tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81475460909024482072024-03-19T18:29:17.682-04:00Confessions of a Hair Amateur...A sneak peak into the world of a hair lover!Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-4723518110761110332012-03-16T04:37:00.001-04:002012-03-16T04:38:50.944-04:00March/April Goals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">In order to keep me motivated on this new and improved hair journey of mine I decided to set a few goals for myself every month. Since we're already halfway through March, I thought I'd give myself til the end of April.</div><br />
In March/April I need to:<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. Be consistent with the products I use.</b> The glorified product junkie that I am has an entire stash of products just waiting for me to try them out. So, I need to pick a few, use them consistently and resist the urge to try something new every week. This is going to be hard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Baggy my ends at least 2x a week.</b> If you guys remember, baggying was part of the things I wanted to add to my regimen becuase of the great results it gave some ladies. I figured I need all the help I can get with my length retention<b> </b>if I want to be APL by december.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKxr3j3ghyphenhyphenlDbsi-90TF5e3WvtL-ssiCmm6n_UQ9mIpbIGCavsvwF7kEYTkYfj_eTqUE7iZIqyYTK5GtvULle9VPl0gUI6Qcw6_fup-AbnsPTAntXZ7lyzZcfxw94qx9yZpFnCCtgMP_E/s1600/black-weave-hairstyles-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKxr3j3ghyphenhyphenlDbsi-90TF5e3WvtL-ssiCmm6n_UQ9mIpbIGCavsvwF7kEYTkYfj_eTqUE7iZIqyYTK5GtvULle9VPl0gUI6Qcw6_fup-AbnsPTAntXZ7lyzZcfxw94qx9yZpFnCCtgMP_E/s320/black-weave-hairstyles-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br />
3. Keep my hands out of my hair.</b> I have a self-diagnosed wicked case of hand in hair syndrome. Throughout the, I will undo my bun for no reason and re-do it. As soon as I get home, I take my hair down and proceed to repeatedly run my fingers through it. This practice is deadly for hair because it will not only cause breakage but overtime it will also result in hair thinning. Finally, I'm very tender-headed, so quite often I end up with headaches and a sore scalp from all that pulling tugging at my hair. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a masochist. But I just can't seem to help it. I don't even notice when I start doing it. I find that keep my hair covered under a scarf or a bonnet keeps me from playing with it so that's just what I'll do.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Cover my head every night</b>. I have been known to go to bed without a scarf or a bonnet because I was too tired to look for it or just plain lazy. The result is always the same: dried-out hair. I have to work on that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. Start learning how to rollerset my hair.</b> Now that I'm texlaxing my hair, roller setting is definitely going to come in handy to create a smooth look, specially deep in a stretch, when I'll be dealing with three textures. Not to mention that staring at Jeni's (<a href="http://justgrowalready.com/" target="_blank">JustGrowAlready</a>) gorgeous roller sets really motivated me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'll check in with you guys at the end of April!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a></div><br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-36930177499660925362012-03-16T03:37:00.002-04:002012-03-16T03:39:47.324-04:00MopTop Maven's Xtreme Deep Conditioning Tutorial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oqruPfjYpEg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I bumped into this video awhile ago and I have been dying to try it, specially since my hooded dryer broke in december. In the video, she specifies that she only does this every 6-8 weeks after a henna treatment so as to avoid over-moisturizing her hair but I honestly don't see that ever happening with me. So, if I like the results I get wih this method, I might do it 1x-2x a month. She has been doing this for awhile and and her gorgeous hair has obviously not suffered any adverse effects. By the way her name is <a href="http://moptopmaven.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The MopTop Maven</a>. </div><br />
I'll kee you guys posted on my results.<br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-51034573887907207642012-03-11T23:11:00.001-04:002012-03-12T21:47:45.981-04:00Relaxer Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Thursday was relaxer day. Yay! I relaxed one day shy of 14 weeks post and I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil No-lye Relaxer Regular Strength Formula. Here's what my friend did (under my close almost dictatorial supervision).<br />
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<b>Step 1: Protection</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_0Kxy3Wj3aG17zEc2I-iqjotvmwLFrfFlZZ_OkSCVTCCphVxvhDfHOTW-ECDPAC-0_mbZFEldvjAbSYCGKsG82dFtbAfnnRJgUvqhmUzXqk0hxnQXmC0my8ETOnYoNsBtX51TQztxu7U/s1600/Protection.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_0Kxy3Wj3aG17zEc2I-iqjotvmwLFrfFlZZ_OkSCVTCCphVxvhDfHOTW-ECDPAC-0_mbZFEldvjAbSYCGKsG82dFtbAfnnRJgUvqhmUzXqk0hxnQXmC0my8ETOnYoNsBtX51TQztxu7U/s320/Protection.png" width="247" /></a>My best friend Sabrina started off by parting my hair in four sections. She then parted those sections in smaller ones and based my scalp with ORS Olive Oil Scalp Protector. She protected my ears nape and edges with Vaseline. I decided I wasn't going to relax my napes because not only are they very fine, they also grow at a slow rate. I barely had any new growth there so I had my friend cornrow that section of my hair and apply Vaseline to it. She then proceeded to protect my already relaxed ends with Roux Porosity Control Conditioner and some CHI Silk Infusion on top of it. She then clipped each section up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Step 2: Relaxing</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've read my last few posts than you know I decided to transition to texlaxing. In order to do that I added about 1/4 of a cup of olive oil into the relaxer to dilute it. My friend parted my hair in small sections and applied the relaxer to my new growth only with a tint brush. She then proceeded to smooth my hair. Since it was my first time texlaxing I didn't really know how long to leave it on and I was terrified I was going to over-process my hair. I didn't. We ended up rinsing it out after 23 minutes. I took over from there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Step 3: Neutralizing</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY2BtfkBW72LPi1CXfeJPOhecGNmkWcVw5a88ZxbdqxjtawOlQ9Y3U3vqMcMGxfjd79rXXgeDAKIwn4jGZejdLqi0-vfh9k6SbpYl3FIY-NWdN1ICY2baIe8sJo2T-GwG4WEpbbfDE606/s1600/Neutralizing.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkY2BtfkBW72LPi1CXfeJPOhecGNmkWcVw5a88ZxbdqxjtawOlQ9Y3U3vqMcMGxfjd79rXXgeDAKIwn4jGZejdLqi0-vfh9k6SbpYl3FIY-NWdN1ICY2baIe8sJo2T-GwG4WEpbbfDE606/s320/Neutralizing.png" width="248" /></a>I rinsed out the relaxer for about 2 minutes. Before neutralizing I did a mid-step protein treatment with Joico K-PAK Revitaluxe Bio-Advanced Restorative Treatment (whew, that's a mouthful!). I received a sample when I bought my Joico Moisture Recovery Shampoo & Conditioner and I had been saving it for that purpose. I made sure I got all of my newly relaxed hair covered with it, then got some on my ends, put a shower cap on and rinsed it out after 5 minutes. I started neutralizing with Isoplus Neutralizing Shampoo and not the one that came in the box because of the color alarm in the Isoplus Shampoo. I then switched to the ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo that came with relaxer because it neutralizes AND chelates (removes calcium deposits left on the hair by the relaxer). I applied Roux Porosity Control for about 2 minutes and neutralized again. I neutralized about 10 times and left the shampoo on for about 15 minutes the last time. I stopped when the Isoplus Shampoo stopped being pink. By that time my hair was feeling soo stripped! Quite an unpleasant feeling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Step 4: Deep Conditioning</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_ntgym05KPqEx521YyuKBt995UFJO6pmHOzoqZ5lFHBlWCWyt8Em9oCWw2a3l8b-MRPHD2hZPrI-MdhEuoibX1I8jVlDjBI_NZ952SBDkpJtKcf71XoLJmy3DfZEueikdJDerexEjflE/s1600/DC.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_ntgym05KPqEx521YyuKBt995UFJO6pmHOzoqZ5lFHBlWCWyt8Em9oCWw2a3l8b-MRPHD2hZPrI-MdhEuoibX1I8jVlDjBI_NZ952SBDkpJtKcf71XoLJmy3DfZEueikdJDerexEjflE/s320/DC.png" width="216" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I chose to deep condition with a mix of L'Oreal Absolut Repair Cellular Mask (for ceramides) and ORS Replenishing Conditioner (for proteins). I left the mixture on for 7 seven hours while I did things around the house, wrote my history mid-term paper and took a nap. I didn't plan to deep condition for that long, it just happened. I detangled my hair and rinsed out the conditioner. By then, my texlaxed curls were looking nice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbEPSfRwKNEXEbNy9ZEzXHf61jWj0YUFlayuMwV0DB_b6eUDb3Poin4Kt-fQZK5txkApxBOKAuGhV-Em-FF7SUd4U_y6v62mxhekfW7K1niLqIln6lPA9Z7LMnvFytaQ_RamskQWPz6qw/s1600/Leave+ins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbEPSfRwKNEXEbNy9ZEzXHf61jWj0YUFlayuMwV0DB_b6eUDb3Poin4Kt-fQZK5txkApxBOKAuGhV-Em-FF7SUd4U_y6v62mxhekfW7K1niLqIln6lPA9Z7LMnvFytaQ_RamskQWPz6qw/s320/Leave+ins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Step 5: Styling</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I gently patted my hair with a towel to remove excess water and applied my leave-ins. I sprayed my hair with Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructurizer, mixed my HE leave-in with my Giovanni and massaged it through my hair, concentrating on my ends. I finally added my CHI Silk Infusion and a little bit of Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum (not pictured). I tied the front of my hair with a scarf and left my hair to air dry overnight. The morning after, I sprayed on some Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray (not pictured) and flat ironed on a low setting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Verdict:</b> So far my hair feels smooth but also really strong, probably from the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment I did last week. I got my hair texlaxed and not relaxed bone straight, as I wished. However, I think I might leave the relaxer on for 3-5 minutes longer to get a looser curl pattern next time. I'll see how my hair looks and feels after a couple of washes before I decide. As for growth, I definitely see some, even if I cut some off some of my damaged ends recently. Unfortunately, my friend didn't have time to take some shots of my hair, but I'll try to do it myself on my next wash day. Can I just say how much I love that my hair looks thicker? I love it!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a></div></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-29988428595618410202012-03-04T04:06:00.010-05:002012-03-07T01:26:16.815-05:00Wash Day/Relaxer Prep/ Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s2.folica.com/img/product/p/p8149/main-view/aphogee-treatment-for-damaged-hair-four-ounce-416x416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://s2.folica.com/img/product/p/p8149/main-view/aphogee-treatment-for-damaged-hair-four-ounce-416x416.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So today was my last wash day before my relaxer on Wednesday. Here's what I did to prep my hair for it as well as my review of the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment System.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I started off by pre-pooing with <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiklwTWR2wUSZ8S36D5KU-NFxk88WGtkK92GrVqkjvp0zILry_WmfSFcATEOF0CpE9JZU5lYG4JBdMzdRI8i3bWjpT1Zeyk_bPZjL-SI0BrJiUZiSoMV9c4IvYSqJIn6QUJEThOx3q1TFbz/s1600/Vatika.jpg" target="_blank">Dabur Vatika Coconut Oil</a> for 30 minutes and shampooed with <a href="http://www.folica.com/hair-care/shampoos/aphogee-shampoo-for-damaged-hair-16-ounce" target="_blank">Aphogee Shampoo for Damaged Hair</a>. I decided not to clarify since I did so 3 weeks ago and the Aphogee shampoo is pretty stripping. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I then sprayed my hair with the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment (I poured mine into a spray bottle), blow dried my hair until the treatment made it hard and I rinsed with warm water. If you don't already know, this treatment is messy, runny and stinks. Not to mention that I got some in my eye while rinsing it out and it was very unpleasant. I followed it with the <a href="http://www.folica.com/hair-care/hair-conditioners/aphogee-balancing-moisturizer-eight-ounce" target="_blank">Aphogee Balancing Moisturizer</a> for 2 minutes, and my hair thanked me for it by instantly becoming softer. I then proceeded to deep condition for 45 minutes with my <a href="http://www.hairgrowthcentral.com/product_images/q/097/l%27oreal_absolut_repair_masque__22811_zoom.jpg" target="_blank">L'Oreal Professionnel Absolut Repair Cellular Masque</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To help close my cuticles and hold in moisture, I rinsed with cold water and applied <a href="http://s2.folica.com/img/product/0/005386/main-view/roux-porosity-control-corrector-conditioner-416x416.jpg" target="_blank">Roux Porosity Control Conditioner</a> for 2 minutes (I tried to detangle with it but I realized pretty soon it was a bad idea as it gave me no slip). I rinsed again with cold water, wrapped my hair in a T-shirt and let it soak up the excess water for a few minutes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next, I applied my leave ins : A mix of 2 pumps of <a href="http://d1535dk28ea235.cloudfront.net/preset_65/IMG_20110814_1805.jpg" target="_blank">Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Leave In</a> and a squirt of <a href="http://www.yourhealthfoodstore.co.uk/fimg/450x450/6047/5002087/giovanni-direct-leave-in-condi.jpg" target="_blank"> Giovanni Direct Leave In</a> (because the Giovanni leave in by itself has a pH of 7! Too high for porous hair!), I sealed the moisture in with my beloved <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AIuCELOn-SI/TGidbRfBNqI/AAAAAAAADt8/zZ0YhcQt2Nk/s1600/IMG_0438.JPG" target="_blank">CHI Silk Infusion</a> and added 2 pumps of <a href="http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Ulta/2241738?$lg$" target="_blank">Tresemme Split End Remedy Leave in</a> only on my ends (for added protection) . Afterwards, I detangled and tied the front of my hair with a scarf to make my edges lay flat as I air dried. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When my hair was about 85% dry I blow dried on the lowest setting then flat ironed my roots on a similarly low setting. I did this, not to straighten my hair, but to make it easier for my friend to part it and apply the relaxer on Wednesday (I'm 13 weeks post!). When my hair was completely dry I added a teeny bit of HE Leave in on my ends and sealed with a few drops of olive oil. Right now my hair feels so soft and moisturized, I can't believe it! I mean, I just did a hard protein treatment! Aphogee's definitely a keeper. The real test will be how it holds up in the next few days but as of now, I am in love with my hair! However, I don't know which product(s) is (are) responsible because I used a lot of them for the first time. I guess I'll find out in the upcoming weeks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hope everyone is having a great weekend!<br />
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<b>Update:</b> The next day my hair stayed moisturized throughout the day! This never happens to me! I chose to moisturize and seal before going to bed, not because I HAD to but because I WANTED to (I'm a bit of a moisture maniac) and as a result my hair was a little greasy. My hair definitely felt different the next day. A lot stronger. I guess the protein finally kicked in. Still, it wasn't unpleasant. I combed my hair a few times and there were no broken hairs on the comb! I'm so happy! Yay for Aphogee!</div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-47953754757716731342012-03-03T19:59:00.008-05:002012-03-04T12:52:15.091-05:00Product Junkie Alert: New Buys!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtC2IjZ-KITGWOvol-WAc5CwG8Rh4OmWb6_-bEko3wHP0a6Kg2cDnhM3naxOgKaxMDjbbohyK8R0GdGNCHm4LBjLnQ-qozpcAGI4x5OC4vFcPnaxwCOJIILCrA8WiiCu_-ZjMjxcGUWNm/s1600/My+Products+2011+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtC2IjZ-KITGWOvol-WAc5CwG8Rh4OmWb6_-bEko3wHP0a6Kg2cDnhM3naxOgKaxMDjbbohyK8R0GdGNCHm4LBjLnQ-qozpcAGI4x5OC4vFcPnaxwCOJIILCrA8WiiCu_-ZjMjxcGUWNm/s320/My+Products+2011+016.JPG" width="320" /></a>Hi guys! I've been really bad to my wallet these past few days. As you know, a product junkie never stays long before buying new things and in my case it's even worse because I'm starting my hair journey again! So here's a list of things I bought recently.</div><br />
Reviews coming soon!<br />
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*Click on the product names to see pictures. <br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.folica.com/hair-care/hair-conditioners/roux-porosity-control-corrector-conditioner" target="_blank">Roux Porosity Control Corrector Conditioner</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.kisforkinky.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/loreal-evercreme-cleansing-conditioner.jpg" target="_blank">L'Oréal EverCrème Cleansing Conditioner </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvlGyOD34e3g7zJB5DM6T5npxWQjlfYR-zIc2Z8PiVOZoraLB0zt50peOk" target="_blank">L'Oréal Total Repair 5 Replenishing Mask </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.hairgrowthcentral.com/product_images/q/097/l%27oreal_absolut_repair_masque__22811_zoom.jpg" target="_blank">L'Oréal Professionel Série Expert Absolut Repair Cellular Masque</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://strandez.com/images/CERA-REPAIR.jpg" target="_blank">Matrix Biolage Cera-Repair </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://lacoupe.com/img/colour_rescue_hero.png" target="_blank">Lacoupe Replenish Masque Intensive Repair Treatment</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=662&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=owaFbVVt_p-MmM:&imgrefurl=http://shopping.louloumagazine.com/default/exotic-shine-bali-oil-restorative-hair-treatment.html&docid=QR6xJpL7VhU11M&imgurl=http://shopping.louloumagazine.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/l/i/live-clean-bali-oil.jpg&w=600&h=600&ei=FrtST_78KYbL0QGKxdzTDQ&zoom=1" target="_blank">Live Clean Exotic Shine Bali Oil Restorative Treatment</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiklwTWR2wUSZ8S36D5KU-NFxk88WGtkK92GrVqkjvp0zILry_WmfSFcATEOF0CpE9JZU5lYG4JBdMzdRI8i3bWjpT1Zeyk_bPZjL-SI0BrJiUZiSoMV9c4IvYSqJIn6QUJEThOx3q1TFbz/s1600/Vatika.jpg" target="_blank">Dabur Vatika Coconut Oil </a></div><br />
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P.S: Wallet, I promise not to buy anything else until May. Will you please forgive me?<br />
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P.P.S: Why are hair product names so damn long? I mean , would they be any less effective if their names were shorter?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-88357702501757292762012-03-03T19:17:00.006-05:002012-03-11T23:13:09.140-04:00Hair Journey: Starting over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hi everyone! As you my have guessed from this post's title, I've decided to start over my hair journey. Why? Simply because it isn't working for mw. If you've read my <a href="http://hairamateur.blogspot.com/2012/02/all-that-is-wrong-with-my-hair-where.html" target="_blank">last post</a> you may have noticed that my hair has many issues that I haven't been able to fix despite several months of healthy hair care. So I've decided to start over my hair journey and forget about everything I think I know about my hair (which really isn't much) and learn about it all over again. This second journey starts today, with my relaxer prep. I'll take a picture of my starting point with my next relaxer.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stay tuned for a series of post about my new regimen.</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-4452268705509284212012-02-23T15:25:00.003-05:002012-02-23T23:49:37.210-05:00All That is Wrong With my Hair: Where the Hell is my Length?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RaM-DG6EM5XfbqbT8q67AW2ysxEtg3bwDFSsZMKIFeCVbeAtFD7t9II9uES208UpJpA3c4aJ7n_rf-r3PDzE4QEdmrc_Bmc-g8ai87HWTpVMjn-x4PHNRSMvkDn-RelFqRqLUkqdKyRB/s1600/dry-hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_RaM-DG6EM5XfbqbT8q67AW2ysxEtg3bwDFSsZMKIFeCVbeAtFD7t9II9uES208UpJpA3c4aJ7n_rf-r3PDzE4QEdmrc_Bmc-g8ai87HWTpVMjn-x4PHNRSMvkDn-RelFqRqLUkqdKyRB/s320/dry-hair.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lately, I've been taking a good look at my hair. Ever since the beginning of my hair journey 4 months ago, I've been washing and deep conditioning my hair weekly, moisturizing and sealing almost daily, protective styling (bunning), alternating moisture and protein and staying away from heat. So where the hell is my length? My progress? Some of you might think that 4 months is not long enough too see any real progress and that I'm being impatient. But I really don't think so. When I look at the amount of new growth I've gained in the past 12 weeks, I realize that my hair grows pretty fast. So why aren't I retaining length? Well, I examined my hair and here are some of the issues I believe I need to correct in order to obtain healthy relaxed hair and retain my length.<b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dryness. </b>That has always been the main issue. Regardless of how much moisture I infuse into my strands, my hair just won't stay moisturized. It's unbelievable. No matter how soft my hair feels after a good deep conditioning session, it will go right back to being dry in the next two days, if not earlier. Sometimes I moisturize and seal twice a day and I still end up with dry hair the morning after. This issue has lead me to conduct a few tests on my hair and the jury has reached a verdict: my hair is <i>highly porous</i>.<b> </b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Breakage. </b>As you know, with dryness comes brittleness which results in breakage. My has been doing a lot of that lately. I swear, it just snaps whenever I touch it or pull it just a teeny bit. Especially my ends.<b> </b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Split ends.</b> Trichoptilosis. Whatever you call it, no one likes them. Especially me. They, however, seem to be<i> very</i> fond of me. It doesn't matter how often I trim them. They just keep coming back. I even get the ones that are way up on the hair shaft. As a result of this unrequited one-sided love, my ends are breaking-off, thin, see-through and aren't retaining length.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Shedding.</b> My shedding has been out of control lately. I've never been one to lose more than 10-20 hairs a day. I know studies say that the amount of hair we shed every day is between 100 and 150 strands, but not my hair. I just don't shed that much. I detangle once a week on wash days and even then, I have very few hairs on my comb. However, these past few days, I've noticed a lot of long strands with the white bulb still attached to it coming off. Maybe I'm a little paranoid. But I still plan on doing that garlic mask I bought the other day.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sore, dry, itchy scalp</b>. I don't know what's up with my scalp lately. It's always sore and itchy. I'm unusually tender-headed. I'm always careful of not putting anything directly on my scalp for fear of blocking my pores and preventing hair growth. But maybe that's the problem. Maybe I neglected my scalp.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I should probably take some of the blame: I have been known to sometimes sleep without a scarf or a bonnet, although I haven't done that in awhile and I haven't always been very diligent in moisturizing and sealing my ends everyday (I would sometimes do it every 2 days). Not to mention that I have a severe case of hand-in-hair disease. I know, shame on me.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">But really it all comes back to one thing: porosity. Hair that is reasonably porous will receive and retain moisture, thus preventing the dryness, brittleness and breakage I am currently experiencing.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Stay tuned because I'll be writing a couple of posts in </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">the coming weeks</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> to tell you guys how I plan on tackling these issues and also to keep myself in check.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">So what are some of the issues you ladies are battling on your hair journey? </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"></div><br />
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</div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-31416866525727290002012-02-06T19:53:00.000-05:002012-02-07T03:04:46.526-05:00Hair Regimen Additions for 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF0TvljuuY5C34qFewVKcE4Y2vtCGH2pex21xlpeMLvcwC2mjvU43qmRlXo19gdPFWu3F1cNLVQGdREuWnVdm7hdKPvEmt7MKOHX4lsCFPCdSCYLlwaxcbeJsX_NdztfwDXuXRQlBR0WI/s1600/henna-powder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF0TvljuuY5C34qFewVKcE4Y2vtCGH2pex21xlpeMLvcwC2mjvU43qmRlXo19gdPFWu3F1cNLVQGdREuWnVdm7hdKPvEmt7MKOHX4lsCFPCdSCYLlwaxcbeJsX_NdztfwDXuXRQlBR0WI/s320/henna-powder.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Henna powder</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">As a newbie, it's really hard not to jump on every bandwagon. You see these ladies with gorgeous hair and you think ''Oh I'm gonna do whatever she does so my hair can look like hers!'' So you want to try it all : co-washing, pre-pooing, hot oil treatments, clear rinses, GHE, etc. But I realized pretty fast that it would get crazy if I tried to do it all at once so I decided to master the basics first and I think that was a wise choice. I started my hair journey on October 11, 2011 so I've only been at this for a few months. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Here is what I've been doing religiously: washing and deep conditioning weekly, protein treatments, moisturizing and sealing, sleeping with a satin bonnet and keeping my ends away from my shoulders. Now that I feel like I know what I'm doing, here are a few things I would really like to incorporate into my regimen this year.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Texlaxing: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Ever since I started my hair journey I realize just how thin my hair is. And I don't like it. So I've decided to transition to texlaxed hair and stop being relaxed bone straight. Texlaxing is basically under-processing your hair on purpose by either leaving the relaxer on for a shorter period of time or diluting it with some ingredients like oils or conditioner. It leaves your hair healthier and thicker then if it were bone straight. My hair is currently shoulder length so I figured now is the right time to do it. The process of dealing with three textures (natural, texlaxed and relaxed) is only going to get more tedious as my hair gets longer. I plan on adding some olive oil to my relaxer to achieve my wavy texlaxed look. For more information on texlaxing, click </span></span><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/how-texlax-hair-simple-texlaxing-techniques-4823912.html?cat=69" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">here</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> and </span></span><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/the-beginners-guide-texlaxing-4823658.html?cat=69" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">here</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">The Baggy Method: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Baggying your ends is basically putting some moisturizer or oil on your ends and wrapping it with either saran wrap, a shower cap or a grocery bag. By doing this you are locking in moisture on your ends and allowing yourself to retain more length by reducing dryness induced breakage.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Protective styling: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Now don't get me wrong. I do protective style my hair: I mainly bun. Which is pretty boring, I know. But for some reason, I just don't feel like half-wigs, braid-outs, twist-outs and Bantu Knot-outs would look pretty on me. Specially because my hair is not long. I guess I'm just gonna have to find out.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Henna: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Henna is plant that grows on dry climates. Some of the benefits of using henna on your hair include smoother, stronger and shinier hair. Also, henna contains an all-natural dye that can be used to color hair in a red-brownish taint without any damage to relaxed or natural hair because it doesn't contain any chemicals. I plan to do it in the summer so the highlights can show up better in the sun.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Black Tea Rinses: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Black Tea Rinses are great for stopping shedding, stimulating growth and strengthening the hair. It can also darken the hair over time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Regular Hot Oil Treatments & Pre-pooing:</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> My hair is as dry as as it gets. I could pour an entire bottle of moisturizer or oil on my hair and within the next hour my hair would have soaked it all up. And although I understand the argument for sulfate-free shampoos I just haven't found any that work for me. Right now I'm using Joico Moisture Recovery, which does have sulfates in it and I absolutely love it. But I feel like pre-pooing on a regular basis with conditioner or oil could only give me an extra boost of moisture and softness.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Vitamin Supplements: </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">To be honest I probably don't eat as healthy as I should so my hair is probably not getting all the nutrients it needs. Supplements are a great way to make sure my body and hair are getting all they need in order to maximize growth.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></div><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">What are some of the things you ladies want to try?</span></span><b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; border-bottom-color: currentColor !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-color: currentColor !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-right-color: currentColor !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-top-color: currentColor !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 0px !important;" /></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-62106010078836284212012-01-24T16:10:00.000-05:002012-02-07T03:13:18.710-05:00Product Junkism: A Few Tips to Keep it Under Control<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.gonelocal.com/images/company_images/logos/thumbnails/doriansstore1_500x0.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.gonelocal.com/images/company_images/logos/thumbnails/doriansstore1_500x0.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">So...you're sick. You go straight to the hair care isle whenever you walk into a store, the inside of your room looks like a Beauty Supply, you have more products under your bathroom sink than you have food in your fridge and your paychecks disappear at the speed of light. If you have more than two of the symptoms listed above, you most likely have a mean case of Product Junkism. Like in any 12-step program, the first step is to admit you have a problem. The thing is…you’re not actually ready to stop being a PJ. You actually like it. Now what? Well, hopefully my tips will allow you to still indulge without going broke in the process.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">1. If it ain't broke don't fix it.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> I know you ladies have heard this saying a lot but it is true. Some of us seem to always be on the lookout for the next best thing, the product that's going to change your life. Chances are it doesn't exist. If you already found your staples and love the way they make your hair feel, why chase in vain after a miracle product?</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">2. Use up what you already have.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Is your current stash already used up or do you still have a ton of products waiting for you under your bathroom sink? If so, don't buy anything else. Finish what you already have. If you don't like a product, give it away. Not only will it make room for your new products but it'll also give you a good idea of what you already have so as to avoid buying things twice.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">3. Don't be too quick to dismiss products.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> It's very easy to use a product once, not be impressed and dismiss it. Overtime, this practice ends up costing you a lot of money and taking up a lot of space on your shelves. You know what they say. If at first you don't succeed try, try again. Well, this applies to hair products also. For instance, if you've tried a deep conditioner on wet hair didn't like it, try it on dry hair. Try adding your favorite oil or heat to it. Unless a product gave you a setback or caused breakage the first time you used it, you should try it at least a few times before giving up on it. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">4. Research the product before buying it.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Before deciding to spend your hard earned money on something you should always do your homework. 1) Check the ingredient list: does it contain any ingredients you're not comfortable with such as mineral oil, petroleum, petrolatum, sulfates or parabens? 2) Look for reviews from people with your hair type. If you're relaxed don't base your decision on a natural's review. Look for a relaxed person's review. The same thing applies to naturals. Youtube, LHCF, Hairlista, Kiss and personal blogs are all great sources of information. 3) If the product is salon quality, go to a salon that carries it and ask for a professional’s opinion.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">5. Make a wish list and stick to it.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Make a wish list of all the products you've properly researched and want to buy. It's very important that you try to not deviate from the list. It will help you not make impulsive buys. You can try to organize the list in a specific order. For instance, the ones you need most first. Also, every once in a while, check the items listed and make sure you still want them. If you don’t, cross them off.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">6. Write out a budget and stick to it.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Determine an amount of money you can spend every month or (on more extreme cases) paycheck on ‘’hair stuff’’ without going broke and don’t go over it. This will help a lot, especially if you’re on a student budget, like me.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">7. Buy from stores with a return policy.</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Do I even need to explain why? You get your money back if you’re not 100% satisfied. It’s fantastic!</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> 8. Get sample/ travel sizes products if you can find them. </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Sample sizes are quite a bargain. Most of the time you get a good amount of product to try out for only a fraction of the price of the full size item. What’s not to love?</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">9. Be on the lookout for sales!</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> Again, this is pretty self-explanatory. Why pay full price for something you’re not even sure is going to deliver?</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">10. Swap out with your friends!</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"> If you have close friends on a hair journey you can check each other’s stash to see if they have anything you’d like to try. If so, you can try to trade with each other.</span></span></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;">Hope this helped!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /><span style="font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </span></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147546090902448207.post-18572978908039588902012-01-22T06:47:00.000-05:002012-02-06T19:59:00.497-05:00Product Review: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.neutrogena.com/images//products_store/en_us/product_images/6802660_600x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.neutrogena.com/images//products_store/en_us/product_images/6802660_600x600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Price: </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">8,99$ CND for 250 ml</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why I bought this product:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So when I first started my hair journey (in October 2011) I have to admit I was really confused. My brain was in information overload. One of my main sources of information was Youtube's Ulovemegz. I remembered seeing her talk about this deep conditioner and how much she loved it so I went straight to the drugstore and picked it up.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What it claims:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner combines the restorative power of a deep treatment with the ease of a quick conditioning rinse.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Dramatically improve your hair's softness, smoothness and manageability with this daily conditioner that acts like a deep conditioner. Even extra dry or over-processed hair feels soft and smooth all day after just a single use. Olive, Meadowfoam and Sweet Almond extracts penetrate the hair strand to defy dryness. Just a little of this rich, creamy formula goes a long way to condition, detangle and add shine.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ingredients: </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Behenyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Behentrimonium Methylsulfate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cetrimonium Chloride, Panthenol, Sweet Almond Oil (prunus amygdalis dulcis), Olive Fruit Oil (olea europaea), Meadowfoam Seed Oil (limnanthes alba), Glycol Stearate, Ceteth 2, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Citric Acid, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide, Mica, Fragrance (Parfum)</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What it did: </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh. My. God. The. Dryness. It was absolutely awful. My hair felt like hay! I shampooed with Aphogee Shampoo for Damaged hair then I worked the conditioner through my hair, put a plastic cap on and let it sit for about an hour. When I rinsed it out it felt fine, nothing to write home about. I applied my leave-ins and as my hair started air drying I realized the hot mess that it had become! I couldn't believe it! I was actually pretty sad about it because this was the first deep conditioner I ever purchased and my hair reacting to it that way made me feel like I was starting this journey on the wrong foot. I also really wanted to like it because not only is it very affordable but I can also easily get my hands on it. In all fairness, I didn't use it with heat and the Aphogee Shampoo does have proteins in it, which could possibly account for the stiffness. I guess this just goes to prove that products work differently for different people. I managed to use up half of the bottle by adding oils whenever I used it but I ended up giving it to my best friend. Hope it works better for her than it did for me. Would I ever repurchase this? Sadly, no. I can find better ways to spend 9$.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Arial", "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/55/C524EE645C1C518F15E38909116BAE1A.png" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border: 0pt none ! important;" /></a></div></div>Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197348482580508549noreply@blogger.com0