It’s been about a month and a half since I colored my hair again and I’ve been motivated even more to have the best hair of my life but let me tell you, it ain’t easy to figure this stuff out lol. I’m experimenting with a lot of different products to see what best fits my hair, which is:

Chemically treated

Fine

Naturally wavy

Medium density

With normal scalp (not too oily, not too dry).

All these (plus GENETICS) play a big role in finding the best products because what works for someone doesn’t necessarily works for you.

I said before I’ve been a huge fan of Kerastase, my hair has just responded amazingly to their line for years, especially masks, conditioners and hair oils, so I ain’t fixing what’s not broken😉

I have used the K18 bio molecular leave in mask now 4 times and I still can’t tell for sure if it has made a difference, so I bought another highly talked about bond builder to try, which is the Redken Acidic Bond Concentrated Treatment. I’m curious to try the Living Proof triple bond complex at some point, also very popular, but…one thing at a time.

I also got EPRES, which is another bond builder formula created by one of the inventors of Olaplex (the first bond building brand I think) that can be used in conjunction with K18 or Redken.

Why so obsessed with bond builders? They’re proven to restore the hair structure of chemically treated hair. Every time I do highlights my hair get thinner and dryer, hence my choice to stop bleaching from now on (I’ll really have to embrace my dark hair/grays, try more natural lightening methods, or go less blonde and do partial highlights, not full head).

I also started questioning the health of my hair and scalp since bleaching, so I decided to take Viviscal again (their customer service said you can use half dosage as maintenance for hair health, it has no side effects since it’s mostly vitamins and collagen).

In addition, I got a scalp serum from Kerastase from their Genesis line to massage my scalp at night! But I use only half dose since again I’m doing it for strengthening purposes and to lengthen the anagen (hair growth) phase. To be honest I don’t like the strong fragrance and alcohol content (alcohol apparently is in a lot of hair products but also for the reason that it opens up hair follicles for product absorption), but I’ve used it for two weeks now and by the 10th day my hair has started shedding a lot less when I brush it, which I’m not mad about. Once that one is done I’ll try a more natural serum maybe, I have my eyes on one from The Ordinary brand.

Trying stuff is expensive so I’m looking at buying samples when I can. But also I don’t want to go cheap with hair or skin products.

So far I’m still struggling with a couple things in my hair routine, but I’m finding solutions as I go:

HAIR STRUGGLE LIST

My hair getting very tangled when I don’t brush it daily (trying not to brush my hair to maintain curls is hard)

Brushing…dry hair or wet hair? I love to go sleep in a loose braid and some days I really need to brush my hair to get rid of some tangles, so I divide my hair in sections and I’ve been putting a great night serum from KÉRASTASE (8h serum for dry hair) that nourishes and soften hair by morning. I noticed though that because my hair is on the dry side it breaks more easily when brushing it dry so I’m trying to brush it wet when I can. For example, when I do a refresh on 3th or 4th day, I wet the hair with a spray bottle, put leave in conditioner and then the 8h serum (at night) or add curl cream (not always, as the leave in conditioner is enough on its own) the I let the hair air dry. So much easier to brush and less breakage!

Hair looking great first couple days but getting dry by 3rd day (this is where I’d do a refresh like I mentioned above, hair oil alone isn’t enough)

More hair fall when scalp gets oily (I tried to go longer in between washes but by day 5/6th my hair is oily and just falls more! So that is when I wash it. Also summer is coming and hair will get dirtier faster).

Hair feeling heavy and oily if I put too much product in (still figuring out right amount for each, more is NOT better!)

Air dry vs diffusing: hair seems shiner, with more volume and less frizz when using heat vs no heat so sticking to that.

Over touching my hair: sometimes hair gets stuck in clothes or messy in the wind, or I keep changing part, it gets dirtier and knotted faster. I just have to leave it up in a hair clip and let it be.

Protective style: how to sleep with curls? This one is still a mystery to me lol, so far I tried the pineapple method (hair up in a loose, high half bun) but I don’t like the feeling and I get so many tangles, so even with curls I do a soft braid. The satin pillow helps retaining moisture but I’m curious to try a bonnet as well.

Detox shampoo, clarifying shampoo, scalp scrubs… not a fan of messing with my scalp. I think a good shampoo is enough, I tried a detox Shampoo and I probably used too much but it left my scalp dry and flakey. I think scalp needs to be clean and breathe and let be! I don’t even use dry shampoo.

Styling products (mousse/gel)…do I need them? I don’t want to overload hair with products, especially my fine hair prone to get heavy. The only thing I’ve enjoyed using so far is a curl cream after leave in conditioner, some days I get the right amount, others I fail lol. I saw some people swearing by gel/mousse… will let you know if I try any.

That’s all for today. If you read this I hope it was inspiring you to also find the best products and methods for your type of hair. Caring for your hair is a great form of self love!