[Hair Journal] 2022

 

I originally wrote this 2022 hair journal on the sub and moving it here as part my Reddit migration. Added more pictures for hair context.

I keep meaning to write an updated journal about my what I'm doing for my hair, but it's been a frustrating process since the beginning of fall/winter 2022 that I'll talk more about in the future when I get on writing my 2023 hair journal.

It's settled down quite a bit, but I'm in an area where I know I don't know a lot, but I know it's very little and I'm feeling around in the dark. I started skincare more or less like that, so I'm not super concerned about it. But I also benefited greatly in the skincare realm that people on the sub shared a lot of info on skincare. The sub has just historically been pretty sparse on hair knowledge.

The above picture was taken approximately two days before I posted the hair journal, so you can see what I was working with. Those fries...I think they were lobster fries.

Hair type, concerns, history: mid-30s, 1c, [low porosity] currently around lower chest length and undyed black. Focused on anti-aging - hair loss and white hair prevention.

I’ve always had thick hair and way too much of it and had no idea how to handle it; it takes more skill and patience than I have to style it. Always had a very oily scalp but dry ends. Always washed every other day (other than the years I went short with an undercut), and it was normal to lose a bunch of hair after showering, but until recently wasn't a big deal because I could stand to lose some.

About 8 years ago, I went all sorts of silver, or ash, or blonde for 3-4 years. My hair is very resistant to bleach and people familiar and unfamiliar with thick, Asian hair put my hair and scalp through the absolute ringer; anytime I went to someone new, they freaked out at how neon orange my hair turned. It wasn’t until I found my stylist that I got the coloring down. But over the years I’ve come to the understanding - thanks to his patience - that my hair will never be a beautiful rainbow or fun color because it’s so resistant to bleach, especially since it takes so long to do and I am terrible with upkeep.

But this is also roughly around the time I started caring more about taking better care of my hair. White hairs starting popping up more regularly, my hair in general took much longer to grow out and while I still have a lot of hair, I estimate it’s about a third less than what I was used to. Both my mom and my mom’s mom have said they used to have too much hair when they were younger, but missed how much hair they used to have in their older ages. So I’m in prevention mode at this point.

r/AsianBeauty has taught me so much and I really thank u/cutis_pura for this Intro to AB Hair Care for providing some direction to this lost soul. Seriously worth a read if you do not understand your hair or hair in general.My main takeaways from the post and hair discussions in the sub: keep conditioners/treatments away from the scalp (which I did not know at the time). Since I am permanently a dehydrated person who loves toners, I figured my scalp would like some of that love and started off with adding Kiku to my scalp which was great. But then decided I might as well get a real hair tonic on the hopes that it actually does regrow my hair. Looked into low pH shampoos which helped a ton, gentle exfoliation of my scalp, hair serum.

Got my haircut 4 months ago and not a split-end in sight, which is pretty big for me. I pluck my white hairs (I have a lot of hair, the whole more white hairs coming back is a myth) and my white-hair murdering rampage has not been needed.

This has been a slow process of many years and I’m at a point where I’m can finally say I love my hair.

Routine (some are not AB)

Usually shampoo with the Viori that I hated, found the Ryo which I absolutely love, so it’s going to be the one I use most days. I use the Skylake about once every third wash for deeper cleanings on extra-oily days. Strands washed by hand, scalp with the Tsubaki brush. Most days I just go for the La’dor treatment from middle to ends, though I do try to switch it up with the Essential to use it up. Once the Essential is done, I’m finishing up the Skylake one. I will probably try a Ryo conditioner next just to have a more substantial one for “omg” moments, but that’s not happening until at least the end of the year.

Every 10 days or so, I use the La’dor fillup. I squeeze it on my scalp and hair, running it through to the ends. I often just put the La’dor treatment on top of it at the ends and wait a bit before rinsing. It’s not how you’re supposed to use it, but they also didn’t’ say you couldn’t and it’s been working fine for me.

Once I’m out of the shower, a dozen or so sprays of the Skylake tonic on my scalp. Run a dime size Taila Oil on the ends only. Most times, I just put my hair in two braids and let it dry for wavy hair the next day (I use the Tangle Teazer to brush my hair before braiding if so). If I do decide to blow dry my hair (Panasonic Nanoe), I just use my fingers to “comb” it, medium heat setting. Mornings of my “off” days, I spray my scalp with the Oribe, ends get Verb. 

Reviews

Shampoo

• Skylake Herbal Cool Shampoo – HG for heavier, oily days (~1x/week). Super stripping, not great for every day use IMO. Hanbang to the max, there’s even pieces of…root? in it. I love the smell (cooling hanbang), but it doesn’t last.
• Ryo Cheonsamhwa Women’s Hair Loss Relief Volume Shampoo (Hair Root Nutrition) – new, but very likely new HG. It smells like a ginseng jelly candy my brain swears I have a memory of but can’t describe. Smell doesn't linger. After the first use, my hair felt instantly stronger and springy, and less hair fell out (like literally counted no more than 7 hairs, it’s usually innumerable). I didn’t need to use the Verb oil the next day.
• Viori Shampoo Hair Bar (Hidden Waterfall) – hate it. Smells like car air freshener, awkward to foam up. Felt like the amount of hair I was losing after using it was unacceptable. I’m debating about just binning it TBH.
• Tsubaki Hair Shampoo Massage Brush – HG, great for deep but gentle scalp cleansing, I always pack it with me anytime I travel. Times I forget it, my scalp feels a little less clean (unless I really want to hurt my scalp with my nails).
• Not pictured, but remember trying

• Asience Moisture Rich Moist Shampoo: used many bottles before switching to Essential. It worked fine at the time, but it felt heavy.
• Essential Rich Damage Care Shampoo: used many bottles of this, but ultimately it’s like a Japanese Pantene Pro V, and not what I need now.
• Ryo Calamus Shampoo: I actually really loved it but I couldn’t find it for a while. At this point, my new Ryo is better so not going back to it.
• La’dor Keratin LPP Shampoo: really liked it and it lasted for forever. It’s a great starter “treat your hair better” shampoo, but ultimately I wanted a little more out of my more regular shampoo.

Conditioner/Treatment

• La’dor Hydro LPP Treatment – HG for general conditioner. It’s simple, it does its job. It still makes my hair feel light.
• Essential Rich Damage Care Conditioner – purchased many, many bottles of this over the years, but it’s pretty heavy and I just no longer like using it.
• Skylake Herb Silk Conditioner – WNRP even though this is the second bottle. LOVE the smell (reminds me of jasmine or frangipani), but it is so, ultra heavy.
•  La’dor Perferct Hair Fill-up – HG. I don’t follow the directions, but I love using it ~1x/10 days or so to give my hair a little boost. Hair feels incredible silky after using it. I don’t damage my hair too much now, so I don’t need it as much, but I still like having it around as a preventative.
• Not pictured, but remember trying
• Asience Moisture Rich Moist Conditioner: used many bottles before switching to Essential. It was fine, but felt heavy.
• Yao Rice Water: the homemade thing with rice water and pomelo/grapefruit. Annoying to make and ultimately wasn’t worth it because I saw no results. It smelled better than I thought it would, but still didn’t like the smell and it lingered longer than I’d like.

Hair Care

• Skylake Oriental Herb Houttuynia Cordata Hair Tonic – HG of HGs. Used essentially as a Hanbang toner for my scalp after a wash. I need it to keep my oil under control, which it does (less oil and can definitely wash my hair every 60 hours, if I really wanted to push it). I’ve gone through at least 6 bottles, I have another 6 stocked up because Skylake is so hard to get now. The new bottles are amber I believe. Still has the very thoughtful spout that provides great delivery to the scalp.
• Taila Hair Oil (note: my friend works for Taila, formerly Arya Essentials) – used after Skylake tonic on wet hair from middle to tips. On my 2nd bottle, might repurchase, but I do go through it really slowly and I can’t say for sure it does something that another hair brand’s hair oil doesn’t. I just checked, don't think they even sell it anymore. Boo.
• ORIBE Serene Scalp Thickening Treatment Spray – promotes hair growth which is scary that it has, which makes it HG after about a month of usage. I am used to baby hairs, but this is definitely more than my usual amount. I use it on dry scalp on the mornings I don’t wash my hair. Quick massage wakes my roots up a bit.
• Verb Ghost Oil – HG of HGs. The absolute perfect product. Smoothes my frizzes, shines my hair, keeps it sleek and bouncy without any weight at all. Perfect for days off of washing my hair.
• Tangle Teazer Detangling Brush – I guess it works. I barely brush my hair now and if I do, it’s usually when its wet which this is made for, so I guess it works. And it’s easy to clean. I probably would buy this again if I lost it or something.
• Not pictured, but remember trying
• Yanagiya Hair Medicated Hair Growth Tonic: went through two bottles before I decided I really didn’t like it. It smells like traditional aftershave, it’s very menthol cooling upon application. I hated the way to apply it (like traditional aftershave). No hair growth that I could discern and I felt like the Skylake hydrated my scalp better.
• [Oshima] Tsubaki Camellia Oil: Everyone raves about it but I hate it. It felt gross going on my hair no matter how much or how little I used. Rather than go on my hair then disappearing when dry like the Taila one does, it made my hair feel sticky and weighed it down so much.
• Shiseido FT Aquair Water Spray: I LOVE THE BOTTLE. I use it to fill my Kiku to spray my body. I hate the product that’s in it. Did nothing for my hair but made it feel sticky.