My hair care routine

Difficult is an understatement when it comes to my hair. I know a lot of people would kill for thick wavy hair like mine and do love it, honest. It's just it takes a lot to control it, it's a lot of work which is why I usually just have time to pin it back into a high bun for work. If I have a bit more time and quite often at weekends I'll straighten my hair using the wide GHD straighteners for unruly hair which has great results. The straightening, the hair colouring and the brushing can take its toll and so I try and use good quality hair products to get the life and shine back into my hair. 

Before: how my hair is naturally after drying. Not sure what I'd do pre-straighter time...

I don't tend to wash my hair every day, it doesn't get overly greasy until about day 3 so if there's no point why wash it. For general washing I just use VO5 Nourish Me Truly shampoo and conditioner which I found works really well with thick hair. About once or twice a week or whenever I have time or feel my hair needs a bit more nourishment, instead of the VO5 conditioner I'll swap it for either Kerastase Nutritive Fondant Nutri-Thermique (I'll usually use this one if I'm planning to straighten my hair as it works best with heat) or Redken All Soft Heavy Cream for dry and damaged hair. These are interchangeable so I'll use Kerastase one day and then Redken another. 

Depending on time I'll squeeze as much water out as possible, apply a good layer of the mask, wrap in a towel to keep warm (I've heard this encourages the mask to work) and leave for around 10 minutes. I usually get out of the bath at this point and rinse the mask off separately.

Once my hair is feeling a little healthier I'll add three pumps of Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil. I've tried a number of leave in conditioners from creams to oils and personally I find that ones that have an oily consistency like this one work better. The Berber Oil in a previous Glossy Box was another winner for me. They always leave my hair really soft and shiny. Finally before I start to blow dry I'll spritz on a little Trevor Sorbie Beautifully Straight Heat Protecting Spray. As you can see from the pic my hair naturally does it's own thing but the Trevor Sorbie seems to do a good job of de-frizzing and protecting at the same time. 

Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

Trevor Sorbie Heat Protecting Spray

I always use my trusty Body Shop Paddle Brush to de-tangle before drying. 

With this routine I find that the damage to my hair is minimal with all the bleach and straightening. Particularly when it's straightened I've had quite a few comments (even from strangers!) about how healthy and shiny my hair looks which is testament to these products (and to having a good chop now and again). 

Next time I'll do a review of the GHD wide plates with before and after pics as for me they're absolutely amazing.