Hey beauties, this is the look I wore today for the A La Carte 40th Anniversary event in Shoreditch, which I will blog about tmr as the exhibit will run from 22-26th of May - and if you are a beauty junkie like myself then I think you should really check it out! As it was my lucky hair-day today and a hair blogpost was requested a few times on Instagram I decided it's perfect time to share what I do to my hair, what products I use and how I style it! First of all I shall point out that my hair is very naughty and mischievous, it certainly does not behave perfectly every day... My hair is fine and has an oily roots and dry ends tendency, it's straight but not stick straight, it has a light wave to it. Naturally it's a [very] dark ash blonde, and I get highlights done about twice or three times a year. I have found an amazing colourist at my local Trevor Sorbie salon, next time I see him I will ask if that's ok to share his info and will do a separate blogpost. Now get yourself a nice big cup of tea or coffee as this will be one long blogpost!
Before I went to Trevor Sorbie, I tried pretty much all the salons in Hampstead. I am very particular with how a salon should be and how I feel about it, and I find that Trevor Sorbie suits me perfectly, the people working there, the hairstylists and stuff are really cool, so I am finally happy to have found a salon that is on the same wavelength. Having said that I am not someone who will be making monthly appointments, no no no. I literally get to a hairsalon few times a year. I like my hair to have a life on its own in-between the salon visits. I like the roots to grow out and get grungy [within reason], I don't like my hair looking the same all the time.
That of course means I trim my own fringe, in fact I had no idea how hard it is to find someone professional who knows how to do it properly, so off I went to Boots and got a pair of professional scissors... Also I do trim the ends, which is a good thing to do if you want to keep your hair looking healthy, even if you just take off half an inch. In fact I was once told it's good to do that once a month at least. I'm not too anal about it, like I said I just let it grow and get wild.
Something I have realised over the years is that my hair definitely looks much better if I wash it in the evening, style it and then sleep on it, which may sounds odd, but it works! If I am too tiered to wash my hair before going to bed, and do it next morning - I know I will have bun-worthy hair for the next few days, it just ends up looking frizzy, then flat, and fringe is all over the place. I am also very against washing my hair daily, I actually think it damages the hair, and makes it only get oilier at the roots the more you fondle with it. I wash my hair about three times a week, and style it once and forget about it until it needs a wash, I don't do anything to it in-between washes.
Another trick I have learned works on my hair brilliantly is to not brushing it between washes. So it only gets brushed after I wash it when it's still damp, I love the Tangle Teezer, it's a-mazing for long hair I have no idea how I lived without it before!! And then when I blow dry my hair I brush it out with the big round Trevor Sorbie brush. And that is it, literally! The idea of brushing dry hair makes me cringe, it brakes the hair, makes it frizzy, and on top of that makes the scalp very greasy, so no, my hair started looking a lot healthier and thicker when I stopped brushing [about ten years ago, yes!].
Now onto hairproducts, I make sure to have a few shampoos and conditioners at hand, and rotate them all the time. My hair reacts better if I use say a volumising shampoo and conditioner one day, then next time switch to a colour correcting, and then a softening. I have stopped using the cheap shampoos looong time ago, recently I decided to try the good old Pantene Pro-V and absolutely hated it, so now I strictly wash my make-up brushes with it and bath my cat, they haven't complained.....
Here are the haircare products I am really enjoying currently [for the past few months]:
John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo & Conditioner - great all time products. John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone-Correcting Shampoo - I used this one every couple of weeks, it's one of those purple shampoos and a must-have if you have blonde highlights! Together with it I use John Frieda Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Moisturising Conditioner - them together are great if I need a lift, makes blonde hair look shiny and fresh again, almost as if you had new highlights done!
Redken All Soft Shampoo & Conditioner - been trying these out, and really loving them, full review coming soon! I actually washed my hair with these two product last night, really makes my hair super soft, yet stays in shape. And finally Bumble and bumble Thickening Shampoo & Conditioner - this range is great for when my hair is feeling and looking really limp and flat. In terms of hair masks, at the moment I'm loving the Redken All Soft Heavy Cream and Percy & Reed Superglossing Mask - I do them few times a month.
Now then, styling products! I also rotate and mix them up depending on how my hair is feeling. But lately I've been enjoying John Frieda Luxurious Volume Fine To Full Blow-Out Spray, Lee Stafford Volumising Mousse and Sea Salt Spray, Redken All Soft Supple Touch, Percy & Reed Bodifying Cream and Volumising No Oil Oil. And finally not really a styling product but something I would really recommend to anyone with long hair is the Phyto Secret de Nuit, lovely hydrating regenerating night treatment for dry ends.
And finally just in case you wonder what I actually used last night to style my hair with:
After washing my hair and brushing it through with the Tangle Teezer I always twist it up in one of those towel-turbans, forgot to mention, doing this gets the moisture out of your hair, so by the time [say in 20-30 mins] I am ready to blow-dry, my hair won't need too much heat. Then I applied about five pumps of the Redken All Soft Supple Touch softening cream-spray for dry/brittle hair into my palm and then applied it onto mid-lenghts and ends. Then Lee Stafford Volumizing Mousse mainly into the roots and mid-lenghts. Followed by Lee Stafford Sea Salt Spray, this is great for that beach babe look and a bit of texture. And finally never forget a heat spray, currently I am using Toni&Guy Prep Heat Protection Mist. And then I start blow-drying my hair until it's 90% dry, then I used the Trevor Sorbie medium big round brush just doing the top two sections at the back and on the sides. Hope this helps!
LOVE
