Monday Memes: Dreaming of Summer

Who of you lovely readers is in Sydney today? Because today’s meme says it all: I wish I were somewhere sunny. It’s been raining for upwards of two days straight and this afternoon when I was walking home from the bus stop, my umbrella broke in the wind 😦 By the time I got home, my hair was damp and frizzy, I couldn’t see through my glasses, and my jeans were wet. Wet jeans are the worst!
And it’s supposed to be like this for the rest of the week.
In a more positive light, it’s the perfect weather to be home, warming my hands on hot chocolate and… studying. Yes, I plan to begin that once I press the Publish button.

What’s the weather like where you are? If you’re in Sydney, how are you handling this gloominess? I hope you’re keeping warm!

Love and waves,
Astrid

This image came from the Facebook page of one of my favourite cafes in Bondi – Gertrude and Alice (you don’t know how I nerded out when I found out at uni it was named after Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas).

Power to Ya: a Review

The Power Base by O&M (OriginalMineral) is a protein based deep treatment that I’ve been using since I dyed my hair copper about three months ago. O&M is an Australian brand that uses mostly plant based ingredients and contains no strong sulfates or parabens.

The best part about this is how soft my hair feels the day I use it – so soft. And the smell – kind of sweet and creamy (all the O&M products smell great btw). I’m also kind of lazy with applying my treatments – I just slap them on at the beginning of my shower – but the steam and those few minutes are all this treatment needs to penetrate into my hair.

One thing to note, is that during application, if you’re used to conditioners and deep treatments coating your hair and making it feel slippery – this won’t do that unless you really pile it on. It is supposed to be a protein treatment after all – wheat protein is the third ingredient after water and cetearyl alcohol. But if you’re after a protein treatment that also contains a good amount of moisture, this is the one for you – the amount of extracts, oils and butters just goes on and on. And two of those ingredients are nettle extract and shea butter – which from previous experience I know make my hair happy.

Another thing I’d like to add is that The Power Base does contain amodimethicone, if you like to avoid silicones in your hair care.

To finish, I’d really like to try more of this product line – especially as I’m planning a series of posts reviewing Australian product lines.

Love and waves,
Astrid

I <3 Oil

Since the early days of learning to care for my wavy, curly hair, I’ve played with different oils. In the last year or two, oil has started to become one of the buzz words in the beauty industry. I think it started with argan oil and spread from there. The first oil I ever used was sweet almond oil – I believe I started using this with some essential oils as a night-time moisturiser. Then I decided I wanted to grow my hair out and read on the naturallycurly.com message boards that oiling your hair the night before you wash it helped with condition and growth. So my sweet almond oil was put to two uses.

That was back in 2008 and I’ve been pretty consistently oiling my hair at least once a week since then. After the sweet almond oil ran out I used coconut oil up until the end of last year when I decided to give jojoba oil a try. When that ran out I bought some avocado oil and that’s what I’m using at the moment. It does smell pretty avocado-y so I have to add lavender oil to it (which also helps with dry scalps and is supposed to be good for hair growth), but it adds a delicious flavour to my cooking 😛 (yay multitasking).

Now, in regards to the claim that oiling helps with hair growth – I can’t be certain. My hair grows steadily no matter what I do to it, and I’ve never been one to measure it every month. However, what I do know, is that it helped with the condition of my hair. I used to swim a lot and I was told by my hairdresser that my hair was in good condition. It was probably a combination of keeping sulfates to a minimum and doing regular deep treatments, but I’m sure the oil didn’t hurt. Besides, it’s a nice ritual and I like giving myself head massages while I catch up on TV shows.

How do I oil my hair?

1. Apply a small amount of oil with one drop of essential oil to the hairline.

2. Part hair from hairline to nape and repeat along the parting.

3. Part hair from ear to ear and repeat step 1 along this parting.

4. Repeat step 1 along the nape of the neck.

5. Apply a last puddle of oil to the ends of the hair and really work it in.

6. Massage the scalp. Try and cover the entire scalp at least three times.

7. Optional – gently detangle with tool of choice. This will help evenly spread the oil throughout the hair.

Do you use oils at all in your beauty routine? How do you like to use them, and what oil is your favourite?

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Love and waves,
Astrid

What the Heck is Co-washing?

Good afternoon readers. What’s the weather like in your corner of the world? Today is a lovely winter day in Sydney – dry and sunny. My finger tips are still cold, so I’m not being fooled into thinking it’s spring just yet. Which brings me to the point of this post: co-washing or conditioner washing. I tend to utilise this method of cleansing the hair more often in winter, especially when I have coloured hair.
Co-washing is a way of washing the hair using only conditioner. It was first mentioned by Lorraine Massey in her book Curly Girl: the Handbook. Then it was made even more popular by NaturallyCurly.com; many of the users of the site swear by co-washing. It’s where I first heard of it six years ago. At the time I had awful blonde foils throughout my hair (not to say that blonde foils are all bad – but I didn’t know what to ask for and the hairdresser did not do a consultation with me beforehand), and I was still using strong sulfate shampoos. I had never had any advice on curly hair beyond ‘no brushing’, so I was eager to try anything.
From day one, my hair was so much better. Suddenly I was getting compliments on my hair, and it wasn’t even straightened. For about six months – over the cooler half of the year – it worked. Then the weather started to warm up and my hair got a little bit oily – but by then I knew about sulfates and knew to avoid shampoos with the strong stuff. Over the years I’ve switched back and forth between co-washing and using low-sulfate/sulfate free shampoos. And my hair definitely thanks me for it.

So how do you do it? The usual way is to use a light conditioner – or cleansing conditioner – to scrub at your scalp. The friction is really important to the cleansing – just make sure to use the pads of your fingers and not your nails. Rinse well and follow with more conditioner on you mid-lengths and ends – most curlies like to use a heavier conditioner for this step.

Why does it work? Well, I’m not a scientist, but I’ve done a lot of reading and the small amount of hairdressing training I’ve had has also informed my hypothesis as to why it works. The hair shaft has a cuticle that either lays flat – healthy and low-porosity hair – or stands up to varying degrees – damaged and high-porosity hair. Things that open the cuticles of the hair are heat, physical manipulation, shampoo, colouring and perming/relaxing formulas; and water. So curly hair – which is usually dry as it is – will have the cuticle opened just by the water, so the conditioner will soothe the cuticle, while attracting oil and dirt and removing them.

What else should you know? This shampoo free method is very gentle, so there are some ingredients that you’ll need to avoid. These are insoluble silicones (ingredients ending in ‘-cone’ and ‘-xane’), polyquaterniums and mineral oil. These ingredients tend to build up on the hair when you don’t use a shampoo to remove the build-up regularly.

My favourite co-wash conditioner is Moogoo Cream Conditioner:

It’s light enough to clean my scalp, but rich enough to moisturise the rest of my hair as a rinse-out conditioner. I also like to use it as a leave in.

Some further reading:
NaturallyCurly.com article on the No Poo Method
Waterlily716’s video on conditioner washing
Jillipoo’s post on silicones, polyquats and soap in hair products – while you’re there look around, she has some excellent curly hair thoughts and advice.

I hope this post was helpful to you guys. Have you ever tried this method/would you be open to trying it? Let me know in the comments.

Love and waves,
Astrid

Giovanni Mousse and Hairspray Review

Good evening lovies! I’ve had a chance to play with the products from my iHerb haul from a few weeks ago, and now I have enough of an idea to give you guys a review.

First up, the mousse. I found it did a good job of giving my waves and curls a soft hold. If you like a hard hold, this is not the product for you. But for soft waves, it works nicely, especially over a leave-in conditioner or something similar. I’ve been using it layered over the DevaCurl B’Leave In.
I also used it to blow dry my hair straight – that day I layered it over Bumble and bumble. Prep. I really liked the results from that – my hair blow dried comparatively easily and was shiny but with body.
I will say, though, that because this is a volumising mousse, it gets a bit drying after multiple uses – especially as my hair gets dry in winter as it is, and my hair is coloured. I’ll be giving it a bit of a break now that I’ve got an idea of how it works on my hair.
I should also mention that it’s more of a foam than a mousse in texture. However, it gives the same results without the crispy finish.

Moving on to the hairspray, I’ll admit that so far I’ve only used it twice. I don’t hairspray all that often, but I wanted to have some around – it’s handy to have.
The first time I used it was when I straightened my hair – and I liked the way it worked! It gives light hold and humidity protection and doesn’t make my hair feel like a helmet.
The second time I used it was on a curly day – it was second or third day hair. I was even more impressed that day – my hair was slightly crispy but my curls stayed springy and developed little frizz. Come to think of it, I should be using it more often!
Another thing I like about this hairspray (or ‘spritz’ as it’s labelled) is that it’s not an aerosol. While aerosols don’t bother me too much, the product tends to get everywhere with the fine mist (and can make you cough). Not to mention that a liquid spray is easier to reuse, so it’s more environmentally conscious.

That brings me to the end of the review. I hope this helps you guys. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to review, or if you have any recommendations 😀

Love and waves,
Astrid

My iHerb discount for new customers is: LTH094

Weekend Inspiration. Or should I say ‘hairspiration’?

So it’s Friday. I’ve made it through a working week of blogging about one of the things I like best: hair, specifically curly hair.
But something else I’m passionate about is body positivity and self acceptance. ShamelessMaya is a YouTuber whose main message is self acceptance – she’s an inspiring woman who decided to live her life without shame and from what I can see on her channel and other social media websites, she’s living that goal daily.

So without further ado, here’s a cheeky tune to get you loving yourself, frizz and all 😀

Love, waves and frizz,
Astrid