Ciao bello*

*Or rather Ciao Bella! I have a new hair salon and new stylist. My new salon has a restaurant inside with chair delivery service! My new salon has great receptionists, a lovely seating area, infrared dryers, a world-class spa, and lots and lots of products to choose from.

I have a stylist who has an assistant. He has already taken the time to teach me new techniques for styling my hair and using different tools. I've had two luxurious scalp massages. I'm in love with this place!

For the past month, I've been taking vitamins that are supposed to support healthy hair growth (Hair, Skin, and Nails multivitamin, plus MSM to promote fast hair growth). I've also been using the following two products:

Joico K-Pak reconstructor once a week (more than once a week will actually reverse the positive effects)
Sudzz FX Enhance Sustain Conditioner** the rest of the week

I had my first appointment for color last Wednesday and I absolutely love it! There were two deep conditioning treatments (before and after) plus a protein treatment pre-color. He used a low-volume peroxide developer and used very little color. Surprisingly, I'm just as blonde as before, only my color isn't nearly as harsh.

I've run out of the Enhance conditioner and per my hairdresser's instructions, I'm now using the following products on my hair:

Joico K-Pak
Sebastian Penetraitt shampoo and conditioner**
Framesi Options Soothe leave-in conditioner***
Sudzz FX Zenyth Frizz Eliminator shine product

Not only can I see a difference in my hair, I can FEEL it. I have been so abusive to my hair over the past several years, that it will take a while to get it back to where it was. I've given up my flattening iron and my curling iron. I am using better brushes. And the 50-70% of my hair thickness that has been lost due to breakage and damage should be recovered within 6 months to a year.

Here's hoping miracles do happen and I can have healthy, BLONDE hair.

**So I've been having some image loading problems. I've given you the complete names of the products, though, so if you want to give 'em a try, go ahead and google them. I did.

***Wow. During my search for a picture to upload, I see that this product has been discontinued. Now the hunt is on for a new leave-in conditioner. Oh well.

Best. Deep. Conditioner. Ever.

www.aveda.com

I have become a HUGE fan in a short month of this amazing product: Aveda Damage Remedy Intensive Restructuring Treatment.

As you may or may not know, only "Aveda" salons and stores are allowed to carry Aveda products. This, to me, seems to prompt certain hairdressers and stylists to not recommend their products because they make no money and most salons make a lot of money on these back-end sales.

At my last hair appointment, I was lamenting my lack of a really good deep conditioner for my poor abused hair. My hairdresser (who sells incredible brands such as Pureology and Alterna) immediately wrote down this product and told me that I had to get it.

I did. He was right. My hair hasn't felt this healthy in YEARS.

Thank you, Aveda!

Hair Color

Y'all, I've been unnaturally blonde for the past, oh, 17 years or so. I know that there is a huge market out there for over-the-counter/do-it-yourself hair color and honestly, I just don't get it!

Maybe it's the blondes that I have trouble with, I don't know. I'm just going by experience and I don't really know about the darker hair colors. But what I do know is that having your hair professionally colored by someone isn't just about the color.

I see my colorist on average about once every five to six weeks. My hairstylist and I have been together for over 10 years now, and I can't imagine not going to him. For almost three hours, I get therapy, a healthy dose of "you're fabulous!" and my roots get touched up! It's a win-win!

It doesn't come cheap, but neither does therapy. ;-) And when you look at it that way, you are actually saving money!

But that's just me. I think my husband might disagree, BUT, he loves the color!