Hair.

Today I want to talk about hair. And hair products.

I am seriously missing the perks of working in a hair salon - I need a haircut, and I am terrified about getting one here. I know that while I was in Massachusetts I'd say to my old clients, "it's fine! Go see one of the other girls! They'll take care of you." But here? There are no other girls. I just have to wing it and hope for the best. I don't even want to admit this (Maria, Shannon and Jess are cringing reading this right now) but I'm about to cut my layers and bangs myself, which is really the part that's driving me cray cray. I don't dare cut the length myself, and right now I like where it is. Oy. I know I'll be home in June but I really don't think I can wait that long. (And you know I'd be giving huge amounts of shit to whoever came to me for a haircut and said "Its been like 9 months since I've had a haircut!" I'd never hear the end of it.)

I wash my hair every 3 days, if I can get away with it. If my hair is up for work, that means its pretty disgusting and I don't want to deal with it. The only time I can't go 3 days is if I do yoga, because it's drenched by the time I leave. I can do gross, but not that gross. And I know what you're thinking. "Three days?! Thats so gross! I can't do that!" You can, and you will love it once you train your head. (Brain head and scalp head.) Your scalp will get used to it not being washed every day. You still shower, just don't get your hair wet. Invest in one of those silly shower caps, or I just wrap mine up in a towel. If you have blonde hair, you can get away with rubbing a little bit of baby powder into your roots to soak up the grease if you're feeling narsty that day. Dark haired girls... sorry. That trick won't work. Just tease your roots up a bit higher than normal, nobody will know. And there are some great dry shampoos on the market now - I haven't used one yet, so if you have any suggestions, shout them out in the comments!

The following are what I use in my hair on wash days:

1. Redken's Extreme Shampoo & Conditioner - this stuff is like a miracle worker. Its protein for your hair. Protein = color magnet. The more protein you have in your hair, the longer your color is going to last. This is also a great option for you girls who are flat-iron obsessed - I use my flat iron almost every day, but you'd never know it, because I use good products to protect my hair from the heat.

2. Redken's Anti Snap: 

This is my number one, don't-care-if-you-get-nothing-else-BUY-THIS product. (Good grammar there.) Shampoo and condition like normal, and when you get out of the shower, put this in. I don't care if you aren't doing anything with your hair that day, or letting it air dry - put it in. Anti-Snap is an extra dose of protein. It has a heat protection in it and helps prevent breakage and split ends. If you're growing your hair out, you need this. If you're coloring your hair, you need it. If you ever blow dry or flat iron, you need it. Bottom line: YOU NEED IT.

3. Pureology's Colour Max:

This is SPF for your hair. "Hat in a bottle." (Because you SHOULD be wearing a hat outside to protect your hair color. And no, a visor doesn't count.) I put this in every time I shampoo, and any time I'm out in the sun, even if my hair is dry. I have a travel size bottle in every beach bag. I like my hair dark, and if I'm going to be coloring it, why waste it and let it fade out? I've seen a huge difference between using this and not using it - last year I didn't use it while I was at Hermit Island, and my hair was so disgusting and faded when I got home it was unbelievable. It doesn't make it greasy if you put it in dry - plus you're at the beach, so who cares? You're just going to wash it when you get home anyway. Just make sure you reapply if you get your hair wet. I follow the same rules as regular SPF - reapply every 2 hours, or every time you get wet. Easy rules.

4. Redken's Aerate 08:

Holy mother, I love this stuff. Love it. This is mousse, but its in a cream. And you only need a tiny bit. (Any professional product - less is more. Start out with less, add more if you need it. You don't need a huge glob of any professional product to make it work.) Shampoo, condition, Antisnap, Colourmax, Aerate. Then blowdry. This makes my hair just fluffy enough but not crazy poufy.

5. Redken's Wax Blast 10:

The perfect spray if you don't like your hair first-day-clean. Beware: it stinks, but the smell goes away. I also use this if I'm doing an updo on clean hair - it gives some sticky and some dirty grit to the hair so it stays in better.

6. I also use Pureology's NanoWax or Redken's Rewind 06

7. Redken's Quick Dry 18:

This... is the motherlode. If I had to choose one product, and only one, to take with me on a trip, this would be it. I am a hairspray girl. Don't light a match in the bathroom once I'm done doing my hair - the place will go up in flames. I have fine, nasty straight hair so once I get it to where I want it, I have to glue it in place immediately. Enter: Quick Dry 18. This stuff has great hold and it dries really quickly, unlike other sprays that end up going on really wet and taking forever to dry. I used to have Maria order this for me in 6-packs because I'd go through so much of it. I've toned down my usage a little bit (I only have two backup cans in my hair tote instead of five), but this is still the last product that goes on my hair every day. It doesn't get crunchy either. Unless you use way too much of it... so don't do that.

This last one is for Janira - and any other girl that wants a little sparkle in their hair. We used to carry this line at the salon and I couldn't get enough of this glitter spray.

Brocato's Shimmer comes in gold, platinum and pearlescent. It is awesome. One tip: store it upside down so the glitter doesn't clog the tube. I'm on the hunt for this stuff down here, because this is perfect for glitter bombing.

Disclaimer: None of these companies know who I am - I am just a hair product addict.

This was a much longer post than I had anticipated, so we'll wrap it up with:

Quote of the Day:

"I just got my hair cut at Supercuts. If I'm going to cheat on you, it's going to be with a cheap whore." - Janira