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Knowledge is Power(fully) Healthy Locks

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healthypurplehair
Hair that’s purple AND healthy! : )

Having purple hair means that people tend to notice my hair juust a tad more than they did when it was brunette (or red, or black). This weekend I visited with family and friends who have known me for quite a long time (or my whole life) and despite the fact that my hair has changed colors and been a topic of conversation for years, I was shocked that so many people kept commenting on how healthy my hair looked, and how beautifully shiny it was. The follow-up question being how it could possibly be so healthy AND purple. My hair has always held its own fairly well against all of the things I’ve done to it, from years of box dye through high school and college to a substantial amount of heat styling, but clearly (if their awe is any indication) something is different.

One of the first questions I was asked on my first day at Alter EGO (approximately 9 months ago) was what styling products I used at home. I made a sheepish face and said, “Suave hairspray?” already hanging my head in shame. Before I left that night I was handed a bottle of hairspray, and some shampoo and conditioner samples to go along with it. I knew I should be using better products, but I had no idea really what difference they made. As someone who is an obsessive learner, I have acquired, erm, several different products over the past nine months, and repeatedly bugged the stylists for tips and tricks and knowledge on properly using said products.

I ditched my less-than-five-bucks-a-bottle-at-Walmart shampoos and conditioners and tried first the R+Co Gemstone Shampoo and Atlantis Conditioner. I remember remarking to my fiancé a month or so into using R+Co that I had never been a believer in salon products before (mostly because my bank account disagreed with them), but it was totally worth the

Confession: I still keep my old hairspray for excessive hairspray emergencies. ; )
Confession: I still keep my old hairspray for excessive hairspray emergencies. ; )

investment for how soft and healthy my hair felt. When my Gemstone ran out a couple of weeks ago, I had to try something new, and took home the Oribe Shampoo for Beautiful Color alongside the Gold Lust Conditioner. Seriously, this stuff is—pun intended—pure gold. If I had to keep only one of these products, it would be my Gold Lust, hands down. Every other week or so I do a deep conditioning with Keratin Complex’s Kerawhip Conditioner. Going purple was a more extensive hair change than I had ever done before, and as my AE team assured me—if I wanted it to stay healthy, I would need to take good care of it. Quality (and even more importantly, color-safe) shampoo and conditioner, and an occasional deep condition was the first necessary step.  (Side note: I used one of my old shampoos the day before putting new color on a few months ago, and was shocked how much that one shampoo stripped out the color on my hair!)

The next item I invested in was a heat protectant. Before AE, I spent a solid two years tucking my hair up under a hat for a uniform, so once I was able to style it again, I constantly wanted to blow out and curl my hair. To keep from damaging it, I knew I needed something to shield it from the heat. One of my coworkers donated me a prep spray they didn’t use anymore, and then I picked up R+Co’s Park Ave blowout balm. Having long, thick hair this makes blow-drying my hair a much smoother process. Did I mention my compulsion to try new products? When the Oribe line arrived I also tried out the Crème for Style. I love Park Ave just a little more (it’s a little bit lighter in texture), but both served their purpose well—keeping my hair from becoming dead and dry under heat.

ksbeachhair
Day Two Natural Waves with Surfcomber + Apres Beach

After a kind stylist pointed out that maybe I wanted to give my hair a rest from the heat every once in a while and go natural, I decided to find a product that would wrangle the haphazard messy waves my hair dries into on its own. My bottle of Aircraft by R+Co has gotten so much use it’s almost gone, and my newest obsession is bound to follow suit. Oribe’s Surfcomber can definitely be intimidating with its gritty, concentrated texture, but it makes my hair magically beachy. Now, anyone who has hair with some texture knows that frizz is a very real hair struggle. One of the stylists suggested I use an oil, and after using Oribe’s Gold Lust Oil, I fell in love. It smoothes away my frizz, and definitely contributes to the shine.

Finally, in proper full circle fashion, we return to my number one favorite thing—the only product I owned for years: hair spray. I finish off curls, braids, updos, and my bangs with R+Co’s Vicious (the bottle rocks, too). I add finishing touches to both heat-created curls and my natural waves using Oribe’s Apres Beach Wave & Shine Spray. Apres Beach, while challenging to pronounce, smells so insanely delicious, and gives my hair such fabulous shine—it’s hard not to use it every single day.

So, what did I say in response to the question, “How can your hair be that healthy AND purple?”

“I use really awesome products!”

As a natural skeptic, I am definitely a see it and feel it to believe it kind of person. That said, I will openly admit, I have fallen under the spell of quality products, and I will never ever go back.


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