My LL sticks got here last night!!  Omigosh they are beautiful!  Unfortunately, I'm committed to play Warcraft for the next couple of hours, so won't be able to take my pics until then.  I guess it all works out because that's when the sun hits my living room.

*goes off to finish the quest as quickly as possible*

Cynde

I'm almost out of shampoo and conditioner which I was getting from reflect.com.  Last month they closed their doors, and though Proctor & Gamble (sp?), their mother company, promised to continue their products in one of their many other companies, they haven't done so yet and I have to find an alternative.  I think I will go back to Abba hair products (they are all-vegan).  

Reflect.com was an innovative company, specializing in "custom beauty".  You filled out a web form that asked detailed questions about your skin condition, hair condition, what you want your hair to feel like after a wash, what texture you liked your products to be, and they custom made your products.  They were always infused with natural ingredients.  They even labeled the bottle whatever you wanted.

I found my formula sheets, so I'm listing my infusions (these were customized with eczema and dry skin in mind):

cynde's daily essential shampoo

• fortified with humectants to gently cleanse and help hydrate your hair and scalp, leaving your hair softer and more supple
• contains a soothing chamomile to help calm the scalp and relieve itching and dicomfort
• contains fruit and grain extracts to boost cellular nutrition and help keep your hair and scalp healthy
• infused with castor oil to help improves the elasticity of hair and restore shine
• pH balanced to be gentle to hair
• dermatologist tested to be non-allergenic
• bamboo tea fragrance

cynde's nourishing conditioner

• formulated with rice milk to revitalize your hair leaving it supple and full of shine
• formulated with soothing natural oats that help relieve the itching and discomfort associated with an irratated scalp
• infused with sunflower extracts, rich in anti-oxidants, that help prevent damage before it can begin
• formulated with vitamins E & K to nourish your hair and provide renewed strength
• contains glycerin, a humectant, to moisturize and condition your scalp
• dermatologist tested to be non-allergenic
• bamboo tea fragrance

I started using this formula in 2003, and changed last year to a color-friendly formula.  I can't find those sheets though...

I'm so bummed they went out of business.  They had great products and customer service.  I truly believe they were just ahead of their time.

Cynde

EDIT:  I found an old pic - lookee, the bottles have my name on them:

Hair appointment today went great.  Valentina said my scalp looked like it had new skin (which is from the eczema treatment I'm on.)  This was good to hear, since I can't see my own scalp!  She also said my hair was super healthy, and even asked me if really wanted a trim!  

First was my roots.  Valentina used Redken Double Lights to lighten the color.  Double Lights is only to be used on Levels 1-5 color hair (1=Black, 2=Very Dark Brown, 3=Dark Brown, 4=Brown, 5=Medium Brown.)  It lightens these colors by 4 levels.

After that, I went ahead with a trim because I've been inspired by you guys to take better care of my hair.   She didn't take off much overall length, but did make more layers to "give my hair more swing".  I really like layers because it takes off the physical and visual weight off the bottom of my hair.

So here are the results -



Trying to show the front layers in this one:


Then I asked for shampoo and conditioner suggestions.  I remembered that it wasn't ABBA I last used before reflect.com, it was LOMA (darn these four letter words...)  So I got LOMA Perspective Shampoo and Enable Conditioner.  She also gave me samples of Simplicity Shampoo and Expect Conditioner.

Perspective Ingredients:
aloe vera gel, aqueous extracts of: calendula, lavender, and rosemary, alkylpolyglycocides(corn); cocamide MEA (coconut), hydrolyzed whole wheat protein, panthenol (provitamin b-5), cocamidopropyl, betaine (coconut), polyquater-nium 4, glycol distearate, citric acid, pure oregon peppermint oil, DM DM hydantoin

Enable Ingredients:
aloe vera gel, aqueous herbal extract of tormentil, comfrey, kelp, horsetail, chamomile, watercress, witch hazel, ceearyl alchohol (moisterizer), peg-40 castor oil, stearalkonium chloride, cetrimonium chloride, keratin amino acids (human hair), panthenol (provitamin b-5), dimethicone, hydrolyzed whole wheat protein, orange, tangerine, rosemary, clove, ylang ylang, essential oils, phenoxyethano, methyl paraben, ethyl, paraben, propyl paraben

I'm sure I misspelled a word or two in there.

Some URLs
Loma Web Site
ABBA Website
Cheri Bibi Website (my salon)

Cynde

Cool!  Your hair looks so shiney and the ends look great!

Your hair looks absolutely beautiful...and you have the nicest ends I have ever seen! So thick, shiny and healthy looking right down to the ends. I'm evious!

Also, I know what you mean about being in the same room with yourself...I am really sensitive to scents and if I apply even too much perfume, I am sick to my stomach and headachey all day. Ick.

Thankee AtlantisAllure and Gabi

My master plan to shower in the morning was put off by a ton of work.  So I had to live with air-freshner-smell all day.    But now I smell like tangerine and ylang-ylang (with a hint of the color processing smell.)  So I'm happy! 

During my break I practiced doing a Chinese bun.  I'm trying to perfect doing it with only 2 sticks, and no ponytail holders or anything else.  I was able to do it several times, and now it just needs fine-tuning and all-day testing.

Tonight, more comb research.  I'm leaning towards a Ric's comb.  I LOVE the ornate boxwoods, but the ones I want are over $100!     Definitely going on the birthday or Christmas list.

Cynde

I hope the combs work out for you, Cynde!

Your hair photos look so lovely.  That is where my target length is!