bleached and natural nicole

The Gems | afroniquely | July 29, 2010 9:37 am

Back by popular demand, remember Nicole the fly natural on the blog a few days ago? Well you guys wanted to know more about her hair care regime with the bright blonde hair. Here it is. Thanks Nicole!

What color did you use?

It’s not a hair color, my hair is bleached only. It is applied professionally and once the desired lightness is achieved, is rinsed off. Each person’s result will vary because it depends on the color your hair is to start with.

How do you maintain your hair color?

Since it is bleached I don’t have to maintain a color, worry about fading, etc. The only focus is keeping it moisturized and strong.

How do you prevent breakage?

To prevent breakage I moisturize by spritzing my hair with natural humectants, apply a natural oil (raw coconut, jojoba, pomegranate seed, or argan) and seal the ends with my own mix of raw butters, natural and organic oils, and humectants. I do this morning and night, although I apply it heavier in the evening. I have also eliminated things that will suffocate and/or dry out my hair….heat, mineral oil, petrolatum, silicones, and sulfates. I clarify once a month to remove any environmental buildup. I cowash with silicone-free conditioners only. I also final rinse hair with cold water instead of warm to close the cuticle. I deep condition my hair 1-4x a month. I make my own and always add raw honey, vitamin E (32,000 IU), raw coconut oil and milk. I then put on a plastic cap and turban and leave the deep conditioner in at least overnight.

How do you avoid splits and dead ends on completely color treated hair?

By keeping my hair moisturized and eliminating all sulfates, heat, silicones, mineral oil, and petrolatum.

What products worked the best for you to keep your hair healthy while colored?

Products from the CURLS, My Honey Child, Amourai Organique, Kinky-Curly, Just Natural, Bee Mine, Pretty Natural, Koils by Nature, Joie Naturals, and Kiss My Face lines are the ones I use the most. My base stylers are Elasta QP Feels Like Silk or conditioner.

How do you get your curls so defined and not dried out?

I don’t do anything special for definition, my hair is naturally defined. To main moisturize I moisturize and seal morning and night.

What is your at night regimen?

Moisturize and seal, and wear a bonnet to bed. I DC 24-48 hrs (straight) before getting my roots touched up and the same after the color touch up.

What about in the day? How do you avoid dry crunchy hair and no breakage?

After apply leave in and styler, I apply a light layer of a natural oil to ensure it dries soft Keeping the hair moisturized and protected at night are the most important things with color treated hair. Because I am in an area with a year round moderate climate, I am able to use glycerine based products year round. This have proven invaluable in keeping my hair moisturized and strong.

Please add any other bits of information in regards to your color hair care, they are very interested in learning more.

My biggest hair care secret….treat it like it’s severely damaged!! With that in mind I 1) use non-protein conditioners and deep treatments as leave ins & 2) do overnight deep conditioning treatments instead of with heat. If you saw the kinds of products I used, you would think I had a different hair type that was extremely dry, brittle, and breaking left and right! Sounds simple, but it works wonders. I’ve done this since I went natural and bleached it, and it’s always been super healthy.