A Mommy Story

This has been a rough summer on my hair. Beyond the usual hot, humid Ohio weather – which has been hotter that normal, though not quite as humid – I’ve also found new and creative ways to damage my hair. I’m letting it grow again, and the longer it gets the more I have to deal with split ends and damage. I also color my hair which, no matter what the box tells you, is not gentle on long hair.

But then in July I decided on a whim to color my hair in a more creative way. I had an overall color applied, but then I also decided to dye the lower 3-4″ purple, with a single purple streak near my face, too. Hey, why not? To obtain this unusual color, though, the portion of hair to be dyed must first be bleached. There are few things as damaging to hair as bleaching it.

The color came out pretty well, but my stylist warned me that my hair would need a lot of extra TLC. It wasn’t until the next day when I understood exactly what she meant. The ends of my hair felt like straw. My stylist had recommended any product with oils in it designed to nourish and repair my hair. She wasn’t kidding – over a month later and my hair still needs all the help it can get.

I recently had the chance to try out the new Dove Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner on my frizzy, dry hair. Dove’s conditioners have a patented Micromoisture Serum that targets damage, repairing the surface of hair by sealing lifted cuticles. The bottle advertises weightless Nutri-oils that are rapidly absorbed and non-greasy.

A conditioner that is heavy on oils worried me at first. In the summer, my hair gets greasy quickly – wouldn’t oils make it worse? But hey, when your hair is like straw, oils are welcome if they’ll make my hair shiny, smooth and frizz-free.

The first thing I noticed was the Dove conditioner smelled awesome. It has a great sweet almond oil scent to it that reminded me of my favorite body lotion from many years ago. It has a thick consistency, too. Surprisingly, there were no instructions on the bottle regarding how long to leave it on. I was worried about leaving it in too long, so I rinsed it out after about a minute.

The result? My hair was so smooth. I was surprised at how easily my comb went through my hair. It wasn’t greasy at all, and even those straw-like ends felt softer. Not perfect, but softer.

Since I’ve started using the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner on my hair, it’s felt healthier and has slowly regained the softness it used to have. While Ohio weather will never permit my hair to be 100% frizz-free, it’s so much better now. After all of the abuse I’ve put my hair through, I’m thankful for products like this to help keep it healthy. For more on Dove’s entire line of conditioners, visit dovehair.com.

And for reading all of this, I’m giving you the chance to win a very cool giveaway.

Answer this question for me: what’s the worst thing you’ve done to your hair? Click the link below, let me know your answer on the form and you could be pampering not only your hair but also your face, nails and whole body with a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate.

(NOTE: You must click the link below and answer the question there in order to enter. But please feel free to copy/paste it here in the comments, too, just so we can all share in the hair abuse we’ve committed!)

Giveaway Details!

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 – 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove^®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.