New season, new hair

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You guys, it’s summer! I know that was official a couple weeks ago, but for me summer doesn’t really start until the humidity starts going nuts, and I have a fool-proof gauge for that – my hair. Being curly is bad enough but this year I’ve got some other issues working against me on top of that. For one, I count among the many women in my family with hereditary hair loss, and it’s been especially noticeable the past few years. Then I compounded that with some questionable hair care decisions, like undergoing a hair transplant. Example, a few months ago I decided to live my hair coloring dream of having a purple hair color. It’s been pretty awesome but the process involved bleaching my hair from a level 2 (almost black) to about a 9-ish (light blond). Even though it didn’t look too bad at first, the inevitable damage is starting to show, and keeping up purple-dyed hair is exactly as hard as everyone says it is. So now that my hair is kind of a hot mess in general, obviously this is the best possible time to decide that I should grow it back out. Right? In an effort to make great hair be a thing in my life, I put together a brand-spanking new hair routine with Women’s ROGAINE^®, L’Oreal, Pravana and Joico products to tackle my hair woes one by one.

But first, Exhibit A (a couple months ago looking not too bad, freshly dyed w/Pravana Violet):

Tried out some new dye, now even more purple! Unfortunately my shower is now a nice violet shade too 😐 Guess I’ll be doing some cleaning after work #pravana #purplehair

A photo posted by nicci |truth & (luxury) beauty (@adifferentface) on Apr 26, 2016 at 7:02am PDT

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Problem #1: Thinning Hair

Now, this isn’t really a recent problem, or terribly unexpected. All the other women in my family have had problems with losing hair as they age, and it turns out I’m not a special snowflake. I’ve never had especially thick hair anyway (my sisters and brother got all the hair – rude!) so this is something that’s been bothering me for a while now. I brought it up with my dermatologist because we’re on a first name basis and I was there anyway. After ruling out any new endocrine or nutritional problems (all good) she recommended this PRP hair treatment center as my best bet for stopping my hair loss before it gets really bad, and for growing it back in. Apparently I’m just about that age where hereditary hair loss starts to kick in (#big30). You should also have a look into the various options available for PRP for hair loss, as it’s a very effective hair loss treatment. Slathering a little bit of foam onto my scalp once a day is pretty tame compared to some of the things I’ve done in the name of beauty, so I’m giving it a try. Stay tuned for results (or head over here if you’d like to get 10% off your own!)

Problem #2: Fading Color

Above: Exhibit B, about 5-6 weeks after dyeing

I was warned about this by every blog post I read on ‘how to dye your hair purple’, and they were right. All of them. Even with minimal washing and no heat styling, purple just fades really fast. My first attempt at it with Ion Color Brilliance dye failed pretty hard. I mixed it with conditioner for a more pastel shade, and it was faded to a greenish gray in under a week. I switched to undiluted Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids in Violet and that has gone much better. For one, the more vibrant shade of purple looks less weird – I’m used to dark hair on me so the lighter shade was really strange – and for the most part it’s hardly faded at all. There are some strange bits right around my face, though – for whatever reason, they don’t like to take the color, and turn grey/lavender within a few washes. I dunno, hair is weird.

So for that part of the plan, I’m switching up my wash routine. I’ve used sulfate-free shampoos for a long time (sulfates are not evil, I just have better results without them) but I’m trying to be especially careful to avoid washing all my dye down the drain. I ran out of shampoo recently and the new L’Oreal EverPure Cleansing Balm caught my eye when I was cruising the hair care aisle at the grocery store. It seems they’ve finally caught onto the conditioner-only wash method. No sulfate, no silicone two-in-one cleanser and conditioner? Sign me up! Besides, I approve of anything that cuts an unnecessary step out of my morning since it leaves more time for (over)sleeping. I’m planning to mix a travel-bottle full of a cleansing balm/dye concoction so I get a little bit of a color refresh every time I wash.

Problem #3: Damage & Frizzies

My hair is curly, so I’ll probably never have perfectly smooth, shiny hair and I’ve made my peace with that. But since the bleach job, it’s looking, ummm, a little more frazzled than usual, you could say. I tried out a couple serums & smoothing gels without much luck, but a few days ago a bottle of Joico K-PAK Luster Lock arrived in my mailbox as a pr sample. I took some before & after photos the first time I used it and it’s not too shabby! And I mean that literally, it made my hair not look like I’ve been living in the wilderness. There are still some flyaways but I’m hoping those will tame down as I use it more. Now if I could just get past the awkward pixie grow-out stage.

If you want to look elegant while avoiding all the hassle in taking good care of your hair, you can try using wigs, like medium curly wigs, to still come on top.

Got a new summer hair routine or happy endings to horror stories? Please share in the comments, I’m all ears!

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