UPDATE: Why a perm ruined my hair

*The above photo was around a week after the second perm. That hair ball was what broke off after combing my hair. It's poor quality but I left my shoe in the picture for reference. I'm a size 8*

You may remember that in this post I raved about having my hair permed. It was the perfect solution to what I wanted. It allowed me have my hair curly without it shrinking up to a large afro.

To set the scene, I had that perm done around August. I went back to uni rocking my hair, absolutely loving it and the freedom to style it. When I returned to the hairdresser's at Christmas, she took one look at my hair and said 'you need another perm'. Now what sold me to this perm in the first place was that she told me that if I looked after it, it could last up to a year. Now four months later I need another, whaaat?

When it comes to my hair, I'm very 'trust the professionals'. I don't know what it needs and unless they're trying to sell me something ridiculously expensive, generally I feel they know best. So against my better judgement, I let her put another perm on. This was the worst decision I ever made. Lesson number one: if you don't think something is right, question it. You probably know this but I was very naive and trusting.

This particular hairdresser ALWAYS overbooks herself. For a one hour treatment, I'll be in the salon a minimum of four hours. Now to cut a long story short, she isn't entirely sure what happened but either the perm solution wasn't washed off at all or it wasn't washed off properly. Within hours of the perm being completed, my hair was falling out in strands. I'd gone back to uni within a few days so couldn't go back to that particular hairdresser so I went to one in my university town. He immediately rinsed my hair in case the perm hadn't been washed off. If it hadn't, this meant my hair had been processing for 5 days.

My hair now is quite thin. I've lost a lot of the volume in it. The crown of my head and all around the hair line is two inches long, making it increasingly hard to style as there are a lot of stray hairs. My hair literally snapped off. My hair hair is around 12 inches long so you can imagine it was quite distressing to see 10 inch hair falling out in clumps.

I came to terms with it (after hours and hours of hysterical crying). As my mum pointed out, there are many more horrible reasons why my hair could be falling out. However that doesn't stop it being upsetting that my graduation is in a month and I have to deal with this. Also although the rate of hair breaking has slowed down, it is still breaking; leaving me with the worry that I might end up with extremely short hair.

The hairdresser who did it was very apologetic and has been throwing free products and treatments at me left, right and centre. I don't feel comfortable going back to her for the treatments however as I don't trust her anymore. I'm not going to mention the name of her salon as that's not necessary but what I will say is to constantly question your hairdresser and understand what they are doing to your hair.

Alex x 

June Favourites

This month has definitely been a month of hair care. Since getting my hair permed (find out exactly what I had done here), I've been loving hair care! Something that was a chore before as I couldn't be particularly adventurous.

The Favourites

Silk Extra Moisturizing Activator
This is what my hairdressers told me that I needed to keep my curls looking defined. I don't usually like being sold things from the hair dressers as usually you can find it elsewhere for cheaper but I was in a postsalon daze. She was right however. The one day I didn't use it, I looked like a poodle who had got caught in the rain! It keeps my hair tamed and under control. Frustratingly I can't find anywhere else that stocks this other than my hair dressers and American stockists (I don't usually like using American ones because of the whole customs malarkey but it's so much cheaper in dollars- ugh)

Soap and Glory The Righteous Butter Body Lotion
My German friend gave this to me when she couldn't take it on her flight home. It's always sad to see friends leave. I benefited this time however as I'd never tried this body lotion. You can see from the almost empty bottle, my skin has been drinking it up and with the classic S&G scent, it was a instant winner. This body lotion is quite thick but it still rubs into the skin quickly. There's nothing worse than having a full body workout trying to get rid of white cream marks, is there?

Garnier Ultimate Blends The Sleek Restorer 1 Minute Treatment
My hair dresser recommended that I use shampoo and conditioner aimed at sleek and smooth hair so when I saw this on offer in Boots, I knew I had to get me some. I also picked up the corresponding shampoo and conditioner which I also love but this 1 minute treatment just wowed me. The smell is incredible and my hair felt noticeably more smooth and soft even after being left on for a short amount of time.

TRESemme Platinum Strength Leave In Conditioner
I've mentioned this before so I won't go on but this is my favourite type of leave in conditioner. It's a cream formula as opposed to the sprays. I never feel like the liquid sprays do anything and having such thick hair means that my hair can take it without being weighed down. After using this, my hairdresser commented about how repaired my hair looked which I put down to this product.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum
I had to have at least one makeup item in here! You can see a full review here but I returned to it being my everyday foundation this month. It's light, a perfect colour match and a Real Techniques buffing brush makes easy work of it!

Lastly, how cute is that little hair scrunchie! I picked it up from Primark with a matching headband. I love the bright floral print and now my hair is a little more controlled, it means I don't have to cut out my hair accessories!

What have you been loving this month?

Bloglovin'| Twitter| Instagram| Pinterest

Permed Hair, Don't Care| Body Wave Perm Review

 In my recent trip to the hair dresser, I decided I was going to get my hair re-relaxed. Some backstory on my hair. It was natural until four years ago. I then relaxed it (chemically straightened it) for two years. After a while, I realised my hair was getting too damaged and quite short, so I stopped it and let it grow out. Relaxing is also very expensive so with going to university, it made sense to stop it.

More recently though, I felt my hair was getting unmanageable. It didn't look good naturally curly and that really limits my hair choice from there. After having a lengthy chat with my hair dresser, she suggested a body wave perm instead of relaxing. Now hearing the word perm immediately put my back up. I imagined old ladies with their tight curls and blue rinse. My hair dresser explained to me, however that this was a different type of perm that just relaxes the curl and weighs it down (meaning it won't shrink like my natural hair would). What I really wanted out of my hair was a way I could have it curly but without it look untamed and lets face it, crazy! I thought relaxing was the only way to do this but the perm is way better as you don't have to use any heat styling tools at all!

The process took around two hours and to be completely honest I have no idea what they did. There were rollers, washing, perm lotion. You could probably google for what they do in detail!

Anyway the results. When I left the salon my hair was damp with loose curls in it. Over the next few hours, it grew around three or four inches big. A good amount of volume without looking like Disco Stu from the Simpsons.

The hair dresser stressed how I would be able to 'wash and go' and I really can. There isn't loads of blow drying or curlers, just a couple of products and I can run out the door. I wash it with shampoo and conditioner aimed at sleek hair. Perming makes the hair porous. This means that it can lose and take on moisture easily. By using shampoo and conditioners aimed at sleek/smooth hair, which usually contains proteins, it can lock in the moisture. Treating your hair to a deep condition regularly is also important. I co-wash my hair everyday meaning I run condition through it and comb it through. I use deep conditioner to do this, leaving it on for a few minutes, to inject as much moisture as possible.

The products I use after washing is a curl activator and a leave in conditioner. The curl activator I use is a Silk one I bought from the salon. I'm sure you could buy it online though. The leave in conditioner is TresSemmes. They do two versions of the leave in conditioner and I always buy the one that is cheaper at the time!

For special occasions, I will be able to straighten my hair so I like that I also have that option. This post may not be relevant for a lot of people but if you'd like to inject some volume into fine, lifeless hair or make naturally curly hair more manageable, I'd really recommend the body wave perm!

Do you have any special treatments on your hair or love any particular hair products?

GFC| Bloglovin'| Twitter| Instagram| Pinterest

Perfect hair combo!

                                     

Hey!

This is a hair combo that I've been rocking for a while and I think it's definitely strengthening my hair. To give you some hair history, I had my hair relaxed about a year ago. Relaxing, if you don't know, is when you permanently straighten your hair, like the opposite of a perm. I did it so that my hair would be easier to handle and style. Before that my hair was very thick with tight curls. Relaxing, like most things you do to your hair, damages it. My hair started getting too short for my liking and relaxing is a very expensive process, so when I left for university, I decided to grow it out. So I was left with quite damaged hair and as it started to grow out, tighter curls at the top and looser curls at the end. As if that wasn't bad enough, I'm also trying to grow at a full fringe I got cut in when my hair was straight. Not the easiest thing to work with!

The first product I put in is the Argan Oil after I've washed my hair. This is a sample I got out a Cosmopolitan magazine but i will definitely repurchase something similar when its done! This product actually comes out in cream form and I run that through the ends of my hair, not going above my ears.

The product on the left is a Tresemme leave- in conditioner from their Platinum Strength range. I saw this floating around the blogosphere and decided to give it a go. I put it in my hair after the Argan oil in an attempt to put some moisture back into My hair. This product claims to repair 2 years of damage, and although I wouldn't say it's done that, I do feel like its doing something.

I feel like these products have really helped my hair. It feels less brittle and softer. I do feel that my hair would benefit from another product for when I don't wash it so recommendations are most welcome! What are your favourite hair products?

GFC| Bloglovin'| Twitter| Instagram| Pinterest