Blogmas Day 5: Holiday Hair Change

Okay so I finally gave in thanks to Myoshi! I needed a change for the holidays. I was extremely hesitant about dying my hair black by myself. I normally like to leave it up to the hair salon, but I haven’t been in the mood to go out or spend money. So, I bought some black hair dye (Garnier Brand) for me to try it out. While I was there I decided to look at some different hair products. Lately my hair hasn’t been coming out the way I want it to in terms of styling.

For my shampoo and conditioner, I have been using the Aussie Shampoo and Conditioner and I feel like it gets the job done. This conditioner is extremely moisturizing and leaves my hair feeling just the way I want it. But as soon as I try to add styling creams it just shrivels up and gets extra sticky. It gets to the point where I rather just put my hair in a bun so I don’t have to see or deal with it. I think 2 products that I was using before could have played a huge role in why my hair was so stick. I was using the Maui Moisture line. I used the coconut milk and the curl smoothie products. I’m not going to bash these products and say there are terrible because at one point they did work for me. However, I think after some time your hair gets tired of the same products. So these products started doing more harm than good and really just weighing down my hair. I immediately tried finding a hair mask, which is something I normally don’t use, and a styling cream/lotion. I figured that after dying my hair black it would be a good idea to do a mask to soften my hair. The main issue I’m having is with the ends of my hair. I have been trying to cut off some of my split ends myself. The tips are a light brown color which make them look dry all the time. So, the mask should help in adding in that moisture. I bought the Carol’s Daughter “Almond Milk” hair mask. As for the styling lotion, I purchased the Carol’s Daughter “Coconut Milk” crème. The reason I went for a lotion/crème product for styling is because I want to create soft curls. I want to be able to rake the product through my hair and let it air dry. I don’t want to have to finger curls my hair strand by strand or have to add a cream and then a gel and diffuse my hair. That is just so much product and my goal is to have my curls form naturally with as little product as possible.

I got home and once I decided to start the hair dye process I already knew this was going to take long. My hair was already feeling sticky so I decided to wash my hair in the sink. I wanted to get all that product build up and detangled my hair. Once I finished, I used a blow dryer to completely dry my hair. When you use hair dye it’s recommended to be added to dry, detangled hair. So, I made sure my curls were completely combed out and that my hair was dry not damp, just dry.

rom there I opened up the hair dye. I bought 2 boxes but I was able to just use one for my entire head. Everything in the box is labeled with a letter so you know what to use first. I read the instructions because that’s just me. I followed directions word for word. You just have to add the dye into a bottle that already has the developer and this specific brand included some avocado oil to add for extra nourishments. You shake the bottle up until the bottle changes to a dark color and from there you can start applying the dye. It came with plastic gloves of course but you have to make sure to put a towel or shirt around you so you don’t get the dye on you. I sectioned my hair down the middle and then parted those in to. So I had a total of 4 sections. I started in the back at the bottom. It’s always best to apply dye to the areas that you are looking to catch most of the dye concentration because as you work through your entire head that dye will be there the longest. For me, I focused on my ends because they were light brown. I also made sure that as I was going I was cutting off any ends that were raggedy. By the time I finished my entire head there was dye everywhere. I even got some on my face. I cleaned up my bathroom as quickly as possible to avoid staining anything. For my face, I used apple cider vinegar on a cotton swab to wipe away the residue from the dye. I definitely didn’t want to stain my face. I let the dye sit in my hair for 30 mins. When it was time to rinse the dye out I used a conditioner that came in the box to massage into my scalp. It took about 10 minutes to get all that excess dye out.

Right after when I was able to touch my hair without having dye residue on my hands I used the Almond Milk hair mask. I left my hair in 2 sections. I applied it on each and I made sure to comb it through. I put my hair back into 2 buns and waited another 10-15 mins with the mask in. My hair at this point was feeling really soft and smooth. I washed out the hair mask and proceeded to applying the Coconut Milk lotion. I raked it through my hair and scrunched my curls up a bit. I let my hair air dry and I was done! It was a process but the results were satisfying. My smelled great and it had the texture I’ve been wanting. Just soft, smooth curls!

I really think that adding the hair mask helped change how my hair reacted to the coconut milk. I will absolutely add this into my weekly routine.

Have you guys tried any of the Carol’s Daughter products? I’m interested in possibly getting more or even trying out other hair masks that you guys would recommend.

Also, have you guys been thinking of any hair changes? A new cut? A new color? I want to hear about it.