Miss Livvy wrote:
I think I need help with my hair.
My hair: Medium–dark brown, shoulder length, on the thin side, long
layers.
Definately on the dry side from all the coloring.
I tend to have thin hair myself, and it has been known to be on the dry
side from too much coloring. Maybe I can make some suggestions.
My routine: Wash 2x per week. Shampoos vary, but I've been using
Fructis
conditioners.
Others may disagree with me on this, but I had terrible results with
Fructis brand. It dried my hair out tremendously. I might try switching
to something more gentle, and see how that goes. As I posted above, I
am really having great luck with Wella volumizing shampoo &
conditioner. It gives amazing volume to my hair. I'm surprised at how
thick the conditioner is, yet it doesn't weigh my hair down.
After washing I put in styling gel and some leave–in
conditioner.
Gel can be quite drying. Maybe try skipping this, or using a volumizing
product instead?
I have to put this crap in to give it thickness/body.
Yes, if the gel is not for control, then skip it and try something for
volumizing instead. Mousse can also be drying, but I have had better
luck with volumizing mousse. For me it's lighter and doesn't weigh the
hair down. Also, it's less likely to cause my hair to pull out while
blow drying (making my hair even more thin).
My hairdresser just sold me on a bottle of this Plump Treat volumizing
spray stuff. Haven't used it yet, but I'll let you know how it goes if
you're interested.
Then I
blow dry with a large barrel brush.
I use one of these too, despite my hairdresser's dire warnings. She's
right – it is damaging to my hair and tends to pull it out and break
it. But I just don't have her skill with a plastic vented brush – the
gentle kind with widely spaced teeth.
You might try switching brushes if you find you're losing a lot of
hair. Otherwise, these brushes are definetly good for adding volume!
It's all in the technique. If you want extra volume, try pulling the
top layers straight up (vs down or out to the side) as you blow dry
them out. This'll give you extra lift at the roots.
I can wear it out that day, but come the
next morning, the ends are bent and the blow dry is shot, so I end up
wearing it pulled back into a pony tail until the next washing.
Sounds like me before I cut my hair shorter. :–)
My hair has a decent amount of natural wave, but it waves in whatever
direction it feels like and does NOT look good at all if I air dry.
It takes
a curl very nicely if I use hot rollers. So I'm thinking maybe I
should do a
simple layered bob a.k.a "Marylin Monroe", and touch it up with hot
rollers
every morning, rather than doing the blow dry thing and then the pony
tail.
Also thinking of cutting it short, but I always seem to chicken out.
Hmmm... your hair really does sound a lot like mine!!
I think you should be brave and cut it shorter. That did the trick for
me. I had the long layers for a few years now (just passed shoulder
length). I cut it short recently – to chin length – because I wanted to
get rid of the last couple of inches of overprocessed stuff left over
from my hair coloring disaster last year.
Wow, what a difference four inches makes! She added layers in the back,
which is cut to nape length so it's shorter there than in the front.
Angles forward so it's longer in the front. Gave my hair a lot of
swing, TONS of volume, and height at the crown. I tease her that I am
now a full inch taller – that's how much my hair lifts at the crown
now, since chopping off the four inches that was weighing it all down.
And visually, it looks thicker all over.
No, I can't quite put it back in a ponytail anymore, but I don't need
to. My hair has looked good without a lot of extra fuss, and it grew
out quite nicely too. The only drawback is that I can't go two– to
two–and–half months between cuts anymore. To maintain it this length,
I'm back on a 6 week schedule.
jen