Mane Concern

How to Take Care of Your Precious Hair

My Current Hair Length: Hip long

My Current Hair Condition: Straight, Rebonded, Frizzy underneath and at the ends, Tends to be dry.

My Hair History: Rebonded 4x in Dec'06, Jun '07, Oct '07, Nov '08. Dyed 1x in Nov '08. Last cut, Nov '08.

My Hair Care Regime

Step 1: Use tried and tested effective shampoo and conditioner everyday.

I have tried Pantene Normal, Herbal Essence Normal, Dove Normal, L'oreal Elseve Normal & Anti-frizz range, Silkpro Normal & Colour Care Range, Vidal Sasson Deep Moisturizing, VS Weighted Straight, and VS Diamond Shine Moisturizing Range, Charles Wallington Trial Pack, Asience Colour Shine & Deep Nourishing Range.

For my hair condition, I rank:

1st: Asience Deep Nourishing Range (Conditioner and Treatment specially recommended)
2nd: L'oreal Anti-frizz Range (Anti-frizz Oil specially recommended)
3rd: Vidal Sassoon Diamond Shine Moisturizing (Conditioner is good)

The rest, I think are not up to standard at all, and does not do effectively what is claimed on the bottle. I personally hate Herbal Essences and dislike Silkpro. Silkpro is overly advertised.

Step 2: Apply after wash leave-in conditioner or oil to last the whole day

I have tried $2 hair oil bought from the neighbourhood market, $15 hair oil sold to me by a home-based hairstylist, $16 hair mist from a shopping mall hairdresser, Watson's olive hair oil, Charles Wallington oil spray, Liese oil spray, Good Look jojoba hair moisturizer, Body Shop brazil nut anti-frizz cream, L'oreal Elseve's Royal Jelly Day Leave-in Conditioner, and Night-time serum.

I rank according to effectiveness on my hair:

1st: Liese & Charles Walling Oil Spray (works immediately, but quite costly for everyday use)
2nd: Body Shop Brazil Nut Cream for Anti-frizz (works but does not lasts, expensive, does not spreads well and easy to finish consumption.)
3rd: Any normal hair oil from the market, or Watson's house-brand will do.

Honestly, for healthy hair, there is really no need to apply too much of these after-shampoo products. My mum just uses 1 drop of $2/bottle oil, which can last her more than a year, for maintenance. And her hair is softer than mine. I spend a little on these is because of my damaged frizzy hair after all the rebonding. Please do not waste your money if you don't need it. =)

You may want to try Ginvera Olive Oil at $4 from Watsons.

Step 3: Treat/Mask Hair once/twice per month

I have tried Mineral Mud, Dove Mask, Pantene 1 shot tube, L'oreal Elseve Royal Jelly, Asience Treatment.

I rank by economy to effective ratio:

1st: Mineral Mud (lasts 3 days to a week)
2nd: Asience Treatment (very expensive for the 1 use tube)

Don't ever buy Dove hair care products. They are a body care brand, and do not produce good shampoo and hair-related products. The mask is no use at all. I don't even feel the immediate effect.

L'oreal Elseve Royal Jelly Range is totally no use at all. Don't bother.

I suggest you will have to experiment on your own for this part, as most good hair treatment come from salons. Get your trusted hairstylist to recommend you an economy tub for frequent use. Hair treatment normally comes in quite big pots, so be careful before you go for it, because if you don't like it (which you will know on first try), you will be wasting the whole pot, that means - $ go down the drain.

Otherwise, you can try a Homemade/DIY treatment:
- Fill a 500ml cup with plain water.
- Fill the other half with Apple Cider (can be bought from NTUC).
- Stir and mix well.
- Pour it on the ends of your hair. Remember not to condition your scalp. Keep treatment to after the 10-20cm mark of your hair length.
- Massage your hair with your hands, like how you wash chopsticks/long hair.

If you are scared of the Apple Cider, you may wear a glove.

Take care & good luck.

Step 4: Comb, comb, comb

Long hair entangles very fast, especially in windy Singapore. Frizzy hair is worse. So comb your hair whenever you have the time. I do it every time I go to the washroom, and especially after waking up in the morning and at night. Untangle ALL tangles. If you lazy, and decide to leave that difficult bunch there, it is going to snowball into a BIG entangle clump and form knots! So be careful. I understand how long this process can take. I take at least 15 minutes to comb well.

Step 5: Do not lie on your hair during sleep

Put your hair up on the pillow during sleep. Do not lie on your hair, as you tend to toss and turn during sleep, such that all the long hair gets entangled in the morning.

Step 6: Comb hygiene

Wash your comb by combing your hair during shampoo and washoff. This saves time and effort to clean the many teeths.

******

I think that's all =)
I hope this sharing helps. Though your hair may not be in the exact same condition as mine, I think some parts would more or less apply, as ladies nowadays all do a lot of rebond, dye and perm that damages the hair.

If you have other hair conditions, and good recommendations for your hair type, do post a comment to share with me.

I cannot cannot control when my hair turns white when I grow old, but at least, I will do my best to keep it shining and healthy while I can! All the best, take care.