I comb my hair through to make sure the two sprays have been evenly distributed throughout my hair...or at least distributed where they need to be distributed.

These last three products are things I've discovered since I started going to my now regular salon and have really made the most difference in my hair.

Adore Salon, as I've referenced before is a full service salon in Folsom that exclusively uses Aveda products. From hair color to hair products and makeup, they carry Aveda products which are plant and mineral based and are generally better for you and for the environment. Thus, as you no doubt guessed, the last three products I use on my hair prior to blow drying are Aveda.

After the detangler, I put about a pump and a half of Aveda's Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother into my hand and rub them together to evenly distribute the product. Starting at my ends, I run the product through, using whatever is left over for the roots of my hair.

Next, I take about a penny sized amount of Aveda's Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightener, rub that between my palms and starting again at about my ears, I run the product through my hair. Again, once I've done this, I comb my hair through just to make sure that everything has been evenly distributed through my lioness mane.

Finally, I use about...6 drops of a brand new Aveda product, the Dry Remedy Daily Moisturizing Oil ( or as I like to call it OMG! MAGIC PRODUCT) and run that through the ends of my hair. Now, this stuff is absolutely amazing. I've used hair serums in the past and my hair pretty much just drinks them like a milkshake, meaning I end up having to put more in my hair between washes to maintain the smoothness of my ends. This oil however, has visibly transformed my hair. I've been using it for about two weeks, so four washes (in sample form since it literally came out on December 27th) and I had to go and buy the full sized product. It has made my hair so much softer, smoother, and it smells like fresh ginger so it was a total win for me.

One last time, I comb through my hair and then I wrap it in a cotton t-shirt to dry. I debated about telling you about that step because you look ridiculous when you do it. But I think for those of us with crazy hair, we should share these tips with each other so we can all benefit. Instead of a towel, which can cause breakage and more frizz, a cotton t-shirt simply absorbs the water in your hair without all the damage and fuzzies.

So, I wrap my hair in a turban in a t-shirt and let it sit for about 2 hours...maybe 3 depending on my schedule before I blow dry my hair. I usually end up quickly running a flat iron over my ends and the front of my hair near my face and then we're done.

Yes, taking care of crazy Irish hair may seem like an ordeal, but once you get it down, it really isn't too much to deal with. It just seems like a lot of work once I write it all out.

Hopefully this helped any of my fellow lioness haired ladies out there. See you soon with the body care post!