Things to Consider Before a Drastic Haircut

Sometimes a girl just needs a change. Your signature or tried and true look can start to take the turn from fab to drab, leaving you looking and feeling less than spectacular. If you are fed-up with your current style and thinking about changing your look with a new haircut, before you pick up the scissors or head for the salon consider the following.

 

Can you maintain the style?

Depending on your choice of haircut, maintenance outside of the salon can prove to be difficult. For example, short crops with tapered edges often require more frequent relaxer sessions (think every 4 weeks vs. every 12). Although there is the obvious trade-off on weekly wash-days when it may take all of 45 minutes (including a 15 minute DC & 15 minutes under the dryer) to wash and style your strands, having to visit the salon more often or purchase a home relaxer kit every month may be cause to re-think your style choice.

 

Do you have the proper styling tools/products?

Shorter hair styles often require different sets of tools and products to maintain the look outside of the salon. For example a short, close crop (a la Halle Berry) would require a good foaming wrap lotion, head wraps to hold the mold, a hooded dryer to form the mold, and a 1/4 inch flat iron to curl and sculpt the style to your liking. If you do not already have the necessary styling tools and products on-hand to maintain your style, or find it may be too expensive to purchase new items, the style may not be the one for you.

Will the style suit your lifestyle/personality?

Do you workout often and find yourself sweating out your style as soon as you achieve it? Are you pressed for time & prefer a style that is more "wash & go" rather than wash, condition, deep condition, moisturize, dry, & style? Are you fun, funky and flirty or conservative and structured? The answers to these and many other lifestyle questions should be considered before you make a decision.

What are your hair goals?

A hair journey can be frustrating at times and we can often feel as if the goals we have set are impossible to reach. If your reasons for cutting your hair are due to the frustration of feeling like you aren't getting anywhere in your journey, I would suggest re-evaluating your hair care practices rather than cutting out of frustration and later regretting your decision. 

Are you absolutely sure about this?

Often times the decision to change our hair can be an impulsive one - born from the frustrations of life & situations we cannot control. If you have not spent at least 90 days pouring over hair styles, trying on wigs, trying different styles with your current length, and looking at women with similar features rocking a similar look, then I would classify the desire to cut as an impulsive one that should be evaluated further.

I love to change my look and I have about 3 styles I rotate throughout a five year period. Although each look is tried and true and I know I will like the way I look, I always consider the five points mentioned above before moving from one style to the next.

What do you consider before changing your look?

14 Day Wand Curls on Blow-dried Hair

 

 Since I cut my hair to correct the light damage I got from constantly wet-bunning I haven't been following the typical "healthy hair rules". I still deep condition, pre-poo and protein treat my hair on a regular basis but the common no-no across all healthy hair sites is consistent heat use. I am a huge supporter of finding what works for you and sticking with it, so if consistent heat use has your hair growing like a weed then I don't suggest making a change, but I do tend to feel a bit guilty and like I am abusing my strands to some extent when months pass and I haven't taken a break from the flat iron.

So in an effort to ease my guilt I decided to switch things up and ditch the flat iron for what I feel is a less-damaging heat styling tool. I actually stumbled upon this style accidentally one lazy weekend when I didn't feel like spending an hour and a half flat ironing my hair. I went through my typical wash-day routine & made it through to the blow out stage before I realized I didn't feel like putting in the time and effort to style my hair. I had no clue what I was going to do with my hair the next morning, and only had about an hour before Church service started so I grabbed my curling wand and hoped my hair wouldn't turn out a complete mess.

I sectioned my hair into fours (just like when preparing to relax) and worked through one section at a time wrapping 1.5-2 inch sections around the wand and holding them there for about 20 seconds. Because I was going for a more uniform and neat look I wrapped each section in the same direction rather than alternating directions and the entire process took about 35 minutes.

 I loved the finished look and got several complements on the results but I was not sure how to maintain the look throughout the week. My first thought was of the pineapple method but I wasn't sure it would work on my shorter hair or on wand curls, but I knew if I simply put on my bonnet I would wake up with crushed curls, so I gave it a shot. I flipped my head over, secured my hair with a ponytail holder, wrapped my silk scarf around my edges and put my bonnet on top. In the morning I was pleasantly surprised to find my curls were completely in-tact and looked just as good as the day before. It took some doing to get my strands to "lay" the way I wanted them to, but after walking around with my silk scarf loosely tied around my head (think Tu-Pac) for a few minutes my hair laid nicely. I moisturized my hair on the third day by scrunching the product into my hair to prevent disturbing the curls and continued to pineapple each night for 7 days. On the eight day since my hair still looked perfectly fine I decided to give the style a go for another week. I did lightly re-touch some areas with the wand where the curls had completely fallen, but I am thinking this may be my go-to style for the Fall.

I love my hair with some texture and the curling wand on blow-dried hair gives me that perfect slightly wavy texture that I adore. Several co-workers actually asked if I was natural so I was excited to find a style that mimics natural textured hair without actually having to deal with the hassle of my being natural. Aside from the great texture this style allows me to go two weeks without putting heat on my hair, and once I do wash my hair again knowing that I won't be doing double duty with the harsh blow-dryer followed by a flat iron makes me feel a lot better about my hair care practices.

 How are you currently styling your hair?

Refreshing my Color at Home

 

This Summer I had my stylist color my hair red using a low volume developer to mitigate the affects of the dye. As we all know reds tend to fade quickly and since my Summer dye-job my hair has faded from a vibrant deep red to a warm reddish-brown. Because I love the shade of reddish-brown my hair has morphed into, instead of having my stylist re-dye my hair I am opting for a temporary red rinse to bring back some of the vibrancy my strands have lost.

Things You Will Need

• Semi-Permanent Rinse 
• Moisturizing Shampoo
• Moisturizing Conditioner
• Vaseline
• Olive Oil (Optional)
• Protein Conditioner (Optional)
• After Color Sealer (Optional) 
• Rubber Gloves
• Relaxer Brush (or Color applicator brush)
• Color mixing bowl
• Processing Cap

 I first washed and conditioned my hair per my usual wash day routine. I applied a generous amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to my dry strands, covered my hair with a plastic cap and allowed the oil to sit for about 45 minutes. I then shampooed using my Kera Minerals Sulfate-Free Shampoo followed by a quick 2 minute condition using GVP Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm. After t-shirt drying my strands for about 5 minutes I sectioned my hair into fours then applied my Kera Minerals Smoothing Deep Conditioner, covered my hair with a plastic cap and allowed the conditioner to sit for about 2 hours. (I would normally only condition for 15 minutes but because I no longer have a hooded dryer and was caught up doing other things I left the conditioner on longer.) I rinsed the conditioner in warm water to keep my cuticles open in preparation for the color application.

Before applying the dye I protected my hair line and forehead with Vaseline to prevent staining on my skin in case the dye was runny. Using Adore Creative Image Semi-Permanent Rinse in Intense Red I applied the color using an applicator brush (similar to what you would use for a relaxer) beginning at the root and combing the color through to the ends. The application process mirrored that of the relaxer process only I applied the color to the entire length of my strands. I allowed the color to sit for about an hour under a plastic cap to make sure I got the shade of red I was looking for, then rinsed with cool water and followed with another quick shampoo. To seal in the color and make sure my strands were thoroughly conditioned after the process I applied Ion's After Color Sealer and allowed it to sit for five minutes before rinsing with warm water. Once the process was complete I styled my hair as usual.

For those of you with dark hair a rinse may not work for you because it does not truly soak into the cuticles, but rather deposits on top of the strands. I would suggest trying a deep shade of red and allowing the dye to sit a little longer than instructed and also using a hooded dryer to encourage the dye to deposit fully onto the strands. Because my hair had already been lightened by my stylist using permanent color the dye took easily and showed up clear and vibrant.

Have you tried a semi-permanent color at home?

Relaxer Day

Thanks to a really great set of products (second review coming soon) I had one of the smoothest relaxer stretches since transitioning back to relaxed hair. My stretch was so smooth I hardly realized how long it had been since my last relaxer (May 23rd) and by the time I noticed I was in need of a touch up the only opening in my stylist's schedule was a late Friday evening. 

My usual appointment is Saturday at 3 pm and because I did not have Saturday morning to prepare I completely forgot to prep my scalp and lengths. I had also been scratching ( I have a section that itches terribly once I pass the 10 week mark in my stretch), but fortunately the first thing my stylist did was base my scalp with a professional scalp protectant.

After separating my strands into four quadrants she proceeded to apply Affirm Fiberguard Relaxer in Mild, smoothed minimally and only allowed the relaxer to sit for about 3 minutes to retain a bit of texture. She then rinsed my relaxer for about 5 minutes using warm water before shampooing with a moisturizing, neutralizing, PH-balanced shampoo. One of the things I love about my stylist is the fact that she is not afraid to try new products and she has a great sense of what I like even without my having to say anything. My last relaxer she used a Affirm shampoo and protein based conditioner and although I did not mention this to her I really did not like the way my hair felt afterwards - it had that typical plastic feel that I usually experience after a box relaxer. 

This time she used a product line called BASIC to shampoo and condition my strands after rinsing out the relaxer. I admit she did not do a mid-step protein treatment but she did use a great protein-moisture balanced conditioner that left my hair both soft and strong. Unfortunately I did have some tingling on my scalp in the area where I had scratched, but there was no scabbing or scarring.

Moving forward I will be taking extra precautions to protect the sensitive area and I will also be experimenting with a few items to see if I can but an end to the extreme itchiness.

How was your last relaxer?

Keep It Simple: A Simple Regimen for Beginners (With Product Suggestions)

A hair regimen does not need to be elaborate or full of expensive products to be effective. Since my big chop I've taken my hair care back to basics and eliminated processes and products I've found to be unnecessary on my journey to healthy hair. If you are starting a hair journey or just looking to simplify your current regimen the processes and products below may be just what you need to jump-start your journey and see the health and length gains you've been waiting for.

Weekly

Currently I shampoo my hair once per week using a sulfate-free shampoo. I prefer a sulfate-free shampoo because my hair is color treated, however, I have found that a well formulated shampoo containing sulfates can work wonders on my strands. I always follow up my shampoo with either a moisturizing or protein conditioner depending upon my hair's needs and how I plan to style for the week. If I am using hot tools I use both a moisturizing and protein conditioner, but if I will be roller setting I skip the protein and opt for a thick moisturizing conditioner.

Leave-Ins are an important step in your wash day routine and aid in not only the addition of moisture to your strands, but seals that moisture into your strands. I prefer to apply my leave-ins in sections to ensure that each strand is covered. I do not use a comb until leave-ins are applied, this prevents more hair fall and breakage than necessary since my strands are conditioned and slippery. At this point a wide-tooth comb will glide effortlessly through my hair. Your styling choice for the week should dictate your choice of leave-in; if I am allowing my hair to air dry or doing a roller set I opt for thick and creamy leave-ins full of moisturizing properties. However if I am using hot tools I go for light protein-moisture balanced leave-ins.

Daily

The daily handling of your strands should depend upon both your style choice of the week and how your hair feels at the end of the day. At one point I was moisturizing my hair daily, and although this practice is common and not generally harmful it proved to be unnecessary for me as my hair stayed moisturized for at least three days at a time. If I am wearing my hair straight for the week I reapply a dime sized amount of my creamy leave-in conditioner followed by a pea-sized amount of coconut oil to seal. When my hair has been roller set or air dried I lightly mist my strands with my protein-based leave-in and seal with a few drops of coconut and olive oil.

3 Months

Every 12 weeks I visit my stylist and receive a relaxer and trim if necessary. I have found that having a professional apply my relaxer ensures even coverage and a uniform texture from root to tip. My hair is currently telaxed, meaning I purposely have my stylist under-process my strands to maintain a bit of texture. I make sure to have my stylist do a mid-step protein treatment and follow up with a moisturizing deep conditioner. Prior to seeing my stylist on relaxer day I make sure to thoroughly detangle my strands and apply an oil of choice to the length of my strands to protect against relaxer run-off. 

The following are all products I have tried & found to be effective at cleansing and conditioning my hair, and leaving it moisturized and soft:

Shampoos

• Kera Minerals Smoothing Sulfate Free Shampoo
• L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Restoring Shampoo
• Organix Hydrating Macadamia Oil Shampoo

Conditioners 

• Kera Minerals Smoothing Deep Conditioner
• Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm (GVP Brand)
• Organix Hydrating Macadamia Oil Conditioner
• Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser Strength Reconstructing Butter
• Aphogee Kerating 2 Minute Reconstructor

Leave-Ins

• ORS Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion
• Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner
• Aphogee Kerating & Green Tea Reconstructurizer
• Organix  Argan Oil of Morocco Penetrating Oil
• Kera Minerals Smoothing Leave-In Conditioner
• Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave-In Conditioner

Sealants

• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil 
• Proclaim Glossing Polish

I neglected to list or mention the use of a heat protectant because I use conditioners containing 'cones which are scientifically proven to coat the hair and protect against high temperatures. In addition to conditioners I also use leave-ins that are clearly defined as providing protection from heat styling tools, this eliminates the need for traditional heat protection sprays. 

A hair journey does not have to be intimidating or time consuming. With these simple products and tips you too can be on your way to healthy hair.

For in depth reviews of the products listed check out my Product Review section.