The Perm That Killed My Hair & The Products That Brought It Back To Life.

Hello! 

Wordy title, sorry! Hope you're all having a fab weekend so far, I am enjoying doing absolutely nothing - Uni assessments start next week so i'm chilling in preparation for the mayhem that will follow! 

As the title suggests, and if you read my blog regularly you might know that a few weeks ago I got a perm. Basically, my younger Sister is in her final year of studying hairdressing, and I am her official guinea pig. Don't ask me why I let her talk me into these things, but she knows I'm a sucker for having somebody play with my hair all day. Anyway, she has to do certain hair related things to pass the course: cuts, colours, styles etc. The one thing she struggled to get clients for is perming - enter the guinea pig. She begged and begged me to do it, we even sat down with her tutor and talked about ways to create makeshift perming rods to make bigger, looser waves rather than springy curls. Eventually, she wore me down and I agreed to have the perm. 

This is the result: (I apologise for the shocking quality, they were taken on my phone - I can't wait to get rid of you, Blackberry) 

Ahh, look at my luscious long locks *Sniff*. Looks pretty nice right? Well, I was happy with it. I tend to have naturally wavy hair, so summer beachy waves tend to be my go-to style. The perm kind of enhanced my natural waves. I was warned that the perming lotion *may* make the ends of my hair slightly dry, however I had no idea just how dry! 

From that day, my hair became a nightmare. Yes, the curls were in and the curls looked lovely, but to the touch, my hair was in the worst condition of it's life! I've always somewhat prided myself on my ability to have healthy, shiny hair in excellent condition - I have a shelf full of various products to prove it. I remember way back at the end of middle school when I was about 14, our teacher gave us all slips to fill in a sentence about each of our classmates that we got to keep. I still have my little bundle of slips and the majority of them said "She's quiet, but has amazing hair, and has great hairstyles to try". I rest my case. I love my hair, so naturally this dry, awful state was unacceptable to me, and i've been spending every waking hour since lathering products on my head to attempt to bring it back to life. 2 weeks on and after having to get the sister to trim my hair (an entire INCH came off!! Might as well have been a mile!) I've finally gotten my hair back to it's smooth and shiny self. I couldn't have done it without these miracle products: 

1. Macadamia Nourishing Leave in Cream - What can I say about this cream? It's amazing, i'm actually contemplating splashing out on the full sized bottle which is rather on the expensive side. I use this after washing and conditioning my hair, and use it as a leave in conditioner. It banishes frizz and leaves my hair feeling and smelling lovely and soft. 

2. Andrew Collinge Perfect Endings Leave in Conditioning Spray - I use this in a similar way to the Macadamia cream, although this one comes in spray form. It just helps to add moisture to the hair, combatting any dryness. I also use this daily on dry hair just to perk it up and give it some life. 

3. Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo - I'm not one for splashing out too much on shampoo, I'd rather spend on conditioning treatments, however I do believe that if your hair is suffering for whatever reason, do spend a little more on shampoo, as it does make the difference. Although this version of Aussie is targeted on creating volume, it's still made my hair feel and look healthier. 

4. Boots Ingredients Honey & Jojoba Intensive Hair Mask for Dry, Damaged Hair - This was my hair to a T!! I've had this mask for a while - I like to rotate masks so they do tend to last a while. This one is super affordable, and I slather a handful of this all over my hair, then sit back and relax in a warm bath for 20-30 minutes. The directions to state to leave it for 5, but I like to give my hair a real treat! This is the first of 3 hair masks I have used to give life back to my hair, and I just feel this one was quite repairing and nourishing. 

5. Goldwell Twist Around Curl Styling Lotion - I actually bought three goldwell products just after my perm, two of which are featured in this post. This curling lotion is a favourite of mine. It's basically a styling spray, so you spray into your hair before curling with a wand or straighteners, and it helps to keep the curls in. Now that my perm is set, I can choose whether to straighten, curl or leave au natural, and this helps me to create defined curls that last when using styling tools. It also has the most amazing banana scent! I've been known to ask my sister to go a fetch it so that I can spray it onto my hair EVERY TIME I'VE BEEN IN for the past year! Even when my finished style isnt curly! I love the smell that much! 

6. Goldwell Curl Love Curl Cream - Another of my Goldwell products, this curl cream is to be used on towel dried hair, and creates smooth and defined curls with no frizz. Directions state to apply a small amount to towel dried hair, scrunch curls into place and either dry with a diffuser, or air dry. I have been using this on days where I leave my hair to dry naturally into it's wavy state. It has definitely helped to banish frizz and smells lovely too! 

7. Carino Miracle Oil with Argan Oil - Ahh Argan Oil, everyone's current best friend. Again after towel drying my hair, I pour a small amount into the palm of my hand, rub together and apply evenly to the lengths and ends of my hair to help protect and nourish. Unlike other products with Argan Oil I have tried - Body Care's version, I'm looking at you - it leaves no oily/sticky residue on the hair, just a soft and shiny finish. 

8. Henna Treatment Wax Deep Conditioner - The second hair mask I have been using in an attempt to calm the locks is this one from Body Care. This was actually a massive bargain at only £1 for a huge tub - I've barely made a dent in it and I've had it ages! I slathered loads of this into my hair, paying special attention to the ends and wrapped my hair in a towel for an hour before rinsing out. This was the first deep condition I used after having the perm, hence the drastic one hour leave in time! It really did the trick though - left my hair feeling a lot softer than it had done. The ends were still dry, however this was before my cut - I doubt anything could have brought the ends back to life. 

9. Avon Planet Spa Mediterranean Olive Oil Conditioning Hair Mask - For those of you who haven't tried the Planet Spa range from Avon, I urge you to give them a go - they're excellent quality products! You might already know I love Olive Oil products; the moisturising quality olives give is second to none, and this mask is definitely living up to my expectations of the magic of olive oil! Even now that my hair is back to normal I've still kept this baby in my bathroom to give myself a bi-weekly treat! The texture is thick, creamy and has an indulgent scent. It's honestly a pleasure to use, and leaves my locks feeling smooth and ever so soft! 

Oh dear, I rambled again - Sorry about that, but there you have it. The 9 products that, with the help of a trim, brought my hair back from the dead. 

What products help you when your hair is in need of help?! 

Also, I have a new twitter account for my blog so feel free to follow @TheGemMine for updates on my blog and further ramblings!