Digitally Permed Hair Maintenance

It's been a month since I had my hair digitally permed and it's holding up quite well. I just want to share how I maintain it because I didn't find much about maintenance for permed hair.  Disclaimer: I'm not saying this is how you should do it, It's just how I like to do it :)

SHAMPOO

Shampoo is important to clean and rinse off the dirt in your hair. So what shampoo should you use? I say use whatever you like :p Some say sulfate free shampoos are better because they won't dry off your hair ripping it with it's natural protective oil. But I've tried sulfate free shampoos before and I didn't like how it felt. No suds, like I didn't really clean my hair. Some people skip shampoo altogether and just use conditioner. But I don't think I can stand that as well. So what I do is dilute the shampoo in water and use that to wash my hair. I recommend using hydrating shampoos because coloring and perming your hair might make it dry. I've been using Tsubaki (the red one) before but recently I tried Pantene's Color and Perm shampoo and it's okay so far. If you know where I can buy Herbal Essences Totally Twisted in the Philippines please please let me know :)

Pantene Color & Perm PHP120

CONDITIONER

I can't stand not using conditioner when I got my hair permed. It makes your hair softer, moisturized and manageable. I just picked up this one at Watson's one time because the sales lady said she swears by it and I was quite in a hurry soo yeah. It actually is moisturizing and I like it. I also use a wide toothed comb when I condition my hair to remove the tangles and spread the conditioner better.

Naturals Argan Oil Conditioner PHP150

DRYING

We usually towel dry our hair (I do) but I've read somewhere that it strips the hair of moisture so I just use an old t-shirt and wrap it  around my hair while I do my make up and wait for it to dry.

PRODUCTS

I then section it and twist it like this (I was clueless how to do it at first) while it's still wet.

Then combine a matte & hard wax with 1 pump of hair oil, mix them and apply it to my curls twisting & scrunching them again and distributing the product evenly.

You can use any wax and hair oil really this is just what I prefer. 

Gatsby Matte & Hard PHP37

Black Beauty Hair Serum PHP69

Occasionally, I also use a hair mouse (left over from when I last permed) but I prefer the wax&oil combination for a better hold. 

I also tried using Argan Oil instead of the serum but it's less moisturizing.

Then I drive around and wait for it to dry on my way to work and just de-tangle it when I get off at the office.

Tada! Our one month old digitally permed curls

Brazilian Blowout at Queen's Lair

It's been a year.. actually more than a year since I last cut my hair. Well what can I say I love my long curly colored hair. But now it's too long and hard to manage so I decided It's time to let it go.. bye bye long hair.. I'll miss you.. :'(

So this was how long my hair was before

Anyway, I just wanted to cut and color it. I guess it would take around PHP1000+ for that. Then I tried looking for good deals from sites selling vouchers like metrodeal and ensogo and found this little gem.

I bought the PHP1299 package. Hair Rebond OR Brazilian Keratin Blowout + Hair Color + Haircut + Shampoo w/ Blow Dry + Manicure + Pedicure + Spot Massage. See? I was just looking for a cheap haircut and hair color package and look what I found. (^_^)  Now I was torn Rebond or Brazilian?

I have had my hair rebonded before but it's the first time I've heard of brazilian keratin blowout. I did my research and came up with the following: Unlike hair rebond which actually breaks the bond of your hair, brazilian keratin blowout aims to strengthen it by sealing in keratin in your hair or at least that's how I understand it.

Since I've already tried rebond. I decided to try brazilian this time around. So I did more research. Apparently, brazilian keratin blowout is recommended for color and/or chemically treated, damaged hair.  The process basically consist of putting keratin in your hair, leaving it for some time then using a flat iron to seal in the keratin. So you see brazilian does not do anything to help you straighten your hair so if that's what you want, you're better off rebonding. But if you just want to bring back some of your hair's old health and shine, then by all means try brazilian.

The only alarming thing I've read about it is that, brazilian keratin blowout has been banned from some countries because the product they use have formaldehyde to ensure the keratin is preserved in the hair. So... again try at your own risk.

Next, I researched about the salon I was going. There were other salons that offer almost the same package so I had to choose. So far, the reviews I've read about Queen's Lair was good that's why I chose this voucher. I called the branch and confirmed if they were accepting ensogo vouchers and scheduled my visit.

They have 3 branches but I think the Ortigas branch is temporarily closed. I chose the Mandaluyong Branch. This was the same day we ate at Ippudo Ramen so it was convenient for me to choose the branch near Megamall.

The Mandaluyong branch is located at the ground floor of BSA twin towers. The first thing I noticed when I entered the salon was the smell. Maybe it's hair color, or hair spray or keratin or I dunno what other chemicals they use but it's pretty overwhelming. I found it hard to breathe and my eyes were a little watery. I was thinking maybe it was just me but even some of the staff were wearing face masks. I was quite alarmed and it reminded me of the formaldehyde stuff. But other than that, everything went well.

Last picture of my hair before I cut it. :'(

So I told Rhiza my stylist what I wanted to do with my hair. I told her I wanted brazilian, my hair cut into a medium bob and colored red. They all stopped to look. "Sure ka teh?" "Why?" "Sayang naman teh!" I just smiled and said yes! I love my hair but I want to cut it. It's not like it won't ever grow back again. I should probably mention that I've been researching from pinterest for hair styles and I showed it to the stylist. So yes I'm prepared to cut it short.

The cut I wanted with probably a less shocking shade of red.

First cut. I told Rhiza I wanted it shorter. Again she asked me "sure ka ah?" and I said for the nth time Yes! :)

After cutting it, They applied hair color. If you've read my previous blogs, it shouldn't be a surprise that I wanted my hair red. It's just that my previous DIY hair colors failed so my hair's still brown :)

After that, they washed my hair 3 times, with a shampoo? that smells like joy the dish washing liquid hehe. Then they put the keratin and let it sit for while.

After that they blow dried and ironed it without rinsing the keratin off.

Voila! My hair after all the treatment

But wait there's more! I still have my manicure and pedicure.

Pretend you didn't see my micro toe nails. hehe She was sighing heavily and scolding me not to cut it ever again. (^_^)V

The color's more visible in this picture. I'm not supposed to wash my hair for 3 days so sorry office mates! Don't come near me! XD

I forgot about the spot massage included in the package but oh well. My butt was already hurting from sitting for hours. The process began at 2:00PM and ended at 7:30PM. Overall, I was satisfied with the result. They all looked surprised as well at how it all turned out. They don't feel sorry now for cutting my hair haha.




After three days I'll try to get back and post how it turned out after washing my hair. They were also selling this iCure product. PHP500 each for the shampoo and conditioner. It's something like a maintenance but I didn't buy it. I'm going to try another sulfate free shampoo to keep the color last longer and see how it turns out. Wish me luck! (^_^)

UPDATE:
My hair after washing it for the first time.. Note that I didn't blow dry or iron it (obviously). It's not pin straight. It's not even "bagsak". Hmmn it's soft and light and fluffy. Just my normal hair before I curled and colored it.

Kolours Hair Dye

Hair coloring is addicting I tell you.. I didn't get the results I wanted when I used Bubbles hair dye so after a month or so here I am again trying out a different dye. This time it's Kolours. I chose the Oriental Ruby color because I'm quite obsessed with red right now. Kind of rebelious if you're not into loud hair colors. I'd try blue dye but they don't have one so I settled for the red one.
Enough of my babbling.. Kolours hair dye costs around PHP240 a lot more inexpensive than Bubbles. The package comes with the following:

Oh no wait that's chowder looking at me like I've gone crazy. XD

Oh here.. the dye, conditioner, plastic hand gloves and manual.

Pour the contents of the tube into the bottle and mix well.

Apply to your hair and leave for 30minutes. Rinse it after and use the conditioner for 10minutes.

Tada! See the reddish glow? Hehe I hope it stays like this unlike last time. 

If you want to see what my hair looks like before I used Kolours, check my blog about Bubbles hair dye. :)

Again I'll update this post after a few days and see what happens.

UPDATE:

Sorry it took almost 2 months for me to update this. <honestly I forgot (>_<)> But here it is after 2 months. And again as you can see the color is gone. But in fairness, it lasted longer than the color from bubbles hair dye.

Bubbles Hair Dye

My friends recently tried this product from etude which lets you easily apply hair color.

You can buy the Bubbles hair dye for PHP428 at Etude stores. They come in different colors.

I was intrigued because my friends kept gushing about how easy it was to apply and how good and fragrant the hair conditioner was. So I finally had the courage to try it.

This was my hair before I used the product.

It's been a year since I curled and colored it so its just about time to change it. I still like my curls so I'm just gonna try another color.

Sorry about the mess. I wasn't really planning on blogging it but I wanted to keep the memory anyway.

The box comes with the hair color, conditioner and plastic gloves. There are a lot of tutorials on you tube on how to apply it step by step. I just watched the instructions on you tube as the box I bought didn't come with an english manual.

I bought the no.4 Wine Red color cause I wanted to be a little daring. ^_^ When you squish the bottle it contains a bubble like substance. For wine red, the bubble color is violet like. You apply it on dry hair and leave it for 30 minutes.

At first I was doubtful that 1 bottle will be enough for my long hair, but suprisingly it was.

After 30 minutes, rinse it with water. It feels super dry after rinsing so apply the conditioner afterwards and leave it for 3-10 minutes.

Rinse it again and voila! It is done! This is how It looks like on the first day. If you noticed the color became darker.

If we put it side by side you'll be able to see the difference.

I was told it will become lighter as days pass by.. so let's see.

Note that the results are different depending on your hair type and color.

My friend used wine red here too. From black hair to this lighter shade of red. And the color was more visible.

I'll update this post in a few days and see what happens.. ^_^

UPDATE:
Unfortunately after a week the color returned to the old one before the application of bubbles hair dye soo.. meh didn't work.