A One 'n Only Mask

Here in the North East winter is coming up fast and that means constant cold air and dry heat, which isn't exactly the kindest thing to hair. But I have something to make is all better!  (this is also the line I would have used if I ever had a role in a super cool after school special selling drugs on a play ground)

One 'n Only Restorative Mask  

$10 without a Sally's card for 8.5 oz $4.39 for 3 oz.

It says right there on the front, Reconstructs & Repairs, Hydrates & Moisturizes, Texturizes & Shines. And ya know what, they aren't lying at all! This one tube takes my dry, brittle, bleached ends and makes them feel soft, healthy and shiny. It also makes my virgin hair, soft, shiny and a lot less frizzy. 

It's an extremely thick formula, almost like cake frosting. In the summer, when I refuse to drive with my windows up but later regret it when my hair is one big tangled mess, I can put this mask on in the shower and comb through my hair with only my fingers to get all the knots out. It's an absolute miracle!  And even then it doesn't weigh my hair down, major points!

The instructions on the back say to leave this on your hair for 7-10 minutes. After re-bleaching my hair to put the pink in I did the full 10 minutes and it worked like magic and also replaced any chemical smell with the sweet, beautiful smell of argan oil. I love the smell and I would imagine everyone else will too since I've never come across anyone who hasn't liked the smell of argan/moroccan oil. 

I also use this mask as a regular conditioner, forgoing the 7-10 minutes for a quick 1-2. Many times I only apply this to my ends that need it the most, and go with a lighter conditioner closer to my head, especially when I use it as a Toning Conditioner to keep my pink nice and bright. That's where I mix some of my hair color in with the conditioner and use that after shampooing to keep the color nice and vibrant.

One 'n Only as a huge line of argan oil products. I know quite a good number of people who use their Moroccan oil and other products and really love them, but I haven't really delved into their line all that much. But because I love this mask so much I'm tempted to try other products of theirs, but I'm also reluctant. What if I don't love them as much?? I don't want to ruin the beautiful relationship we already have. 

Day 5 : My Hair Rules.

So this week I've told you my top 4 hair care treatments. The Coconut Oil, Banana Treatment, Vo5 Hot Oil, and Aphogee 2 Step Protein Treatment.Besides these, I've tried things like mayonnaise and eggs and beer...oh..something with plain gelatin that used to work well but I haven't done that in a long time and don't know where the recipe is....and probably other ones I can't think of right now. There's also other ones I would like to attempt, like trying avocado, and some new hair masks that on the market...I'm sure I'll get to those soon enough.

On this last day of my series, I've decided to not give you a treatment, but to give my Hair Care Guidelines.
There are a certain set of steadfast rules that I stick to with my hair. In my head, I assume everyone does these things and it's just part of life, but I'm realizing that isn't always true. So I present..

My Hair Rules:

1. NEVER Brush wet hair. It makes me cringe every time I see an actress onscreen raking through her freshly shampooed hair with a big brush. It makes me weep for her hair. Wet hair should only be combed through using a wide tooth comb. 
2. Keep a wide tooth comb handy at all times. First of all, it will save you from taking a brush to your wet hair. I keep a plastic one in my shower at all times because I only comb my hair when I have conditioner in it. I never detangle my hair otherwise. 
3. Only shampoo your roots. Never ever shampoo your hair like they did in those 80's commercials. Piling your hair on your head and lathering away?? nooo. please. no. There is no reason you need to put shampoo on the length of your hair unless you actually have something stuck on or spilled in your hair. Apply shampoo to your fingers and work it right into the scalp. As you rinse out, the shampoo that washes over the rest of your hair is sufficient to clean it. There is no need for scrubbing here. 
4. Massage your scalp. Show it a little love! Don't be a hit it and quit it shampooer! Try to massage your scalp as you shampoo for 2 minutes. That sounds short, but in shower time, it feels like ages! Massaging your scalp keeps it healthy and exfoliated, and promotes hair growth. So don't be shy!
5. Never rub your hair with your towel. Oh man, worse than seeing someone rake a brush through their hair on TV, it's worse to see someone rubbing their head with a towel, out of the shower. Stop!  Ladies, especially color treated ladies. Please don't do this. You're basically attempting to give yourself a bald spot. Rubbing your hair will make curly hair frizzy, weak hair break, and can cause unnecessary tangles. When getting the water from your hair, first twist or squeeze your hair with your hands, being as gentle as possible. Then do the same with a gentle towel, squeeze the hair or twist it into the towel, NEVER rub. 
6. Heavy condition from the ears down. Especially when using a deep conditioner or conditioning treatment. I use the conditioner from my ears downward for the majority of the time and only put the conditioner on the hair nearest my scalp just before washing it out, or not at all. This saves my hair from being completely weighed down. 
7. Never shampoo 2 days in a row. There is just no need.
8. Always wash conditioner out completely. It sounds like it would work right, just leaving a biiit of conditioner in when you rinse to let it continue doing it's job? Nope. wrong. Most conditioners, if not rinsed properly, will just dry out your hair more and leave it dull and strawlike. The opposite of what you're most likely going for. So be a doll...rinse!
9. Try to do conditioning treatments once a month, if not, at least once a season. Doesn't matter what you choose, but your hair will thank you for it. 
10. Go Natural. If you have curly hair, let it be curly once a week. Hair is like teenagers. Stop fighting with it from time to time and let it be. ...  But then go ahead and start fighting with it next week. It's a teenager! It doesn't know what it wants!

Hair Treatment Series #4

Treatment:

Aphogee 2 Step Protein Treatment $4-$25 at Sally's Beauty

During the research for tealing my hair, I came across a number of people who swore by this treatment. People who had done drastic things to their hair in the way of bleaching swore this product restored their hair, so I tried it throughout my bleaching process and was amazed with my results! It made my crunchy bleached hair feel like hair again!!

Directions:

On shampooed and towel dried hair, apply the protein treatment. Apply heat to your hair with a dryer but do not mess with your hair. As the treatment dries, it will harden (they are not kidding, we're talking rock status)

Once it's hard, rinse out all the treatment until your hair moves again, then apply the moisture balancing moisturizer, wait for a minute or two, and rinse. 

Now, the treatment itself doesn't exactly have the best smell to it, but it goes away quickly. The moisturizer/conditioner has a nice pleasant smell and makes your hair feel amazing before you even get out of the shower. 

Basically this treatment uses the heat to burn the protein back into your hair. Giving it some life and softness. This wouldn't be something to do weekly, but every 2 weeks, I think would give you great results. Out of the single use packet for $4, regular shoulder length hair should get about 2 uses, but they also sell large bottles of this, in 8 and 16 oz. I plunged and got the big 16oz treatment (with coupon!) because I'll definitely be using this far after I stop bleaching my hair!

If you do get the bottle, don't forget to get the Balancing Moisturizer! it's pretty crucial to this whole plan. 

Hair Care Treatment Series #3

If the thought of shopping for coconut oil seems too daunting, or the idea of creating a sickening mixture to put on your head sounds way out of your league, there is still hope. And it comes in a nice little package at your local drug store.

Vo5 Hot Oil Treatment $3

Directions:

Place tube of oil in glass of hot water for 1 minute. Open tube and apply oil to wet hair. Wait 1 minute and shampoo and condition as usual. 

This oil takes all the guess work out of hair treatments. No worrying about ingredients or amounts of time and plastic wraps. No heating, no cooling, no waiting. This is an instantly gratifying treatment.

For around 3 bucks for 2 treatments, along with sales and coupons, this is one of the cheapest and most effective conditioning treatments for hair out there. It instantly gives life back to dull hair, and restores over worked hair's resilience and volume.

Oh VO5, you can make your packaging look as ugly as you want and you'll still be a classic beauty buy. You've been on shelves for decades and I hope to never see your spot gone. 

Hair Care Treatment Series #2

Treatment: The Banana Split.

1 way over ripe banana
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tspn Oil, ie. vitamin e, coconut, olive

In a bowl, mash up the banana, honey and oil together. Sometimes I just get in there with my hand and do it because it's just easier than utensils sometimes. You can really use any oil. I use vitamin E oil which I found for a few bucks in the natural food section of my grocery store. You can even puts drops of essential oils, like eucalyptus or lavender or whatever strikes your fancy stink wise.

The concoction looks disgusting. This is true. And if you despise the smell of banana,this may not be for you, sorry.

Directions:

On towel dried and combed through hair, apply the mixture to your hair. I find it easiest to work in sections. Cover your whole head and comb through with your fingers.  You could use a wide tooth comb, but you'll notice that the big bits of banana just get stuck in there and it's kinda gross. So do your best to cover all your hair with it. Then wrap your head with plastic;Cling Wrap or a plastic bag. I also like to fold up a paper towel and pin that in place just under the plastic at the back of my neck. Because as this heats up with your natural temperature, the mixture will thin out and start dripping down your neck and it feels horrible. Spare yourself.

Leave this on your head for 30 minutes. Or maybe longer if you can stand it. Then wash it out with shampoo and conditioner. You might need to do a rinse and repeat on the shampoo and be cautious of the banana bits that might be holding on for dear life. Make sure you wash all that out.

Style as usual and baste in your new shiny and healthy tresses!!

I love this treatment and it's the one I use the most. It washes out the easiest for me and leaves me with mega shine. The banana and small amount of oil give just the right amount of moisture to my dried out hair, without leaving it heavy from oil for days to come.

The fate of bananas in my house end up on my head, not in bread. 

I'm Back! With A Series

So I've returned from an impromptu trip to DC for a week. I apologize for not having enough posts to post while I was gone, but I'll plan better for the future....but importantly..I'm back!!

I've decided to take this first full week of August and use it to do a Hair Care Series. For the next five days I will share with you my top 5 hair treatments that I use regularly that save my hair from many awful days. Like my recent dry and knotty hair from a week long of open window driving. I really need to stop doing that, but I simply refuse!

Treatment #1: Coconut Oil. 

I use Parachute which you can find in your local Indian or Asian Grocery Store for around $3-$8. There are many brands out there. Make sure to look for Pure Coconut Oil. 

Coconut Oil is no secret in the hair world. Especially for Indians. It's something we're taught about as we learn our ABCs. It was something we did every few weeks to keep your hair healthy and shiny.  The way we used it as a child has been modified over the years but coconut oil needs to be in your medicine cabinet.

Directions:

Pure coconut oil becomes a solid as it cools so it needs to be heated, either in a microwave or in a bowl of hot water.  It's best to use it when it is warm so that it soaks into your hair and scalp.  Starting with dry, sectioned hair, dip your fingers in the warm oil and massage the oil into your scalp.  Spend at least a few seconds on each small section of scalp working it in and then pulling the remaining oil through the length of your hair. Work this all the way around your head until all your hair is covered in the oil, but not dripping wet.

As a kid we used to keep this in our hair overnight. Tying and wrapping our heads in old bandannas and covering our pillows with old towels, but coconut oil is potent and that smell is hard to get rid of.  The oil won't hurt your hair so you can keep it in as long as you like but doing just 30 minutes to an hour should be sufficient enough on most hair.  To speed up the process you could use some low heat form a dryer on the hair for a while or wrap your head with plastic before washing it out veeerry well with some good shampoo and conditioner.

This may take 2 or 3 shampoos to get the oil out completely. If your hair is very damaged, try for only 2 shampoos and let some oil remain and plan accordingly for your hair styling. Coconut oil can thicken up thinning hair, give you the shine that your hair is lacking and can even calm unruly, mid summer curls. The process might take some getting used to and you'll need to find your own balance of amount of oil and setting time, but with a few tries you will able to see just how much this natural oil helps the health of your hair. 

Best Thing In A Bottle Since Beer

Morrocan Oil Leave In Hair Treatment $40

I'm no stranger to hair oil. I'm Indian, we love us some coconut oil and live by it, but coconut oil doesn't help with styling. I still remember the first time my hair dresser used Morccan Oil on me. It was a minor miracle. NAY! it was a major miracle! My hair dried soft and sleek and curly with no frizz, no crunch and no oily residue. What was this black magic that she used on me??  She gave me a trial size of it for me to use at home. That's how they get ya huh? "First ones free, Kid!"  

And just like an up-and-coming addict, I pretended I didn't need it.  No...surely my concoctions of hair products will be fiiine...I don't need that oil! But more and more I kept flashing back to that wonderful light, heavenly smell. The ease with which it ran through my hair. The way it dried, even on my hands, so quickly, without a trace of oil. I needed it.

I bought my first full size bottle from a salon in AL while I was visiting my sister. I had never spent that much money on one hair product before and I was nervous. It was a heavy dark apothecary bottle, that I loved,  inside of an attention grabbing blue box. I spent the time at her house perfecting my method and amount I needed. I started off with very little, cherishing this new liquid gold.  By the end of the week I found my happy place.

Since then I've given way to all other hair products. Nothing else compared nor would do anymore. I tried other brands of Moroccan/argan oils, during short lapses in judgement, only to find them too oily or heavy, or drying and making my hair brittle. Every time I've gone back to the original Moroccan Oil brand in the blue box with the heavenly smell.

For the last few years the only thing that I've put in my hair is this oil and my hair brush...and maybe some hair spray for costumes/events(where I basically go to in costume).  I use it every time my hair is wet and even on on dry hair to smooth out some frizziness or to bring some life back to my slept in curls.

Each 3.4 oz bottle lasts me between 6 months to a year depending how long my hair is and now that I don't buy anything else for my hair, the price tag seems more than worth it.

The Moroccan Oil line hosts a long line of hair products available in salons or select beauty supply stores. The line has everything from a lighter version of the oil treatment, to creams, masks, foams and shampoo. Every thing my hair stylist has tried on me has worked amazingly. I'm not sure what they're putting into those little blue packages, but it's so good it should be illegal!