New Hair, Phase One

So those of you that have been following me for a while may know this past year brought me some major hair highs and lows. It started off platinum blonde with possibly the best hair cut I've ever had. The condition was great, it felt thick and healthy and although it was short it was versatile and easy to style. I loved it. After a couple of solid blonde root touch ups I started to notice breakage arond my temples but accepted it as part and parcel of the very blonde do.. it wasn't awful so I lived with it. I've been pretty good with my hair over the past couple of years, left colour and bleach to the pro's, had regular cuts and constant treatments at home. even when it was white it had shine.. that's why when it finally snapped it was so shocking. It wasn't brittle or dry at all, I mean it was bleached so it wasn't virgin hair but it was in pretty good nick all things considered.

In the summer a whole section of hair broke off during a root touch up which I didn't notice until I got home. It was a blunt layer in the middle of my hair that left it thin and mullet-like down one side.. the side I part my hair. Not ideal. Over the next 6 months I tried just about everything to fix it and prevent further breakage but it got progressively worse. In that time I tried to go darker but hated it and so had another set of highlights which probably wasn't the smartest move but my hair was bad enough without the colour driving me nuts too. That was 13 weeks ago. On Saturday I went to Russell Eaton salon in Leeds (excellent, would highly recommend!) and had my colour refreshed. Robert stretched out my roots with a warmer shade at the same depth as my natural colour and softened the mid lengths to blend the very blonde ends. This was part one of my treatment and truth be told I wasn't excited about it. I knew I'd have to go a bit darker and the major transformation isn't until next week but I absolutely love the colour. the root shade he chose is so similar to my natural colour, it didn't feel too dark at all and everything just looks more polished. The best is yet to come of course but he wanted to be sure the colour was just right before.. the extensions are fitted!!The salon experience was great, it was my first visit to Russel Eaton but I will absolutely be back! From the scalp/shoulder massage upon arrival, constant supply of hot drinks and ridiculously calming wash room it was pretty idyllic. I also had a strengthening treatment under a very futuristic heat lamp which despite I have no use for I quite fancy having at home. Over the past 6 months I've found some products that worked really well to make my hair look and feel better. I can't really tell you anything genuinely improved the condition of my hair because as you can see from the before pictures at the salon it was in pretty bad shape but anything that makes it smoother and easier to style without heat is a winner. I'll cover all that in a post (and video) later this week but for now I wanted to show you the first phase of my Russell Eaton transformation. The extensions I'm having are predominantly to fill out my hair and restore volume rather than to add length so don't expect anything drastic but it will be drastic for me because I've lived with this accidental mullet for months!! For those worried for me (and I know there are lots of you) don't. I'm opting for Great Lengths keratin extensions which IN THEORY will not damage my hair so long as they're cared for. I'm at the point where if I didn't have them I'd be going for a crop so in the back of my mind I'm thinking if it all goes wrong then that's my fall back. I've done very short hair before and it didn't suit me so it's my absolute last resort. In an ideal world these extensions will give me my confidence (and HAIR) back while I grow out the broken sections and then I'll be back to my bob and potentially have grown to love my natural colour... stranger things have happened.

Miss BB

Huge thanks to Russell Eaton for gifting me the treatment, very excited for my return next week!