It's been a little over a month since I made my first trip to
Suki Hairdressing here in Newcastle - you can read more about my visit and the products they hooked me up with
here.
I went back for my second visit the other week, so I thought now was the perfect time to fill you in on how my hair has been since then and also chat about some of the new products the lovely ladies at Suki sent me home with this time.
In a nutshell - I've been blown away with how good the quality of my hair has become since setting foot inside the salon - I put it down to not only a good cut and colour but the products they've had me using for the last month - I'm not sure I'll ever use anything else again.
While the length of my hair hasn't started to reach the floor, the quality has improved tenfold. I've had quite damaged hair once before and I've noticed that when your hair is healing the quality and thickness will improve first before it will begin to grow.
The biggest, noticeable change for me - and the change that is really going to help my hair start growing - has been the ends of my hair. I've put a before and current picture side-by-side below to help you visually see the difference (the black and white shot is the before picture).
The ends of my hair use to be riddled with split ends, which is no good if you're trying to get your hair to grow, they were super thin and wispy and no matter how much I tried to cut the dead ends away they would always go back to being thin and gross within a week or two. I also struggled with my hair after I hadn't washed it for a few days - while the top of my head would be getting oily, the ends of my hair would lose all hydration and would become a dry mess that became impossible to work with and just looked extremely unhealthy - they would also lose all shine. I also felt like my hair had become much thinner than it once was.
Since my Suki visit I've noticed my hair getting thicker and it no longer dries out after just a few days of being washed; it stays smooth and shiny for days and now I simply wash it when I can't stand the oil anymore, not because my ends are unmanageable. The most interesting development - and something I haven't seen in my hair for a long time - is how thick the ends have stayed. Usually the bluntness of a new cut would be gone within a week or two, but because my ends are staying thick and barely splitting anymore, my hair always has that fresh cut look to it - just touching them I can feel how much they've improved. Also I feel that I've gained thickness back to my hair as well.
I haven't been this happy with the quality of my hair in such a long time and even though my journey with Suki has only just begun, I can't begin to thank them and my hairdresser Bek enough for the major improvements they've already produced. If you have damaged hair, particularly if it's from colouring, book yourself an appointment ASAP!
I put these massive improvements down to both the colour and cut I received during my first visit to Suki by the lovely and talented hands of Bek, and also the products they gave me.
I think the biggest differences have come from the conditioners I've been using which are the Smartbond Professional Number 3 and the L'oreal Lumnio Contrast Hair Masque for when I feel like I want to give my hair a little extra nourishment, along with always putting in some of the Keratase Ciment Thermique before any heat styling or drying. You can read more about all of these products and why they're so good for repairing hair
here.
I use to be a complete blonde but in recent times I've started to prefer a bit of a darker root to give my colour a little more of a natural feel, and also in an effort to colour my hair less. My first visit was certainly a long ordeal but it was 100% worth the time. We took out the banding that had started to occur with my regrowth and cut back a lot of the brown so it sat closer to my roots, while also brighten my blonde colour and running it through the top where needed to give it a more natural look. This colouring meant that even when I walked into the salon for my second visit, I still felt that it looked great and I couldn't notice my regrowth at all.
This time around we brightened the blonde I did have, as some of my old blonde was becoming noticeable again, and touched up the roots. A point of difference with Bek's technique is her choice to not use toner at the basin. Most hairdressers will put a purple toner in to give your hair a bright, blonde look, but these will wash out soon after your visit so you don't actually keep the same colour you walk out with for very long. At Suki, they simply use the same purple shampoo they sent me home with after my first visit, so every time I wash my hair at home I come out with the same colour I left the salon with!
Of course I couldn't leave Suki without some new products to add to my hair routine, and this time they hooked with up with a variety of things from Aveda, which is a new addition to the salon since my last visit. This brand not only delivers great products, they are all about being environmentally friendly and sustainable. With the quality of my hair making a comeback, some of these new products are about helping me start to get some more length.
Tangle Teezer
Before I had this, I will admit I was using a knock off version from Kmart - how different could they be right? Answer - quite different; is anyone really surprised. The bristles on the real thing are a lot shorter, they are more compacted together and they're much sturdier, so it feels a lot nicer on the hair. This is the only brush I use now expect for when I'm heat styling or blow drying. An interesting tip that I picked up while at Suki was to run the brush through the top of my hair on my scalp when in the shower after having shampooed. This helps to exfoliate the scalp while also stimulating hair growth. When I brush my hair with this I find it gets all the tangles out (as you'd hope) but without pulling and tugging on my hair that much, making it really comfortable and pleasant to use.
Activance Professional
This is the stuff that is suppose to really help get my hair growing. I spray 10 - 20 pumps of this directly onto my scalp while my hair is wet and before I do anything else. Bek even mentioned that you can put it on your eyebrows if you have issues with patchiness and a general lack of hair in that area - which I do, particuarly right at the front of my brows - so I'm also going to be popping some of this my brows each time I add some to my hair and will report back on how that experiment goes.
Aveda Shampure Dry Shampoo
I love the concept of this dry shampoo because there is no aerosol involved, which I thought was so cool when I first saw it but then also thought 'why is no one else doing this'. You simply squeeze the bottle and resulting pressure sprays out the product. One thing I hate about a lot of dry shampoos is how you can really feel the product if you touch youe hair and how it can get all over your hands. This dry shampoo is nice and lightweight so I can't even tell I've applied product once its in and it does a brilliant job at sucking up that oil while not looking or feeling noticeable in my hair.
Aveda Dry Remedy Daily Moisturising Oil
I love to apply a hair oil onto ends after I've finished styling and also at night before I go to sleep just to help give it a little bit of something to help with any moisture it might have lost. So Suki hooked me up with this one from Aveda to try out.
Invisibobble
I've avoided using hairbands with the little metal piece for a while now, but Suki sent me home with some hair ties that are even better again. These have been everywhere at the moment so they're not new to me, but for some reason I never thought to pick any up. The design of these hairbands means they are suppose to not catch on your hair and cause any unnecessary breakage. They're an odd texture and shape to use so that might take some getting use to, but they grip onto the hair nice and tight and do exactly what a hairband should do, so I'm not complaining.
Aveda Texture Tonic
I've always been one to avoid things like salt sprays and products that aim to create texture - as someone who has always had quite dry hair from being damaged, the last thing I wanted was to add anymore texture and because it was so dry it always naturally had a bit of volume to it. Now that my hair is healing and becoming more naturally smooth, salt sprays and volumising products are no longer such a scary thing. Bek sent me home with this from this product from Aveda to try out. I spray some of this in my wet hair before I style to give my hair some lift and volume.
