Hair, Health

That’s the pits

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Have you ever thought about lasering your unwanted hair off? Last summer a co-worker told me that she was in the proccess of having her bikini line lasered off and told me that it didn’t sting too much. You have to go through multiple procedures to have it removed completely.

When I was in getting a wax once, I asked the woman what laser hair removal felt like — and told her I was thinking of it. She told me it was like having a rubber band slapped against your skin continuously. Doesn’t seem too bad, does it?

I … really hate shaving my pits. Seriously. It gets so sore and raw if I do it each day, so I can’t. Which in turn makes me self conscious when I’m at the gym, showing the stubble. Not so pretty. It’s probably why I have invested in more short-sleeved workout tops instead of always wearing tank tops. I resorted once to this “at home” method. Unfortunately for me I left it on a bit too long (and even then, it didn’t work!!!) and burned my pits so bad for days afterward it hurt to have any t-shirts or even deodorant on.  Even remembering back about that day I still can feel the pain I was in. What a regret.

I may end up trying going to a salon like the  dallas laser hair removal place. But instead, I may end up having my eyebrows waxed first, because I’m too chicken to just jump in there into a new place and say “hey, can you laser my arm pits please?”.

Would you ever laser hair off? Or better yet … have you? Try out laser hair removal dallas for yourselves too! Maybe there’s one around you.

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Hair, Photos, Reviews

I will master this style

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It’s safe to say I can be an Aveda advocate. I’ve been using their products since 2003 and I haven’t switched since. I’m dedicated to what works.

I mentioned on Saturday that I’d tell you all what products was used in the creation of the beautiful curls that the hair stylist put in my hair. Unfortunately, as easy as it may look  it was difficult to recreate lol. I usually only go to salons that uses primarily Aveda products, so when he was washing my hair — he was using the same shampoo that I use at home: Aveda Rosemary Mint (shampoo & conditioner). I’m not fond of the smell, but I switch up my Aveda shampoos regularly so I don’t have to smell it all the time. I loved my stylists personality, because I told him: “Is that Rosemary Mint? I have that at home — haven’t used it in a while because I get sick of the smell.” His response was awesome (I love this in a stylist — take charge, my friend!) “Hold your breath ha ha!”

That right there, believe it or not made me trust him more. He’s not out to sweet talk me or apologize. He knows what he’s doing, and I bet if I ever said “Color my hair! Something crazy!” he’d do just that. A dramatic bold punch and wouldn’t let me look at it til he’s done. I definitely found my new stylist.

I’ll just do a run-down on what he used on my hair on Saturday:

Shampoo + Conditioner: Aveda’s Rosemary Mint
De-tangler/Leave-in Conditioner: AG Conditioning Mist.
Thermal Spray/Heat Protectant/ Gel Hold: AG Thermal Spray Gel. This product I can’t find on their website. Oh well, you can at least see what it looks like below.

I haven’t heard of AG (view their website) before, and my stylist recommended it to me over the Aveda items. Apparently it’s Canadian and he likes supporting that. He says the AG’s scent mimics Aveda’s shampoo and conditioners, however I have to disagree. Aveda smells like a salon, whereas the AG products smell like grapes or apples, more fruity. It’s a welcoming change, but once I use this whole bottle up and I’m not pleased with it? I’ll be going back to Aveda. I’m pessimistic with new products, so this one has a lot of owning up to do.

How did he curl my hair so nice and sleek? Well that my friends is a question I’ll be pondering for a while. All he did was dry my hair with the blow dryer with a regular brush, and when it was 75% dry he started round-brushing it which made it look sleek, and once he was done round brushing the roots, he ended up doing a little easy “flick” with the brush towards my ends, creating a nice subtle curl. I am going to master this technique, even if it takes months.

It always looks so much better when you’re about to go out the door. Then you get into work and the back of it looks like this…

Not even close to my ‘do on Sat.

At least I was complimented by the University’s printing-staff delivery lady! Success? Start small. Start small.

Be prepared to only see photos of me with curly hair in the future :)

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Hair, Health, Photos

Don’t be afraid

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It’s difficult moving to a new city and finding a new hair stylist, don’t you think?

I’ve only had one great stylist in my lifetime and it was for a mere two years or less. Unfortunately for me, he disappeared into thin air one day and I was stuck going to the owner of the salon. He didn’t do a fantastic job on me, and ended up always cutting off more than I could handle. He didn’t get tipped very well, let me tell you.

I moved to Ontario and ended up going to the dreaded First Choice Hair Cutters for the first little while. The split ends were non-stop. Do. Not Recommend.

Finally, a new salon opened up in walking distance of our apartment building and I’ve been going to this guy ever since. Except there’s a few things that are bothersome when I go there. Let me organize a pretty little list for you.

  1. He pushes products on me. I’ve talked about this before.
  2. He always wants to wash my hair. (I only accept “head massages” if they’re good. He’s not good. Plus, it costs extra for a shampoo!)
  3. He straightens the heck out of my already flat, straight hair. I always end up putting my hair in a pony tail straight after I come out of the salon.

I keep going back, because I don’t have to go to his salon that often. He cuts my hair so great that I end up going to him once every 4 or 5 months! I’m only now showing signs of minor split ends and I can’t even recall when my last cut was. November? I don’t remember!

I booked an appointment in early February, for late March. This was the length of my hair before I went in. Beautiful, no? Okay, maybe it was a bit ratty looking. No hate.

beforeExcept when I re-booked for March. He ended up canceling on me. “A way out!” I thought. So I jumped the gun and ended up leaving a voice mail for Mister Hair cutter himself, and canceling my re-booked appointment with him, and WENT TO ANOTHER SALON. Oh the shock, and horror.

So. I went to the top hair stylist in the salon, as they were listed on their website

  • New Talent (no thanks. Don’t need newbies screwing up my hair)
  • Advanced
  • Master – I went to this fabulous man named Dan.

He cut my hair. I had the best scalp massage I have had in years. I got a hand massage and also some products to take home.

before-after-haircut(Please! Click to enlarge.)

Here’s the before and afters right next to one another. Hot dang. It looks gooooood. I’m not afraid to compliment myself.

I’m pleased, no doubt. I mean, I straighten + blow dry my hair every day. So it says something about his scissor skills. Right?

after

I’m not sure how long I want my hair to be. I like the length that it is now, but my ‘bangs’ (I quote, because I haven’t had bangs since 8th grade) still isn’t the same length as the rest of my hair. Perhaps I’ll be done with the length as it is, and just grow my ‘bangs’ (or layers, whatever they are) out and I’ll be set. I think I love this length on me. I haven’t dyed my hair in over a year now and not professionally since 2008! Primarily I want to see what my natural hair color is like for a little while before I go gray. But I want to try something wild again! And since I’ve found a new stylist (because the other guy I went to didn’t “do” crazy colors lol), my new stylist can maybe do that for me!after-haircut-smile

flashClearly, I love it. Oh, and my hair isn’t really that like — I don’t think. It’s the flash that made it red/brown.

In order for them to do something crazy on me, I’ll have to start from scratch again and they’ll have to work to get my trust in dying my hair. I haven’t dyed my hair in about a year and a half just so I could see what shade my natural hair color was. Oh the circle of life…

hairI just had to take another one. He curled my hair just using a round brush. This one shows it really well. EEEE!!! Ignore my ugly chair and dirty desk, I was catching up on some google-reader reads.

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