2013 Round-Up: What's been going on with my hair...(and tips for colouring)

Hi all,

I've been getting complaints that you don't see posts about me often enough on the blog. I'm just going to use this cheeky opportunity to point out that we're now on Instagram, and if you followed us ...@kinkyapothecary... you'd get far more frequent updates on my hair...but I digress! :p 

I guess this is as good an opportunity as any to kick off a series of posts catching you up on what I should have posted last year, had I been blogging as often as I should have.

So for those of you who I didn't run into over the course of 2013, and therefore didn't get the chance to see in person, this is what has been going on with my hair over the past 6 months or so...

By the middle the year I'd begun to get extremely bored of the length, shape and flat colour of my hair...

We all know I'm not averse to a little snip snip, so I took advantage of a trip to NYC in August and decided to try out a salon I'd been recommended in Brooklyn called the H2 Salon, where I proceeded to get my hair highlighted and had a few inches chopped off, particularly at the back where I wanted some layers...

The owner, Dailey Greene, prefers to cut straight hair (I've also been to stylists who cut hair curly), and since I very rarely ever wear my hair straight, I decided I might as well rock it like that for a couple of days (even though I knew I would be battling with humidity as I was heading to Miami a couple of days later). So she proceeded to flat iron before pin-curling it...

This picture gives a more accurate depiction of the initial colour (which has since turned a much more vivid red as I henna my hair)...

I didn't bother to try and fight humidity and just allowed my hair to swell with the moisture...

And bunned for the last few days before my next wash...

And despite the nerves that ALWAYS accompany any dalliance with heat, my hair reverted with no problems when I washed it...

I've tried to be more adventurous with styling...

(I've named this one the 'Wilma Flintsone')

And generally continued to have fun with it...

I have now decided to protective style for the next few months (for as long as I can bear it), and put in some marley twists...

...which I did myself just before our last event... 

...but more on my protective styling marathon later!

My tips for anyone considering colour:

• My first recommendation would always to get your hair dyed professionally. I personally would never colour my hair myself (after a terrible experience years before I embarked on this 'healthy hair journey', which resulted in an astonishing amount of breakage). However there are many who colour their hair safely themselves. If you decide this is a path you want to take, be sure to do your research, read the instructions carefully, and ensure you take the colour up in stages: never think about going from black to blonde hair in one step, but gradually lift to red, brown and then blonde, if that is your goal.
• Never even think about colouring your hair if it is not in an optimal condition. The very nature of dyeing, altering the natural colour of your hair, will naturally present it with some damage as with any chemical process. I'm sure I don't need to spell out the consequence of adding further damage to already damaged hair.
• Deep condition frequently for some time leading up to the process, and ensure you deep condition regularly (and more frequently than before) afterwards. 
• Also add more frequent protein treatments to your regimen (always followed up by a moisturising deep conditioning treatment.
• Consider using semi permanent dyes, such as Naturtint, or vegetable dyes like henna. Note however that these do not lift colour, but deposit, and the colour might not come out exactly as advertised especially if you naturally have very dark hair.
• For this and other reasons, ALWAYS do a patch test before colouring, to see how your hair responds. If colouring professionally, a good colourist will also insist on doing a patch test.
• On the subject of henna, bear in mind a lot of research needs to go into this before you proceed. Henna has many benefits (I henna for strength, rather than colour), however there can also be many pitfalls attached, so ensure you are armed with information and know what you are doing. There is so much information required before you consider using henna, that I will be doing a few posts on the subject. In the meantime, this ebook is a great and comprehensive starting point for your research.

Until next time, take care!

~ Nibi