My first commission! W00t!
Amber set for Stefani
Hair Care & Hair Colour Myths
Hello, Googlers! I hope this post has the info you’re looking for! Thanks for stopping by! -Angela [I just vetted this post again to ensure it’s current/accurate and it is! The letter from L’Oreal is behind the cut. And to the bitch from OR (hey, NICOLE) who slid into my FB DMs to blame me for your fuckup: it is MY opinion that YOU fucked up your client’s hair, since NOTHING here could have done that. YOU over processed it and melted it, not Feria. BTW, COLOUR cannot harm the hair by itself, it’s the DEVELOPER that would melt it. Condolences to your clients! Oh, and don’t stalk smart people on the internet or you’ll be called out. HA!! -A 10/11/22]
GENERAL DISCLAIMER: These are my thoughts and my anecdotal accounts of the things I’ve learned over almost 40 years of colouring my hair, my friends’ hair and discussions with hairdressers about colouring hair. This post is not meant to be THE ONLY INFO about anything. If you or your hairdresser fuck up your hair, I am in no way responsible for that. So don’t be like Nicole the Terrible Hairdresser™ above and blame me for your problems. Colour at your own risk. But remember: live fast and dye your hair! :)
I’ve coloured my hair since 1985. I’ve used pretty much every brand on the market. Recently I got into a colour debate with someone who has been brainwashed by the hair industry to think that any colour purchased outside a salon is bad for your hair. It’s 100% bullshit, of course, but students tend to believe what they are taught in school and if your school is Wella based, then Wella is the best. If it’s Aveda based, then Aveda is the best. If it’s Paul Mitchell based…well, you get the idea.
I’m here to dispel some myths about hair colour, bleach and hair washing. My mother was a bouffant hairdresser in the 60s-70s, so I grew up in a salon – literally, the salon was IN OUR HOUSE. The hair industry has changed little since then – other than the intense indoctrination of students to be loyal to ONE brand only. And better products in general.
Let’s start with basic hair care myths. (Please note all of the following is about WHITE hair, not ethnic hair.)
Myth: Washing your hair daily will ruin it.
Truth: Not necessarily. It depends on YOUR hair and scalp. This myth is linked to hair colour fading over time, I think. Most average hair and scalp can probably go unwashed for a day. Very dry hair and scalp can go for much longer. Very oily hair and scalp (like mine) simply cannot skip a day. Every morning my hair is saturated with oil and plastered to my scalp. I MUST wash it or have slimy hair. I’ve washed my hair every day for my whole life. My hair has not fallen out, gotten split ends or anything else. If your hair needs washing, WASH IT. There is nothing grosser than seeing an otherwise cute girl with unwashed, visibly dirty hair. GROSS.
Myth: Using “regular” shampoo with sulfates in it will strip your colour and ruin your hair.
Truth: Perhaps in the days of Prell this was true, but not these days. Prell really would strip your hair back then, but remember, in the days of the bouffant, women put that shit up for a WEEK, sprayed it with lacquer hairspray every day and they NEEDED a stripping shampoo just to get the hairspray off! These days, drugstore hair care products are very mild and generally fine for daily and/or coloured hair use. I’ve seen no visible difference between high dollar sulfate free salon brands and drugstore brands. Use what you like.
**New! I found L’Oreal Everpure sulfate free at Big Lots and I LOVE IT! You use a TINY amount and my hair is very happy with it. I use the color shampoo and fine hair conditioner. [Oct 2017]**
I don’t put much faith in the claim that sulfate free shampoos/conditioners will keep your colour longer. I’ve not had that experience. But if you like the sulfate free stuff, use it. I’ve determined that SWEAT is the biggest enemy of hair colour. I am a head sweater – most of my sweat comes out of my head. Weird, I know, but true. Sweat is the best colour stripper out there. It has a bleaching effect that I’ve experienced – you should see my bandanna covered in hair colour!
** Sally has a conditioner by Ion called PIGMENTS that is truly a great conditioner. It stains my hands! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! I now use Ion Permanent Brights colours (Radiant Orchid, usually) with the Ion Pigments Magenta conditioner. I get at least an extra month in between colourings with these.**
Wanna know what damages your hair the most? HEAT. We use much less of it these days than in, say, the grand ole 80s when we strived for BIG HAIR, but heat is what causes the most damage to your hair. Curling and flat irons are especially harsh. For white hairstyles these days, there’s little done other than a decent cut, so it’s a non-issue.
Next, hair colour myths:
Myth: If you use drugstore hair colour, it’s going to ruin your hair due to (pick one) a) metallic dyes b) harsh developers c) cheap ingredients d) whatever the current myth is.
Truth: Like other hair products, the drugstore hair colours have improved immensely since the 70s. They are much gentler on the hair and cause fewer reactions than ever before. As for metallic dyes, I doubt very much that the major brands use any of that since it tends to be an allergen, but I suppose some could. Clairol using metallics would not surprise me, since Clairol is the only colour that bothers my scalp. But I can assure you that L’Oreal Feria colours do not contain metallic dyes (I will include the email they sent me about it at the end of this post). The new pastel colours that Feria has released (Jan 2016) are also NOT metallic, nor will they “melt your hair” as a popular meme suggests. That is stupid. It promises 3 levels of lift, which I am sure is a lie. There’ll be lots of botched colour jobs from people with dark hair expecting it to turn out pink. Not gonna happen.
As for harsh developers, I’m here to tell you that peroxide is peroxide, my friends. There are no “organic” or “natural” peroxide developers. It’s just MARKETING. You HAVE to have peroxide to provide lift and/or deposit of the pigments. Your only other choice is vegetable dyes (think Manic Panic, or henna – which are VEGETABLE based dyes, again, NOT metallic in any way) that stain the hair cuticle but do not penetrate the hair. I will say, however, that again, Clairol is the only colour that aggravated (BURNED) my scalp, so their shit definitely has *something* irritating in it.
As for cheap ingredients… Well, that is marketing, too. Some of the crappiest colours I’ve used are the “professional” ones. Here is what my experience with some of the most common “pro” colours (I could get them through my mother):
– Wella. Muddy colours, orangey reds. Fades quickly.
– Matrix. Bright colours but fades extremely quickly.
– Redken. Nice reds, good staying power. I used Redken for years.
– L’Oreal (professional). Muddy reds, pretty good lasting power.
– Pravana. Orangey reds, nice shimmer, pretty good lasting power.
– Pravana Brights. EXCELLENT. I love their bright stains. These do not use developer, like all veg dyes.
– Framesi. (may not exist any longer) One of the harshest colours I’ve ever used. Marketed as “metallic” colour(!!). Expensive and pretty nasty stuff.
– Feria (pro and boxed). The best reds I’ve ever used. Lovely shimmering colour. Long lasting, albeit with a colour shift. NON METALLIC (see email after post).
– Ion (Sally Brand) colours. Their line of brights is pretty good. They have permanent and semi-perm choices as well as straight up veg dyes that do not require developer.
I have been using Ion colours for quite some time. I heard rumours that Ion was made by Clairol, I have not been able to verify this. I have seen that Ion products are manufactured in Mexico, but that is not verified. Per Sally’s website:
ion Hair Color’s superior quality, proprietary blends are formulated in Italy by our expert team of chemists to deliver unparalleled results.
What I can tell you is that I have great results with Sally Ion Permanent Brights. I use them with L’Oreal 20 vol creme developer. I don’t care for the Sally developer. I believe that Sally products are made by Sally and not a third party.
Myth: Bleaching your hair is a recipe for disaster.
Truth: Not necessarily. It really depends on the type of hair you have and the talent of who’s putting on the bleach. Bleach is powdered peroxide. It can be a harsh product and it can really mess up your hair if you’re not careful. It’s not so much the bleach itself that is the problem, it’s the developer that you use – which is usually 20, 30 or 40 volume. 40 volume is some powerful developer, my friends and it can certainly destroy the cuticle of your hair if you leave it on too long! Generally, curly hair is much more difficult to bleach since the cuticle is already open and therefore it’s easier to burn than fine, straight hair (straight hair has a closed cuticle). My rule of thumb is to use no more than 30 volume developer for a first time bleach. See how the hair responds and if it holds up well, then bleach again with 30 vol to get the desired lift. With my ultra fine hair, I can bleach the hell out of it with 40 vol and have no damage. I’m lucky that way. I’ve been known to bleach my hair 3x in a week when I went from red to blonde. But that’s MY hair. I wouldn’t recommend anyone else trying that unless you know your hair and know what you’re doing! Bleach is not an automatic ticket to damaged hair. Just be careful and don’t use 40 volume unless you KNOW what you’re doing.
Myth: Manic Panic, Special FX and other bright dyes are metallic.
Truth: Of course they are NOT metallic! They are basically vegetable dyes that just stain the hair. You don’t even use developer with them! These stains require that the hair be very blonde to work. So if you’re a naturally light blonde, then you can put it on and rock. Most of us are not level 9-10 blondes, tho, so typically we bleach first then apply the bright stain. Any brights you look at (Manic Panic, Special FX, Splat, Adore, Ion, etc.) will say that you must have blonde hair to get results.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had women with dark hair tell me that they want to go blue, pink, whatever, and are shocked to learn that you can’t put these dyes on dark hair and expect results. Every time I go to Sally I have to school someone on this.
You MUST have very light hair to do a pastel! It’s PASTEL! Anyone who thinks you can put the Feria boxed pastels on her hair w/out lightening first will have horrible results. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then PLEASE head to a pro colourist. If you really want that perfect pastel and you have no experience with multiple process colours, SEE A PROFESSIONAL. **This advice is double if you have ethnic hair.**
Cosmetology schools these days are all about creating brand loyal students. They pound it into their heads that Brand X is by far the best on the planet and everything else is inferior. It makes sense for the brands to do this. It just puts out a ton of misinformation about drugstore and less popular brands, which is why I wrote this post.
When it comes to hair, do what is best for YOUR hair. Use the brands you like! Don’t get caught up in the pro brand wars. Trust me, the stuff on the shelves at the drugstore are just as good. I’ve got 25+ years of using this crap to tell you that with confidence. And don’t believe everything you read on the intertubes, either. There are plenty of sites saying that Feria is “dangerous” and “full of metallic dyes”, neither of which is true. I’ve put the email from L’Oreal regarding their Feria line after the cut.
As they say at Manic Panic: LIVE FAST AND DYE YOUR HAIR! :)
Continue reading “Hair Care & Hair Colour Myths”
Greens and Israeli Couscous Soup
This soup was born from leftovers – as most of my original recipes are. It’s light and delicious!
1 bag of frozen turnip greens w/ diced turnips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, halved and sliced (frenched)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
olive oil
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 box of Near East Pearled (Israeli) Couscous (any flavour, I used Garlic and Olive Oil)
2-3 cups chicken stock or broth
2 Tbl Lea and Perrins (or other worcestershire sauce)
2 Tbl Red Wine (or balsamic) vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
In a 4qt pot, sweat your onions and garlic in olive oil w/ the chipped red. Once the aromatics are translucent, turn up the heat and add the frozen turnip greens. Sautee the greens until they are hot. Add balsamic vinegar and S/P to taste. Add 2 cups stock (to start) and turn up flame to HI. Bring to a boil and add couscous w/ seasoning. Drop to a fast simmer until the couscous is tender. Add more stock if the couscous gets too thick. Add L&P and RW vinegar, check for S/P and red pepper flake levels. Adjust to your taste.
Personal Responsibility
The concept of personal responsibility has gone by the wayside along with parenting and functional government. (And get off my lawn! ::curmudgeon::)
Personal responsibility, to me, is acknowledging your past but not being defined by it. It is taking responsibility for your life and your choices. It is moving on with your life despite whatever fuckups happen. It’s having balls enough to discipline your brats and not feel guilty about it. It is your job to raise citizens, not crybabies who just want everything handed to them by others. It’s about getting ON with your life.
Basically, GET OVER IT.
I know that this is not politically correct in these times of Nanny Government and liberal parenting (which means none, btw), but it’s really the core of what personal responsibility is. No one can fix you. No one can flip a switch and make all the self inflicted mind fucks go away – except you.
I have been thinking very hard lately about why some people just wallow and never seem to bring themselves out of whatever their issues are. Everyone has issues. Everyone has shit happen. But some people take responsibility for their happiness and somehow manage to deal with the problem and move the fuck on. Other people spend their whole lives doing the same things over and over and never get past it. Why is that?
I don’t know what the exact formula is for everyone, but I know about myself and Nick. We are both of the opinion that you have to help yourself. Yes, you can go to therapy, but ultimately, a therapist can’t fix you. YOU have to fix you. It all keeps coming back to choices. You can choose to spend your life miserable or not. I’m not saying it’s EASY, but I’m saying that you have to make the CHOICE. I’ve never been traumatised by anything, so I don’t know much about it, but I’ve got my own issues that I had to decide to NOT spend any more time on. So I didn’t. Nick has been traumatised, severely, and he decided to not let that trauma define him. He chose to move on. And he did.
So, again, why do so many people choose to be stuck and miserable? (Yes, I’m asking. Please comment.)
YOU are your responsibility. I’m sure fear is a huge factor here, but it’s self inflicted fear. I think that everyone has the choice to let their minds fuck them or not. Not doing anything to change the situation in one’s mind is a choice. No one in the world can help what’s going on in your head. Only YOU can change your thoughts and your choices. Therapy is great – especially CBT – but the therapist’s influence stops at your brain. It’s called COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY, not “Oh, Here’s a Pill” therapy. Know what the “cognitive” in CBT stands for?
COGNITION
Cognition is a term referring to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem-solving.
Notice the “problem-solving” part? Yep, that means YOU have DO something to get yourself out of your rut. YOU. Use your brain. Read a goddam book. See a therapist. Get hypnotherapy. Take up boxing. SOMETHING.
All this does not mean that I don’t care about my friends who are in ruts – far from it! It means I do care and I’d like to help, but I can’t. Having 25 people on FB or LJ tell you how great you are is not really helping anything. That is called enabling (def: making possible or easy). When people post nothing but oh-you’re-so-great comments to a woe is me post, it is positive feedback. Getting positive feedback encourages more of the same behaviour. It’s a vicious circle! I’m not saying that support is bad, I am saying that for some people it is an opiate that keeps them right where they are. Which is why I keep my whining to a minimum online. I really don’t want all the attagirls. It grosses me out. I’m much more a Dr Phil fan: How’s that workin’ for ya? Which is exactly what I ask myself. :)
I am saddened by the lack of happiness that some people insist is the only way. I’ve seen it SO many times. I’ve learned not to get personally involved any more, but it still hurts me when friends are so very stuck. I’m a doer and I hate it when I can’t DO anything. Ugh.
I came across “grit” as a personality trait when I was getting definitions for the other terms in this post and it is defined as:
Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” […] Grit is conceptualized as a stable trait that does not require immediate positive feedback. Individuals high in Grit are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods of time despite experiences with failure and adversity. Their passion and commitment towards the long-term objective is the overriding factor that provides the stamina required to “stay the course” amid challenges and set-backs. Essentially, the Grittier person is focused on winning the marathon, not the sprint.
Go read the full wiki about Grit, it is fascinating. I suppose this is the difference between those who move on and those who don’t? Makes sense to me.
I wish I could instill grit into others. I think Nick and I have it. We have made choices for our future and we’re not concerned about the interim suffering that may occur. We are not factoring that in at all, actually, because we have goals. And we intend to meet them. We will sacrifice our short term credit scores and all of that in order to take control of our money and create the future we want. To us, it’s a small price to pay. I see the horror in the eyes of most people when we talk about the bankruptcy. I don’t find it horrifying, I am finding it very satisfying and empowering. It’s all in the way you think about it, you see.
I’m not unsympathetic to my friends, I’m really not. I just think that you should use every single tool in your barn to create your happiness. If that tool is therapy, do it! If it’s bankruptcy, do it! If it’s ditching every friend you have, moving cross country and starting over, do it! If it’s forcing yourself to put aside all that baggage you carry, DO IT. If it’s sucking up the hurt and fear, then DO IT.
It’s not easy. Trust me, it’s NOT. But what worth doing is? If everything was easy (like sheeple these days seem to want it), then what’s the damn point? I’ve seen a tulip overturn a rock 15x its size. I daresay it wasn’t easy for the tulip, but it persevered and by gods, it pushed that damn rock out of the way. It had GRIT. And it had the most lovely flowers. Coincidence?
Space and other oddities
Today is a watershed day both personally and for mankind.
This morning Nick and I went to the lawyer, signed a bunch of paperwork and left a large check behind to bring to an end our struggles with debt. Starting now, our money is our own and we can make decisions that will begin to construct the rest of our lives – rather than constantly trying to get ahead of the curve. This is an all round good thing, but still stressful and very guilt inducing. Very. I know this is totally a first world problem, but it’s still difficult.
For mankind, today is the end of an era of space flight. Atlantis STS-135 has taken its last flight. I’m sad that our country has abandoned space. Russia and China will step in, but I think the United States’ willingness to walk away from leadership in space travel/exploration is just one more step towards the end of the US as a global power. One more link in the chain that will lead the United States to be just another voice in a world that is ruled by China.
Overall, I’m tired. I’m tired of the stress of our personal crap and I’m tired in general.
The good news is that despite my malaise, I’ve updated my Etsy Shop with lots of new stuff and there’ll be more new stuff soon. I’ve been getting in my bead shipments, so there’s more purple and amber on the way!
Now, it’s time for lunch and perhaps a short nap. I feel like I’ve run a marathon today. Buh.