Hair, hair and more hair

So last night in the shower I was admiring how long my hair has grown, especially considering I hacked it all off up to my jaw line in the summer of 2010 to see if I'd suit short hair (I really, really don't), that means in three and a half years - and with about 6" worth of trims - my hair is now closer to my toes than my belly button is! Which is about 2 feet of growth total - or about 6" every year, though I'm not sure if this is above or below average for hair growth; I just find it interesting.

Anyway this is what my hair looked like this morning straight out of bed:

One of my more flattering childhood nicknames was 'Wild Thing'

Obviously since my hair is so curly I lose almost 6" of length when it's dry, but I'm very OK with that considering that when I last straightened my hair (it's an annual event) I found it completely unmanageable in all its straight silky glory.

8am is not the time I like to take photos of myself - meet FlatBear

I also get a lot of questions about what I "do" to my hair - the short answer: occasionally wash it and let it do it's thang. The long answer:

• Wash it with whatever shampoo is at hand, I normally go for anything that says "for dry/damaged/curly etc" hair or baby shampoo but am also really tempted by anything that smells nice. I have long since given up trying to avoid SLS's and even longer ago abandoned the whole "no-poo" baking soda and apple cider vinegar malarky - it way way too much effort for little to no results.

• Condition it preferably with a silicone free conditioner (my favourite is VO5 Nourish My Shine) and brush it through with a Tangle Teezer - any other brush or comb makes me cry with frustration, yank at and break my hair.

• Towel dry it in one of those micro-fibre turban things and forget it about it for however long it takes me to brush my teeth/tidy my room/watch Buffy etc.

• Apply products after a quick comb through to pull it all back from my face (so no partings) and run a US quarter sized puddle of Argan Oil (whatever brand is both cheap and pure) then sometimes 1-2 pumps of Bed Head Foxy Curls Contour Cream through it with my fingers, avoiding the roots and focusing on the ends.

• Sleep on it damp - neither my mother nor my grandmother approve of this but I have a warm bedroom and never get sick, plus is helps my curls fully form and even if I had all the time in the world I still wouldn't have time to use a hair dryer or a straightener.

My current conditioner of choice

Sometimes I plait my hair before bed if I know I'm not doing anything special the next day - this keeps it tangle free so I can go an extra day without washing it since it's partially formed dreads, not greasy roots, that motivate me to wash my hair every 3-4 days. Or if for some strange reason I decide to wash my hair in the middle of the day and it's below freezing outside I borrow a hairdryer, flip my hair upside down and blast it, however I just don't like doing this so it's only when I would otherwise get hair-cicles.

The savior of long and knotty hair.
This is the 'Aqua Splash' model - the 'Original' one literally fell apart at the 3 month mark

And that's it - I don't own a straightener or a hairdryer, have never dyed my hair, had extensions, styled it or really done anything except to get a trim every 6-9 months. The pickiest thing I do with my hair is only let one specific hairdresser cut it since she somehow manages to layer it so I get all over volume rather than the dreaded 'triangle hair'. If I can't get any of the above fancy products (which happens quite often when I travel or backpack) any plant derived oil through the ends helps tame the frizz, and if my hair's appearance ranks even lower than it does now there's always a plait.

A note on Bed Head Foxy Curls Contour Cream: it is so crazily silicone heavy if you leave a smear out to dry overnight it literally dries to a hard plastic like consistency, hence why I avoid silicone conditioners so as not to cause a crazy silicone buildup (and also why I'm also OK with using SLS shampoos as they alone can completely wash away these silicones), the main reason I love it though is because it feels like nothing is in my hair. Mooses give that awful crunchy and dry/brittle sensation, gels and creams weigh down your curls/hair and look/feel greasy, serums are nice but they don't really help form curls and oils are the same. It also smells like candy which I'm ambivalent towards, but I wish the pump had a lock function for travelling.

Bonus - I found this test shot from my Illamasqua lipstick review - pre black lipstick - and rather like it so here you go!


Saskia X