October Favorites

So, often YouTubers have a 'favorites' video for each month. I'm not promising one for every single month but I will have one this month- a little early because otherwise I might forget or just not have time! This month I've purchased some really great products I would like to share with you, hope you enjoy.

This is a product my mother actually bought from I believe it was TJ Maxx although I'm not 100% sure when we were in the States. It's a Deep Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner for damaged hair by Giovanni. I've never heard of Giovanni before but my mom thought we should try it. Anyways I used it once and my hair was noticeably softer and more healthy looking, after ONE use. I was super impressed. I really do feel like it puts a lot more moisture into my hair than the previous shampoo and conditioner I used and would definitely recommend it if you have dry or damaged hair! I did not purchase this item myself so I'm not sure how much it costs.

The next product I've really been enjoying this month is my Chi Shine Infusion hair shine spray. Mostly I've been LOVING the smell, it's amazing. That's actually why I bought it. So not only is the product weightless and not only does it make my hair look shiny and polished without flyaways, it also provides protection against heat damage! Which is awesome! Although it says it will repair split ends, which is impossible I still love the product for it's other abilities. I would highly recommend purchasing this product if you're looking for a shine spray for your hair! I got it for about $8.00 but I believe it was on sale.

This product I believe I've blogged about before, I recently repurchased it because I ran out. It's my favorite heat protectant that I've had before and this month I've just been really especially enjoying it because with school on I've been using a bit more heat in my hair lately and I'm really thankful I have this heat protectant so I can be reducing the damage done. It smells AMAZING and works really well and instead of making hair sticky and gross it actually makes it softer I find! It's a really great product. I got this for about $5.00.

This is the last product on my October Favorites post. Aussie still continues to be my all time favorite hairspray brand! I haven't actually found an exact Aussie one that I prefer over other Aussie ones but anyways this is the one I have right now. I've really been loving it, after straightening my hair I just go ahead and spray some in and then brush through it and it doesn't even feel sticky after, but it holds my hair in place all day! And of course it smells great too! Approximately $4.00 dollars at Wal-Mart.

Tip 14: Keeping Your Hair Safe From Chlorine

Alright so during the summer, what better way to cool off then jumping into a nice, clean pool? Even as the winter season approaches, indoor swimming pools can be just as much fun! But here's the problem, pools have a bunch of chlorine in them, and chlorine is not good for your hair, it can dry it out and do damage to it. But there are some steps you can take so that it reduces the amount of damage done to your hair.

1. Shower before going into the pool.

So often swimming pools will have a freshwater shower for you to use before entering the pool, so use it! It helps prepare your hair for the pool water. So you need to saturate your hair, by doing this is won't soak up the chlorine water in the pool,  it should keep your hair from getting dry and weak.

2. Rinse out your hair after swimming.

If chlorine stays in your hair for a long time it can damage your hair. If you wash it out right away there's less chance that it will dry out. So when you're done swimming just quickly rinse it out in a shower!

3. Take special care of your hair.

So after you swim, once you get home you should shampoo your hair with a moisturizing shampoo and leave your conditioner in for 3 minutes, to get moisture back in your hair. Do this the next couple of times that you wash your hair after swimming, if you don't already do it every night. Also once a week use a deep conditioner to really help your hair to not dry out. \

4. Leave conditioner in your hair.

Before entering the pool, shower then put conditioner in and don't rinse it out, just swim with it in. The coating should help protect your hair from the chlorine, but if you're swimming for a long period of time it may wash out, making it ineffective. 

5. Purchase a special shampoo.

There are shampoos out there made especially for people who spend a lot of time in the water. If you're a professional swimmer or just spend a lot of time at the pool you might want to consider purchasing one.

6. Swim Caps

Yes, they can be dorky. I get it, but if you feel your hair really needs it and you're comfortable with doing it, then you could use a swim cap to tuck your hair in so it doesn't even get wet, then getting chlorine in it really isn't an issue. Professional swimmers may use these anyways.

There you have it! Some tips on what you can do to protect your hair from chlorine damage. Hope it helped you or gave you some new ideas.

-Ashley

damagebegone@hotmail.com

Tip 13: Don't Always Thin Your Hair

So if you have really thick hair, or pretty thick hair you may have discovered getting your hairdresser to thin it out is a great solution! I know I did! So lately I've been thinning my hair almost every I go to the hairdresser but lately it seems that my hair has gotten kinda thin on its own so yesterday when I was getting my hair trimmed the lady asked if I wanted it thinned and I said I didn't think I would do it this time and she brought to my attention something I didn't know. She told me that thinning my hair can actually make it weaker and damage it. You know the tool they use to thin it? Well it tends to be really hard on your hair, pulling it a lot and it can end up making your hair more prone to get split ends. So my hairdresser said if you're going to be thinning your hair try to only do it about every other time you get it cut to help keep it looking nice. So just take that into consideration when you next get your hair cut!
-Ashley
damagebegone@hotmail.com

Tip 12: Drink Water and Eat Healthy

So this tip is rather straight forward. Like the title says, drink water and eat healthy, drinking water helps moisturize hair and skin. Eating healthy will also help your hair and skin. Your body is all connected somehow, if you are eating healthy, drinking healthy and getting enough exercise you should have a healthy weight, a clear face, healthy hair etc. I mean there are some exceptions and conditions but learning to eat and drink healthy is a great start to strengthening your hair. If you're noticing really dry hair then drinking 8 cups of water a day can help you get a bit more moisture in your hair. Also homemade hair masks are kind of linked to that because they're putting the nutrients in the foods directly on your hair instead of inside your body, then used by your body and then a bit is used towards your hair. I'll post a direct link to my hair mask blog post, so feel free to check that out. For further questions on specific foods you should eat for healthier hair just comment or e-mail me at damagebegone@hotmail.com and if you want me to make a post about it I can do that too.

http://damagebegone.blogspot.ca/2012/08/tip-7-hair-masks.html

Tip 11: Letting Your Hair Dry Naturally vs. Blow Drying

First and foremost, please do know that in the side poll at the blog, the 'light brow' is supposed to be 'light brown' as I'm sure you assumed. Sorry about that but because people have already voted I cannot change the spelling. So as you all already know if you've read my blog at all I am very against heat on hair and avoided it a bunch. But here's a question that I've seen come up a couple of times. This is the question. "What is more damaging, straightening or blow drying?" or "If I don't blow dry it I have to go over one piece of hair with a straightener more than once but if I do blow dry I don't have to straighten each piece more than once, which is better?". So here is my answer. Although I am no professional hair dresser or anything this is partly my opinion. I personally think that blow drying is a lot less damaging than straightening. Here's why, a blow dryer generally doesn't get as hot as a straightener would, so that's already a good thing, but that also depends what heat you have your straightener at. But also the heat is not being applied directly to your hair, I mean yes it's blowing heat on your hair directly but its not like a hot plate TOUCHING your hair. If that makes sense. Also if your blow dryer has a 'cool' setting be sure to use it. Because cool= less damaging than heat, as you probably already know. So in my opinion if blow drying your hair will reduce the amount of straightening you need to do, then you should do that. But before you blow dry your hair, although I believe it's less damaging you should still spray in a heat protectant, wait for it to dry and THEN blow dry your hair. Hope this answered your questions. If you have further questions regarding this subject or anything else about your hair, feel free to e-mail me at damagebegone@hotmail.com
-Ashley

Tell Your Hair Dresser !!

So I'm not sure if this has happened to any of you but i hate it when I go to the hairdresser, get all my split ends cut off and then right when they're done they blow dryer my hair and then STRAIGHTEN IT. Even worse when they don't use a heat protectant! It literally makes me wanna cry. I paid for you to fix my hair. Not fix it and wreck it again 5 minutes later. So if your hair is really damaged be sure to inform your hair dresser on the problem. Tell her you would prefer she (or he) use a heat protectant or tell them if you don't want it straightened or styled at all. Try telling them before they start though because if they're already starting it can get kind of awkward. Also yeah your hairdresser can probably tell how damaged your hair is without you telling them but if you tell them they can make suggestions on what shampoos or conditioners to buy for your hair specifically. They're the experts! So don't be afraid to ask for advice from them or ask them not to style your hair after. Good luck!

No Heat Styles and Contacting Me.

So I didn't really want to make a post just about contacting me, but I'll start off this one by saying, if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for a tip, product review, no heat tutorial or anything you can e-mail me at damagebegone@hotmail.com I'll be sure to e-mail you back as soon as I can! Also I'll be away from the computer for the next 3 days so I won't have any new blog posts, but when I'm back I'll be sure to put a new post up for you guys! Now to the no heat styles!
We talked about how to curl hair without heat, well I posted links to YouTube video tutorials that I thought you all might find helpful but there's other stuff to do with your hair besides just curling or straightening it.

Style #1: The Messy Bun

There are many different ways to do a messy bun, because it's "messy". There are no right or wrong ways to do it, just do it how you like it. It's generally done by twisting all of your hair through a ponytail holder one time and on the second time pulling it only halfway through then wrapping it around a bunch of times. Maybe that didn't make a lot of sense but it doesn't necessarily have to because it's just a bun that's messy that YOU like.

Style #2: The Ever Famous Fishtail Braid

Though not everyone has mastered it (including myself) many thinks it's an easy way to do your hair in the morning, not to mention it's super cute! There are a bunch of tutorials on YouTube of how to fishtail braid your hair I'll post a link to a video I like down below. So it takes a bit of practice (or a lot in my case) but apparently once you get it it's a breeze. So have fun with it and try different variations of it- have fun with it!

Fish Braid Tutorial 

Style #3: The Bow

There are different ways to do a bow in your hair, all very cute and chic. Most common ways are shown in the pictures above. Doing one bow with all your hair or one with a bit of your hair from both sides. Because pictures speak louder than words, I got tutorial pictures so I didn't have to try and explain this hairstyle because that would probably leave everyone very confused. So here's another hairstyle that doesn't involve heat. Good luck!

Style #4: The Unicorn Braid (or Rope Braid)

I recently discovered this type of 'braid' and it's SUPER easy and SUPER cute and unique. It mainly consists of twisting your hair, doesn't get much easier than that! People will be asking you how on earth you did it when it only took you 30 seconds! I'll post a tutorial video down below, again there are different ways to do this, you can do it across your bangs, do 2 on both sides of your hair, do 1 to the side. Anyway you want it basically! Have fun!

Picture Day Hairstyle: Rope Braid Tutorial!

Style #5: Sock Bun!

Last but not least we have the sock bun! It's super easy and cute, as are all these hairstyles. I did this one a couple times and got a bunch of compliments, it's really great! Putting on a fun headband with it is cute too! I'll again just post a link to a tutorial as it's kind of hard to describe without a model. 

Megan and Liz: Sock Bun Tutorial

So I hope that this gave you some new ideas for how to do your hair without heat and I hope you have a lot of fun with them. Again if you have any comments, suggestions or questions e-mail me at damagebegone@hotmail.com

Thank you!
P.S. All picture are from Pinterest, I do not own them.