Nimia
June 18th, 2015, 11:21 AM
A year, a year, my hair and I have been here a year, and what a lot I've learned.
I came here to learn about henna, after a disastrous series of hair salon appointments. I'd been dyeing my hair red for about four years, plus putting in red-gold highlights, and then somehow the train went totally off the tracks with my hairdresser and I had a ghastly, terrible, 5+ hour appointment where she dyed my hair, got it wrong, bleached out the mistake and tried again… All right before an important trip I was taking for work, for which I needed to look my best.
Here's how my hair looked. All seems well, as the dye was fresh and covering up the extreme damage from the years of dye and highlights, and from the heavy, scalp-burning bleach job the stylist had just done.
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/CIMG7621-e1434644555688.jpg
The color faded out pretty quickly over the next month. I still wanted to be red -- my natural color is dark ash -- but I didn't want to go back to that stylist, and didn't want to put any more chemicals on my hair anyway, for fear it would all melt off.
Then henna came into my life. And the LHC.
Here's the thread about my conversion to henna, which was applied several times with the assistance of my husband, who insisted I call him "André" during my visits to his salon, "Chez André," but which since has changed names to "Le Garage."
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=123979
Now that I'm doing roots-only upkeep, I can put the henna on by myself in about 20 minutes, without making a mess. Every three months or so I make an appointment with André so he can get the back of my head, which I usually skip (no one sees those under-layers, so why bother?). André is disappointed that I don't visit Le Garage more often. He wonders if he should offer better entertainment than "American Pickers," which is what's usually playing on the garage TV. I say offering a glass of champagne would also help keep his client happy.
At one year, I don't have much increase in length to show, as I've been cutting off the thin, thrashed ends. The texture hasn't changed much either, as only the first five inches or so are free from the suffering the rest of it endured. The color is richer and more natural-looking than the salon dye, though, and the henna gives me consistent results, instead of the crapshoot color result that came with a visit to the salon.
Here's a photo from earlier this year, while on vacation. Hair is going mad because of humidity.
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LisaMauiWrite.jpeg
The biggest changes will show moving forward, as my hair grows out under the kinder, gentler LHC regime. Things I've learned about here, and changes I've made:
Henna!
No more blow dryer, no more flat iron or curling iron
Tangle Teezer
Lace braids -- my favorite
Silk pillowcase (don't know if it makes a difference, but I like it anyway)
Fake Ficcare, for putting hair up while cooking; much more comfortable than a stick
I've experimented with lots of things I've read about here for a daily hair routine, but in the end this is what works best for me:
Wash every other day with cheap-o Suave, condition with Garnier Fructis "Sleek & Shine"
Moroccan Oil afterward
That's it.
If I want curls, I wait until it's almost dry (or dampen dry hair with a spray bottle of water) and use softy bendy sticks like these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C5Q3R8Y/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B008KM1518&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0B3RW13GEFT81ZJBSM1C
My favorite hair accessories are those little polyband elastics in brown, which I use at the ends of my braids. Much as I love the look of hair sticks, I don't like the weight of my hair worn up in a bun or twist. So, most days it's half-up with braids, or it's curled and pulled back on one side with click-clack barrettes, in a sort of 40s look.
One of my usual daily styles:
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/hairversary-e1434650805840.jpg
Thank you to everyone here, for all you've taught me. And thank you for being such a positive, supportive, hilarious group. This has been one of the few places on the Internet I know I can escape to to find a few light-hearted moments in the day.
Nimia
I came here to learn about henna, after a disastrous series of hair salon appointments. I'd been dyeing my hair red for about four years, plus putting in red-gold highlights, and then somehow the train went totally off the tracks with my hairdresser and I had a ghastly, terrible, 5+ hour appointment where she dyed my hair, got it wrong, bleached out the mistake and tried again… All right before an important trip I was taking for work, for which I needed to look my best.
Here's how my hair looked. All seems well, as the dye was fresh and covering up the extreme damage from the years of dye and highlights, and from the heavy, scalp-burning bleach job the stylist had just done.
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/CIMG7621-e1434644555688.jpg
The color faded out pretty quickly over the next month. I still wanted to be red -- my natural color is dark ash -- but I didn't want to go back to that stylist, and didn't want to put any more chemicals on my hair anyway, for fear it would all melt off.
Then henna came into my life. And the LHC.
Here's the thread about my conversion to henna, which was applied several times with the assistance of my husband, who insisted I call him "André" during my visits to his salon, "Chez André," but which since has changed names to "Le Garage."
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=123979
Now that I'm doing roots-only upkeep, I can put the henna on by myself in about 20 minutes, without making a mess. Every three months or so I make an appointment with André so he can get the back of my head, which I usually skip (no one sees those under-layers, so why bother?). André is disappointed that I don't visit Le Garage more often. He wonders if he should offer better entertainment than "American Pickers," which is what's usually playing on the garage TV. I say offering a glass of champagne would also help keep his client happy.
At one year, I don't have much increase in length to show, as I've been cutting off the thin, thrashed ends. The texture hasn't changed much either, as only the first five inches or so are free from the suffering the rest of it endured. The color is richer and more natural-looking than the salon dye, though, and the henna gives me consistent results, instead of the crapshoot color result that came with a visit to the salon.
Here's a photo from earlier this year, while on vacation. Hair is going mad because of humidity.
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LisaMauiWrite.jpeg
The biggest changes will show moving forward, as my hair grows out under the kinder, gentler LHC regime. Things I've learned about here, and changes I've made:
Henna!
No more blow dryer, no more flat iron or curling iron
Tangle Teezer
Lace braids -- my favorite
Silk pillowcase (don't know if it makes a difference, but I like it anyway)
Fake Ficcare, for putting hair up while cooking; much more comfortable than a stick
I've experimented with lots of things I've read about here for a daily hair routine, but in the end this is what works best for me:
Wash every other day with cheap-o Suave, condition with Garnier Fructis "Sleek & Shine"
Moroccan Oil afterward
That's it.
If I want curls, I wait until it's almost dry (or dampen dry hair with a spray bottle of water) and use softy bendy sticks like these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C5Q3R8Y/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687562&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B008KM1518&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0B3RW13GEFT81ZJBSM1C
My favorite hair accessories are those little polyband elastics in brown, which I use at the ends of my braids. Much as I love the look of hair sticks, I don't like the weight of my hair worn up in a bun or twist. So, most days it's half-up with braids, or it's curled and pulled back on one side with click-clack barrettes, in a sort of 40s look.
One of my usual daily styles:
http://lisacach.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/hairversary-e1434650805840.jpg
Thank you to everyone here, for all you've taught me. And thank you for being such a positive, supportive, hilarious group. This has been one of the few places on the Internet I know I can escape to to find a few light-hearted moments in the day.
Nimia