What a Hair Raiser!

In recent years, long flowing wavy locks have been the coveted hairstyle for many women, and in a chain reaction, the sales of hair extensions went through the roof.

But after years of straightening and not wanting to pay a fortune for a trim, many of us just do not have hair that is really worth growing out to start with. 

When I was at college studying a National Certificate in Hairdressing, I noticed that not one girl out of the 14 in my class actually had nice hair upon inspection - my self included.

Imagine if you will a variety of styles, lengths and colours on a variety of girls with a variety of backgrounds all sharing the frizzy, over processed, brillo-pad, tell-tale signs of neglected hair... training to make YOURS look nice.

Would I really trust someone with horrible hair touch mine with the promise I'll look gorgeous at the end? Hell no! And you shouldn't even consider it either!

It made me think twice about what I was doing to my own hair day in, day out - and the effect it would have on my image as a professional.

So I listened intently at every hair science lesson we had, taking into account the genetic make up of each hair follicle and strand and how you must love each and every one. I watched and learnt how to comb and brush hair the CORRECT way and the environmental factors that ultimately ruin your tresses.

I learnt that out there, a lot of women - and men - suffer with far worse hair related problems, than my fluffy wavy hair I had been complaining about since I was 12 years old. So what if it got a little frizzy in the rain? At least I didn't have alopecia, or trichotillomania, or hypertrichosis.

I had a full head of medium thickness, wavy hair, and a lot of it. I had gorgeous hair as a child, so why did I feel in my teens I needed to alter that?

Now don't get me wrong, after learning all that wonderful information and advice I still thought I knew my own hair best and that those 'rules' did not apply to me. In fact I still curled and straightened my hair every day and I still bleached and coloured it at every opportunity - until chunks started to SNAP OFF when I was washing my hair.

I hadn't had a decent hair cut in months, resulting in my fringe splitting and snapping off and chunks of the rest of my hair following suit...I loved my blonde hair but my hair did not love being blonde...

I dyed it about a week after these photos were taken to a reddy brown colour and found i didn't need to dye my hair no where as often.

Over those next two years I still didn't listen to my own advice and carried on down the same road with the same results...making it 3 years that my hair had stayed the same length because it was so neglected it refused to grown any longer.

 So just 2 days before my 20th birthday, I chopped all my hair off into a chin skimming bob - and I loved it! Not only did it feel better, I felt sexy and I looked my age for The first time in a long time!

Okay, after that:

I left my hair to grow out for 18 months without dying it, 

I gave up straighteners for Lent,

 I shaved the side of my head,

 I went back to dying it for a while - but not like I used to, 

I let my hair air-dry more often,

 I cut it short again, 

then grew it out again,

 I bleached my fringe,

 then cut it short again,

 coloured over the bleach, 

cut it short again,

 coloured it again,

 Got Engaged so started growing it out, 

cut it short again, 

coloured it red, 

stripped out the colour beginning of this year, 

then re-coloured it a few weeks ago and that's were we are today.

My hair is as healthy as it could be, its growing, it's thick, it's had more regular hair cuts and people are starting to be jealous of my hair!

• I do conditioning treatments once a fortnight.
• I blow dry on a cool setting and straighten my hair once a week if I can be bothered, same goes for using curling tongs.
• I invested in rollers instead of using curling tongs all the time and Chopsticks instead of hair ties. 
  
   
  
  
  
• I do use a wide tooth comb to comb through my conditioner & again when my hair is wet.
• I don't rub my wet hair into a towel - I wrap the towel around it and squeeze the water out gently.
• I don't wash my hair every day - maybe once or twice a week or if I'm going out somewhere fancy I'll wash it the night before
• I do take cod liver oil tablets and drink more water than I used to.
• I do massage my scalp several times a week.
• I don't use my fingernails to lather up shampoo, I use the pads of my fingers instead in a gentle circular motion.
• I don't back-comb my hair if I can help it.
• I do use dry shampoo a lot!
• I do let my hair do it's own natural thing time to time.
• I do tie my hair into a loose plait for bed.
• I don't brush wet hair - EVER!
• I try to get regular trims (though it's more difficult with my back injury.)

What's your hair routine like? Do you follow all the rules? Do you wish you took better care of it in the past? Do you get your hairdresser to cut it with proper scissors or do you do it your self with the 'sharp' kitchen scissors?

Hailie 

xo