Friday, August 29, 2014

why my hair is still so long and glorious (even after i bleached the crap out of it)




if i were to pick the number one thing i get the most comments/questions about from curious strangers (and especially hairstylists), hands down id have to say its my hair. actually, now that i get to thinking about it, my hair has been much more perplexing to strangers since its been long and blonde than it ever was when it was, say, blue. 

i get asked if its my real color (oh heck no, im half asian, its almost black), if its all mine (no extensions here, my hairs actually too thick for them to clip in without looking stupid), how i do it (just regular old bleach powder and 40 volume developer at home), if i spend a lot of money on it (nope, only about $30 a year), but mainly i get asked this: "HOW?!? how is your hair still so long and shiny after you bleach it? i thought you were never, ever supposed to bleach your hair like that because everything anyones ever said about beauty is that bleaching your hair turns it into straw". 

well, today im going to elaborate a little on why exactly my hairs the way it is (and consequently, why just about everything youve ever known about hair care is wrong). so why is my hair so long and glorious even after i bleached the crap out of it?

(disclaimer: this is absolutely NOT an advice or tutorial post and i am NOT a licensed cosmetologist and do NOT expect to do anything i say and expect it to come out perfectly because "victoria said it would work". no, im just sharing what i do with my hair)

a few reasons, mainly: 

1. genetics. i may be half asian, but my hair is 100% asian. asian hair has a thicker, flatter cuticle layer thats harder to damage. obviously im taking serious advantage of that. 

2. i only bleach the roots. this is the MAIN difference between me and most folks who regularly change the color of their hair. i ONLY bleach the new, fresh, undamaged hair at my roots, NEVER the parts that have already been bleached. when you bleach (or color) over color (or bleach) your hair gets more and more fried. i dont do that. 

3. i go a LONG time between touch ups. i wait till my roots are at least an inch long (usually takes 3 months or so), so my hair is rarely exposed to the bleach chemicals. 

4. i rarely brush it. brushing your hair (especially when its long) speeds up breakage, so i only do it when ABSOLUTELY neccesarry. and i never, ever brush it wet (thats like the worst thing you could ever do to damaged hair). 

5. i wash it even less. washing your hair with shampoo strips it of the natural oils that keep it strong and healthy. i wash my hair once a week. sometimes i can get away with less. while im definitely not part of the "no poo" movement, im very anti-washing-your-hair-everyday. 

6. i dont use heat tools. aside from my weekly blow out, i dont use any other heat tools. i dont even own a flat iron or rollers, and i only bust out my curling iron for very special occasions. 

these six things work together to keep my hair (relatively) healthy so that it can grow absurdly long despite my incessant bleaching. 

how do you keep your hair healthy? do you have any unconventional hair tips? id love to hear about them in the comments!

10 comments:

  1. Good for you! This is awesome. I wish I could get away with washing my hair once a week. I'm able to do it every other day, but I can't get away with any more than that. Although, cutting down on even that little bit has majorly helped my hair, so there's that. Thanks for sharing your hair secrets!

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  2. Your hair is gorgeous!! I recently started colouring mine blonde (recently as in like, a year ago) and have definitely learned a few things about damage.... yikes! I am much better at it now. :D Anyway your hair rocks and thanks for sharing these tips.

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  3. thanks! yeah, if youre not careful, bad things can happen if you get overzealous with the lightening...

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  4. thanks kate! it was definitely an adjustment, i used to wash my hair every 2-3 days, but i s l o w l y stretched out to wash it less frequently. but youre right, even just skipping *some* shampoos can make a HUGE difference!

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  5. I look like an oil glob if I don't wash my hair frequently... and it's fine. I don't even know what my hair is cause I'm mixed with so many things.... lucky gal!

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  6. well you DO live in hawaii, i imagine a LOT of my hairs condition has to do with living where its zero humidity all the time....

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  7. These are some great tips! But how do you get away with only washing once per week? Do you use dry shampoo or something like that? My hair is pretty non-oily but I think three days would be the max before I'd want a wash.

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  8. Great advice! I'm guilty of dying all of my hair instead of just the roots. I really should take better care of my hair now that it's long. And your hair does look gorgeous!

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  9. thanks! i know what you mean, i have to be SO much more careful now that my hair is long. it was short for years and years and i could do whatever i wanted without worrying about long term damage. but not anymore.

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  10. ha, well i think the southern california climate might have something to do with it, but my weekly routine is like this: wash and blow out my hair on friday, and it looks pretty fresh through the weekend and maybe into monday, by tuesday its not usually looking so good so thats when i usually start wearing it up/in braids/etc, and then i just work with it being a little greasy until friday comes again. i dont use dry shampoo.

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