Your Questions: My Hair routine

Hello butterflies!

Finally a hair related topic is here!

Me in Barcelona, Spain, March 2019

Today, I am really really happy and excited that we're approaching my favourite part of the year! The
blog is refreshed and updated (as it needs to meet the season's mood) aaaand I couldn't think a better way to celebrate it than a requested article. I always get happy to receive your heartwarming messages and your questions/requests are a high motivational factor to boost my productivity to the top! So, let's go for it!❤

My brushed hair after some oil application 
after a lomg (and hair stressful) summer

I was recently asked about my haircare routine and how do I maintain my hair long and healthy.

That is a pretty good question. 👀

My hair is really light blonde, naturally straight and long.

This is the number one triplet of fragile hair since most women bleach their hair (leading to a dehydrated/fried texture), straight hair tend to get INSTANTLY combed even right after brushing aaaaand long hair usually get split ends which move upwards and ruin the entire length after some time.

My haircare routine isn't as complex as you may imagine.

There are just some tiny habits I always do and some things I try to avoid as much as possible.

Wanna get a closer look?

Keep reading.

DOs

• I NEVER use the combo shampoo-conditioner as it is. I wash my hair max twice a week following this routine:

1) Scalp massage before hair wash
2) I wash with shampoo twice, applying shampoo ONLY on the roots, rubbing my scalp, then rinse.
3) I use a hydrating hair mask (mids and lengths) and leave on for 3-5 min in steamy conditions while i wash my body.
4) I rinse the hair mask with cool water, then apply conditionair to mids-lengths (conditioner closes the pores) and rinse with cool water which retains the hair shine.
5) Apply some leave-in hair oil to my ends and let my hair AIR DRY a good 80% before brushing them.

Note: Hair is super fragile when wet, so you don't want to rub, drag or brush it before it's dry.

• I dont' dye my hair. I ONLY get a root regrowth touch up once a while. If you're on the same place, a bold DO is to use OLAPLEX. I was really concerned before trying it but I can guarantee that It never caused any damage so far, which is the most important since the root hair need to be as strong and healthy as possible.

• I ALWAYS rinse my hair with cool/cold water. It gives them a really glossy texture.

• I try to wash them less frequently. I used to wash them everyday! Now I stick with 1-2 times per week MAXIMUM.

• I use a wide brush, appropriate for straight hair. Look up the right type for your own hair needs.

• Hair protection during sleep: I brush them and tie them on a loose ponytail or braid with a silky scrunchiebefore i sleep. I avoid the extra rubbing between my hair and the pillow either wearing a silky bonet or using a silky pillowcase so that I have a much easier frizz-free day the following morning ;)

• OIL IS SALVATION! I have a lovely professional hair oil which repairs even the split ends. It can be applied both on dumb and dry hair so I use it instead of any other styling product. Some drops on the lengths and ends right after showering, before sleep or before going out, will do the trick.

*The oil i use is from Montibello - the Essential Oil with Tsubaki.
** Another one I used in the past and was lovely, was L'OREAL ELVIVE ExtraOrdinary Oil FOR NORMAL HAIR. I once tried the reddish one, for coloured hair and it was a crap.

I apologize for the poor quality of the picture. Instagram shot.

• OIL IS LIFE, volume 2. Besides the leave-in oil stated above ( I use it almost everyday ), twice a month I apply coconut oil across my roots, lengths and ends, I give myself a good massage, brush my hair and catch them on a braid. I let the oil sit for 8 hours MINIMUM, as it needs a lot of time to get in the hair. Works perfectly If you try this before bedtime and wash your hair the following day ^_^

• I take care of them INSIDE OUT. The goal here is to supply your organism with the best fuel to build strong and healthy hair meanwhile protecting them from breakage/damage. A diet rich in protein, vitamins, ferrum and all the necessary nutrients along with the proper water consumption will transform the pace of your hair growth and make your hair even stronger. I workout frequently, since I changed my nutrition I immediately noticed the difference on my hair :3

• As for trimming, a Finnish friend of mine once told me to only trim my hair on October and February. I guess it has to do with the climate change and temperature variation that make these months more suitable for trimming as the possibility of the fresh cut ends to split is smaller. I used to trim them a little every month but since last year I followed this advice and indeed my hair didn't break in the meantime. Also my trimmed ends were sustained pretty good even  months later.

• Hair repair is essential after a summer full of sea dives, exposure to the sun/sweat, high temperature and humidity. If you're still on vacation or planning to visit the sea/pool PROTECT  YOUR HAIR. Salt (and sun) can make them dry and ruin their colour. Use some UV protection and make sure to ALWAYS RINSE OUT the sea/pool water off your hair right after getting out. A personal life hack: If I'm about to go swimming I apply some of my hairmask on the midlengths and ends of my hair. This way, when my hair will come in contact with water the pores will open and the nutrients of the hairmask will be absorbed. Another tip especially for blonde or coloured red hair, avoid putting your head underwater while being in the pool. I had a terrible shock after some visits since my light blonde hair got GREEN (!!!) ends because of the clorine. You can also use a protective PVC cup. 

DON'Ts

• Avoid hot water, heating devices and blow dryers at all costs. If this is impossible, switch the blow dryer to the cool air mode and If the use of a heating device is necessary ALWAYS use a suitable oil/serum for heat protection.

• Avoid harsh hair dyes. If you're about colouring your hair try to find a plant based hair dye or one that doesn't cause any significant damage. There are kits of oil and masks in the market, to protect your hair during the colouring process. Montibello's SILAPLEX kit is a good recommendation. As mentioned earlier, for the blond kitties, OLAPLEX is LOVE. 

• I maintain the beige tone on my hair by using silver shampoo. If you do so, DO NOT let it on for a long time. It causes serious dryness :( I got this lesson the hard way as i had periods of excessively dry hair unable to figure out why. I put it on, massage a little and wash out immediately.

*Tip: If you really need some toning, mix the silver shampoo with some conditioner or white hair mask to make sure your hair are staying hydrated.

• Do not over wash/over brush or be harsh on your hair. Be gentle and don't rub the hell out with the towel.

• Stop pulling your hair into super tight ponytails. That's something i literally never do, the scalp needs to breathe. If this has been a regular habit of yours, cut it down and brace yourself: The headaches and weak baby hair will belong to the past ;)

We do ALL relate. 😂

• Don't overstress. *laughs* Psychological stress can contribute to weaken your hair, reduce their quality and even cause hairloss! This is something I am still working on as well , and If you're a friend of mine reading this paragraph, PLEASE stop laughing!

And the following two are an aftermath of my personal experience:

• Working out? MAKE SURE to protect your hair from the evil sweat. Sweaty hair get super combed and dry.

• Having shoulder hair or longer? Be super careful while you put on your backpack/bag. The straps tend to pull and eventually cut the front hair strands :/ #personalstruggle

Aaaaaand this is the end of my personal hair routine guide. I think I included all the tips I use on my own hair here but in case i missed anything, I'll make sure to update this post. Thank you so much for your time visiting my blog, your messages, requests and questions. May this month be a total cleanse for your hearts and light up the way for more loving moments and emotions! Come back soon for more updates. In the meantime you can always have an eye on my daily-updated Instagram and contact me using the information below. See you soon!❤

Hugs,

Irina 

CONTACT INFORMATION

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Detox Beauty Routine

Hello sweet butterflies !

As you probably noticed, Irina's Beauty Advices is back too (along with the Self Improvement Blog), totally refreshed, active and full of wonderful things to share with you!

Today's article is about a "Detox Beauty Routine" I personally follow. It is best combined with the physical Body Detox Routine which is focused on removing all the toxins and their effects from your body forming a great combo for treating yourself inside out clean <3

Why jumping into a Detox Beauty Routine? It is beneficial both for your appearance and health, it lifts up your mood, boosts your self confidence as you're treating yourself nice and In my opinion, it has a symbolic aspect as well. Once you decide cleaning yourself from all the "dirt" and harmful material you also choose to get rid of the negativity and embrace the clear, light and hopeful version of yourself. You're making space for your own rebirth ( literally referring to the skin cells that will grow, metaphorically to the improvement and change in your life ).

When is the best time to get a Beauty Detox Routine? Well, there isn't a "right" or "wrong" moment and it also depends on the basic routine you follow. In my point of view, I proceed to a stronger purification when I feel that I need to refresh myself. This can be after a long tiring day when you seek some relaxation, the day after a party or night out when you feel a bit zombified, a day that you feel out of mood and you have to remind yourself that you are a beautiful and worthy creature or instantly after holidays associated to unhealthy lifestyle.

As I already mentioned, this is a stronger routine which I follow on a weekly basis (some isolated parts) or monthly basis (the full process) but i definetely do not recommend following this daily as it can be damaging.


Here we go!




BODY

Get started with a warm relaxing bath!
You can sink in your bathtub in foam and oil drops or enjoy the experience of the falling water. No matter the choice, you need a warm bath to open your pores and let the dirt wash out.

Get a body scrub!
Doesn't matter If you're making your own or using an industrial (I occassionally make my own out of natural ingredients but there are fair and nice products in the market too). Give your body a nice strong peeling and get rid of the dead skin cells.

Don't forget to use (maybe a stronger) scrub product for your feet and elbows. The foot scrub is my number one weapon to recover after long hours of standing ( especially during my work shifts ). Peeling and rubbing increase the blood circulation and your feet recover faster.

(Optional) : Get your hair removal routine. Best during shower if it's shaving or before you shower if it is wax or anything similar. If you're getting a wax session be careful with the scrub as it can cause irritation, Use a mild product and don't overdo it with rubbing.

Moisture mode: ON !
After your clear and soft skin is revealed you need to make sure it will get moisturized as it needs to recover and stay smooth, clean and silky. The variety of options is wide, you can choose between a body mask during your bath or a post shower product in any format that suits your skin: bodylotions, bodybutters, babyoils. I personally use babyoils the days I'm scrubbing because my skin is extremely sensitive and it reacts best to this format. I go with bodylotions usually after my daily simple showers.

Tips: 

• Give your body a nice circular massage with your moisturizer to improve the blood circulation, help your skin absorb the product faster, relax yourself and create a smooth texture on your skin. Spend some more time on areas you may have cellulite or loose skin.

• While applying your moisturizer on your feet it is a REALLY GREAT opportunity to relax yourself for real. Rubbing your feet and toes feels really amazing but knowing exactly where to focus is a powerful weapon to relief yourself from stress, tiredness and further health issues. Here's a "map" of your feet sensors and their "correspondence" body parts. I highly insist of trying this, it helped me a lot with a lot of aches during my period, migraine, insomnia and digestion problems.

For extra silky feet, after rubbing your feet put on some socks. The heating between your skin and socks will let your pores open and the product will reach deeper creating a much softer texture.






FACE

First step before showering is to remove ANY make up using a mild soft facial soap. 

Use a facial scrub product or jump combine Sugar and Honey and gently rub your skin avoiding the area around your eyes and mouth, the skin there is pretty thin and can be damaged easily.

Exfoliate your lips as well using your fingertips and the sugar-honey mixture or blend some honey and cinnamon and use an old toothbrush to gently scrub your lips.

Wash out your skin with lukewarm water and there you get two options. Either using cold water on the last washout (and optionally apply some face lotion to balance your PH and moisture level) or washing out with lukewarm water, drying your skin with a clean towel ( DO NOT RUB! ) and using a moisturize cream or mask.

Personal Use: If I'm doing the scrub for beauty routine purpose I usually proceed on the mask or moisturizer step. When I scrub after a night out I prefer not using any product after washing out and let my skin "breathe" and repair its natural oils on its own.





TEETH

Yes, these are my own teeth after this treatment :) 

Once a month ( or less frequently ) I follow a natural teeth whitening routine. Once a month is a good frequency more or less but do not repeat this more often as it can be harmful for teeths' adamantine or cause a chemical burning on your gums.

How to do it: Mix a tbsp. of cooking/baking soda with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. Adjust the proportions so that you get a creamy paste. Use this paste to brush your teeth for 2-3 minutes. Wash out with plain water. It's a process that can visibly whiten your teeth naturally and clean your mouth deeply. I guess that regular coffee drinkers and smokers will get more noticeable change with this because of the extra dye concentrated on their teeth,






HAIR

My hair

Your hair is a part of you and suffers the consequences of a bad day or lifestyle too. During your shower use a mild shampoo to clean up your roots and lengths and wash out with lukewarm water. I use hairmasks (instead of conditioner) regularly but the products stays on for maybe 2-3 minutes maximum during shower. If you wish to give them a refreshed, moisturized and healthy look you need to switch to "therapy" mode. You can either use products specialized to repair or simply use your favourite mask across the lengths/ends and let it on for 10-15 minutes (preferably using a shower cap to preserve some heat). Wash out with lukewarm water AND make sure the last washout is done with cold water. This will tighten the scalp pores (which means healthy hair won't fall out during brushing - something that happens really often as moisturizers and warm water open up the pores) and will also make your hair shine.

Let your hair dry naturally if you're into this or If you can't avoid blow drying make sure It's on the coolest scale and on a safe distance from your hair.

Another highlight of my beauty routine is oiling my hair. There are tons of products that swear a silky result, a lot of them actually work but most of them just offer a smooth texture just for 1-2 hours after application ( especially the leave-in ones ).
My main aim of using oil is to moisturize my hair  DEEPLY so I don't just use a post-shower leave-in product.


I use natural almond oil across my lengths, ends and even my roots (since it is a natural product it isn't harmful for the scalp) the night before I sleep (I usually wash my the following day). It works the best If i don't have to get out for one day, to brush my hair, apply almond oil and make a loose braid. If you give it a try, leave it overnight and the whole following day and you get AMAZING ,healthy hair.

A close-up shot of my hair

Since it has no smell, it can be used as a leave-in product as well. You can add your preferable essences too.  Why almond oil? All the natural oils (ex. laurel oil, olive oil or relevant ones) work exactly the same way but they aren't recommended for blonde hair (like mine) as they tend to darken or even cause brassiness and green tones to such light hair.

They are perfect for Brown and black hair. If you're blonde, gigner or redhear, almond and coconut oils will work great.

 I repeat the "overnight" treatment once a week or once every 10 days and i use leave in oil almost every day.

 Except natural oils I also use this amaaaaaazing product : The Gold Oil Essence - Tsubaki Oil from Montibello. I purchased a bottle of 30mL for around 3 euros and it lasts 1-2 months of regular use.






NAILS

The routine here is more obvious and adjusted to the manicure steps every person follows individually but in general cutting your nails, leaving them unpolished to breathe is the healthiest way to let them grow stronger while taking care of your personal hygiene. Some personal life hacks i discovered through the time is the use of lemon to remove stains of nail polish absorbed by the nail surface and clean my nails (lemon is antibacterial as well). Another life hack when my nails feel weak and crack is to let them rest for a few days or a week, boosting my diet with the essential protein and vitamins aaaaaaaaand applying olive oil while rubbing them.

That was it for today, all these steps complete a full facial and body beauty detox routine that I personally follow and recommend. If you're trying either the whole process or even some isolated parts I would love your feedback! I am also really welcome to your own comments, suggestions, questions and requests for upcoming articles.

Thank you a lot for taking the time to read my article and feel free to share it out there If you liked it.

Stay tuned for the next update, coming up really soon.

Find my contact information below.

Love,

Irina

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*

             CONTACT INFORMATION

Emails :

irina.rhoads@gmail.com 

&

  irina.alexopoulou@hotmail.com

Google + :

click here

Facebook page : 

click here

Twitter :

click here

YouTube Channel : /channel/UCoJa8c0GJ4nWce2z_BaUp8w

Skype :

irina.alexopoulou

Instagram :

irina_lainen_arvoitus 

Pinterest :

Irinä Arvoitus