Short Hair....Do Care
An issue which I've been struggling with as of late has definitely been my hair. I've spoken about it before and how difficult growing it back can be and how your hair can make you feel genuinely ugly, which is a horrible feeling. So on this note I had been really thinking long and hard about hair extensions, something which I was a really patron of before I cut my hair. Thankfully there is now a hairspray store in Cork city meaning I no longer have to make the trek from Waterford to Dublin for a simple consultation. I've always had great experiences with the hairspray team and suffered no damage to my own hair when having the bonds removed which is a huge plus. The hair is fantastic quality and thick from top to bottom. However since I have recently moved to London this does mean that I'm not home in Ireland to go to a Hairspray store! Which leads me back to Plan B!
I'm again taking HairBurst capsules - if you have read my previous post about these you will know I've had great experiences with the capsules in relation to both hair growth and the overall strength and look of my hair. I ordered a 3 month supply from Holland & Barrett as it was cheaper in the long run and left me with a £15 saving overall - I've been taking them a week as of now and I'm already noticing the shine come back into my hair again (Thank God).
In my previous experiences of these capsules - they are just a natural hair supplement - I was thrilled with my overall result and how much my hair grew, the only reason I stopped taking them was because of the price! Thankfully now that I am employed again I can restart the process again. This time I will document my Hairburst journey with photographs and show exactly how much my hair has grown over the 3 month period as a picture speaks a thousand words and of course I personally trust pictures more than someone just telling me something works.
Any comments or questions just let me know and I'll do the full review once the 3 months are up!
What up with your hair??
Errrmagerd.....Mah Hurr!! I literally cannot put into words the annoyance of growing ones hair back after a pixie cut! I am NOT gong to lie and say its so easy to adapt your style and just grow it out gracefully - There is no growing it out gracefully. You will look like a 1980s mullet queen and a 1990s boyband star and you will jump for joy when you have the worlds most pathetic ponytail and then eventually it will start to resemble a bob and that's where I'm at now. Mid 1990's boyband yet almost resembling a bob! And boy is it tough.
As many of you will know I destroyed my hair by bleaching it white! There's a hilarious video on an older post for those of you who haven't seen it! the constant upkeep meant that I had so much breakage and ended up having to cut my hair shorter than I had ever originally planned to! Alas i digress....I started going to a hairdresser again to start with the growing out stages of the pixie cut, and the first step of course was dying my hair back brown and getting it healthy. I cannot describe how bad my hair actually was but the hairdresser was disgusted with it and I mean to the point that she was like "its got that chewing gum texture". I should also point out that I have very fine hair so to have it falling out and breaking because of my own actions meant I was more than annoyed with myself.
To get my hair healthy has taken months and only now am i seeing a shine in it again. I have used many products which were amazing and many which were not so good. The ones I have stuck with and continued to use are
- Hairburst : This is a natural supplement designed to encourage hair growth and also promote healthy hair. It is a tad on the expensive price but I have justified it to myself each month because the results are simply incredible. My hair is growing faster and is simply in overall better condition.Each bottle contains 60 capsules and You simple take 2 capsules every morning.Price: Circa €50 per bottle.
- Schwartzkopf Bonacaure Fibre Force: This whole range is amazing. I started off using the hair mask on recommendation from my hairdresser and followed with the shampoo, conditioner and spray treatment. Again the purpose is to recondition the hair and add strength and shine. I can honestly say my hair has never felt so soft other than using these treatments. Price: €12-€20
- Argan Oil: Talk about a miracle product! I would recommend everyone to use this on the ends of their hair. Personally the ends of my hair were destroyed from all the breakage and needed particular attentions even after I cut off the worst bits. Using Argan oil on the ends of my hair has gotten rid of that frizzy look and made my hair more manageable on a daily basis. It has also improved the feel and look of the hair. Price : Depends on brand.
- Clarifying Shampoo : This is something I use once a week to get rid of any build up of product in my hair and to keep it from looking flat. I have been told that over use of this product can help to strip the colour from your hair and leave it looking dull so I try to stick to my once a week rule. I use pantene clarifying shampoo for the simple fact that its almost always half price in Tesco. Price: €2.59- €5.98
It is also worth mentioning that I try to avoid the use of heat on my hair as much as possible. This means leaving my hair dry naturally when I can and avoiding the use of straighteners/curlers unless really necessary. It is also important to note that healthy hair can be influenced by diet so eating right and being healthy overall can greatly impact on your hair too. I will post another update on what my own hair actually looks like at the moment in the next few days after my regular mullet trim just to provide a visual of the growing out process and the time frame also.
I hope this has been helpful and honest for you, I've read far too many blogs where growing out your hair is made to seem almost achievable overnight and I just want to provide a genuine account. I will also admit the desire for extensions is strong, however still not attainable at this stage of growth, so don't feel as if you're alone! Trust me, it's normal!!
Peace Out!
The 1980s called....they want their hair back!! (Growing out my Pixie Cut - stage 2)
I did manage to get my roots done as I had previously mentioned which brought my hair back to its dazzling white state....which my hairdresser decided she hated and that its was too much damage to my hair considering I originally cut it to start afresh!! (Yeah...Id forgotten that too!) I do also intend to make an updated video about my hair now and how it looks in comparison tot he first video I made which was of course my starting point! So yeah...despite my love of my now amazingly white hair the hairdresser decided to restore some pigment into my hair using a darker blonde hair dye - no more than 2 shade darker than the bleach...'cas apparently that's important? So now I do have still very blonde hair that the hairdresser has decided to make somewhat darker in stages! (I should at this point say this was the best and most hilarious trip to a hairdressers that I have ever had - this woman should get her own reality show) So now i'm relying very much on my conditioning products so that my hair doesn't get completely fried - again thankfully its still in super good condition.
One thing that really is starting to get to me is the fact that my hair is now completely uncontrollable! I'm becoming - in the words of my friend Dean - a character from anime! Think blonde sky high spiky bed head! NOT ATTRACTIVE!! Yet thankfully I can laugh at myself and thankfully my friends are super accepting of my #iwokeuplikethis snapchats, the downside however is that i'm not starting to fool myself into thinking my hair is growing at a rapid pace and i'm feeling very repunzelish! Another downside is i have no hair style! Literally none!! There is pretty much nothing i can do to make my hair look amazing during this stage of the growing out period - and here are the pictures to prove it!! As always I have my fringe pinned back - just cant cope with having hair in my eyes!! |
| Apologies for the no make-up (impromptu photos) |
Peace Out
xxxxxxx
Growing out my Pixie Cut... (Phase 1)
And now the end is near....and so i face the final haircut!!
I have made the decision to grow my hair out....Despite the fact that it had been only 3 months since I originally cut it! This decision is based primarily on the fact that my hair grows so quickly I have to get it cut every 2 weeks and we all know that just isn't practical....or affordable! So as of now I have about 1 month of hair growth since my last cut and already my hair has completely lost its shape and its ability to remain in any one distinct style! As we all know from my previous hair posts I am a great lover of hair extensions and as a result am going to hopefully get a full head of extensions once my hair is the recommended 4 inches of growth needed to hide the bonds and create a natural look!
In this picture I was just after getting my damaged ends cut off after bleaching all my hair so its quite short and what I will refer to as my starting point throughout this process of growing out my hair. It was also a very white blonde which has faded a bit but not as much as I had expected it to overall...I do tone my hair and use deep conditioning treatments weekly. I do hvae a longer fringe at the front of my hair which can be quite annoying which is why I clip it back so often however when growing my hair back it has been beneficial in assuring me that my hair is getting longer.
In this particular picture my hair is being held back by a hairband but the regrowth can be clearly seen in my roots as naturally my hair is quite a dark colour and the contrast between the roots and the blond is quite stark. However the sides of my hair are now quite long and reach my earlobes which is quite a difference from when I first cut my hair and was unable to tuck the sides behind my ears as it was so short. The back of my hair is of course very business in the front party in the back, and trimming the back is a constant nuisance. However I am hoping to get my hair dyed this week (albeit just the roots) and then maybe I'll start to feel better about the whole process, because at the moment I'm suffering so many bad hair days and shapeless hair issues that its killing me not to just cut it back up short and start from scratch....
It is difficult to grow out hair and I have read so many blogs about how to do it gracefully but I of course lack patience....I am taking silica to promote health hair growth but have only started taking it about a week or so ago so wont see any noticeable benefits for almost another 2 months. I am very lucky that my hair is in such good condition, especially following all the bleaching and the fact that I now have to use straighteners to control my longer length hair, I do use a heat protect spray and also Moroccan oil on my hair after each wash, but my hair is still soft to the touch, shiny and has no visible split ends.
So hopefully in another 2 months my hair will have grown fully into a short bob in which many of the layers will be even as right now there is about an inch and a half between my hair at the nape of my neck and the next longest layer, i.e. not enough to even attempt a teeny weeny pony tail. Hopefully my patience will last and when I write about this again next month or the month after I will hopefully have a different hairstyle!!
xxxxxx
It's all fun and games until someone cuts their hair off!!
I feel I just need to be the one to put this in writing because quite recently I cut off my long black hair and traded it for a blonde pixie cut, seems like a normal enough thing to do right? Bit of a change, new look for a new me and so on! Alas I was not prepared for the backlash my new (awesome) hairstyle was about to receive. To those people reading this who are not from Ireland, let me just explain; I live in a small rural village full of people who all "fit in" and of which i'm a fairly active and well known member of the community (my mother works in the local shop - shes like the village celeb!) So i cut off all my hair as seen in my previous blog entries however not many people were aware of this as i think went into hospital for almost 2 weeks followed by almost a month of recovery where I was unable to leave the house so to say my hair was new to people is a bit of an understatement! However what i was not prepared for was the divide I was about to cause in the village! And boy do I mean a divide!! Let me walk you through the stages!
1. No, i'm not a lesbian!
Now don't get me wrong some of my closest friends are gay so i'm not having an anti-gay rant, I'm merely saying that a persons sexuality is not defined by their hairstyle! I should also use this opportunity to explain that my younger brother has flowing locks half way down his back and yet nobody ever questions his sexuality, or infact anything about him, owing to the fact that hes obviously a hard core biker and totally unapproachable! NOT!! Put plain and simply the only thing you can infer from my hairstyle is that i like hair bows!!
2. No, Girls don't NEED long hair!
A surprising amount of shall we say "elderly" people seem convinced that girls need to have long hair! How about NO! One particular lady went so far as to tell me "no. I don't like it. Grow it back. You have a small face you NEED long hair!" I think its such a load of crap that somebody can tell you what you should and shouldn't have as your personal style! Just because its not my usual look or one that I had for the past 24 years doesn't mean that i'm not the same person or that it doesn't hurt my feelings!! That being said i don't need need the approval of anyone else to make me feel good about my hair either! Falling into this trap leads to wanting to grow your hair out just to suit others even though you know you are killing it Jennifer Lawrence style!!
3. It doesn't matter what my mother thinks!
Is this a worldwide phenomenon or just an Irish thing? I feel like the first question out of peoples mouths is "what did your mother say?" What does it matter? I'm an adult thanks very much and I'm oh so very capable of deciding to cut my hair, without parental permission! However should my hair be the biggest of my mothers problems then i think she would agree with me that overall that would be a pretty successful day all round. Get a grip society!! I also don't need my mothers permission to cross the road!! Shock Horror!!
4. I'm pretty sure i'm still an absolute BABE!
OMG men don't find short hair attractive! You are going to die alone unless you grow your hair back! Calm your tits people!! Do I really want to be with the guy whose so shallow that my hair is his biggest issue! I think not!! Your hair is a small part of your overall look but not a part of your inner beauty and personality! To all the ladies with the pixie cuts and short hair i say fair play, it takes guts to not hide behind a mane of hair!
5. It's my hair and i'll do what I want to!
So some days my hair is awful, no I cant just tie it up and i do rely heavily on hats to hide my woefully bad hair days! So what! When I had long hair I had bad hair days too....i'm not feeling defined by this whole scenario! The upside to this being that I have amassed quite a large collection of lipstick, which is apparently the only thing stopping me from being mistaken for a man! (The caddy for Happy Gilmore to be specific - Thanking you Dermot)
But as i have mentioned my hair is only one part of who I am over all and its not going to be how i define myself - Caroline the girl with short hair - instead Caroline the girl brave enough to open up her inner thoughts and invite the whole world to read them. (Though I feel sorrier for the readers in that situation) I didn't choose the pixie life the pixie life chose me, and hey is that really the worst thing to happen??
But as i have mentioned my hair is only one part of who I am over all and its not going to be how i define myself - Caroline the girl with short hair - instead Caroline the girl brave enough to open up her inner thoughts and invite the whole world to read them. (Though I feel sorrier for the readers in that situation) I didn't choose the pixie life the pixie life chose me, and hey is that really the worst thing to happen??
Peace Out
xxxxxx
Getting the chop...Its Pixie Cut Time!!
As part of my list i decided to change my hair colour (it was jet black) to a pale pink! So after watching countless videos of how ANYONE can get dazzling white hair from having black hair! (NO YOU CANNOT, DO NOT TRY) I did however end up with dazzling white roots and a somewhat ginger mane...not badly unlike a lions mane! SERIOUSLY! Now the sad thing is that i did infact rope my younger brothers girlfriend into helping me do all this...just to share the responsibility haha. However as a result of this the pale pink did not take...so we opted for a nice shade of purple.....purple washed out blue...and so the cycle continues!!
Following this, began the cover up job!! 3 rounds of hair dye - 2 brown and a final coat of black!! and another full set of extensions! However during my stay in the Gaeltacht i took my extensions out and had a proper look at my hair, realised that unfortunately it was utterly fried. There was no hope! My black had faded into a browny/blondey/green colour that was unbearable.... so back to the hairdressers i went!!
Thursday morning the ordeal began! Cleanse the hair....take out the black......view the damage.....cover the green.....(with red apparently)....and dye back over that with brown!! but what can be seen? This incessent green!! So home i go with hair cut to just under my chin that is still most definitely 3 different colours...albeit not the same colours as before!! but also a niggling feeling that maybe i should just chop it all off? start fresh??
Sooo friday morning thats exactly what i do!! I called back in and credit to the amazing hairdresser thats exactly what she did!! And for an hour i sat there with my eyes closed completely unaware of waht was happening to my hair and putting my complete faith in the woman with the scissors! Amazingly talented lady i must say, and when i opened my eyes I was thrilled!! I have embraced the Pixie Cut and im loving it!!
I know people can be iffy about cutting off their hair and trust me i completely understand but i have to say i feel somewhat liberated and proud of myself for doing it!! And as far as i can see the Pixie is here to stay!!
Peace Out
xxx
But just in case that didn't persuade you!! (http://www.buzzfeed.com/juliapugachevsky/reasons-why-you-should-get-a-pixie-cut-if-youve-always-wa)
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