I always end up coming back to mousse.  It has the hold I need, but I have always hated the way it dried out my strands. Curly hair has a tendency to be a bit dry – so anything that increases that tendency is no bueno. 

Dove has come out with a great marketing campaign that clearly was directed at me.  Dove Style+Care mousse for curly hair!  Ahh the heavens have opened up and brought me the perfect new hair product!!!  What’s impressive about this particular mousse is that it requires only a tiny bit to work.  The container is lasting forever!

I highly recommend this product, my hair feels great and looks as curly as ever!

ALSO, my hair is finally shoulder length!  YAY!  I’m excited that it’s getting longer.  Next time I decide to chop off my hair somebody please physically body block me from entering the salon!  As much as I have enjoyed testing out shorter styles, I can’t say that I’ve found any that I like more than long hair styles.

So (for all my curly haired friends) please try the new product out and tell me what you think.

Last Wednesday, just before Andrew came to visit, Emma and I went to get our hair cut.  I wasn’t going to do anything else, but Emma was going to get her hair colored.  It wasn’t until I got to the salon that I started to think that maybe I should do something more than just a cut.

You see back in May, just before the wedding, I went to a salon at a technical high school to have my hair highlighted.  It definitely was a lot lighter when I left but I thought that it looked just fine.  When I went to have my hair cut after the wedding, the stylist at my regular salong told me that the color had bled very badly in the back.  Oops.  Once my hair started growing out the really light highlights started looking ridiculous.  I was hoping to wait until I went back home at Christmas to have my regular stylist color and cut it.

However, when Emma mentioned that she wanted to get her hair cut and dyed I figured I would try a cut out down here since I really should just use a salon that’s a little closer than 1000 miles away for my regular cuts.  That would make sense right?!

I was only going to do a cut though.  Just to trim up the ends.  I didn’t want another disaster like the last night.  But as soon as we got there I started talking to the stylist about color.  I told her about my last highlighting and we discussed how best to get my hair back to its natural color.  I told her how my hair tends to have a golden shine when the sun hits it so I don’t think it has a lot of reddish warmth.  So she mixed up two bowls of color and went to town on my head.

I sat and “processed” for a half hour during which time she continuously checked on me and peeked at the color to see how it was doing.  Afterwards she rinsed my hair out.  She thought it looked a little to reddish so she added toner while I was still in the sink and then waited for that to kick in.  Once I got back to the chair I could see that it looked a little redder than my normal hair color.  I was still happy with it, at least I wouldn’t have silly looking grown out highlights when my hair was straight.

I was interested to see what Michael would say.  When I walked in the house I said hi, he had just woken up from a nap and sat up sleepily.  I put my bags down and then went to the couch and sat next to him so that he would have a close up of my hair.  I smiled at him, he smiled back.  I said hi again, he said hi.  Still nothing about my hair.  Sure, he thought I had only gotten a trim, but I mean clearly it was a different color right?!

Nope, he didn’t notice.  I had to tell him.  But it looks normal. Really? I think it looks reddish-brown.  I mean it is definitely the heavily highlighted blonde mess that it was before.  And it’s not really my natural color….

Well my friends, I guess this stylist got it pretty close.  It looks so close to my natural color that only my mother noticed right away while we were video chatting on FaceTime.

The next day when I picked Andrew up from the airport I was interested to see if he would notice.

He didn’t.

So basically the colorist got it so close that it looks natural.  And the color is starting to grow on me.  In the sun it shines red, but inside it does look damn close to what I think my natural color is.

Now the real test will be how it looks as it grows out.  How close did the stylist really get to my natural color?  We will find out in a few weeks!

A few weeks ago I was at Walmart, cruising the health/beauty products.  I always seem to find myself in the hair accessories and products aisles.  I bought two large hair clips so that I could pull my hair back twist it and then clip it up.  Unfortunately at the time my hair still wasn’t quite long enough for this.

Today; however, I tried again and voila!  Finally the hair on the back of my head is just long enough to stay in the clip.  I let a few pieces in the front fall out of the clip and they stayed nicely to the side of my face.  I can now happily throw my hair up in a twist when I need it out of my face and have a nice little up-do.

I still have to use a few bobby pins and small hair clips to keep everything in place, but instead of 10 clips, I’m down to 3!  Once I looked at these photos I also realized that I really like the color of my hair.  I had it highlighted right before my wedding and I was thinking about doing the whole ombre hair color thing, but I realize that as the color has grown out, the sun has worked its magic on my routes so that there isn’t a noticeable line.  Curly hair also has a wonderful way of masking a lot of cut and color problems, so I may not be as happy with the color when I straighten it next time, but it’s nice to know I can always just leave it alone and not have any worries.

Hopefully I won’t do anything crazy with my hair in the near future.  For now I am set on leaving it alone and growing it out as long as possible…again.  Does anyone else go through hair cycles with either a cut or a coloring change every so often?  Every time I think that I’m happy with the status quo, I end up going off the deep end and coloring it a weird box color, or chopping it all off instead of my usual trim.  It’s an interesting process but I guess I just like to mix things up!

I was scanning Pinterest last night and I came across a post about summer hairstyles.  I went to the website and found tons of photos and guides for how to braid in interesting ways and create unique updos.  I decided to try one of the styles today.  My hair is still way to short for a braid – but I can sort of manage a french braid.  This braid is called the French Fishtail.  Click on the link for more accurate directions!

I began with clean dry hair that I blew out sorta straight.

I started the braid off the side near my normal side part.  I took two sections and crossed them over each other then gathered more hair into each section and continued crossing the sections until I got to the base of my neck.

This is the start of the braid.  In the tutorial I followed the girl started the braid on the back of her head, not from her face, but my hair is so short that this is the only way I can really braid it.

This is a view of the finished braid from the front.

This is the view of the back – it’s all crazy because I clearly got mixed up while I was doing this and one strand is definitely going the wrong way.

This is the front view of my second attempt.

This is the top of the braid.

And this is the back.  It looks much more normal – although a few more inches of hair would definitely have helped.  I will say that it’s possible to complete the braid for gals with short locks – it just takes a few bobby pins.  Someday when my own mane is long again, I hope to be able to do the entire braid which includes banding the hair at this point, then fishtailing the rest of the way down and banding again.  Then the fishtail can be wrapped at the nape of the neck to create a seashell look.  It’s pretty awesome – make sure you check out the full tutorial to see the whole look.  For now pray that my hair grows quickly, because I am ready to have long hair again!

Remember when I had practically all of my hair cut off right after my wedding?

Before -

After -

Looks like a trend may be starting here.  My mom’s new hair cut is totally awesome!

I still love my new hair cut and what I’m trying to suggest here is that if you are having an itch…a tiny little idea in your head that maybe just maybe you want to try something totally different and awesome – then I’m going to tell you the same thing I told my husband…it’s just hair, it grows back.  

It’s summer baby!  Cut all of your hair off, go skinny dipping, and use your grill like it’s the only way you know how to cook food.  It’s that time of year!

And then go read the Hunger Games books because they are addicting – seriously the only reason that I am actually getting work done today is because I haven’t started reading the second book in the series.  Once I start, I just cannot stop.  I’ll be curled up on the couch for hours obsessively reading that book until it’s finished.  It’s like a disease. Like pinterest…

So don’t start reading the hunger games books until:

1. You have many, many hours to devote to reading them.

2. You have all of them available to read in order, because you will just be thinking about reading the next one once you finish the first.

You’ll thank me later!

The day after the wedding I had an appointment to get my hair cut short.  Michael was very very very against this idea.

I don’t know, I really like your hair long, I don’t want you to cut it!

Michael doesn’t really enjoy change, so it was my job to show him the light.

Here’s the before and after shots.

I love my new hair cut!  It was soooo weird washing my hair afterwards, but I’m totally loving the new style!

I have been reading A BLOG ABOUT LOVE for the past few months and it is inspiring!  Also, Mara (one of the two bloggers) has amazing curly hair.  Like seriously…amazing!  She wrote a post about her favorite products back in October, and I found a few products that I am now dying to try.

A BLOG ABOUT LOVE: Q & A: Curly Hair.

I definitely recommend that you check out their website but I have listed a run down of the products/information presented below.  She gives a pretty detailed account of how she uses the products which is really helpful so again, I definitely recommend that you check out their website.

Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancer

Garnier Fructis Curl Sculpting Creme/Gel

Highlights/Lowlights (coloring)

Haircuts

Moroccan Oil Treatment

John Frieda Curl Around Shampoo/Conditioner

Bumble & Bumble Does It All Hairspray

Sachuajuan Spray Wax

Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray

Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine

Shower Routine

Of all the things listed above, I think I’m most likely to try the Surf Spray, Brilliantine and the Does It All Hairspray.  I love Bumble & Bumble products and I think I could create some new looks with these.

Each product goes for anywhere between $20-$30 online. Last summer I saw an ad for BB Texture which I liked quite a bit, it had a lot of hold and made my hair incredibly curly, the only thing I had to watch out for was overuse, a little goes a long way with this gel.

Happy Friday the 13th!

I try to keep my hair routine fairly simple.  These are my “natural” curls after a few products and a little diffusing.

The System:

I shampoo every other day and condition every day.

I apply frizz-ease or bumble and bumble smoothing serum to damp hair after detangling it with a wide tooth comb.  I then apply a golf-ball sized amount of mousse to the ends of my hair.  I flip my head over for this and “crunch” my curls up towards my scalp while applying the mousse.  Once I flip my head back up I continue to crunch my curls up for another minute to the top half of my hair.

I let it air dry for about ten minutes while I go about my morning routine and then diffuse it while flipping my head upside down.  Once it’s almost completely dry I flip my head back up and finish while parting my hair to the side.

I apply a little bit of hair spray to keep my bangs (which are growing out) away from my face.  The mousse has enough hold that I don’t need to apply a lot of hair spray to my hair to keep the curls in place.

After showering, this whole process takes about 15-20 minutes and I get curls that last all day long.  Or at least until I tuck all my hair into a horse back riding helmet in the afternoon.  After that, let’s just say after an hour or so of being flattened in a helmet my curls are a little less bouncy.

Here’s the end result about 24 hours later (after the helmet and sleeping and being in a pony tail for a while as well)

Still curly, just obviously lacking the same definition they had yesterday.  If I were going to do anything to help my hair out here I would add some more frizz-ease serum to smooth out the look.

Here’s a picture after adding the serum.

I will usually add a headband to pull some of the less curly pieces away from the front of my face.  This will show off some of the curlier pieces that may have been hiding underneath the top layers.

As you can see the mousse does wonders to hold my curls together after all the “stress” they endure in 24 hours.  After a little de-frizzing serum they curls are slightly softer but they maintain a similar look.

This system works for my hair and it’s great to have a go-to routine that will give me the same results day after day.

1. Use little to no shampoo.  Shampoo strips out the natural oils in your hair – this is a bad thing because curly hair tends to be dry so we like natural oils.  If you feel that your hair tends to get greasy try shampooing every other day.  Also refrain from getting conditioner in the roots of your hair as this can contribute to build up on your scalp.

2. Sulfate-free shampoo.  Sulfates damage your hair and weaken the follicle.  Instead use sulfate-free shampoo.  I use the moroccan oil shampoo sold at Target.

3. Wide tooth combs – takes the tangles out without separating your natural curls.  Brushes pull apart each follicle, this tears the knots apart and breaks the follicles.

4. Hands off! No playing or detangling once dry.  Dry curly hair cannot be combed or brushed once it’s dry without severely affecting your style. Constantly touching your hair or running your fingers through it will do the same thing.

5. Air dry is best.  In case you aren’t seeing a trend, curly hair is more sensitive than other hair types and blasting it with hot air is not going to help it.  If you have to use a hair dryer keep it set to low heat.  Air drying is the best but you wont get as much volume and you have less control over the style.

6. Leave in conditioner – is AWESOME!  I use this mostly in the summer when the heat and sun wreak havoc on my hair.  Infusium 23 is my favorite.  I bring it to the beach or pool with me and after I have dried off I flip my head upside down and spray it all over my hair and run my fingers through it to spread it throughout.

7. Coloring – glazes help curly hair by adding shine and protecting the hair follicle.  It’s normally semi-permanent but this type of color is often recommended by stylists because it causes less harm than permanent colors.  I’ve used it several times and I love the shine it adds and my hair feels incredibly smooth.  What I don’t like is the color.  It never seems to be quite what I ask for.  Obviously this is affected by the colorist and not just the color itself but I haven’t been 100% ecstatic about it.

8. Switching it up.  Just as high heat can damage your hair, so can flat irons.  Be careful to keep the heat as low as possible and try not to straighten your hair too often.  I keep my hair curly 95% of the time and rarely straighten it as I’m a little lazy and it takes a while to do. A lot of my curly-haired friends straighten their hair more often than this and that’s ok.  If you tend to wear your hair straight a lot, add deep conditioning into your weekly routine to keep your hair healthy.

9. Speak up to your stylist.  If you have a question about how a product might affect your hair or you brought a picture of a hair cut you want to try but aren’t sure how it will work on your hair ASK!  Stylists are professionals – and for that matter you should make sure the stylist working on you is really great at cutting curly hair.  Anyways they know what they are talking about, use them as a resource, if you need help styling your hair ask them to show you how to do it.

10. Find what works.  Don’t deviate from a product that works well.  I have this problem where I am always looking for something “better.”  I have a few go to products but I’m always in search of something new.  Well basically it can be fun but ultimately it’s a huge waste of money to try every curly hair product available.  So stick with what works and enjoy your hair.

My hair would be a complete mess without a few go-to products that I use on a daily basis.    When in doubt I stick with these items because I know exactly how my hair will turn out – no worries – no stress – and only a little work.  This is essential for my routine because I don’t usually have an hour to spend dressing my hair.

1. Conditioner: I love my Redken Fresh Curls conditioner.  I apply to the ends of my hair and then work it up towards my roots.  Usually I will put conditioner in my hair first thing when I shower and then rinse it just before I get out.  

2. Frizz-ease: living on the coast means lots of moisture & humidity.   Applying frizz-ease to my damp hair gives it a little more protection from the elements.  I apply one “pump” of the serum to the ends of my hair and work it through the bottom 2/3′s of my hair until most of the product has been applied to my hair then I apply the last little bit that’s on my hands to the top of my hair.  It’s important not to get too much product in my roots because when it dries it will look way too shiny and a little greasy – not exactly what I’m going for.

3. Mousse: Lately I have been bouncing back and forth between mousse and cream for my curls.  I like cream better because it doesn’t contain alcohol, however it never seems to give me quite enough hold so I usually end up hair spraying it before I even dry it!  Mousse, although it contains alcohol just always seems to give me the look I desire.  Just enough hold, just enough bounciness.

4. Diffuser: I’ve had many and no matter what brand or type you use it is incredibly helpful for speedy drying without completely blowing out my curls into a wavy mess.  I start with my head flipped up side down to create a lot of volume.  Once the roots and front sections of my hair are mostly dry I flip my head back up and make a side part and dry each side of my hair, alternating the side part as I do each side.  I wear my hair with a side part to finish but if I start with my hair parted exactly that way the top of my hair often ends up flat, alternating the part helps keep that umph that I’m looking for.

5. Hairspray: Even using mousse, I use a little hair spray to hold my currently growing out bangs over to one side.  This way I won’t need to shove a bobby pin in there and it provides enough hold to keep my bangs out of my face all day.