the hair deal: introduction

For as long as I can remember, I have hated brushing my hair. This is definitely due to the fact that my hair was -and still is- always a frizzy mess. My mother had a lot of difficulties getting me to brush it when I was a child, and when she took matters in her own hands and did it herself, it was still no walk in the park. In fact, when I went on a school trip for 10 days aged 11, my mother had to ask my best friend to make sure that I would brush my hair. But why did I have this attitude?

Simple, really. My hair was full of knots and it was damned painful brushing it. Of course, it was only a few years ago that I realised I should comb it instead of brush it. So my hair then went from a frizzy, undefinable mass to somewhat manageable, still frizzy, curls. But the condition of it is...deplorable. I had resigned myself to having forever dry and broken hair, especially as I've managed to get it to grow so much later (Oh how fickle we can be!). But lately, I've realised just how painful it is even combing my hair, which I usually do during or after my shower, when my hair is still damp (I don't want to go back to the triangle of hair, after all). But by the next day, new knots will have formed, which sort of defies the whole point of combing it. To put this into perspective, I'm sure if I left my hair to its own devices, it would form natural dreadlocks, which isn't a look I'm particularly keen on for myself.

This is sadly what a post-combing session looks like

So what to do now? Well, for starters, I definitely need to invest in a hair mask. Tonight, I tried out a sample I got from L'Occitane which was for dry and broken hair. To be honest, I wasn't whether to be offended or not when the lady added it, but then I figured that it was nothing personal as I did choose the hair sample. So now I'm going to see how it affects my hair and if it works, I might get it (if I get over the price tag, sob).

One thing I have learnt from my hair "journey" is that if you have curly hair like mine that's already damaged, avoid heat products like the plague. Yes, that includes hairdryers. I let my hair dry naturally, even in winter, because otherwise it gets more damaged despite heatsprays, and it just doesn't look good. I also only ever straighten my hair once in a blue moon as it never fully straightens anyway.

So basically I'm going to try and chronicle my hair journey to see if using various products actually improves it. I can't say this will be a weekly thing because let's face it, I need to save up at this time of the year.

I do however have a hair oil that I only ever used once that I think I'll try out when I have the time so I can see if it actually makes a difference to my hair.

If anyone has any tips, I would be very thankful to hear them and I hope you all like this new 'feature' I want to attempt.

On another note, could you all let me know if my layout is properly aligned? It is on my laptop, but I'm not sure it is on different resolutions. I might still change it to make it easier...

Changes

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post to say I've changed the layout, but I'm not finished yet so it may seem a bit strange for the moment. What I'm trying to do is put links underneath the header that will link you to pages as I've noticed that my sidebar is a bit cluttered...

If anyone has any tips on how to do this, they would be greatly appreciated as I'm not too confident with the method I'll be trying out...

Thanks and bye!

Reinventing myself

Lately I've been getting back into the blogging world with the help of my google reader app (even if it malfunctions a few times per day - anyone got any recommendations?) and I've been starting to feel the need (more of a want than need, after all it isn't an obligation) to start blogging again. But then I realised that whilst I do still love makeup, it's not my only interest nowadays. I feel like I have changed a lot recently, become maturer in a way although that has no relevance to makeup.

For instance, I've deactivated my facebook account because some backstabbing ex-friend thought she would start a fight with me over facebook. Having more class than that, I didn't respond, but I started thinking that it was so stupid that someone would start a fight on it and I decided to have a break from it. And I actually enjoy it. The thing is, we're all surrounded by social media, we don't realise how unnecessary it is. Of course, I am using one right now but I like the anonymity that comes with it. On Facebook, everyone (whom I'm "friends" with) knows who I am and what I'm posting. With a blog that I've only shared with my family and closest friends, nobody knows who exactly I am. I may be Nathalie, a makeup blogger, but I'm not Nathalie who lives in x and goes to y, ... . 

So I feel I've changed lately and with these changes, I haven't got such an avid interest in makeup. It's more like I've broadened my horizons.

 So subsequently, I asked myself the question: Should I really still have a makeup blog? I mean, if I post about other stuff as well as makeup, I can't really call my blog Oh la la Maquillage, can I? 

The term "lifestyle blog" is thrown around a lot, for want of a better time, but isn't that what a blog essentially is?Writing about your lifestyle, be it your clothes, your makeup, etc... 

So I think I'll reinvent this blog as I'd like to talk about different aspects of my life, one of which would be traveling as that is a new passion of mine and I love sharing photos or planning my next trip. 

So I have two choices: just change the blog name and make a new layout, banner, etc.. or start with a new blog?

And as for the new name, I think I'll go with ohlalanatalia as it is somewhat keeping elements of my original blog and then, at the same time, making it more general. Of course, my name isn't Natalia but it sounds better ;) 

So I would just like to ask my readers (although that term comes across as too possessive, I'll just stick to people who read my blog) what your thoughts on this are. I've always been someone who likes a bit of advice before deciding so please, tell me what you make of it :)

And by the way, I've changed my comments setting to moderated as I've been getting so many spam comments and it's really been annoying me.