New Haircut & Hair Products I'm Loving

This past weekend, I had my hair cut and I realized that I haven't posted about my favorite hair products in quite some time.

I had more hair cut than usual---I asked my stylist to shorten my layers and overall length because my hair was feeling really dry and heavy.  I am really pleased with the results. My hair holds style better now and overall has a more defined shape.

Here are some snaps:

This was the first day I had it cut---I was playing around with it later in the day parting it in various ways to see how the layers fell.

This is the back of my hair on the first day it was cut-  a lot of my readers request to see the back so you can really see how the layers are cut.

This was my hair on Monday when I washed and styled it myself. I am still using the same blowout/rollers routine that I always use. Refer to this post for details.

This photo was taken this morning when I curled my hair with a curling iron. Refer to this tutorial for how I curl my hair.

Now onto products, here are a few I've been obessessed with lately:

Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Shampoo (buy it here)

This is my second bottle of this shampoo. The first was actually a full-sized sample I got as a promotion at Sephora. I had to repurchase because it really is that good and is one of my all time favorite shampoos. It leaves hair feeling clean, yet soft and also allows for ample volume in your hair, which I can't say about a lot of other damage-geared formulas which tend to weigh hair down. I also love the smell and love how it lathers. You don't have to use a ton either. It's absolutely amazing.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime- (buy it here)

I have had this product for over a year and when my Crystalliste serum ran out (which I love) I decided to try using this for my blowouts (previously I was using it as an overnight treatment). I use a few pumps of the Elixir Ultime from the nape of my neck down to the ends of my hair prior to blow-drying. It is really smoothing and overall I love how it makes my hair feel.  It also combines well with other products.

Kerastase Masque Force Architecte- (buy it here)

This (pricey) mask was sent to me over a year ago but I just started to use it over the last few months. My hair has been really dry lately so I wanted to use something that is made for damaged hair. I apply the mask in the shower after shampooing and then I wash my body and shave to let it sink in before I rinse it.  I really like it and my hair feels good after using it.  As a side note though, I do still love my Macadamia Hair Mask, but will probably wait to repurchase until this runs out as I am working on using up products before I buy new ones so I don't have a ton in my shower and cabinet waiting to be used.

Wishing everyone a great week!

Going "Subtle" Ombre- What's Next for My Hair?

This is going to be a completely overly-analytical and borderline-OCD post about my hair...so bear with me.


I mentioned recently on my Facebook page that I haven't gotten my hair colored or cut since February (yikes!)  The truth is, I needed a break. I wanted to just let my hair grow out a bit and get some of my natural color flowing back through. 


I was also ready for a change. I realized that I tend to like my hair most as it grows out (with some darker roots showing) and that lately, I had always been unhappy with the placement of my highlights and only liked them again when they grew out and I added more lowlights.  In fact, the last three times I had my hair colored, I had to go back every time either to have more lowlights added or to have my color toned.


Some of you might remember what my hair looked like (before I had it fixed) the last time I had it colored (in February). Let's just be perfectly honest and say it was not good. I'm still not sure what happened, but the highlights just lifted really oddly on me and the placement was incorrect.

After this happened, I had some lowlights added in to give a more blended look and haven't touched my hair since. Honestly, I was scared. I went from having color that had always looked natural and blended, to this.  It looked better after it was fixed but as my hair grew out and the colors toned down, there were times I thought I should just stop coloring it alltogether because I finally liked how it looked again.


Then, I discovered Johnny Ramirez's blog by seeing his amazing hair colors all over Pinterest and I realized that I wanted someone to try a new technique on my hair to achieve the look I love---which is basically a "softened" version of ombre.  Because visuals are important, here are some hair looks I absolutely LOVE---I feel like these looks are blended, NOT high contrast and overall the look I'm going for (obviously my hair is not naturally as dark as some of these examples---but I am referring to overall color placement, tonal qualities and color contrast)

color/photo- Johnny Ramirez

Though I do like some of the next photos, these are examples of what I consider "too solid" or "too high contrast" for me, personally:

 

 

Those colors are by the amazing Johnny Ramirez---and it's not that I don't like them because they look great---it's just that level of contrast (high) and the lightness (very blonde) is not the look I'm craving.  I like the softer more blended blondes and caramels in the previous photos more for me---and Johnny is amazing at doing ombre on brunettes---but I didn't want to travel, so I found someone local who I think will be able to give me the look I'm striving for.

In terms of a cut, I always tell my stylist that I want "Victoria's Secret Model Hair"---lots of volume, bounce, long layers and a pretty shape that falls nicely when blown-out. 

I will show you ladies how it turns out tomorrow, wish me luck!