Hair Tips and Tricks. Part Three: Miscellany.

Find Part One: Bleach here and Part Two: Dye here.

Making it Last.
If you've bleached your hair, and left the hair dye on for more than two hours you're already on the right track. A few more tips;
• Always, always, always rinse with cold water! (This will also help reduce bleeding if you have more than one color) As cold as you can possibly stand, it'll be worth it!
• Quick showers! No soaking in the tub and no standing under that hot shower for long periods of time anymore. You want your hair to be wet for as little a period of time as possible. Personally I like to hop in the shower very quickly wash and condition my hair in the cold water than put my hair up in a towel and finish washing the rest of my body that way I can still take long, hot showers.
• Use shampoo as little as possible and only use sulfate free shampoos.
• Mix a little bit of hair dye into your conditioner so when you condition you're getting a quick touch up.
• No chlorine! It sucks not being able to swim in pools but chlorine murders hair dye.  

Products I use & love.
Hask Placenta. Yes, you read that correctly, placenta. Made from sheep placenta, which is normally discarded anyways, this product doesn't harm momma sheep or baby. While it might be kind of intimidating to put a product that has placenta as a main ingredient in your hair I highly recommend this stuff. It smells really good and makes my hair oh-so-shiny!

Biotin. It helps promote healthy hair. I've been using biotin on and off (off because sometimes I forget) for about a year and a half and definitely feel it helps my hair.

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo . I've tried quite a few dry shampoos and this is the only one I've liked. Like I mentioned in part one: bleach I have greasy hair and to maintain such a pretty color I can't wash it every day and this is the perfect product to allow me to not wash my hair but still look great.

The Body Shop Banana Conditioner. This is my personal preference for conditioner. I think it smells really great and it leaves my hair reeeeally soft.

Those are all the products I use in order to keep my hair soft and healthy. I don't have a personal preference for shampoo as of right now.


Other.
Regarding hair dye staining everything-
I use Comet to clean up the sink and tub. It works wonders and normally if the dye is cleaned up within a few days of staining it looks like nothing ever happened. (Don't put off cleaning just because you think it will come up just as easy later, it's always best to clean up hair dye messes ASAP)

I personally, have never had problems with dye staining my clothes, pillowcases, etc as long as my hair was rinsed well after dying. The first few times I used Special Effects it stained my finger nails but for some reason it doesn't do it anymore (...?).

Conditioning Caps -
In between colorings, or if you accidentally over bleach your hair you should do a conditioning cap. All you need to do is wet your hair, towel dry it, slather in conditioner of your choice and put on a shower cap. Leave it on for 3-4 hours then rinse. This will fade your hair significantly and should be done when you're going to change colors, or touch up it.
*Tip: don't bleach your hair, do a conditioning cap then try to dye it. Remember you want your hair to be porous when you dye it.

On having bright colored hair.
Something to keep in mind is how people will react to your fun new hair. There isn't one time I can think of in the last few years where I left the house and didn't have someone mention my hair or stare at me. Sometimes it's a compliment, other times it can be not so polite. I've had people pet my hair, had people ask if it was an accident, and had people yell at me. If you're someone who just likes to blend in, maybe a full head of colored hair isn't for you. Try adding just a few peeks of bright colored highlights. Try to remember that if you love your hair, that is all that really matters.

In closing...
I hope this short series of posts helped, or inspired at least a few people. If you want to dye your hair, even just a few pieces of it, GO FOR IT. You're never too old to have a little fun! ;)
xoxo