[Edit] Wednesday 10/27:
Normally, I pay someone to wash and style my hair twice a week. (I know, I know. Shut up. Heh.)
I do this for a few reasons…
- It saves me a lot of time. My stylist can wash, blow dry and flat iron my hair less than an hour. It takes me literally 2 ½ to 3 hours .(Hey, it’s hard to reach the back of my own long hair, ya know! *g*) When I get home from the salon, I still have time to do other things before bed and my makeup is still in tact for the remainder of the evening since my face doesn’t get wet at the salon.
- I have developed some kind of weird phobia about the hair I shed when I wash it in the shower. I don’t know how or when it began, but having strands of my hair stuck to my body makes me want to claw at my skin. I’ve freaked out and scratched myself so much that I’ve drawn blood. That’s fucked up! I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but obviously it’s not good, so I try to avoid the situation whenever possible.
- I can try all sorts of new products at the salon without wasting my money buying something I end up hating. (Also, her hair appliances are still better than even my Chi, which I could barely afford :P)
This week, my schedule imploded and I found myself with other commitments all but one evening late in the week- Wednesday. I tried to wait to wash my hair until then, but on Monday, with two days still left to go til my salon visit, it was already a greasy, stringy mess. I thought it might be a good time to try Tresemme’s new waterless foam shampoo. I’ve used spray dry shampoos and even corn starch powder before to get my through a couple of days until I could make it to the salon. They were ok- no amazing, but ok.
Well, the foam positively sucked!!!! Sure, it made my hair smell clean, but it did absolutely nothing to the oil except spread it out more. It became so tangled and rough that I couldn’t get a comb through it. It looked worse than before I applied it. I wish I’d just left it alone and worn a headband. I had to pull it into a low ponytail and fasten barrettes in several places the next day because I couldn’t brush it into any other style and leaving it loose made it look “chunky.” Every stroke made it look even dirtier. Ew. Ew. Ew. Do not like!
The very next day, Tuesday, I marched into the drugstore for a clarifying shampoo. I didn’t care what it was. I just wanted all the gunk out of my hair immediately. The selection blew. It seemed like hardly anyone makes a clarifying shampoo these days. There were 2 brands. I got V05. Whatever. My stylist would fix it a day or so. Before I got in the shower, I put on an old tshirt and shorts in hopes that would prevent me from spazzing out. I also sectioned my hair off in clips, figuring that if I washed one part at a time would help prevent it from becoming so matted. I remembered I am doing color at the salon next time, so I could not condition it or put in products in it afterwards. If I don’t blow dry and flat iron, my hair gets huge and has thick spiral curls that separate and look like they’ve been chewed on by a wild animal. I was sure it was going to look terrible without using heat, but at least it wouldn’t feel so gross.
I wet the first section, gently pulled the shampoo through with a wide toothed comb and was surprised at how smooth it was. Hmm. I rinsed that piece and it still felt pretty good. Cool. I did the other sections the same way and they were all as easy as the first. Ok, I figured it would puff up like crazy once I got out of the shower. It didn’t. Weird. I decided it would be a bad idea to try to blow dry it without any product in it at all if I was concerned about looking like Krusty The Clown, so I let it air dry. It was incredibly hard to sit still and not touch it, but I knew that the more I let it flounce around or the more I handled it, the bigger it would get. It dried quickly. I don’ know if that was due to the weather or what. I braved the mirror and saw it looked wavy but silky. Holy crap. The L’anza Reconstructor I have been using for a couple of months was working; I could really see the results! I didn’t need to flat iron it in order to tame it. I went to bed it as is and even left it down. (I usually pin up back so it doesn’t get ratty while I sleep.) In the morning, my side layers were a little too kinky for me to tolerate, so I did quickly run the flat iron through them, but the rest looked and felt nice. Bizarre. I have a feeling this was a one-off occurrence, but still awesome. Maybe I won’t look and feel like crap every time I have an at home hair emergency! I am pondering clarifying my hair every two weeks to see if it behaves this well.
I did so-so with the flipping out over shedding hair. I didn’t itch, but I cried a little bit. I think that was more from being stressed over the situation though… and because the heavy wet clothes annoyed me and reminded me of my plight. Tonight I am going to the salon with my locks in ideal condition for colouring. I will sit under the hood dryer with Special Effects Hot Lava semi-permanent dye on my head. My roots are fine, so I don’t need to lift them yet. My ends are still ok, but I know that they will start fading soon, way before I need to touch up the rest. This will be an experiment to see if I can refresh my copper colour and get a little more longevity out of red than 6 weeks. Hot Lava is a bold red-orange, so it might amp up the orange tones in my hair, which would be terrific!
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[Edit] Thursday 10/28:
I don’t care for Hot Lava. I wanted more of an orange-red and this shade seems to have a bit too much blue undertone for my liking. It is almost burgundy! Grrr! I was afraid Hi-Octane Orange would have been too neon for me to get away with at work though. Still, I can’t complain too much. My hair is very shiny and soft and the colour grabbed well and covered completely. I may like the tint better as it fades.
I tried a new shampoo and conditioner after colouring. It is Tigi Bedhead Resurrection. Although they smell fantastic and the packing is adorable, I’ve never been that into their products. I wanted them to work for me, really, I did, but they just didn’t.
My stylist had similar thoughts about the line. Nonetheless, when this new shampoo and condition for severely damaged hair came out and it was on sale at the beauty supply, she decided to give it a chance. I wasn’t that optimistic about it until I saw and felt what Resurrection did to her hair. So, when she wanted to try it on mine, I said, “sure, why not. Let’s see what happens.”
True to form, it had a fan-fucking-tastic scent, which reminded me of watermelon, papaya and banana. It smelled good enough to eat and I was tempted to have a taste, haha! I noticed Jackie’s hands were gliding right through my hair without any snags along the way. Usually, when it is that easy, it is an indication that it will leave my hair oily. As she blow dried, it was just as smooth; I touched the hair and fund it felt almost “waxy,” but not greasy. It seemed to be coating my problem areas, which could be good or bad, depending on whether it left build-up or seemed dirty after a day or two.
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[Edit] Monday 11/1:
The Special Effects color looks a little bit better after another wash, but it isn’t the orange-red I wanted yet… maybe after two or three more washes and it will be lighter. I’m still not sure why it grabbed the deeper tints in my hair and emphasized them; it’s doubly confusing because it stained my skin an obvious orange and the bubbles from rinsing were bright orange (not reddish at all). When it is time to re-color my roots, I’ll have to take into account what is already on the rest. I want to go lighter, so I think I should choose a shade even lighter than I normally would in order to compensate and we’ll see how it lifts. I’m guessing the best choice might be Matrix So Color 8RC or maybe 8CC and an additional copper kicker. Due to damage, I don’t want to bleach or use a color remover, but I’m going to be sad if I can’t get back to coppery goodness.
As for the Tigi Ressurrection shampoo/conditioner, it almost made my hair too soft. That’s something I never thought I’d say! :) For five days, it has been very manageable, required very little styling in the mornings and it is extremely shiny. Also, I swear I can still smell the yummy scent of it, which is practically unheard of after more than a few hours. I am going to use it a few more times before I decide to actually switch to it regularly, just to see what impact it has on color fading. This is promising though- and surprising! Very cool!
