Friday, January 23, 2009

Bein' a Bridesmaid &, Growing out your hair+keeping your healthy(short or long!)

I have the pleasure of being a bridesmaid in two weddings this Spring: my brother-in-law's wedding (his fiance, Liz, asked me to be a bridesmaid) and two of my very best friends' weddings-- Sarah and Dan. I always like to see what styles are in at the weddings I shoot and in the magazines... dress styles, colors, jewelry trends, and hair-dos! My brother in Law's fiance, Liz, has very unique and upbeat style, and Sarah has a very classic and trendy style.



Liz decided to have each of her 4 bridesmaids wear different dresses. Yesterday, my sister-in-law and I went to pick out our styles. Here's the dress I chose (it will be in this color too):



It's a medium-short length(a good length for me, since I have super long femurs!) and I like the style very much. I found what I was hoping to find!


And Sarah chose this dress for us(the color in real life is more eggplant than this bright purple)-- which I also like.



I'm constantly noticing hair and makeup options-- So, I'm excited to get prettied up for these weddings this Spring! I'm trying to grow my hair out, so I'm not sure how long it will be by those dates. I cut my hair after I got married, as many brides do. My reason was not because I didn't like having long hair-- but because my hair was damaged from growing it out and not getting regular trims to keep it healthy-- instead, I just let it grow, resulting in a lot of split ends.

This time, I'm hoping to grow my hair out WHILE keeping it healthy. I just got it trimmed this week, and will probably go again in 8-9 weeks, assuming that it remains in good condition until then.



If you are growing out your hair(or if you just want healthy hair), are:
*Get a trim every 5-6 weeks for short hair, and 6-8ish weeks if you're growing it out, depending on the state of health of your current hair. If you have split ends, get
them cut off as far as possible.
*Use a quality conditioner every time you wash your hair. Rinse with cool water.
Shampooing everyday may not be necessary, depending on your hair-type. If it's not,
you can still condition every day.
*Spray your hair with a heat protective spray(if blow drying or heat styling) AND a de-tangling spray.
*Gently finger comb through your hair first, and then use a wide-toothed comb
to go through the rest. Do not (I repeat DO NOT!) rip the comb through your hair.
If it is tangled, work through it very slowly. When you hear the ripping sound of
your hair, you are actually ripping it and therefore, damaging it.
*If you don't have to blow dry your hair everyday, don't.
*If you blow dry your hair and you have it on the highest heat setting, make
sure you're moving the blow drier around your head, and not have it sit stationary,
blowing heat on one spot of your hair for too long.
*If you must back-comb your hair, again, be careful not to rip your hair to shreds. Be gentle.
*The more often you put your hair back in a binder, the weaker it becomes and is
more prone to breakage-- so when possible, let your hair down, and when you need to
put it back, the thicker the hair binder and the looser you tie it back, the better.
*If you highlight your hair a lighter color than your natural hair color, you are
stripping the color FROM your hair, versus when you dye it darker, you are adding
color. Stripping your hair of it's color is more harmful. Some hair responds better
to bleaching than others-- but many people have much more damage after doing this
type of coloring treatment to their hair-- it dries it out, and it is more breakable.

Once you damage your hair, as much as some of the shampoo and conditioner commercials claim, it is not exactly possible to repair hair that is already damaged.

That said, some hair is just stronger, and other hair is more prone to be damaged. Shampoo ads in magazines have highly edited photos-- so don't believe we can have hair like that-- however, it IS possible to have healthy hair when you give it love. And I can guarantee, the more healthy your hair, the more it will add to your beauty, make you feel confident, and the more you'll love the hair you meant to have!

1 comment:

Steven Kang said...

Hi Ginger. Little love makes everything healthy. :)
You look great in that Yellow dress.