The neverending bad hair day

Those of you who know me will be familiar with what seems to be my never-ending quest to grow my hair long and the many lengths I am willing to go to to try and achieve this. After a particularly horrendous trip to a new hairdressers in 2010 to have my hair coloured, I was beginning to look more Worzel Gummidge than Alexa Chung and I’ve been struggling to get my hair into an acceptable condition ever since. The trouble began when I went for a full head of highlights at a salon that admittedly I’d never been to before but had been recommended to me by a friend. I don’t know about you but I feel worse about a trip to the hairdressers than about a dentist appointment, particularly when it’s with someone new, my hair is my crowning glory, it needs to be treated with care. To cut a long story short the somewhat inexperienced (or so it seemed) stylist left the foils in for far too long resulting in my hair becoming a fried straw-like mess for many months afterwards, messing with my confidence and meaning that regardless of my fruitless growing attempts, large chunky layers had to be cut in to combat the frizz. To put it bluntly, I was devastated. I feel like such a girl admitting this but having a bad hair day has a drastic impact on whether or not my day is good or bad, and following the hair colour from hell I was left with a bad hair day, every day of my life. 2011 saw me try many tactics to coax my hair to grow past the dreaded shoulder length stage, with little success. Ironically it’s now probably the healthiest it’s been in a long time but still, no growth, or not much anyway (bear with me, I’m being dramatic). Therefore I’ve decided that 2012 WILL be the year that my hair finally grows: I will have long flowing locks like the likes of Delightfully Tacky by the end of the year, I am certain.

*Delightfully Tacky, aka the hair of my dreams

Two weeks in and change is already afoot. After a documented trip to Boots where I spent far too much on haircare products, the barnet is already in much better condition, volumised and somehow looking longer after only a few days (miracles do happen). Having really thick hair that seems to cling onto even a hint of product or residue, it’s taken me a while to find what I consider to be the holy grail of hair growth/strengthening/conditioning-without-weighing-down products that are going to enable me to finally get my hair to grow. Here are my pick of the bunch:

*Alpecin, that's right, we've reached desperate times

Herbal Essence Clarifying shampoo and conditioner: I need to use a clarifying shampoo to stop my hair feeling weighed down but at least with Herbal Essence I get a great smelling product too. Using most other shampoos lead to me having to wash it pretty much every day which, due to the heated appliances needed to give my hair some sort of style, defeats the object of trying to improve the condition and get it to grow. I hate you bitches who can just wash and go.

TOP TIP: If you find your hair clings on to conditioner residue, weighing it down and making it seem greasy no matter how long you rinse for, try conditioning first, THEN washing. Seriously, changed my life.

VO5 Plump it up, amplifying blow dry lotion: This product is a miracle worker. It protects my hair from heat, gives it volume, banishes frizz and doesn’t weigh it down. Exactly what I’m looking for.

Boots own brand serum: Cheap and cheerful, does what it says on the tin and you only need to use a tiny amount to smooth split and dry ends. There are so many serums on the market but I always find myself coming back to this, it works just as well as the big brand products and won’t break the bank, great for a girl on a budget.

(And finally…….if you’re looking to achieve volume (like me) I cannot sing the praises of a barrel brush enough. Pay attention at the hairdressers and try and blow-dry your hair in a similar way, massive hair in no time. Can’t manage that? Spray dry shampoo on the roots and rough up, added volume in no time.)

A return to long lost loves...

Having recently finished the hell that was my MA course, the infinite amount of free time I now find myself with is coming as a bit of a shock. Over recent weeks I’ve mostly been sorting stuff out to sell at the carboot and on ebay (desperate times and all that), applying for jobs and flat hunting. Although, without a job the flat really is a pipe dream so I should just concentrate on tracking down that elusive career of mine.

Reading is one thing I’m getting back into, having devoured two books over the last week alone. The pleasure that reading a good book whilst on one of my endless train journeys brings me is unbelievable, especially after months where every spare second was filled with uni work. The next of my past loves to return will be drawing and painting. This fills me with excitement as it literally feels like it’s been months, if not years, since I sketched anything. An upcoming holiday in France with The Boy and our best friends seems like the natural place to start and I can’t wait to try and capture anything that catches my eye. For now I’m sparking my imagination by looking at the work of many a talented artist and illustrator online, such as Brett Manning, whose work I discovered through one of my favourite blogs Delightfully Tacky.