An Ode, to my Hair.

I get asked this question a lot, so as much as I do really love discussing my hair's journey, I figured it's pretty easy to have all of the info in one spot, too.

You know how when you fight really hard to achieve something, it becomes terrifying for you to lose it again? Do not judge me; but that is how I feel about my hair. Andy laughs at me when I tell him that a recurring nightmare is someone chopping off my big thick ponytail. I know, the vanity dripping in that comment, is ridiculous, but you know what? Honesty is the best policy, and if we're being honest here, this is an entire post dedicated to my hair, I'm not even going to pretend this isn't vain. The road to this hair was one filled with missteps, and a mountain of dead ends. If you are willing to be diligent and make some sacrifices, it is really quite easy!

{the various lengths & colors, some of these make me shudder}

Backstory: I worked at a hair salon in the reception area for just over a year. It only took just over a year to ruin my hair. Because I got color for cost, I was dying it dark, then bleaching it, then going dark again, then bleaching it. Once I quit however, I was back in school and couldn't afford the upkeep. In walked box dyes. Black! But then, I didn't like black, so I decided to strip my hair myself -DON'T DO THIS. What came next? You guessed it, RED! But, I didn't want red, so I then proceeded to bleach it and streak it until I wound up with a strawberry blonde/orange. I knew then that even though I despised this color (no offense to the natural gingers, but that did not work for me), I could not afford any more stripping to hit my hair, and I'd just have to ride it out. It was a low point, and an ugly one. After about a year of nasty hair, I could afford to chop off the dead ends, dye it a natural color, and start fresh.

My Top 5 Hair growth ways:

1. Start with a cut. There is no use growing out split ends, because they are only going to split further and break off more, really just eliminating any of the growth you are doing. Start off fresh, cut off as little or as much as you are comfortable parting with, and you have a clean slate.

2. No heat, or as little as possible. I didn't really do this on purpose, I just had gotten the world's WORST haircut (step 1), and couldn't stand letting my hair down, so I wore it in a bun for - I'm not exaggerating - 6-7 months. A little teeny tiny bun for the first 4 months, and then I met the sock bun. Love at first try. The reality is, heat tools and blow drying sucks the life out of your hair, whether you use heat protectents or not, the less heat you use on your hair, the better off.

3. Embrace your hair's natural personality. This means color too. I have been every color in the books: black, brunette, platinum blonde, sandy blonde, orange, red (the last two not on purpose), everything in between. I don't need to tell you that that cycle will torch your hair, as it did mine. You know that video that's gone viral now with the girl burning a chunk of her hair off? The same chunk of my hair broke off in the exact spot after bleaching it too many times. I woke up, and was like a good 4 inches lighter.. Only in a 3 inch wide spot though. Awesome. So, when I decided enough was enough and I was going to re-virginize my hair, I was blonde, so really I had an easy route: I was going ombre, naturally. My hair is a dirty blonde/light brown on it's own, so growing out blonde roots were really pretty painless. And now that I have almost grown all of the color out, I not only LOVE my natural color, I am also scared to dye it again. My stylist laughs at me, because any time I book a cut and color, I phone back the next day to say "umm.. yah.. maybe just a cut.. I can't do it yet." My hair is also what I'd like to call a lazy curl. It used to be ringlets, but with all of the processing I put my hair through, I also relaxed the curl. RIP, ringlets, I hardly knew and appreciated ye.

4. VITAMINS. One stylist a few years ago told me about the magical supplement Bamboo Silica, and how she took it to grow out her inverted bob, and within a year her hair was past her shoulders. My friends, it works. It works well. I took it religiously, and while it takes 3 months for your body to send the nutrients to your hair, my hair started growing like a weeed. And my hair generally grows at a snail's pace. I have also heard a lot about biotin, but personally I find that the bamboo really worked wonders more than anything.

5. Think pretty, healthy thoughts and your hair will follow suit. Ok that's probably a heaping pile of BS (hint: it is.), BUT, what could go wrong with doing that? Nothing, I tell you. But, on the subject of healthy, your hair is made up of proteins, and something I learned working in a hair salon, is that proteins alone are brittle. So, in order to compensate, they also need to lubricated. Where am I going with this? Omegas. Fish, nuts, omega oils, all fantastic for your hair. While you do need to build up the protein in your strands, you need to lubricate them as well so they don't snap off from being brittle.

& That's it! My big long post dedicated to my hair. I may have been flipping & stroking it while writing this, but if you see me in person you know I do this all. the. time. Like I said, it took a better part of 5 years to get here, and I am so freaking proud. Well done hairs, high fives all around!



PS. If you liked this, don't forget to "share" it around, :)

B