Hair Heroes

Purchased by me/Contains affiliate links

Hey lovelies,

I thought I'd do something a bit different today and discuss the products that make up my haircare routine. I have always done the bare minimum with my hair - I wash it, use heat protectors and dry shampoo. I never really knew what else to do with it, though I was never happy with the texture of it. When I started lightening my hair earlier this year though, I knew that I needed to start taking better care of it to do what I could to reduce the inevitable damage.
I began to pore over bottles of lotions and potions in supermarket aisles and at Uncle Bills. I studied the condition of my hair more closely. I'd been dyeing it various hues since my teens and it was dry, prone to split ends and generally very lacklustre. I'd always wanted my hair to be healthier and shinier but didn't know how to go about it and had been eschewing hairdresser bills in favour of cheaper thrills for years. Think about it - how many lipsticks could you buy for the price of a good cut and colour? You see my problem :D
I'd seen argan oil all over the blogs I followed, so I started with that and gradually added and subtracted products until finally, I had a combination that worked. Here they are, my hair heroes:

First things first! I hop in the shower and wash my hair with Pantene Pro-V Moisture Renewal Shampoo, which does a good job of cleansing my hair without drying it out.

I then condition with Natural World Moisture Repair Conditioner 500ml, massaging it through the lengths and ends of my hair and leaving it on for at least 5 minutes

. This stuff is life changing. I picked it up on a whim at Uncle Bills some time ago and this has made the biggest difference to my hair out of all the things mentioned today. This bottle is starting to run low (though it's taken many months to get there) and I've had a hell of a time tracking down a replacement locally - eventually I managed to find a one litre bottle on NZsale. Worth every cent!

Once I'm out of the shower, I reach for my Natural World Argan Oil Moisture Repair Hair Treatment Oil 100ml and distribute a generous amount through the lengths and ends of my hair (my hair is thick and long and soaks the oil up!), smoothing any remaining oil through my roots. I love the scent of this oil, it's light and pleasant. I found this at Uncle Bills for around $6 and unfortunately they've never restocked it in this size :( They do have smaller vials of it though, which I have also seen at The Warehouse. I'll be keeping an eye on NZsale for more bottles of this too.

I then do the same thing with the L'Oreal Elvive Smooth Intense Anti-Frizz Serum

, which also contains argan oil, though the blend is a lot thinner. Argan oil all the things! This is a lot easier to find locally, I just buy it from the supermarket. I'm halfway through my second bottle now :)

I then spray a small amount of Fudge Urban Instant Smoothie

though my hair. This is designed to be a post hot-iron smoothing spray, but I like to use it just to smooth my hair out a little more. It smells amazing too, which can make it easy to get carried away. I need to be careful not to apply too much though, as it can weigh my hair down and make it greasy within a day or so if I go to nuts.

I spritz some Sunsilk Keratinology Advanced Reconstruction Heat Protector Spray 180ml through my hair even though I let it air dry 9 times out of 10. I figure that way I'm covered for when I inevitably forget to put more in before curling my hair!

Pantene Pro-V 3 Minute Miracle

isn't part of my everyday routine, but I do use these pretty often, usually once a week. I love how soft and silky my hair feels after using a 3 Minute Miracle, it definitely adds shine too. Highly recommend!

I use my Mont Bleu hair brush* to gently brush my hair while it's still damp - the boar bristles help to distribute all the products through as well. Then I just let it air dry! If I'm in a rush I'll blow dry it, but not often. I stretch out washing days as long as I can (I'm talking 3-4 days) because my hair tends to freak out and become dry and frizzy if washed too often, so dry shampoo (I use Batiste Blush

) is a must. I do find that when I follow the above routine, my hair doesn't get greasy as quickly as it used to.