Beautiful Lengths

This time last year I had cut all my hair off, so short that it was probably only an inch long. Why? I know I'm crazy, but my hair had been bleached and it started falling out and cracking and became so 'gummy' and damaged. I started doing my research on home remedies and expensive conditioners and treatments that I could use. I read one article that was wrote my Madonna's stylist and he said that one time she came to him and she had bleached her hair and it was completely lifeless and damaged and asked what she could do to make it healthier. He told her "The only thing you can really do now is cut it all off and start fresh." Needless to say that article was inspirational. So I waited a week and sat and thought the whole time on this, weighing out my pros and cons and wondering if it was really worth it because it had already taken me two years to grow my out already, it would probably break my heart to cut it all off. Well, needless to say, I did. I wasn't happy with the cut, and the only thing that made me happy about it was the low maintanence I now had and how once my hair was washed it would be dry in 5 minutes, no blow drying, no products needed, no damaged from heating products..that was nice! For the whole year I tried to find an amazing product to ue in my hair; I must've spent atleast $150 on all the different kinds of creams, treatments, oils (yes, I use oils in my hair) and spray in conditioners. Not much did what I wanted it to do, I needed to restore moisture and make all the hair that grew back out be as healthy as possible (not to mention I wanted it to grow back already!) Here I sit a year later with the hair that originally took me two years to grow out (not to mention I've trimmed my hair three times since my 'big cut').

The one shampoo and conditioner that I absolutely LOVE is Pantene Pro-V, hands down. I religiously use their "Beautiful Lengths" shampoo and conditioner everyday, and for my treatments I shampoo my hair with their "Full and Thick" shampoo, and then comb my wet hair, put the "Full and Thick" conditioner in it and massage my scalp. I use an extra large flat brush and comb the conditioner in my hair and then place a shower cap on my head.

Note: Make sure you have a while before you need to leave the house, you might want to do this on the day when you're not going to go to work, or if you work a night shift, to do this earlier in the morning while you're cleaning or doing laundry. With that said, take this time to focus on you! If you have things to do around the house, go ahead and get them done, but now comes the important part, taking some time and giving it to yourself. This should be simple, right? Right! So find a quiet spot in your house, put on some soothing, relaxing music, and practice some yoga. Not only will this make you feel better and help you get rid of all the toxins in your body, but it will rejuvinate your mind and your soul. Take anywhere from 20-40 minutes (while the conditioning treatment is still in effect!) and release everything. I love yoga, it's so fun and it's an amazing way to stretch your body and workout your core.

Depending on how long you take to do your chores around the house, and with the 40 minutes you dedicate to yoga, the conditioning treatment should be in your hair for about two, to two and a half hours. Once the time passes by, take the shower cap off, rinse your hair throughly, gently towel dry your hair, and style as normal. You can go ahead and blow dry your hair after the treatment, as well as flat iron or curl. I wouldn't recommend to use hairspray until the next day, just so your hair can breath. What I like to do, just because I'm a conditioning junkie is use a spray in conditioner. Just like with all the products I've used, I haven't been satisfied with any of the spray in conditioners that I've purchased. So what I've done is take any cheap conditioner (even VO5), I use Sunsilk, mixed with Aussie, and fill the bottle halfway to the top. Then I put luke warm water in the bottle and fill it up. Twist the top and make sure its secure and then shake it to mix the conditioner with the water. The great thing about making your own spray in conditioner is that the skies the limit! You can add your heating protectant in it, your hair oils, hair mayonnaise, hair smoothing product, or whatever you normally use for your hair into the bottle and it will be all your products mixed into one. To apply the spray in conditioner, I usually just spray my ends, or whatever part of my hair that's looking alittle frizzled or tired. Then I brush my hair out with an extra large flat brush and then blow dry my hair.

When dying your hair: I never use box dye. Box dye is more of a rinse and it comes out with a brass tone (even the $20.00 box of dye!) Instead, I go down to Sally's and buy a $3.00 bottle of Clairol, a $2.00 bottle of developer, and 50 cent gloves and I'm set! My color lasts for 3 months and I only have to touch up my roots every 2 months (my roots grow super fast but I usually wait till my hair grows out an inch before I dye the roots.) Box dye fries your hair and it never stays the way it should, I suggest you try the Clairol and see how happy you are with your hair color. Note: Clairol comes in every shade they sell in the box, and all Clairol is, is what your hair stylist uses when you go to your beauty salon.

I hope you use my tips, and have fun with your radiant, beautiful, silky soft, damage-free hair! :]