my top five: hair products

Now that my pixie is grown out and I finally have a decent amount of hair to take care of again, I thought I'd share my top five hair products with you! If you're looking for something to speed up the growth process, honestly "patience" is the only thing I can recommend (and I had it in short supply, let me tell you!) but taking care of your tresses and reducing breakage is the best path to healthy, longer hair.



1. Ouai leave in conditioner. I got a sample size of this from Sephora last year and I loved it so much that I immediately bought a whole bottle (I'm saving that sample size bottle for my travels this year!) If you have knotty hair I cannot recommend this enough. I remember when I was little my mom used to use No More Tangles to help reduce the number of times I screamed "OUCH!" when she brushed my hair, but that product never seemed to work once I got older. This stuff totally erases knots, though (or at least it makes it less painful to brush through them? I have no clue how it works its magic!) Bonus - it smells DELICIOUS.

2. OGX coconut oil hydrating mist. I apply this to the ends of my hair after I dry it. I've always had very parched hair and this helps it to look so much shinier and healthier. I never apply it near the roots though or else it starts to look to oily.

3. Cake restorative scalp tonic. I've had dandruff ever since I hit puberty, my body was like "hey, in addition to pms and cramps and bleeding let's throw something else fun into the mix!" I tried those shampoos with tar in them (not kidding) head and shoulders, even prescription shampoo. But I always ended up with flakes, anyway, plus they seemed to dry my hair out even more. I finally ended up using Redken Scalp Relief which helped control itching/flakes but didn't totally fry my follicles. Then I discovered this tonic and I don't even feel like I have to use dandruff shampoo anymore. It's a little pricey but a little goes a long way and I honestly have never felt this level of itch-free since I was a pre-teen. I actually forgot what it felt like to not be constantly scratching at my scalp.

4. Redken all soft conditioner. Now that I can deviate from the dandruff section in the shampoo aisle, I'm using Redken All Soft. I had tried this in high school and loved the way it made my hair feel (all soft) and the scent is heavenly, but it wasn't long before I had to go back to dandruff-fighting formulas instead. I'm so happy that I can finally use this again now! It's the only conditioner I've ever tried that works so well you can comb it through in the shower without hitting any knots.

5. Aussie clean volume dry shampoo. For the longest time I've been ride or die Dove dry shampoo, but I recently found this volumizing dry shampoo from Aussie and I really love it! I had also tried the Living Proof volumizing dry shampoo (which was WAY pricier) and this was so much better. Living Proof made my hair feel sticky and stiff, but this literally just feels powdery like normal dry shampoo while adding some extra lift!

pixie growth progress

It's been just about two years since I chopped off all of my hair and got a pixie cut. I didn't like it. I knew the process of growing it back out would be long and daunting, so I kept getting trims for several months before I started to grow it out again. I've spent the better part of these two years wearing wigs and hats, but I documented the growth almost every month for my one second a day video last year and thought I'd share the progress with you today! Here is where I started, with a super short blonde pixie:



If you're thinking about getting a pixie, be 100% positive that it's what you want to do. I did it on a whim and I regretted it so much. If your hairstylist can tell you if you have any cowlicks that might be hard to style with a pixie, try to find that out first. I had two really bad cowlicks that weren't too noticeable with long hair but stuck straight up once my hair was cut short.

I had this idea that a pixie would make my hair more manageable, that I'd be able to just wake up and be good to go! But my hair took so much more effort when it was short than it did at any other length. I shower at night, and by morning my hair was a mess. I'd have to re-wet it and restyle it. It took more gel and mousse than you'd imagine to tame my stubborn cowlicks. And about 1-2 weeks after each trim it would start to look unkempt around the edges. Sometimes I'd have my mom shave the back for me in between trims just so I felt like the cut looked clean.

I stopped getting it trimmed in September of 2017. Here is a look at the progress that I made over the last year and a half of growing it out:



If you got a pixie and you're trying to grow it out, just be patient. I can't even tell you how many tutorials I watched on youtube about growing out pixies, or how many supplements and shampoos I researched. I met with a stylist about getting tape-in extensions. I took biotin religiously and massaged my scalp like it was a full time job. I only bleached my hair once during the whole growth process (I missed having pink hair!) and avoided heat styling like it was the plague. In the end, your hair is going to grow at the rate it grows. Which is usually 1/2" every month. My hair stylist said that mine grew a little faster than normal, but I think that's just my normal growth cycle (based on how often I've had to touch it up in between dye jobs in the past, I don't think my efforts to speed up the pixie growth actually made any difference.)

And, honestly, if you're like me and you don't like the way your hair looks while it's growing, wear a wig! I had two wigs that I wore constantly, especially during the first 6 months that I was growing it out. I *hated* my hair at the time I went to Paris in 2017, so I wore a wig the whole time. I knew that I'd hate my travel photos if I was sporting a partially grown-out pixie, so I donned a long dark blonde wig and a knitted hat. And obviously I've been wearing a wig in my outfit pictures since 2017. My favorite sources for wigs are ebay (I try to buy from US sellers now since a lot of the ones I've purchased from China don't actually look anything like the photos in the listings) and Keke Wigs on etsy. My pink wig is from her shop and it's so realistic and durable. And I love that it's not super shiny, so it actually looks like hair.

After 17 months of growth, my hair still doesn't touch my shoulders. But it's *almost* there. I have some shorter layers in the back since I kept going in to get the back trimmed during the growth progress to avoid having a mullet. I'd say I'm about 3-4 months away from being able to do my favorite hairstyle, maiden twists. And I think my hair is long enough that if I can find clip-in extensions that match my hair color I can do top knots and high ponytails right now.

I'm not sure if I'll keep wearing my pink wig for outfit pictures. I've reached a point where I hardly ever feel like I have to wear my wig when I go out anymore, but I still feel self conscious about it in photos. It's still way shorter than I'd like, and since I'm still trying to baby it I've been avoiding bleach (so, no pink for a while...) Either way, I just wanted to share my story in case anyone else is contemplating a pixie or is going through the long tedious growth progress along with me. We'll get there... eventually! ;D

my comprehensive pink hair guide

I've been dyeing my hair pink on and off since 2011, so I thought I'd finally assemble everything I've learned in that time period and write a post about it! I am not a professional, so if you're unaccustomed to fooling around with your own hair I'd definitely recommend going to a hair salon if you want to dye your hair pink.



Deciding to go PINK!

If you're considering pink hair and haven't dyed it or bleached it before, I'd definitely recommend trying a wig first, or at least photoshoping a photo of yourself to see how you like it. In the first photo above I was wearing a pink wig that I bought on ebay. I just wanted to make sure that I'd like the color before I went and dyed my whole head. At the time I went pink, I was already bleaching my hair and then dyeing it red with a box dye. Switching to semi-permanent pink dye was actually healthier for my hair than the red I was using! Even though most people need to bleach their hair before applying fun colors, the actual fun colored dye is usually completely harmless (depends on the brand, but most are free of harmful chemicals) and when mixed with conditioner it's actually like a deep conditioning mask that also dyes your hair at the same time!



The Bleaching

I usually touch up my roots once every five weeks, and touch up my pink hair dye two times in between. If you aren't comfortable bleaching your own hair, you should definitely go to a hair stylist for this part. After years of doing my own hair I feel like I know what it can handle and how to treat it. I have really thick, dry, medium brown hair. I usually use one of the bleach kits that they sell at Sally's (like Beyond the Zone or Manic Panic) that comes with bleach powder and developer. The instructions say to leave it on for up to like 90 minutes, which seems insanely long to me. I usually rinse it off about 10 minutes after I'm done applying the bleach to my whole head. For pink hair, you really don't need it to get super light. Mine is usually a light/medium yellow after bleaching and the pink shows up perfectly vibrant and true to color. Some colors (like when I was dyeing my hair purple earlier this year) require more of a whiter base to start with, but pink is really forgiving.

The dyeing

I usually apply the pink dye right after bleaching, since I mix it with a ton of conditioner. It's ridiculous how soft and healthy my hair feels after I had just bleached it the same day! I usually go for a medium pink, not super light but not neon either. Pour a tiny bit of your dye into a plastic container and then add white conditioner until you get the shade that you're going for. Always start out with a little dye and then add more as needed -- I can't even count how many times I put in too much dye and ended up using a whole bottle of conditioner to try to dilute it down to the right shade of pink!

Keep in mind, dyes are a lot like paint -- you can mix them to get a shade that's perfect for you! Sometimes I've bought pink dyes that were kind of magenta when I really wanted more of a coral, so I'd mix in a little bit of semi-permanent red dye to get the color I wanted. I'm not a big fan of Manic Panic (it usually fades fast) but I keep a bottle of their Wildfire Red dye on hand for whenever I want to coral-ize a pink dye.



The products

My all-time favorite pink hair dye is nowhere to be found anymore (at least right now it isn't) Special Effects in Cupcake Pink was A DREAM. One bottle would last forever, the color would last for like 3 weeks, it was a perfect candy shade of pink -- not too blue, not too red. Perfection. Unfortunately, my last bottle ran out earlier this year and I set on the path of finding a substitute -- 

1. Manic Panic cotton candy pink -- Sally's usually has this, so I'll get it if I need pink hair dye IMMEDIATELY and can't wait for something to come in the mail. It's a pretty color but it fades really, really fast. This is great if you're trying pink for the first time, though, because if you don't like it it'll wash out in like 2-3 shampoos.

2 - Creative Image Adore pink rose - This is my current favorite. The consistency is more of a liquid than any of the other dyes I've tried, but it's the closest I've found to Special Effects cupcake pink in terms of color, longevity and how much you get out of each bottle. The color is really saturated, so to achieve the color I prefer I usually add just a few drops to a big heaping wad of conditioner. I bought one bottle in April and I'm still using it!

3 - Ion Color Brilliance rose - I feel like this one was kind of deceiving. I bought it at Sally's earlier this year. It's one of Ion's pastel shades -- they just look SO pretty on the shelf, all sweet and dainty with perfect pastel packaging. Well, the hair dye was like intense neon pink, even when I diluted it with conditioner. And it faded almost completely after one shower. I would not recommend this one at all.

4 - Pravana chromasilk pastel too cute coral - I've heard a lot of good things about Pravana so I decided to give it a try last month. The color is really pretty, kind of peachy pink and perfectly pastel. It faded kind of fast though, and one tube didn't seem like enough to totally cover my hair (and my hair is not that long.) I'd consider trying it again, but I'm so happy with the Creative Image one I don't think I'll be testing anything else in the near future.

5 - Kevin Murphy color bug hair chalk - This isn't a dye, but it's a lifesaver if you're maintaining pink hair. I like this particular color and how it's packaged, but basically any pink hair chalk should do. If you miss a big chunk of hair when you're dyeing it, or if one section is fading fast (the top back part of my head always fades quickest because that's where the shower head is pounding the most water onto my hair) one swipe of hair chalk and a quick brush-through will help disguise the blonde peeking through.

6 - Pink temporary hair mascara - Again, not dye but another lifesaver. When your roots are coming in and you're not ready to touch them up yet, this stuff is a little miracle worker. I had bright blue hair mascara when I was a tween and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Earlier this year I did a search on amazon to see if it was still available and voila! Pink hair mascara. This only really works if you're still touching up your pink in between bleaching, otherwise your hair will be practically blonde by the time the roots are coming in. I touch up my pink often enough that it's always relatively vibrant, and the hair mascara still matches the color. Bleaching isn't the healthiest thing for your hair (duh!) so anything that helps stretch out the time between touch-ups is worth trying.



Some things to keep in mind

In addition to making sure that you're going to like the color, you really need to consider the time and energy that goes into maintaining pink hair. I don't pamper myself with things like spas, massages, pedicures, etc. so I consider pink hair maintenance my one little beauty indulgence. It takes me a few hours pretty much every other week to work on the dye. I'll camp out in the bathroom watching Netflix on my laptop while the dye is taking. It's actually enjoyable me-time! But if you don't have that kind of time to spend on your hair, definitely consider that beforehand. Also make sure that you either cover your bathroom with towels or own a bathroom that can get dye EVERYWHERE. My  bathroom was basically an art project for me all through high school, with so many layers of paint on the walls it's probably impossible to find the original color. So I don't really care if dye is flinging onto the walls while I work. But I'm guessing most people don't want pink spots on their white tile, so keep that in mind lol.

Also, especially if your hair is vibrantly pink, people will talk to you about it. I'm really shy so it's not my favorite part of having pink hair, to say the least. A lot of people will joke "is that your natural color?" (to which I always just reply "yes.") A few people might want to touch it. That's always super weird. But no matter which colors I try, pink always feels the most "me-ish" so I keep coming back to it. I guess I'm not really lying when I say it's my natural color -- it feels the most natural to me, it just doesn't grow that way out of my scalp (unfortunately!)



Right now I have a more muted pink. I did this in September 2012 and absolutely loved it, so I decided to go back to it again. I use the same pink, diluted with conditioner, except instead of bleaching I started with Clairol Light Red-Neutral Blonde (8RN) mixed with 20 volume developer. It gives me a strawberry/honey blonde base instead of a bright yellow one, which results in a more muted pink. I love that it's more subtle, but still pink! And the 20 volume developer is healthier on my hair than the 40 volume developer that comes in the bleach kits (plus, no bleach!)

One last thing that I love about pink hair -- whenever I've decided that it's time to switch to another color, be it red, brown or even purple, pink has always gone away nicely. I'll apply conditioning masks, rinse it with hot water, and after 2-3 showers it's practically blonde again and ready for whatever color I want to throw on next. Purple was NOT that forgiving. It would not rinse out no matter how much I tried. When I attempted to bleach over it, my hair turned green! Basically my only option seemed to be dyeing it green or teal to make it look intentional. Then I did some research and read on a hair forum (don't remember which one, sorry!) that there was a color you could dye over green-stained hair that would still look amazing. Guess what color? Go ahead, guess!

Yup, it was pink. My beloved pink to the rescue!! Seriously, it's just the best color ever.

Bright hair care Q&A with Kelsi Does Hair

I've been dying my hair pink for about 9 months now, but there are still so many things that puzzle me about the process, and questions I have that endless google searches never answer. So when Kelsi from Kelsi Does Hair contacted me about sponsoring my blog last month, I immediately asked if she'd be up for doing a little Q&A about dying and maintaining bright hair color! Not only did Kelsi have pink hair for 10 years, but she's also a professional hairstylist! So, unlike me, she really knows what she's talking about! I'm sure some of my questions are pretty goofy or stupid, but I was curious and as Linda Ellerbee always said... if you want to know, ask! ;)

Q: What is the absolute best thing you can do to care for bleached, brightly colored hair? What is the worst thing you can do?

A: The best things you can do are to invest in professional quality products and tools that are designed for lightened hair, detangle it gently and treat it with care. The worst things you can do are to brush through it when it's wet or be rough with it in general, especially when it's wet, bleach it over and over again or color over it and then bleach it again.

Q: Whenever I look up information about dying your hair fun colors, there are always TONS of warnings about over-bleaching and hair falling out or breaking off. But when I was looking into plain old blonde a few years back, I never saw any such warnings. Since the semi-permanent colored dye is harmless, why is there such a focus on breakage for people wanting pink or blue hair, but not blonde?

A: Hmm... I can't really say for sure. Lightening hair is the same whether you are going to leave it blonde or go over it with a semi-permanent color. I have a few thoughts about why the information you found might have differed, but I can't say for sure about any of them without reading the same information. My first thought is that when pre-lightening hair in order to do a bright color, instructions probably talk about bleaching your hair, whereas a lot of people use a box color instead of bleach in order to go blonde. Using color to lift can be less damaging, but often doesn't give very good results. Or it could be that when pre-lightening hair to do a bright color, many people recommend bleaching it to platinum/white first, but "blonde" can be a wide range, including darker blondes which don't require as much lifting and wont' be as damaging. In any case, you should be very careful when lightening your hair, no matter what end result you are going for. Breakage is always a concern, especially if you are doing it at home.

Q: You mentioned that most people recommend bleaching your hair to a platinum/white first before going with a bright color (I think it even says that on the bottle of the colors I've used) but I've always gotten a pretty bright pink without bleaching it white. Mine looks sort of bright yellow before I apply the color, and it still comes out very bright pink. Are there certain colors (like warmer hues) that can look just as vibrant without having to bleach the heck out of your hair? For instance, I'd imagine blue might have a greenish tint if it's dyed over yellow hair, so you'd need it to be almost white beforehand, but for bright orange a yellow base wouldn't interfere with the color?

A: When I do bright colors, I usually aim for a pale yellow blonde. If you are doing a pastel color, the hair will need to be very very pale in order to show up properly. If you're doing a darker, warm color like fuchsia, red or orange, you can leave a little more yellow in the hair, but you're right that any strong undertones will show through especially if you're using a cool color like blue. Also if you don't bleach it light enough, the hair won't be porous enough to hold on to the color well, but on the contrary, if your hair is overly processed, the color will come out quicker. That light yellow color is usually the sweet spot for semi-permanent haircolor.

Q: I used Manic Panic cotton candy pink for a while, but it always faded super duper fast. Since I switched to Special Effects cupcake pink it stays practically forever. In your experience is this the case with all of their dyes, or does it vary by color? Are there any colors that seem to last really long regardless of which brand you use?

A: In my experience, it varies most from brand to brand, and to a lesser degree from color to color. For longevity, Special Effects, Fudge and Raw are all good ones, regardless of the color. I'm not a big fan of Manic Panic or Punky Colors as I've experienced a lot of bleeding and rubbing off with those ones. Inkworks by Paul Mitchell has fair longevity for the warmer colors like pink, red and orange, but their cool colors like blue and purple fade off really quickly. This can be a good thing if you want to change your color frequently so that you don't have to damage your hair by trying to lift your previous color out.

Q: What would you recommend for super deep conditioning treatments? Are regular bottled conditioners the best for color treated hair, or are home remedies good as well, like mayonnaise or olive oil? My mom used to swear by Vo5 hot oil when she had waist-length long hair in the 70's. Is that advisable for bleached hair?

A: As far as home remedies vs. things that are created specifically to be used in your hair, REAL conditioning treatments win hands down. Oils like olive oil, mayonnaise etc. can coat the outside of your hair, which will make it temporarily feel smoother and shinier, just like anything that is coated in oil, but it does nothing for the internal structure of your hair. I don't advise ever putting these kinds of oils on blonde hair because it can cause yellowing. Conditioning treatments, especially professional quality ones, are better designed to penetrate your hair and improve the integrity of your hair, making it stronger, healthier, smoother and better conditioned from the inside and out. Some oils can help condition your hair on a deeper level, but they have to be the correct molecular weight to penetrate your hair, and you aren't going to find them at the grocery store. My favorite deep conditioner is the Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratriplex Treatment, which is an in-salon two step treatment by Paul Mitchell. You can find a salon that offers it by visiting http://awapuhi.paulmitchell.com The second part of that treatment, called Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratin Intensive Treatment, is available to purchase and take home; that is what I personally use at home. It's the only thing that makes my hair feel really, really soft and comb out easily. Other good ones are Paul Mitchell's Super Strong Treatment, and K-Pak by Joico.

Q: I know *technically* bleaching at home isn't advised, but if you're going to do it yourself, is there any way to do it in little increments? It seems like the only home lightening kits majorly lighten your hair within like 30 minutes! If you want to do it slowly over a couple weeks with gradual lightening, is there a way to do it at home?

A: The at-home lightening kits that I see always come with 40 volume developer, which is insane to me. I almost NEVER use 40 volume developer in the salon. The lower the volume of developer, the slower it will lift. Go to a beauty supply that is open to the public like Sally Beauty and get powder or cream bleach and 10 or 20 volume developer. 20 will still give you a lot of lift within 30 minutes and is what I use on most people, even to achieve platinum. 10 will give you less lift and might be easier to use if you work slower or if you don't want to bleach your hair as light. 20 is the highest volume that would use on someone's scalp, any higher than that and you are risking chemical burns.

Q: If you're totally done with your cool colored hair and want to dye it brown, how on earth do you do it? I went to a salon and the stylist accidentally turned my hair green! eek!

A: I highly recommend getting this done at a salon as opposed to at home, because it is SO easy to mess up, and I know exactly what your stylist did wrong. If your hair has been lightened and the color you want to do is several shades darker, you need to "fill" it before putting on your final color. Filling involves adding warm tones back in to the hair. Depending on how many shades darker you want to go with it, you'll need to add some orange, red-orange or red tones back in to your hair before putting the brown on. If you jump straight to brown, especially if you are doing a cool or ashy brown, your porous, lightened hair is going to grab on to those cool/ashy tones and cling to them for dear life, leaving it a murky greenish color. Your stylist SHOULD know what kind of color and what tone is missing from your hair and needs to be added back in before your final color, but unfortunately not all of them do.

Q: I've read that washing your hair in cold water is one of the best ways to keep your color, but in the middle of winter that is super hard! Are there any other, less torturous, methods for keeping your color bright?

A: Using cool water to wash your hair is a great way to make your color last longer. It doesn't have to be ice cold, but the coolest water that is comfortable, even if that means room temperature, as opposed to scalding hot, is better for both your hair and your skin/scalp. Some other ways to help your hair color last longer are using professional quality color protective shampoo and conditioner, shampooing your hair less often (Every other day at the most! I only shampoo mine once or twice a week), Using a good deep conditioning treatment, and cover your hair if you are going to be in the sun, or if you are going tanning. Use heat on your hair less often if you can too, or at least use a heat protective product if you are going to straighten or curl your hair.

Q: All hair dye instructions seem to advise that you don't dye freshly shampooed hair. Why is that? And I've always wondered if it's then ok to dye really dirty hair, or does it need to be a happy medium like 1 day after your last shampoo?

A: I usually prefer that people wash their hair one to two days before coming in to have it colored. You want to have a little bit of your natural oil on your scalp to help protect it from both irritation from the color and keep it from staining. I wouldn't recommend coloring your hair if it's REALLY dirty, because excess oil and especially heavy styling products like waxes can prevent the color from penetrating and successfully coloring your hair.

Q: Do things like deep conditioning masks or leave-in treatments actually work, or are you better off just slathering your hair with regular old conditioner and letting it sit for a while?

A: Leaving conditioner on for a while will help more than just quickly putting it in and rinsing it off, especially if you keep your hair warm and moist while it sits. However good quality deep conditioners definitely have their merits and can do more to provide your hair with crucial moisture or protein than a daily conditioner. The key is to get a professional quality deep conditioner, and make sure to use it as the directions recommend. Since they are more intense than regular conditioners, if you over-use them, they can actually harm your hair. For example, lightened hair usually needs protein, so if you use a protein-rich deep conditioner like Paul Mitchell Super Strong conditioner, it will make your hair feel much softer and more manageable, but if you use it every day, it can deposit too much protein and actually make your hair more brittle and prone to breakage.

Q: If you have permanent dye in your hair (like red or light brown.. I'm assuming black would definitely require a salon visit) do you have to use a color removal kit before bleaching, or can you just bleach over the old color?

A: Unless the color you used has metallic salts, which a few brands do, like Just For Men hair color, you can just bleach it. If your hair was its natural color before you went over it with permanent color and you want it back to your natural color, i would recommend using just a color remover instead of bleach because color remover only takes out artificial hair color and won't affect your natural color, whereas bleach is non-discriminatory and will lift your natural hair color as well as the the artificial color. If the permanent hair color you have on is fairly light like you described, and you want to shoot for a lighter color than your natural, you shouldn't have much trouble with just bleaching it instead of using a color remover.

Q: Lastly, this has nothing to do with coloring, but I'm curious! Does trimming your hair really make it grow faster & make it healthier, or is it just a myth?

A: It's a myth, mostly. It does improve the health of your hair because you are trimming off the ends, which are the most damaged, which will help prevent tangling and splitting. It does not make your hair grow faster though. It seems like your hair grows faster when you trim it because you are keeping the ends healthier and allowing it to grow out without breaking. If your ends are all scraggly, trimming them off will make your hair look and feel healthier which can actually make it look longer. But since the only part of your hair that is alive is the root, which is in your scalp and all of the hair that you can see is made up of dead keratin, nothing you do to that hair will affect the way that it actually grows out of your head.

ouch ouch ouch ouch!!

I don't know what it is with my hair, but it is a PAIN to brush. I mean, so painful that I usually cry every single time I brush it. I tried everything I could think of to detangle it, but nothing ever worked. "No More Tangles" was useless, as was every other after-shower detangling solution I purchased. I tried brushing it constantly to prevent knots from forming in the first place. I'd brush in the morning, afternoon, at night. Then I'd brush before my shower, during and after. Still had knots galore. Every time I've ever cut my hair in my entire lifetime, it's been because I'm sick of brushing out knots, not because I wanted a shorter do. Every time.

So, about two weeks ago I was reading a blog post by Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky, and clicked over to her 'About Me' section. In there she had a link to a haircare post she'd done that described her daily hair routine. In the post, she mentioned that she used Biolage detangling conditioner, and I decided to give a no-more-knots solution one last try. I purchased it on amazon that night, and used it for the first time this weekend.

OH MY GOSH. It's seriously the most amazing thing ever. While it usually takes me at least a half hour to brush out all my knots, after using this conditioner it took about 2 minutes. Seriously. The brush just slid through my hair like butter. I AM IN LOVE. I can't believe all these years I've been torturing myself brushing my hair, when this has been on the market the whole time. I just had to share this with you, in case anyone else has the same problem as me.

I tried tweeting Elizabeth to thank her, but I think I came off looking like a hair freak or something and I wouldn't be surprised if she blocked me or marked me as spam. lol. I was just SO excited (sometimes I think I get too excited about stupid things like this, but that's another story.) Anyway, even if I sounded like a lunatic I'm seriously so thankful I found her post because it's made my life so much better!

Disclamier: I'm just using this brush in the photos because it's pink and prettier than my black comb & black paddle brush. I only use this one for my bangs, and I know it's not ideal for actually brushing your hair :)