DIY Ombre hair

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Last week I went a little crazy about changing up my hair. You know how it goes. You get the idea in your head and you obsess over it until it's done. You need a change and you need it now! Since I couldn't wait any longer and I couldn't trust anyone to touch my hair- I only go to the salon like twice a year when I'm in Madrid- I didn't give it too much thought and decided to do it myself at home.

I'm not an expert by any means but after watching quite a few videos I got and idea of how I wanted to get it done. It might not be perfect but I actually really like the result as it turned out exactly how I wanted it to be.

Probably the best hair care regime ever!

Back in August I did a review on my favourite products to style/take care of my hair once I'm out of the shower from the brand Naked Body care (UK brand).

If you missed that post, do a favour to your hair and check it out here because those products are amazing!

Today, I'm going to be talking about some products of the same brand but this time to use in the shower. I hesitate to call this post "Hair products I've used up" because I am completely out of them, but I'm not lying when I say that this brand is probably the best out there for your hair. At least for mine it is.

Now into the review.

NAKED renew Strengthening Shampoo 

for weak, brittle & mature hair

with hibiscus & frangipani

What the brand says: Rapunzel was no wimp! Her hair was strong enough to set her free. We can’t promise you a prince charming but we’ve harnessed the power of hibiscus flower and extracts of frangipani to rescue your hair in this renewing shampoo. Containing vegetable proteins it’s unstoppable in its mission to fortify brittle hair from within, a wish come true for weak or mature hair.  Because your hair deserves the kindest treatment of all we don’t use harsh detergents – only gentle plant based ingredients. Vegetarian and vegan friendly.

My opinion: I love this product!!it has a strong floral sweet slightly fruity smell that is irresistible. It doesn't get really foamy, specially in the first wash but it is a matter of getting used to it. I like to leave in my shampoo for like a minute and this way is more effective. The results were clean (until 4-5 days), shiny, voluminous and bouncy hair! I believe it also contribute to the definition of my wavy/curly hair and my hair fell less.

NAKED bounce Curl defining conditioner 
for curly, wavy hair
with kelp & avocado oil

What the brand says: For perfect curls and waves that bounce when you walk you need to look after your scalp (and have the right shoes!). We use Irishmoss, Sea fennel and mineral rich Kelp which is reputed to boost natural repair. Avocado oil will lovingly moisturise those tresses, and without petrochemical residue build up you'll be kissing those curls and riding those waves. Vegetarian and vegan friendly.

My opinion: This product has a strong floraly smell that I didn't really like much at first since I prefer sweet/fruity smells, but it is nice nonetheless. My hair felt really hydrated after using it and the hydration was still there 2-3 days after washing. It'd be amazing if they had for this range a deep conditioning mask, which I find always to be more effective in that department. Most important, using this product with the shampoo above, my curls were so incredibly define that it looked like if I had curled my hair with an iron!People used to asked me what I had donde to my hair. It is still effective with other shampoos but I got the best results with the one above. I can't wait to try the shampoo of this bounce range and see what it does to my hair!

Last but no least...

NAKED for kids 2 in 1 shampoo
Toffe Apple

What the brand says: Don’t tear your hair out! Let Naked look after your kids and give them clean, healthy hair without the hassle! Our fabulous tear free 2 in 1 shampoo means your little rascals get lovely soft hair after just one wash. Our gentle formulations mean that even if your kids can be little monsters, you won’t be putting any nasties in their hair. For extra fun, we added the scent of toffee apples. Fruity goodness smothered in tooth-tingling toffee – what could be better? Vegetarian and vegan friendly.

My opinion: This shampoo smells exactly as its name suggest. It's a dream to apply and hair is left soft and easy to manage. I would really recommend it for kids or for anyone! However it didn't work as well for me in the "curl definition" department, so I don't think I would use it any time to soon.

I'm completely in love with this brand. I wish I could buy it here because I'm not a huge fan of internet shopping and waitting for the order to arrive, but hey good news!! at least they do international shipping and the prize is cute reasonable. As soon as their Miracle Worker goes back on stock I would do an order. I've tried to find around me products that deliver the same results as the Naked lines and for the moment the results are far from being as good. An the prize is unbeatable, so I guess I have no option... =)

Now, let me ask you because I'm curious!

What hair products you swear by?

Do you keep the same hair routine or you switch all the time?

What's your current hair routine?

Tell me what works for you!

Do you care more about hair, skin or make-up?

Sometimes I miss my straight hair...

A month and a half or maybe two months agor I straighted my hair for the first time since last winter.

I actually miss it.

I know it isn't that big of a deal, but you know...a girl's thing LOL

I love how shiny and soft it feels...

So easy to comb through.

But it takes too much time.

To Style it.

To take care of it.

To keep the style.

Any advices from someone in the same situation?

DIY: How I cut my hair at home!

I think I've been cutting my hair on my own for 3 or 4 years now. I learned watching YT videos, so you can go, check and find the one that suits you better. 

But anyhow I wanted to do this post because in my daily life many people ask me where I get my hair done. 

In Geneva, just the hair cut for long hair like mine would be 40-50 euros (or even more!!) so going to the salon it's a privilege that a) I can't afford and b) even if I could afford it, I wouldn't do it anyways. 

Another advantage of cutting your own hair is that you cut exactly the amount of hair you want. Not ugly surprises.

There are many ways to cut long hair, but this is the one that works best for me.

It's fast-takes like 10 min-easy and looks good.

Wanna know more? keep on reading...

John Frieda- full REPAIR- first impression review

I've always been a huge fan of John Frieda's range for brunettes. The hair feels soft, it shines and after a few uses you start getting different brown tones that look lovely under the sun light.

In Europe this brand isn't always easy to find, so I got really excited when I discovered that it is available in Switzerland. To my surprise, however, the products are not consumer friendly when it comes to prize.

I had heard a lot of rave about the products from the full REPAIR line, but due to the prize before jumping into buying them I bougth the travel size of the shampoo and the conditioner...

NAKED STYLE- How I style/take care of my hair

 So...I've been asked what do I use to style my hair and this is what I bring you today!!

I was introduce to this brand by my lovely British friend Eleanor (I don't know if she will ever read this, LOL) so when I went to London back in June I decided to give it a look and gave the brand a try. I bought quite a few products using the 3x2 offer they had at Boots but for the moment I'm using only two that I've incorporated to my hair styling routine.

Monoi OIL!!

Hello!

I finally I got around to do this post. I discovered this product at the beginning of the summer and since then I can not leave without!!if you are familiar with Coconut Oil then you might find this product interesting. 

Monoi Oil or Monoi de Tahití stands for "scented oil". The best known source of monoi today is that produced in Tahití (French Polynesia) made still at the traditional manner from pressed coconut oil macerated with the flowers of the native gardenia, known in locally as Tiaré. 

Only 

the coconuts from the cocos nucifera species 

and the buds of the Gardenia Tahitensis 

“Tiare” blossoms are used in the preparation 

of Monoï de Tahiti. A m

inimum

of 10 flowers

are soaked for 

at least 10 days 

in one liter of 

coconut oil. It's an amber colored oil liquid that solidifies below 25ºC.

Tahiti has always been part of the Polynesian culture, 

whether in traditional rites, in remedies, or as a beauty care 

ingredient for body and hair. 

Several Components of Monoï de Tahiti are also used in the 

traditional medicine of the Polynesian islands. The Tiare blossoms, for 

example, are used to cure earaches, certain types of eczema, or simply to 

prevent insect bites. Today, Tahitian women are still using Monoï de Tahiti as a 

skin moisturizer, a hair protection, and as a daily care product. It's a veritable beauty 

secret passed on from generation to generation.

Its status as a natural and unadulterated product was enormously enhanced when the French government fave it the official stamp of "Appellation d'Origine", as a guarantee of authenticity and quality, raising monoi to the level of wine.

It's innumerable properties have been tested and proven in vivo: Skin and eye tolerance, hypoallergenic and hypersensitivity properties, photosensatizing potential to protect the skin against the sun (improves your tan) and external aggressions. Protects, regenerates and enhances the quality of the hair fiber, progressive and long lasting skin moisturization. Tiaré tahití flowers present soothings and purifying active ingredients and mono oil has been proven to have emollient properties. With its delicate fragrance, mono oil is thought to nourish and stimulate your soul and senses. 

In my case I use it as body moisturizer, all over body scent because it smells AMAZING, deep nourishing over night treatment for my hair, hair ends treatment between washes, massage oil, mix a tiny drop with my leave in/styling conditioner for more textured curls...

It's Coconut oil upgrade to the next level!!if you don´t like coconut oil smell, then you should give this one a try. The one I use it's from a brand called Corine de Farme, but I know there is another brand called Soleil des iles. Both of them have many different products for body and sun skin care. I believe also Yves Rocher has a monoi Oil line. 

*(I haven´t used Coconut Oil since it is not easy to get in Europe, at leaast I haven´t found it, so I can´t say which one would be more effective...)

Photo source: Google finds; Information: monoi-institute.org

How I keep my hair healthy! Tips to healthy hair...

Ok!!

So today I will talk about what I do to keep my hair long and healthy...and by the end of this post you will be asking yourself what it is the magic trick!!

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But guess what? There is no magic trick at all =) I just follow some simple and basic rules and my hair seems to respond nicely to them. Like always, EVERYONE is different!This is what works for me... 

1- Water

In the inside, not the outside. If you wash your hair everyday you are stripping the natural oils produced in your scalp and your hair will be become more dry and prone to breaking and falling. Of course this doesn´t relate to everyone. 

- If your hair is really oily then you should wash it as often as need it with the appropriate shampoo (gentle!!) and conditioner since too much oil in the roots can cause hair fall.

- Curly hair has to be washed less often than straight hair since it takes more time for the oils in the scalp to get to the ends and from nature tends to be already dry.

- I find it's better to wash the hair in the morning, but this is totally a personal preference. Like this I can do deep treatments during the night, I don´t go to bed with my hair wet- which is not very recommendable- and I start my days with completely clean a nice smelling hair!(the days I washed it I mean).

In my personal case, since my teens I have always washed my hair every other day because it was really oily. When I first came to Geneva, my hair went to different faces due to the change of water until it turned out to be like it is right now. This is a true fact and so many of my friends agree with me. At first your hair gets really, really oily to the point of having to washed it more often than normal. Then your scalp starts drying out-even if the hair is still oily- and producing dandruff. At the end your hair is dry from scalp to ends. Awesome, eh? Since then I washed my hair every 3 or 4 days. Surprisingly, I get more compliments about my curls when my hair is in its 2nd or 3rd day...

Photo credit 

2- Products (I'll talk deeply about the ones I use in future posts!)

Here many people that might not agree with me BUT, I find my hair works best when I use shampoos for normal hair and then I paired them with a really deep conditioner/masks for when I washed my hair, serum in between washes and deep night treatments for the night before I washed my hair. About silicons, organic, natural ingredients, sulphate free...everyone knows what their hair loves most so I'm not going to say "you absolutely have to use this product that is so natural that doesn´t even have shampoo in it!!". I've used natural shampoos and the result has been awful. Normal, gentle plain shampoo that would get your hair clean and shiny. That's really all you need. 

Here is my why...

- At some point in time in my "oily hair" period I realize that most drugstore shampoos for oily hair didn´t really leave my hair that clean or helped me to washed it less often. Au contraire, my hair was still oily and drying out. So if I had to wash my hair every two days and the clean effect didn´t last that long I could just use whatever shampoo for normal hair and see what happened. Bon, Voilà!! With time my hair turn out to be not as greasy, more shiny and hydrated.

- Now that my scalp is more normal and my hair is quite dry at times, I still use a shampoo for normal hair for the simple reason that anything for dry hair would make my hair get dirty before, forcing me to washed it more often and not necessarily making it more beautiful (I have tried and no, it doesn´t work). 

3- Embracing your natural hair.

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Women never seem to be happy with what they have. The one with straight hair wants to curl it and the one with curly hair wants to straight it. However in the pathway to healthy looking hair a good place to start is by working with what you already have by nature and trying to improve it. By doing so you probably will find out that your natural hair is probably really beautiful on its own!

My whole life I've been straighting my hair no matter how long it took me because my hair didn´t have any natural shape (or that I thought). Even if I always tried to protected, I had a lot of split ends- even if my hair wasn´t that long- and probably that was one of the reasons why it was so oily too. I had to dedicate a long time to get a shiny straight result and at the same time it was hard to maintain the volume. If it was windy or there was some humidity in the air my hair turned flat and frizzy!! Opposite to what happens to really curly hair, wavy/curly hair like mine improves with its length. Length gives at the hair the space to curl and form the wave (if that makes sense). I realized that mi hair looks better and actually it goes better with my face structure when its long if I leave in its natural state.

4- Hot tools and brushing.

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As long as your hair is healthy and you protect it, you can use any tools you want without abusing. When it comes to brushing, the less the better. When not done properly, brushing can actually cause more damage than good. 

I only brush my hair in the shower with a large tooth comb when I have already applied the deep treatment on. When I use to straighten my hair, I used a big paddle brush but it still felt like there was a lot of breakage at the ends. I barely used hot tools anymore, but if I ever use them it's to do touch ups here and there.

4- Diet and Vitamins
A healthy lifestyle will always translate to your physical appearance. I try to eat healthy as much as I can but I don´t always succeed. When it comes to vitamins, when I was in the process of growing out my hair I used to take vitamins complex rich in in Mg2+, Vit E and B combined with something called "levure de bière" (brewer's yeast). Brewer's yeast is particularly rich in protein and essential amino acids, it represents one of the best sources of vegetable protein. It also contains minerals (particularly calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus and potassium) and it's extremely rich in vitamins from the B group.

I started seeing results after one month and a half or two and definitely seeing a difference after 3 months. All this vitamins are also good for nails and your skin so your general complexion improves.

5- Trimming your hair

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If you want healthy hair, trim your hair often even if your trying to grow it out. When your hair becomes split at the ends, the damage, which starts at the cuticle, will move up your hair until the whole strand is completely damaged. You can prevent this by cutting the split ends before the rest of your hair is affected. Trimming also contributes to maintaining hair volume and shape.

When I was growing my hair out, I used to cut my hair almost every month around 1 cm. It might seem like a lot but actually my hair grows more when it has been freshly cut. Now, that it is more or less the length I want and I don´t use hot tools my hair is really healthy, so I cut it every two months.

Well...this is all there is about how I keep my hair healthy looking and long. There are no miracles. But if you follow a few basic things and you are patient your hair would be very healthy.

Take home msg: Give your hair what he needs and it will become what you want it to be!  =D

Hope you liked it! (I need to learn how to do shorter posts...=P)