January 31, 2013

Rapunzel inspired hair

For something completely different but in tribute to the name of my blog, here are some beautiful pictures I found recently of Rapunzel/Tangled inspired hair...

Winning combination

Even though I'm not on a strict no-shampoo routine at the moment, I've been getting compliments about my hair since using apple cider vinegar again.

Last night may have been the best one so far, which was a quick baking soda rinse on the crown of my hair (prone to shampoo build up), then a wash with Tresemme Brunette shampoo and Herbal Essences conditioner, following by two diluted ACV rinses.

Today I have extremely soft hair with some good body happening, especially at the front.

I also put a permanent hair colour in a couple of weeks ago, which was less about making my hair a darker brown, but moreso to repair the damage from the banana disaster! Doing a colour always seems to make my hair look, feel and smell amazing. That conditioner you get in the packet should be sold by the litre!

I don't like the darker brown and luckily the vinegar helped because it strips the colour and lightens my hair up again.

I've probably written this many times before but seriously, if you ever want a product that is good for your hair, start using apple cider vinegar!

January 16, 2013

Banana: Hair's worst enemy!

Wow. So I thought I would have a nice relaxing night in and do a hair mask, as well as a facial using all natural products.

The face mask was fine: this was based on something I heard in a post-Golden Globes show with tips for star's secrets. They said to mix a mashed banana with some honey and leave it on your face for 15 minutes. This worked well and was easily washed off, I can't really comment on the result because I was unbelievably stressed due to the hair disaster that followed!

Being careless, I googled hair masks that involved egg and olive oil. I should have just left  it at that, and gone with my original plan. Instead, I got carried away and used a more complicated recipe I'd found online, thinking that the more ingredients, the better the result.

Hair mask: 2 eggs, olive oil, yoghurt, milk, honey, mashed banana.

Every ingredient listed would probably have been great for my hair EXCEPT for the banana!!!

It wasn't until afterwards when I found myself frantically searching "How to get banana out of your hair" on Google, that I'd discovered that you should never EVER put banana in your hair!

Banana does not come out of your hair. At least, it doesn't come out without an intense washing, combing and showering process... I would have gone through almost an entire bottle of conditioner, several shampoo washes, and still the banana did not comb out. It was literally stuck in my hair and I got out of the shower, looked in the mirror and there were chunks in my hair that wouldn't come out! Luckily for me, I wasn't working the following day, and thank goodness I didn't attempt to get nice hair the night before a recent wedding! 

What eventually happened, was that I used anything and everything that might have helped the chunks slide out with a comb. This included olive oil, bio oil, baby oil, Sunlight soap.

I did finally get the banana out, although this morning I'm not sure whether there are still a few sneaky pieces that I can't see. I had to spend a good half hour combing a LOT of conditioner through to get all the knots out. My hair had gone really dry and tangled, I'm sure I've caused a thousand split ends during this process.

I've slept with lots of conditioner in my hair to try getting some moisture back into it. 

So this is a warning, like all the others online: Never ever EVER put banana in a hair mask!

January 8, 2013

It's been a while!

Alright, well clearly it has been quite a long time since I posted anything on this blog!
I think it's been over a year, and the big question for most would be "Are you still on the no-shampoo method?"

No. 

BUT! That's not to say I won't try it again. I'm beginning to think that it's a good detox that you could do every once in a while. Lately I've noticed that my hair is getting to second day and needs a wash already (although it is summer time now...), which is quite frustrating. I'm not satisfied with my S&C combo - currently Head and Shoulders with Almond Oil (Shampoo) and Herbal Essences classic (Conditioner).

I still maintain that Herbal Essences conditioner is the best smelling, and best textured I've ever used. I never coat the hair near my scalp with it, only the pony tail section and ends.

I think it's time to do another baking soda and vinegar detox, which I'll post about once I've started again. 

Side note: I now use baking soda to cleanse my face every couple of days. Too early to report just yet, but as I mentioned when I first started this blog, I've heard only good things about the many benefits of using the powder for beauty routine purposes. I also use it as an additional scrub on my arms, which are susceptible to dryness and roughness.

Anyone tried and ditched this like I did? Any regrets down the track??