Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Leetol Miss Joyce loves DIY Hair Treatments

Lately I've been getting so obsessed with my hair. I've always had a problem with dryness and split-ends and lately I've decided to face the problem head-on.

I got a haircut lately, and I had a lot of inches cut. It's now an few inches above the bra line, which is pretty short by Leetol  Miss Joyce standards. However, despite the cut, I noticed that I still get splits. And worse, even the shortest layers which are chin-length still get splits! I figured that it's not the length that's a factor, but rather, my hair shaft really is just that dry.

I got a L'oreal aromatic hot oil treatment at the salon. While it was good, it was rather too expensive and time-consuming for me. I'm too lazy to drag my ass to the salon every week. And since my hair is long, getting treatments done just isn't practical.

The Solution: DIY Hair Treatments

The tools: Shower cap, hair treatment, towel
I discovered that HBC sold their hair treatment gunk in sachet. Each sachet of Hot Oil and Hair Spa costs about Php10-12 and is good enough for one use on my hair (a few inches above the bra line, medium thickness). I've tried different variants such as the Keratin Hot Oil, Henna Hot Oil etc. but I found that I got the best results from the Hortaleza Professional Hair Spa.
 I found it to be good enough, so we got a whole jar for Php 200. Although I really prefer sachet sized ones better.
 The shower caps I use (shown in first pic) cost only Php20. But if you're a big cheapskate like me, and you do a lot of travelling, you can loot those shower caps they give away for free at hotels. ^_^

Following the directions on the packaging, I massage a generous amount of hair treatment product on my hair after shampoo and conditioner. Depending on whether it's hot oil or hair spa, I heat it differently. For Hot Oils, I cover my head with a shower cap, and then put the heated towel over the shower cap, then seal the heat in with another shower cap. For hair spa, I simply steam the towel to heat it (I don't dip it in water) and then wrap it directly around my hair before I cover with shower cap. 



Don't go boiling your towel, this is f \or Illustrative purposes only, lelz. For hot oils, I dip the towel in hot water. For hair spa treatments, I place the towel in a steamer, or use a colander over the pot of boiling water. 


Use the shower cap to trap heat in your head. For hair spa, you wrap the hair in steamed towel first before covering with shower cap. Sorry for the why so srz face. It's hard to look pretty in a shower cap hehehe.

Let the product seep into your hair for 45-minutes to an hour before you rinse. Make sure you get all the product out or else the buildup will not only weigh your hair down, it will also feel icky.
  
 For those hectic weeks when I just can't find the time to wait out the hair treatments (or can't be bother with heating a towel), I use Cream Silk Precision Repair Treatment (Php14). Just leave it on your hair for 5 minutes, and gives the same results. The downside is that the softening/moisturizing effects don't seem to last as long.

I do this every week, more often when I feel like it. I can't say my hair is totally pretty now, but it's less dry than usual, plus it feels much softer. I think it does make a difference. And for less than Php20 per treatment, I guess it's worth it.

Try it yourself, and tell me how it worked out for you.

LeetolMissJoyce is slowly turning into a hair blog. I promise I'll be posting other stuff (re: fashion, makeup, etc.) soon.