My hair care story/routine

Hi everyone! Today I'll share with you my hair story using some of my pictures, although it won't  be exactly in particular order, I'll just include pics from different months just to give you all an idea how my hair looks like before but I don't have good shot of my hair since I have no idea that I will be doing something like this haha but anyway I'll try to put decent pic as much as possible. I will also include my hair care routine at this moment to share how my hair recovered from being damage to being healthy again.

For starters, I have a naturally curly hair, got some pretty big locks I might say haha but back then it was really hard for me to take care of it and handle it, plus we had this straight hair trend before, so I said why not! this might be the answer for my lion hair every morning!

So the result was great! at first...but as you see, my hair became a bit dry after few months, it's always like that, I will wait until I can get another rebond ( rebonding is one of the hair straightening method here in the Philippines) again, I need to wait after 6 months every time for another session.

First up to second session were great, but after my third one my hair was damaged, so dry, brittle and so much hair fall! My hair also had like huge bump on the upper back of my head, it was the new hair growing, since my hair was originally curly it looks like bump.

until it came back to its natural state but worse!

I still tried few more sessions after I let my hair rest for few months, hoping it will get better but even then the result was never the same, my hair was more brittle, like it will just break when you pull it. My poor burned hair.These are not the worst state! but I don't have any pic of that moment, well who wants to take picture of their damaged hair?

So after I did my last rebonding session, It just took me few days right after that to cut my hair short, I never had my hair that short before but I was really annoyed with my damaged hair! so might as well cut them off so it can grow some new strands and It will be also easier for me to take of it because it's shorter.

when it's a bit longer and looks unnaturally straight :P

See how much hair was gone? hahah my officemates were all surprised when they saw me but they liked it :) I liked it too, but to keep my hair pointing in one direction, I had to iron it every time, it was good at first but to no surprise, too much ironing damaged my hair more, and of course I cannot stop my natural curly hair from growing.

Soooooo I decided to stop getting a rebond! and keep my hair in ponytail for awhile and make it more healthy with the help of some products!

MY HOLY GRAIL PRODUCTS!

I thought just getting a rebond will be enough for me to have pretty hair but obviously I was wrong, Because for rebonding or curling they are using tons of chemicals on your hair so it's crucial to take care of it MORE after those procedures. Even if you had your rebond/treatment in the best salon in the country, I cannot emphasize enough that what you do after that, will determine if you're going to have a healthy hair or not. 

 Soooooo After trying so many products in the market, I finally came across with these lovely products. As you can see, I love using a product that has natural ingredients in it, I'm not saying they are all organic but the fact that they used coconut, aloe and all sorts  are more effective for my hair because they are not purely made out of chemicals.

My current products:

1. Silk secret virgin coconut  treatment- As stated in the packaging, it's a one minute hair treatment, that is why I'm using it as my conditioner. This is my favorite hair product among all of them! first time I used this I can definitely tell that it's doing good in my hair, I'm sure it's the major reason why my hair recovered and I use this product the most compare to others because I use conditioner everyday and I'm telling you now I don't shampoo my hair everyday hahah yes, you heard me right! Shampoo cleans your hair as well as the natural oils from it, so whenever I use shampoo, I make sure that I will follow up with a nice deep moisturizing conditioner/treatment to bring the moisture back into my hair, and this product right here conditions my hair so well and prevent it from becoming dry like before! I've been using silk secret for more than two years and I will definitely keep this in my bathroom for more years to come.

2. Organix argan oil and shea butter conditioner- Most of all, I love the smell! sweet but not overly sweet and so natural. It moisturize my hair well but not as much as my silk secret treatment. So it's perfect for the days where I don't use shampoo only conditioner or when I feel like my hair is still well moisturize from yesterday's hair treatment that I don't need to use any heavy conditioner/treatment again. I recommend this conditioner if you don't have a very damage or oily hair but still need to keep it hydrated and soft. But for me I usually use this for my second day hair wash! (you will see later what it means haha).

3. Organix tea tree mint shampoo-  Most of the shampoo that I've used before made my hair dry/hard after you washed it and that's my biggest issue with shampoo!  So, I decided not to use shampoo everyday, but this one doesn't do that! it cleans my hair without drying it. It has tea tree for curing dandruff and peppermint oils for nourishing, both smell so fresh and clean. I might say though, it doesn't lather much but it's not a problem for me as long as it cleans my hair and leave it smooth, I'm good with that!

4. Cadia organic coconut oil- It is good to use pure oils for your hair, as much as possible avoid chemicals. I really love this coconut oil, it reminds me how we treat our hair before with fresh coconut milk. It smells heavenly for me! haha but I don't only use coconut oil for my hair so I don't mind buying a big jar. I'm telling you, I didn't use this for my hair before with those products above, only now and wow! makes my hair so soft! I had rebond again and it made my hair look so naturally straight and shiny! the difference of using pure coconut oil to other oils is that it will make your hair soft and shiny but never greasy or sticky! it feel light weight. Just be careful though, since this is pure, you only need a few drops for your hair.

5. Aloe Derma organic aloe gel- Aloe is used for curing dandruff and for growing your hair faster. Aloe doesn't make my hair oily so I only use this when my hair has enough oil but I want it softer and straighter at the same time. I used this as leave on if  I didn't use coconut oil. Compare to coconut oil which gives my hair a natural soft look, but I've noticed it also gives the roots of my hair a bit of a curve (but not that noticeable) unlike aloe, it makes my hair straighter starting from the roots of my hair.

My other products before:

1. Herbal essence color me happy- This had been part of my hair recovery routine before the organix shampoo came, it's made specially for colored treated hair which good for me because I got my hair colored before. I'm not sure what it does to  my hair exactly, but my hair really recovered from damaged when I'm using this along with hair treatment above. Since I didn't use any other shampoo that time but this, I think it did help hahah my hair didn't feel soft when I used this unlike the organix shampoo, so make sure to use good conditioner after using this but I finished the whole bottle and then switched to organix after. I still want to include this here because I really think it kept my hair from being damage again, so yeah :)

2. Fx moroccan moisture miracle argan oil- Like the herbal essence, this was part of my hair recovery routine before, I also finished the whole bottle. It's good because it made my hair more manageable and hydrated but it's not very light weight because you can still feel that you put some oil on your hair. Although it's not light weight, it's also not greasy or sticky like other oils, you know the feeling when you don't want to touch someone's hair because you know it's greasy? hahah good thing this is not one of those oils.

This is how my hair looks like after I stopped getting a hair rebond and after using those product continuously. Surely my hair was longer and much more healthier, I know it didn't look like a perfect straight hair but this was wayyyyyy better than my damaged hair. My hair looks like naturally wavy than kinky! specially the front side, ohhh you definitely know that it is always, ALWAYS the first part that will come back to it's medusa state (as we call it! haha) but here you can see they are pretty fine and not burned anymore. 

Again I'm really sorry that I  didn't have much decent solo picture, obviously I had to crop most of the picture that I used here but we have to make use of what we have! haha

When I felt that my hair was healthy enough to get another treatment, I decided to have another rebond also I wanted to have a short hair again, so I think it will be really nice if I don't have a short curly hair when I chop it off hahah and this time I'm hoping that it will work like the first time! 

Tadahhhhhhhh! here's the new look! ( and new hair cut) I did my hair rebond to another salon because  I found that the salon who did my hair the last time were using a hair chemical that is too strong for my hair and has unnatural finish, like my hair was barely moving. But this time I've found a salon who gives my hair a soft but straight finish.  Later I'll give you some tips on how to keep your hair tamed and not flying away even if you have a very short hair like this.

After few months my hair was longer again, for the record, I didn't have to iron my hair after I had it cut unlike the first time. I avoided too much heat for my hair, no blow drying too (I never ever did  anyway at home haha) my friends asked me if I had another rebond because my hair was still pretty straight even after few months. But I didn't, it's still the result from my last rebond and of course my hair care routine.

Here are more pictures after another months, even after 6 months I decided to let my hair rest more. Now it's not as straight but still good, I've been tying my hair a bit to give it a natural wave and it looks like a messy wave style without heat! :D I'm just happy that my hair is healthier even not as straight. 

Just look at my before and after pics without getting a rebond after few months. Amazing isn't it? hahah

My current hair care routine:

This is the routine I am following now but I also try to be creative in doing my routine. It really depends on my hair. If I feel like my hair doesn't need heavy conditioner even if it's already my schedule to use it, I'm gonna skip it. As I said earlier I don't shampoo my hair everyday but for example I am active today (been sweating a lot) and I feel my hair needs some more cleaning, in that case I will still shampoo my hair even if I just did yesterday or skip washing my hair if I know it's still clean from previous wash, that's the time I will use dry shampoo (I didn't include it my current product because I don't use it much) just feel your hair ladies! So anyways! here it goes!

Day 1 wash:

-Shampoo with organix
- Use silk secret 1 minute treatment
-Cadia organic coconut oil (but not all the time,only when I feel that my hair needs more softness. Apply when hair is still a bit wet)


* you can decide to skip the day 2 wash and just use dry shampoo, your choice girl :) but believe it or not your hair will be in better condition if you don't wash it everyday. Keeping the natural oils from your hair, at first your hair will be more oily but if continue doing it, your hair will eventually adjust and produce the right amount of oil for your hair.

Day 2 wash:

-organix argan and shea butter conditioner
-Apply aloe gel when hair is almost dry after shower (before when I haven't discover aloe gel I used oil to keep my hair manageable like my fx moroccan oil)

Day 3 wash:

Since it's second day without shampoo, I can use;

- my orgnix conditioner or silk secret treatment (depends on my hair texture)
-dry shampoo (optional, on dry hair of course haha)

Or if I decided to use shampoo on day 3, then I will just follow my day 1 routine. Then for the other days left I'll just follow that routine like a cycle, EXCEPT for my pamper day, which is Sunday!

Sunday routine:

- Apply organic coconut oil all over my hair and leave it for an hour.
-wash with Shampoo
-condition with Silk secret coconut oil treatment
-when my hair is almost dry I use aloe gel as leave on.

Hair tips:

On Sunday, I'll take a shower at night before sleeping, so the next day for work I don't wash my hair anymore, I know someone might say it's gross! but I'm only talking for the hair part, I still wash my body the next day because well I'm living in the Philippines! translation-humidity! you cannot get away without a shower specially when it's summer!

1. This is an extra step especially for those who have short hair like I used to have, If you don't want to iron your hair everyday to keep it in place and not flying away, all you need to do is wash your hair before you go to sleep. For me it's nice to sleep with a clean and fresh hair, no dirt and free from pollution! let the hair breathe. Plus if you have work early in the morning it will save you some time. Just make sure that your hair is fully dry before going to sleep or you'll end up with a not so good wavy hair when you wake up.

I use shower cap the next day to cover my hair and then take a shower! tadaah! now you have a soft and ready to go hair for the day! 

One sample is the picture above when I got a new short hair cut and this is another one! no hair flying away even it's already shoulder length.

2. Another hair tip, is to brush or comb (whichever you want) your hair starting from the bottom all the way to the top, not the other way around, like what we usually do. If you start brushing your hair from the bottom it will not cause your hair to break  because there won't be any tangled hair building up at the bottom of your hair. Just try it and you will see the difference.

UPDATE:

I did another rebond session just this march 2015, since my hair is a bit long already, I'm still doing the same routine and wow the coconut oil is doing so good for my newly treated hair, at first the ends of my hair were dry after the rebond, that's why I wanted to cut it but I don't have much time to get a hair cut so I just settled for awhile then I noticed after some weeks, the ends are now okay! Here's another sample pic!

So I hope my, hair story, routine and tips will help you all. You can also share your favorite hair products specially for hair fall because that's something I want to address. Thank you guys!

Where to buy products:

Silk secret and aloe derma aloe gel- Watsons

other products mentioned can be found in any SM/department store.

Disclaimer:

The picture of the product acadia, fx oil, herbal essence and aloe vera gel are not taken by me, just borrowed it from google :P