My hair has been through a
lot in my lifetime: I’ve coloured it almost pitch black, I’ve lost a lot of it
at a time, I’ve bleached it half to death, I’ve done more home colours than I
can count, I’ve left the hairdresser crying and I’ve grown it to the longest and
healthiest it’s been in years.
I was born with dark
hair. Then it went the whitest blonde
you could imagine. It slowly darkened
through school, though it was almost permanently highlighted from the sun, and in
Grade 9, I convinced my mom and dad to let me colour my hair in the December
holidays and I dyed it one shade lighter than black. I coloured it a few more times after that,
but I didn’t really need to because it was growing out darker any way.
2008 came around and I
decided that I would try out some highlights for a matric dance that I was
going to in October. I highlighted again
and again, and then I went back to work in January 2009, completely blonde
(though I hadn’t bleached at this stage, so it was a warm, dark blonde, but
definitely blonde). Not satisfied, I
started bleaching and ended up the Ultra Blonde Barbie I am today. I had instances where my hair went blue and
grey from the bleach (which actually looked really cool, but my hairdresser was
unable to replicate it because it was a complete accident), but I’ve stayed
blonde for the last almost 8 years.
Let’s be honest, though,
blonde is super high maintenance. Roots
show very quickly if your hair grows fast and if you’re not using the right
products, your hair can go from blonde and breezy brassy and bleh
overnight.
This article is about how I
look after my blonde hair – on a budget!
Firstly, who does your
hair? I’ve only recently changed my
hairdresser, because the lady I’d been going to for years was just not keeping
up with current trends, and also charging quite a lot of money. Now, I have my hair done by someone I went to
school with and lives literally 1km away from me. She comes to my house and bleaches and tones
for a fraction of the price I was paying before. Admittedly, I only recently made the change
and Holly’s only done my hair once, since I only bleach every second month, but
I could not be happier with the end result.
Secondly, what products do
you use? If you have the budget for it,
I highly recommend John Frieda products for blondes. The products are quite pricy, but are
obviously salon quality that will look after your locks perfectly. However, if you are broke as, do it yourself.
I use the Loreal Elvive
series. I use the red Colour Protection
shampoo, the Extraordinary Oil shampoo and the Extraordinary Oil conditioner
(because if bleaching doesn’t dry your hair out, are you even bleaching?). I have two secret ingredients though, that I
add to both shampoos: Bergamot Essence and Gentian Violet.
Bergamot is a small Italian
orange that is the citrus flavour in Earl Grey tea. You can buy the essence from Clicks or
Dischem (I use Lennon’s brand, about R35.00) and add a capful to a large bottle
of any shampoo you use. Bergamot essence
has countless benefits for your hair and skin, but applied directly to your
scalp (in your shampoo) stimulates hair growth and instantly thickens hair
strands.
Gentian violet is actually a
disinfectant known for its deep purple colour.
It stains your fingers so be extra careful. I also buy it at Dischem for about
R32.00. I just squeeze it into the
shampoo and shake it until it’s a deep purple as well, all the way
through. One small bottle of gentian
violet usually lasts about four 500ml bottles of shampoo for me. I add this because the purple counters any
brassy, yellow tones in your blonde. If
your hair is looking particularly brassy, I suggest putting the shampoo on dry
hair with the gentian violet and letting it sit for a few moments. Disclaimer:
your hair may be temporarily
purple/lavender but it will wash out eventually.
I have a lot of hair. It’s thick and takes forever to dry, which is
the main reason I wash it twice a week at best.
I recently broke up with the dry shampoo (I love the Batiste range) when
someone asked me what I’d done to my hair and all I had done was washed it with
real shampoo. I personally feel that my
hair should not be washed any more in the week because it’s so dry and I can
wear a blowout for up to three days, if I do it properly. That being said, with my hair being super
thick, it does tend to hang on to scents.
To avoid this, I run the Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil leave-in
conditioner through my ends about midway between washes. The scent is extremely powerful (and absolutely divine!) and banishes any foul odours that have got caught. I also use this before I blow dry my hair to
protect the ends.
I’ll be honest, my hair does
spend a large amount of time in a bun at the top of my head. During the week, when I train the most, I
usually just Dutch braid the underside of my hair to hold baby hairs in and wrap
it around a hair donut. If I wash my
hair in the week, it usually gets a quick blast with the hairdryer to take out
the damp and then it air dries. Over
weekends, I usually take the time to blow dry it and style it, but that’s also
dependent on the weather because when it’s been as hot as it has been with the
drought, I just can’t be bothered with the heat. It usually takes me a minimum of half an hour
to dry my hair.
Because my hair is so thick,
it’s prone to spider tangles and they are the absolute worst. I start off as a responsible adult and
attempt to detangle them with the fingers.
When that fails, I ask my mommy.
And when she can’t, well, we get the scissors. My hairbrush, however, is a total
lifesaver. My previous hairdresser
called it a Roger Para brush, which I bought for R80.00 when I had hair
extensions put in almost 6 years ago. I
recently bought another one for R300.00.
However, you can buy something similar: just look for a brush that
doesn’t have those little knobs on the end of the bristles. These brushes don’t damage your hair because
they don’t rip through tangles the way the others with knobs do. They’re relatively painless too.
My diet also plays a large
role in the condition of my hair. Your
hair is made of keratin, which is a protein.
So the more protein you have in your diet, the better the condition your hair will be in. As someone who lifts
heavy most nights, my body needs more protein.
My diet, though not by any means perfect, consists of large amounts of
eggs, peanut butter, meat and protein shakes.
My favourite protein powder at the moment is USN 100% Whey in Wheytella
flavour (yes, like Nutella). I also like
the USN Lean-8 Multi-phase protein in Cinnamon Bun flavour. This December, however, I will undoubtedly be
trying their new Blue Lab range that has flavours like Chocolate Peanut Butter
and Rocky Road. I like to drop a scoop
of protein in my Sunday morning oats (proats) or in some yoghurt with chia
seeds for a yummy pudding.
Thank you so much for coming
back this week. I know I totally screwed
up last week and missed my Monday deadline, so I’ve made sure I’m ahead of the
game this week.
I’ve been watching some of
my statistics on my Blogger dashboard and I’m so excited to see so many people
I know around the world supporting me, even though they know just how much (or
little) I actually know. I see you guys
in the UK and Australia (and you, Michelle, in Zambia!) and I’m so appreciative
of your support! You are all more than
welcome to drop me a message or a comment if there’s anything in particular you
want to see on my blog.
BTW, who are my readers in
the Netherlands and the US? Follow my
Facebook link and let’s be friends!
Until Wednesday, I wish you
all the love and light that can be mustered on a Monday! ♡♡♡