So shiny!

The baby is taking a nap and I was bored. Not bored in the sense that I have nothing to do, because I ALWAYS have like fifty things that I need to do at any given moment, but bored as in I didn't FEEL like doing any of those things. I flat ironed my hair yesterday and it's still looking okay today, so I decided to take a new profile photo for my Facebook page.

I know, I'm just full of excitement over here. Can you feel it?

I wanted to show you JUST how bored I am. Really.

When I was taking these photos, I noticed something. Namely, my hair. First of all, look how freaking LONG it is! It's ridiculous how fast it grows. I can't have a cute short haircut because I'd have to be at the salon every month to maintain it. I cut it short last May, and even if you look at the photos taken before Christmas you can see a difference. I guess that's why I don't freak out about getting a bad haircut though. :) It always grows back!

Really what I wanted to talk about was the other thing I noticed about it - the fact that it's really shiny. People who flat iron and blow dry their hair like I do should not have hair this shiny. I don't even use a nice flat iron or blow dryer with all those ceramics and ions and stuff. I have an ancient Conair straightener I got at Target and an even more ancient (think 12 years or so) Vidal Sasson blow dryer that Will. NOT. Die!!!

Yet, there it is. It looks even better in front of a mirror with good light. I don' t think my hair has ever been this shiny before, not even when I was pregnant. This made me think about what I've been using on my hair.

First off, let me say I only shampoo 2-3 times a week. I know that sounds gross to most of America, especially since I have baby fine hair (and loads of it, thankfully, so it doesn't look limp), but ask any hair expert and they'll tell you to quit shampooing so much. It's bad for your hair and your scalp! That doesn't mean, like a lot of people assume, that you don't shower or you let yourself get all stinky. That just means that you get in the shower, and you rinse your hair with plain water, but you don't add shampoo.

Of course, I've been doing this for years now, so that can't be the reason for the shiny hair. It must be the products. I've tried so many different types of shampoos and conditioners in my 32 years on this Earth. Everything from dollar drugstore brands to high priced salon brands has been housed in my shower. Generally, I buy things based on how they smell. My absolute favorite was this Catwalk one that smelled like oatmeal cookies, but left my hair looking so so. Not worth the money. Same deal for the one that smelled like chocolate. Mmmm....

I've also tried all sorts of conditioning treatments, serums, hair color, chemical straightening (the last chemical burn scared me off that!), etc, etc, both homemade and store bought. Word to the wise - don't put raw eggs in your hair and then attempt to rinse them out using hot water unless you want to spend the rest of the day getting scrambled eggs out of it. Just sayin'.

I'm on my second bottle of this:

I mainly bought it because it's sulfate free, and sulfates are bad for your hair and the environment. I also liked that it had smoothing properties, because the dry desert air leaves a girl prone to fly-aways. The fact that it's vegan an added plus, and it smells nice to boot. I mean, it's no oatmeal cookies, but as far as shampoo fragrances go, it's okay. Since my hair tends to fade to a gross reddish color at the ends, the anti-fade part made me say "What the heck!" as well.

I was reading an article that came out in a magazine sometime last year... you know the ones, Best Beauty Blah Blah Blah. I can't remember in which magazine I saw it, because I get so many. (For a heads up when I find those free subscriptions, follow me on Twitter) Anyway, they had done this blind test on different types of conditioners using a reader panel. The winner?
This stuff beat out the Fekkai conditioner (which, incidentally, I've also used), and holy moly, is it CHEAP! After I wash my hair, I squeeze out the excess water, put a generous dollop of this into my hands, smoosh it into my ends, and then work it up toward my scalp. I then twist my hair up into a clip and leave it there while I finish my shower. I rinse in lukewarm-ish water very last thing before I get out.

I don't know if the twist/clip thing helps my hair any, but really, the reason I do that is because I read once that one of the leading causes of bacne was clogged pores from hair conditioner dripping down your back. Ew.

Finally, we have the final member of the trifecta:

I think I've posted about this one before. After I get out of the shower, while my hair is still wet, I generously spray it down with this stuff. I make extra sure to concentrate plenty on the ends, since that's where most damage occurs for me. I'll either let it air dry before I flat iron it at that point, or I'll give it a few minutes to soak in before turning the blow dryer loose on it.

And that's it. No shine serums, no once a week hot oil treatments, no gloss coating from a salon. I don't use any kind of special hairbrush, but I will admit to sleeping on a satin pillowcase to prevent face wrinkles. (I hear that can help hair too) I buy all three products from Target and can get all three for under $15. I'm only on my second bottle of each the shampoo and conditioner, and probably my fourth or fifth of the heat spray because I've been using it longer.

Not too shabby, eh? :)

***And because I just realized that this sounded like a big ol' paid review - it's not. No one gave me these things for free. These are items I've bought with my own money and love how they work so I thought I'd share. If the companies WANT to send me free loot though... well, the link for my email is up on the left! HA!***