For most of my life I’ve had some kind of chemical treatment on my hair. Really, I’m talking an early age. Sorry for this story Mom, but it’s got to be told…LOL.
When I was in about 1st grade my mom decided for some reason it would be a great idea to give me a perm. What? A perm on a 7 year old? I guess being a hair-dresser was in her blood even before she took on that career some years later. Anyway, I went to school with my 60 year old lady hair style and the kids pulled it asked me if it was a wig. No, I wouldn’t say I was scarred for life. HA! Let’s just say, memory made. ?
Then came high school when we started highlighting my hair in the winter to offset the natural bleaching the sun did in the summer and then for good measure throw in some perms. #eightieshairbaby You’d think with all that chemical treatment my hair would have been in terrible shape, but remarkably it wasn’t.
The highlights have continued but the perms are long since forgotten. ??I guess in their place came flat irons to make sure there was equal opportunity for drying out my blonde locks.
I never had an issue with really dry hair until moving to California 5 years ago. I kept thinking why is my hair so damaged? I talked with my hairdresser who suggested a bunch of products, so I bought those to no avail. She suggested that maybe my flat-iron needed to be replaced. Apparently when you buy “cheaper” models of flat irons, sometimes when they are getting old the thermometer in them will get wonky and cause your hair to be burned. YIKES. I replaced my flat-iron and still was having the same issues.
I finally started to see some improvement when I started using the It’s a 10 spray. A leave in conditioner. It’s wonderful and I know so many of you use it and love it too.
I’ve always washed my hair everyday. It just styles better when I do #doublecowlicks, but I finally gave in and cut back to washing it a couple times a week. Enter dry shampoo. Katie was using this dry shampoo by Batiste, so I gave it a go. 
I would say this has also really helped improve the condition of my hair by cutting down on the amount of blow drying. I’m also wearing my hair up in a ponytail on off shampoo days frequently to cut down on additional use of a flat-iron or curling iron.
Speaking of blow drying. I truly love my T3 hair dryer. I was skeptical of spending so much on a dryer, but man-o-man has it been worth it. I am actually able to usually just dry it and forgo the straightener all together. This is a major coup for this girl.
This dryer is currently part of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and a major deal. It’s also available in black. If you’ve ever considered one of these, now is the time to strike while you can save $66.
Okay, finally on to what I originally planned to share when I started this post. Once I started writing it was like unraveling a thread and took on a life of its own.
The water where we live is relatively “hard” water. We don’t have a water softener built into our house and frankly didn’t see the need for it. I don’t struggle with hard water stains on bathroom fixtures or anything like that. I travel a lot these days and started noticing that my hair felt much better when I was places with “softer” water. After talking with a hair dresser in California and telling her I felt like the water there was hard on my hair, she agreed. Ding! Ding! Ding! Maybe I’d found yet another area for improvement. We looked into having a water softener installed for the entire house, but that was going to be in the thousands$$$. Umm, no thank you. I can buy a whole lot of It’s a 10 for that amount of money. LOL
I started to do some research and found out you can buy a water softener and filter all in one that attaches to your shower head and it was cheap! Have I mentioned Cheap is my middle name??? I turned to my good friend Amazon and found this baby. See, it even has a picture of a baby. HA!
Kent installed it and I am in love! He said it was super easy to install and it’s not obtrusive. It actually makes our shower head hit in an even better spot in the shower. #winning So far I’ve found several advantages to using this.
#1 – Better for my hair
#2 – Shampoo lathers so much better and you can use less of it #moneysavingalready
#3 – Removes chlorine from the water which is very drying to hair and skin
#4 – Crazy as it may sound, the water just feels better
The shower head comes with a test kit to show it’s effectiveness.
This is what the water looked like straight out of the faucet.⬆️
You add a few drops of a solution included in the box and it turns color according to how much chlorine is in the water. Ours showed a VERY noticeable difference. (and I’ve gotta’ tell you that I think Kent was skeptical about this whole endeavor, but was made a believer)
The water in the cup on the right is what came out of the shower head with the new filter attached and then the same solution added. No more chlorine. YIPPEE!!!
So the moral of this story is you don’t have to keep dry hair. There are all kinds of things to help and hopefully you’ve found something here that strikes your fancy. Long live our healthy locks!
SHOP THESE ITEMS HERE
Hi Lisa!
You and I both have perm stories and they have to do with our moms! hehe. My mom hates that I tell this story, but I had decided to get a perm as a walk in at either Pennys or Sears and I told the girl “no kinky curls”, needless to say I looked like one of Michael Jackson’s siblings when I left and cried in the car! So, I hear you !
Love what you use on your hair now, it alwasy looks so full and healthy! I use a kerastase oil and kerastae heat protectant too which shortens drying time.
Have a great day!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
I’m all about anything that shortens my dry time. Would you believe while we were on the vacation I set of the smoke detector with all the steam coming off my hair when I was drying it. HA. CRAZY! XO
My damaged hair is due to 30 years of home coloring and half of those bleach blonde. Although I did have a handful of perms growing up…eeew I can remember the smell. I use several deep conditioners but I really need to get some of the It’s a Ten. Heard wonderful reviews on it. Welcome home cutie!
Thanks friend! Yes, get you some of that. It’s really good. Use a coupon and get it at Bed, Bath & Beyond? OXOX
This is bringing me back – yes, perms and color treated hair for me meant trouble but I did it anyway! Ugh I cringe! I use that It’s a 10 product and I love Batiste dry shampoo. I need to show that filter for my shower head – I’m thinking it will help with keeping my shower cleaner. You know what I mean? All that sediment and hard water stains, so hard to keep clean!
Great post my friend, especially now that you’ve returned from the beach!
xo,
Kellyann
Don’t you know it! I’m hopeful it will help with keeping our shower cleaner too. XO
My mom scarred me for life, too, when I was about 10 years old with a perm! Long, wavy hair one day, orphan Annie the next! I kid you not!
I love that we have similar stories. Just another thing in common. LOL
What a story of your chemicalling experiences, Lisa!!!!
My hair was chemical’ed for decades to reduce hair washing to just once a day. Really! I stopped the chemicals ten years ago and now wash every third day and usually use that dry shampoo on the third (though am recently experimenting with a fab new product with good results).
BITD we used talcum powder to dry the hair (making it grey at 15!), then Bristows got smart and reinvented the talc with a smart rebrand.
So I’ve always had greasy hair since early teens and it must be exciting to experience dry hair in SoCal !
Hugs, have a happy hair day, x.
I know, right?! LOL Your routine sounds much like mine. #hairsisters Happy weekend!!!
XO
Intersting post! I guess with naturally curly hair, I can say I’ve never had a perm. Altho, I did know crazy gals with curly hair that got perms on top of it when I was younger. Ha! I wash my hair everyday still and I need to cut back on it somehow. My problem is that I just have oily hair and I workout 5 days a week and it’s a sweat pouring down my face kind of workout! I’m curious to try some of these products, esp the It’s a 10 spray!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I can’t believe I’m not washing mine everyday anymore especially with all the sweat from working out. I do love that it takes a little less time though. Luckily I’ve never had oily hair, so I know that makes a huge difference. You should try the It’s a 10. Great product! XO
I always notice a BIG difference in my hair when our water softener needs more salt. That shower filter is really neat! My sister-in-law doesn’t have a water softener and I am sure she would love one of those!
You should definitely tell her about it. It’s so cheap compared to a house version. ?
Oh I must get one of those water filters. I know ours is full of chlorine. Im one of those that went through the perm stage. I looked like a rock star in the 80’s haha. I wash my hair every day for the fact I work in an office where some people smoke and It gets in my hair. yuk! I have healthy thick hair but sometimes it seem really dry. I could use some water treatment.
Lisa
Oh I must get one of those water filters. I know ours is full of chlorine. Im one of those that went through the perm stage. I looked like a rock star in the 80’s haha. I wash my hair every day for the fact I work in an office where some people smoke and It gets in my hair. yuk! I have healthy thick hair but sometimes it seem really dry. I could use some water treatment.
Lisa
Oh yuck, that’s the pits that the smell gets in your hair. The filter is a neat device. Don’t we all just look back on that 80’s hair and wonder, “what was I thinking?” HA. But we were rockin’ it! Have a great weekend!!! XOXO
We have super hard water here too & looked into a whole home system but $$$$$$ 🙁 Someday we will get one but in the meantime, I also invested in one of those filtered shower heads and it has been wonderful! It says to change the filter every six months or so but our water is so bad that it needs to be changed about every three months!
Oh wow. So how can you tell when it needs to be changed. I kinda thought ours might last longer, but maybe not. Thanks for commenting!! XO
The one I got didn’t have a test kit but I can tell a huge difference in my skin & hair if it’s been a few months and starts feeling very dry!
Thanks Megan!