in the (h)air tonight

I received an e-mail…

Hi Annika,

I stumbled upon your blog a while ago and bookmarked it– I recently checked back and was wondering about the progress of your wavy/curly hair.  I’m also trying to embrace my waves after years of fighting my hair (and I live in humid Florida).  Just curious to know if you had any recent hair pics posted anywhere— I wasn’t quite sure what your current blog is, or what’s going on with that…

Thanks

Keri

Thanks Keri for the nudge, I’ve been neglecting this blog and kind of forgot that I had written about my hair on it. You see, two years ago – which is when I finally learned how to take care of my hair and make it look good with little to no effort – I started a website in Swedish that is all about hair in general and curly hair in particular. My site has grown, with zero advertising I am proud to tell you that as of today we have 3055 registered board members. There is a very active discussion board, in October 2007 I opened a webshop where I sell lines like Jessicurl and Curly Hair Solutions. All in all it has been quite successful and I hope to be able to expand even more in the future, with a real shop and even my own salon, now that I’ve been to New York and become a Deva-trained Curl Care Consultant and all.

So, what about my own hair these days?

Two years ago, in September 2007, I posted the last “hair shot” on the blog. In June 2009 my hair had mysteriously become twice as long and a completely different color.

Back in April I decided that it was time for a change. For years all I’d done was to get a few highlights here and there, and I was tired of it. Furthermore, bleach isn’t good for the hair. So, I took a long hard look in the mirror and decided that strawberry blonde was the way to go with my coloring. Better yet, it happened to be the it-color of Spring 2009. I’ve never been trendy but I’m happy when trends go my way The color doesn’t show properly on the photo, though. It’s not a good photo. Sorry ’bout that.

I first used a semi-permanent color to try it out, and since then I’ve been maintaining my color with henna glosses: 1 tbsp henna powder in 1 cup yogurt, mix and apply to hair immediately, rinse after twenty minutes or so. Adjust recipe according to taste. Henna glosses are quick, cheap and absolutely 100% non-damaging on the hair. On the contrary, henna is said to strengthen and condition hair.

Aside from that, I still wash my hair with conditioner. Due to the hard water here, I use an extremely mild non-sulfate shampoo about twice a month, but other than that it’s conditioner only. Depending on what style I want that day, I use gels, creams or nothing at all in my hair, and now that it’s longer it is very versatile. If I let my hair airdry it becomes wavy, if I blowdry it I can get it straight-ish using my fingers only (this is how I always wore it before, long ago, before I discovered the flat iron) and if I use a diffuser it can get quite curly.  I haven’t used an iron in my hair in two years, I do use a blow dryer but only on low heat. In the picture I believe I had used Kinky-Curly Curling Custard and a diffuser.

I don’t think as much about my hair as I used to. It’s there, it mostly behaves, I like that I got my length back so I can put it up in case it doesn’t behave. I adjust my products depending on weather and mood, but it seems so natural now. I let my hair tell me what it wants, and then I give it just that and then we’re both happy. It’s curlier in the summer (which I’ve learned is because of something called ‘dewpoint’) and less happy in the winter (again, dewpoint). Hot and humid = curly happy hair, cold and damp (which usually means artificial heat and extremely dry air indoors) = ponytail. It’s okay. We’re friends now, my hair and I.