Precisely three months ago i decided to embark on a journey of hair growth, strictly the hair on my head of course. After my lovely hair dresser announced that my shoulder length hair was simply just 'done' growing, i set out to prove her (and my stubborn locks) wrong. I decided the way forward was solving the problem deep down, completing changing my routine to conditioning it back to health, in order to stimulate growth.
I'm rather well behaved when it comes to my hair, i religiously have it trimmed every nine weeks at my local Rush salon and it's never met a bottle of bleach either. I was however, intrigued to try a more natural approach rather than slathering my hair in chemicals - i'm looking at you Lee Stafford Hair Growth - by using products that are sulphate and paraben free.
Let me break it down, sulphates and parabens are chemicals used within the cosmetic industry, whilst deemed 'safe' for usage, by cutting out these extra chemicals it is a more gentle, 'organic' way of washing one's hair. I'm not going to pretend that i know all the in's and out's of this chemical talk, but i gave it a whirl and had some amazing results.
My hair is definitely more healthy in appearance, in terms of shininess and being more sleek and manageable. I've also noticed a distinct lack of split-ends, something my rather thin hair battles when a hair dressers appointment is creeping up. And most importantly, the ultimate aim from this routine, my stubborn mop has grown - hurrah! Rather quite quickly, may i add.
Here are the products i bow down to:
Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo and Conditioner (bought here £7.50 each)
These two products have certainly been raved about constantly on blogs, so i decided to see what all the fuss was about and ordered myself a pair. Without the jargon of most shampoos and conditioners promising shine like no other, i was pleasantly surprised to actually see real results. It took a few weeks to kick in, but these bad boys have certainly had an astonishing impact on my hair. It wasn't until a work colleague commented on how shiny and healthy my hair looked did i realise how amazing they are.
Being sulphate free i was worried how well they would lather, i found this not to be a problem in the slightest. Although the conditioner doesn't exactly feel moisturising in the shower, my hair is definitely soft and sleek for sure! I have gone on to purchase these products again and probably will do for the time being.
Cherry Almond Leave in Conditioner - TIGI (bought here for £5.70)
After searching high and low for a natural leave-in conditioner i finally came across the Love Planet Peace range from Tigi. I snapped it up in minutes when i saw the scent was cherry almond, its smells so yummy, i find my self having to stop myself from eating it. I'm a stickler for leave in conditioners, they add an extra surge of moisture for my ends, especially as my hair is so fine, it really needs that extra love and condition from heated styling.
I've used all brands from the disappointing bog standard L'Oreal, to impressive yet expensive Kerastace, so i was interested to see TIGI would match up. It did so surprising well, each night i slathered a 10 pence piece amount on my ends and left to air dry naturally. In the morning my hair felt softer and tame, and three months on my split ends are no where to be seen. And that, ladies is the biggest test of all.
Wen Intensive Hair Treatment - (bought here for £18.95)
Lastly was a hair mask by the brand Wen, of which i received as a press sample. This cucumber fresh smelling mask comes in at a rather pricey £18, but with only a selected number of brands producing natural products its clear to see why it holds a high price.
Its important to add that I'm not fussy when it comes to hair masks, i've used all types of brands and been fairly impressed with all results. I usually keep them for Sunday pamper nights, so every week i moisturised the thick cream in to my hair and left to sink in for 5-10 minutes. After washing out and styling, my hair was left amazingly blow-dry-esk perfect. Eat your heart out Cheryl. For such a thick mask, my hair was soft, light and bouncy. So much so, i found myself using this product every other night as it made styling a dream. Until i realised that i was quickly running out, so it was resigned to special occasion washes. Thinking back i seem to always go through this process with hair treatments, slathering it on like its going out of fashion.
Sadly my pot is no more, and however much i fell for this product, the rather high price is a complete no-no. Not when i can pick up a sachet of good old trusty Aussie for 99p, and still have similar results.
My rather long ramble on hair yet again. What products do you swear by?
I'm trailing a styling product at the moment, so watch this space.
