So, my mother in law to be actually said (lol) "don't take offence, but would you consider getting your hair cut now and then regularly so it would be in better condition for the wedding."
Good god, I didn't realise it was that bad!!
Ok, let me explain. I have always worn my hair very long, except as a young child I once got it caught in my mums hot brush, which she had to cut out, and then 15 minutes later managed to get gum in it (what a joyful child I must have been)! We were going on holiday that afternoon, so I was rushed to my cousins salon where I went from below shoulder length to a chin length bob, which pretty much scarred me for life.
Fast forward to my mid teens and my cousin manages to convince me to let him do that Rachel cut. Fairplay to him, about 6 months later everyone had it. None the less, I cried for months as he'd cut it above the shoulders and I hated not having my length.
Since then I've been rather hair dresser phobic! I used to train myself so would just get someone in the salon to do a little trim and that was always fine, until I left the industry.
My hair was long and lovely and problem free for quite a while until a rather horrific L'oreal Ferria incident where all my hair broke off! I got a mate to even it up a tad then went and had a punky scruffy cut to slightly above the shoulders to vaguely fix the mess.
That was the last professional cut I had, uhm about 8 years ago ish! I trim the ends off myself every so often, as my hair is around waist length and I've still got my scissors. It's a bit scraggly I suppose but not that bad and I actually rather like my hair. I colour with the dreaded XXL but I've been using it around 3 years and it works for me, I don't get a lot of breakage and it doesn't cause a severe reaction, which I have had in the past with a professional high lift job.
I am overly sensitive to SLS, which is sadly in almost everything. I have been using Daniel Galvin Junior organic shampoo for red heads and I switch conditioner often though mostly use Elvive 1 minute rescue for coloured hair. My shampoo seems to have been discontinued and I'm down to my last bottle. I used to use The Body Shop Rainforest range which is sls free.
So, here's the advice I'm looking for:
My hair is naturally dark (I can't remember the colour numbers at all!) and I colour with a mix of XXL (I know, I now) Live Luminance (high lift) in a mix of Radiant Red and Infra Red. My hair is naturally very straight, I am a wash and go type girl, I usually let my hair air dry and very occasionally blow dry it or style it. I sleep in a bun and usually walk around with the messy waves it creates. My hair has progressively lost a lot of volume, the ends have thinned a lot and it's stupidly flat on top, which I hate, so I occasionally backcomb the crown.
Colour: should I just stick to what works for me and if I want any extra flashes of colour, have a few extensions put in if need be, to avoid a reaction with the metallic salts?
Cut: I was thinking about seeing if anyone needs models, I remember being desperate for them when I trained. I looked on Gumtree and it seems everyone is after shorter cuts and dramatic restyles, which I understand but I want to keep as much length as humanly possible. Will regular trims help, or is it likely that, without a much shorter cut and frequent maintenance, my hair is beyond help? I do have some breakage near the crown and the front (though I like to have slightly shorter bits framing my face so I do trim these occasionally), possibly from putting my hair up a lot and sleeping in a bun. Is anyone these days happy to take models just looking for a trim? I'm clearly slightly phobic of having my hair cut after all the disasters.
Volume: I've obviously got breakage from the midlengths and my hair has thinned from age anyway and it's so straight that I'm just at a loss. I can blow dry and backcomb, but there's only so much it can do. Extensions?
Products: Does anyone have any recommendations? Particularly for sulfate free products.
Cost: Money is tight, the wedding is next July and we are currently having to save for the extras like the photographer, flowers, etc. I really cannot spend very much at all sadly. I can barely afford to keep up with my basic skin care regime atm.
Sorry for the massive waffle, but I really wanted to explain properly the situation. Really hope I can get some help here. Thanks in advance guys xx
Here are some recent pics so you can see what we are dealing with, I hope they aren't too big!
I don't know if I've done a bun or got the tongs out, but this is how it usually looks when I don't just air dry it, I think this is before I added the slightly brighter shade of red into the mix, my colour is slightly brighter now I think.
This is more recent, here I've blow dried and backcombed much more than usual. Annoyingly, my crown still looks flat in the second pic!
Sorry there's nothing more useful, like the back of my head. I just grabbed what was already on my hard drive. I've honestly been fairly happy with my hair, apart from the volume and I thought I'd just do my colour, get a loose half up style done for the day and that would be the end of it, until my OH's mum mentioned it! x
Good god, I didn't realise it was that bad!!
Ok, let me explain. I have always worn my hair very long, except as a young child I once got it caught in my mums hot brush, which she had to cut out, and then 15 minutes later managed to get gum in it (what a joyful child I must have been)! We were going on holiday that afternoon, so I was rushed to my cousins salon where I went from below shoulder length to a chin length bob, which pretty much scarred me for life.
Fast forward to my mid teens and my cousin manages to convince me to let him do that Rachel cut. Fairplay to him, about 6 months later everyone had it. None the less, I cried for months as he'd cut it above the shoulders and I hated not having my length.
Since then I've been rather hair dresser phobic! I used to train myself so would just get someone in the salon to do a little trim and that was always fine, until I left the industry.
My hair was long and lovely and problem free for quite a while until a rather horrific L'oreal Ferria incident where all my hair broke off! I got a mate to even it up a tad then went and had a punky scruffy cut to slightly above the shoulders to vaguely fix the mess.
That was the last professional cut I had, uhm about 8 years ago ish! I trim the ends off myself every so often, as my hair is around waist length and I've still got my scissors. It's a bit scraggly I suppose but not that bad and I actually rather like my hair. I colour with the dreaded XXL but I've been using it around 3 years and it works for me, I don't get a lot of breakage and it doesn't cause a severe reaction, which I have had in the past with a professional high lift job.
I am overly sensitive to SLS, which is sadly in almost everything. I have been using Daniel Galvin Junior organic shampoo for red heads and I switch conditioner often though mostly use Elvive 1 minute rescue for coloured hair. My shampoo seems to have been discontinued and I'm down to my last bottle. I used to use The Body Shop Rainforest range which is sls free.
So, here's the advice I'm looking for:
My hair is naturally dark (I can't remember the colour numbers at all!) and I colour with a mix of XXL (I know, I now) Live Luminance (high lift) in a mix of Radiant Red and Infra Red. My hair is naturally very straight, I am a wash and go type girl, I usually let my hair air dry and very occasionally blow dry it or style it. I sleep in a bun and usually walk around with the messy waves it creates. My hair has progressively lost a lot of volume, the ends have thinned a lot and it's stupidly flat on top, which I hate, so I occasionally backcomb the crown.
Colour: should I just stick to what works for me and if I want any extra flashes of colour, have a few extensions put in if need be, to avoid a reaction with the metallic salts?
Cut: I was thinking about seeing if anyone needs models, I remember being desperate for them when I trained. I looked on Gumtree and it seems everyone is after shorter cuts and dramatic restyles, which I understand but I want to keep as much length as humanly possible. Will regular trims help, or is it likely that, without a much shorter cut and frequent maintenance, my hair is beyond help? I do have some breakage near the crown and the front (though I like to have slightly shorter bits framing my face so I do trim these occasionally), possibly from putting my hair up a lot and sleeping in a bun. Is anyone these days happy to take models just looking for a trim? I'm clearly slightly phobic of having my hair cut after all the disasters.
Volume: I've obviously got breakage from the midlengths and my hair has thinned from age anyway and it's so straight that I'm just at a loss. I can blow dry and backcomb, but there's only so much it can do. Extensions?
Products: Does anyone have any recommendations? Particularly for sulfate free products.
Cost: Money is tight, the wedding is next July and we are currently having to save for the extras like the photographer, flowers, etc. I really cannot spend very much at all sadly. I can barely afford to keep up with my basic skin care regime atm.
Sorry for the massive waffle, but I really wanted to explain properly the situation. Really hope I can get some help here. Thanks in advance guys xx
Here are some recent pics so you can see what we are dealing with, I hope they aren't too big!
I don't know if I've done a bun or got the tongs out, but this is how it usually looks when I don't just air dry it, I think this is before I added the slightly brighter shade of red into the mix, my colour is slightly brighter now I think.
This is more recent, here I've blow dried and backcombed much more than usual. Annoyingly, my crown still looks flat in the second pic!
Sorry there's nothing more useful, like the back of my head. I just grabbed what was already on my hard drive. I've honestly been fairly happy with my hair, apart from the volume and I thought I'd just do my colour, get a loose half up style done for the day and that would be the end of it, until my OH's mum mentioned it! x
Apologies for the long waffling!
