Thursday, September 5, 2013

~*~Hair Tracker Part 7: August 2013~*~

This is kind of late- like, really, really late! My apologies.

My hair has not seen a substantial amount of growth since February because back in June, I took off about 2 inches or so. I'm pretty solidly at 23" now, and I don't think I will need to trim for the rest of the year because my hair's in really really good shape.

23"

So I guess I'd better revise my hair goals for the end of the year..originally I'd planned to grow to 27"...though uh...now that doesn't look so feasible! I'd be really happy if I were at a good 25", which I believe, is BSL for me.



Comparison between February of this year and this month. Notice the texture change and the gradual disappearing black dye.

I'm still really happy with my hair though. It's in good shape and is growing well. The only thing I want to change about it is the color- the red is building up and is a bit darker than I'd like. It's beautiful and definitely red, but I think I would be happier if it were a more orangey copper color. I dunno. We'll see.

I've also noticed my texture is looking more and more like 1c rather than 1b. I'm washing daily with a sulfate-free shampoo and conditioning, but it could also be due to the fact that I wear my hair up almost constantly and my hair just loves to hold a curl or wave from anything. We'll see how it continues to grow, though!

Until next time...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

~*~Hair Tracker Part 6: February 2013 & 1 Year Anniversary!! ~*~

Hello! It's time for February's Hair Tracker Update! And this one is extra-special! It's been one year since I first started this feature of my blog!! I am so excited to share my photos for this month because I'll get to see, side-by-side, my progress for one year!!

I am currently at

22"!



and interestingly, some of my longer hairs are getting close to 23"! How exciting!

I am so happy! My hair is in such good shape and I love it! Here's a side-by-side comparison showing February of last year and this year!


My hair's grown a lot since then- about 6", including trims! I'm so happy! My hair's so red now, too!

Well, let's hope I can get some good growth in this year, too! And we'll see how my hair looks next February! (Hopefully a little closer to my goal, eh? Here's hoping...)

On another note, I've got a few exciting new things coming up soon! It's not likely I'll have a hair tracker update for March, so I'll probably see you guys back in April with that. But I'll definitely be around. I've got some new updates and reviews I'm excited to share with everyone!

Until next time! :)

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

~*~ REVIEW: Pantene Ice Shine Conditioner ~*~

My one-year hair tracker entry is quickly approaching!! :) I'm having tons of fun chronicling my hair journey here! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Today I've got a review to share! It's long-overdue and it's for one of my favorite conditioners- Pantene's Ice Shine conditioner! I first heard about it over on LHC, and after reading much praise for it, I knew I just had to check it out! I'm so glad I did!!
Pantene Ice Shine Conditioner


-The Lowdown-

Ice Shine is a coney conditioner, meaning it has silicones. There are a lot of people who choose, for various reasons, to avoid silicones in hair products. Some types of silicones can build up on the hair quickly and make it limp or dull. Some people don't like silicones because they experience dryness or because they can seal in (or seal out) moisture.

There are actually a lot of different types of silicones out there- some of them are extremely difficult to remove and require a strong detergent-based shampoo, while others are water-soluble and much easier to wash out. Just like there are many kinds of oils, there are lots of different silicones, too!

Ice Shine contains silicones that typically don't build up as quickly, and do not require a very strong detergent to remove, so it is perfect for daily CO-washing. I find that is is excellent to aid in detangling my hair and works especially well during times when I wear my hair down more often.

-The Ingredients-

The ingredients are as follows:

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Glutamic Acid, Bis Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

-How to Use-

I personally like to use Ice Shine either one of two ways. I either do a full co-wash, or I only use it on my ends when I need some extra detangling.

To do a co-wash, I like to get my hair damp, then thoroughly saturate my hair. I massage the conditioner in well to all parts of my hair, including my scalp. I make sure the conditioner is well-distributed before I rinse it out! I wait about 10-15 minutes before I wash it out, then I apply a small amount to use a leave-in to prevent tangling. My hair always ends up mega-smooth, amazingly soft, and very, very shiny when I use it!!

Alternatively, if I don't do a CO-wash with it, I just like to use it on my ends as a leave-in conditioner. The cones in it help really well to keep my hair slippy and smooth! This is especially useful for times when I want to wear my hair down, but don't want to deal with so many tangles and frizziness!

My hair really does like this stuff. It's a good product and I highly recommend you try it out if you're okay with cones. And even if you're not- this might be a perfect product because the cones in it don't tend to build up as much and won't require a strong detergent to remove! :)

They also have a silicone-free shampoo that's also in this line of products. It works well for when I need to shampoo before I henna my roots, or just need to remove buildup once in a while.

You can buy it here:

http://www.drugstore.com/pantene-pro-v-ice-shine-conditioner/qxp392062

It's also readily available in most drugstores or supermarkets in the US.

Until next time!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

~*~Hair Tracker Part 5: January 2013~*~

Happy 2013!  It's time for this month's hair tracker update!

I measured and I'm at...

21.5"! 



As I expected. I haven't had to trim in quite a while now, except for my bangs, of course. My hair's starting off the year healthy, happy, and in wonderful condition! I've got a few hairs that are solidly 22", but I decided to just say I'm at 21.5" for this month. GROW HAIR GROW!

Until next time!