My hair is becoming redder

This is my second hair highlighting done this year.  The first one was in January when I opted for brown.  

Your hair will have 3 colours! Ha? Black, red and the earlier tint, brown. Oh I see! That's fine.

This time I don't mind the redness of my hair.  In fact, it gives my lifeless hair some life.  This is called 50% highlighting, according to my hairstylist.  She also commented that I look better with a head of reddish hair.  Emmm...

Anyway, in a few months time, a more natural brown colour will be subsituting the red hue.  So, it's going to be like another colouring done on my hair again.  And another new look!

Three colours of the crowning glory

A nice contrast with my black hairband

Back to brown

Just had a highlight on my hair, almost everyone does it to usher the Chinese New Year.  Well, actually I  went there just for a fringe cut. Somehow, I obliged when the shampoo girl suggested a highlight for my hair.  I don't go for colour for economical reason, what else?

This time, instead of trying to be bold and choosing red, I opted for the conventional brown.  And, I wasn't charged the 'Chinese New Year' price, so it's fine.  The salon's business is flourishing. When I stepped in at 10.07am, there were already 3 customers who were having their hair done.

And I was there at about 9.40am. Thinking that I was too early, I went for a 'nescafe tarik' at the mamak shop next door, not knowing that customers were already walking into the salon at the dot of 10am.

Combs that last more than a decade

After having this pink comb for something like more than 10 years, it finally broke another few tooth and can't be used anymore.

I bought a new one from Guardian but mind you, the teeth of this new comb are too sharp to comb gently on my already weak scalp. It's not cheap though, at RM7.90.  So, I went searching for combs with big teeth. Believe me, I actually went hunting at Carrefour, Jusco, S&M and finally one at Sogo supermarket.

It's huge, at least the biggest comb I've ever owned and it's cheaper at only around RM5. I feel so much less 'discomfort' with this comb. With crowning glory such as mine, I don't really mind the hassle.  If I can find one with therapeutic effect which can soothe my problem scalp, I don't mind paying for such comb.

Red, red foam

It has been more than two weeks since I gave my hair a highlight, a red one. I was in for a shock when I had my first hairwash. The foam was pink in colour! Thinking that this might happen in the first few washes, I sort of accepted it.

Even my hair towel has red stain on it. According to the stylist, this would normally happen for the first two weeks.

To get VIP discount

Not too bad a deal if I can accumulate RM300 worth of spending in 3 months. Initially, I mistook that I have to spend it in one month and was rushing to have hairwashes. Since, I still have so many weeks and I probably need another RM100 or so, I don't think it's much of a problem to get a VIP discount card.

5% is not too big deal but if I need to spend approximately RM20 every 3 to 4 weeks, then the savings can be quite significant.

Normal hair-conditioner won't do the job

I can't use normal hair-conditioner, my hairstylist advised me. Those available on the shelves will not do the job. With the texture of my hair, I need special hair-conditioner, those recommended by hairstylists and mostly not available widely.

So, this means burning a bigger hole in my pocket? Looks like it. Or, I'll just be extra careful when I use normal hair-conditioner so that it won't contact my scalp.

Can I do without hair-conditioner?

Of course not! Quipped my hairstylist. In fact, with my kind of hair, even a little hair-conditioner at the ends help a lot.

'It's obvious', she said, my hair looks dry with dry ends jutting out when I walked into the salon. Actually, I have stopped using hair-conditioner a few months ago. I thought this would help alleviate my oily scalp problem.

I have to heed her advice else my hair will look like hay.

All-in-one package for fresh locks

Hair highlight + trim + treatment, all these for RM168 (approximately USD49), not bad, right?

I wanted to just have my hair highlighted and a trim. The hairstylist recommended this package which includes hair treatment. Afterall, I had resisted any offer to have hair treatment for umpteen years, so I don't think it's sinful to give in this time. A normal hair treatment costs RM60 (hopefully my hairstylist is truthful as I've not done any treatment for the last, don't know how many, years).

So, for this amount of money, it's worth it. Of course, the most important is I love the result. Nice, freshly toned, soft locks.

Another way to prevent oily scalp

I have just learnt something new from my hairstylist. She said we should refrain from using warm or hot water to wash our hair. If possible, use cold water. Warm water will stimulate production of oil on our scalp especially those with oily scalp problem.

That's news to me. I never realise this. So, from today onwards, it's cold water to wash my hair.

Tips to avoid having oily hair

Eeeh, I can't stand oily hair and hair that looks oily. And I have this problem, Hellllppp!

I could only resort to washing my hair on alternate days. Else, it'll look like I just applied oil on it on the third day. Not to mention my laziness to wash my hair, it's also a 'hair-losing' experience each time after my hairwash. My hair drops while washing, drying with a towel and even combing. Sigh....

My hair, especially the fringe look greasy on the morning of the third day. As I usually wash my hair at night, I would shampoo the fringe in the morning before I go to work. So, at least the fringe would look 'clean' and dry. Looks more enticing than greasy looking hair.

In order not to add to the oilyness of my hair, I don't apply hair-conditioner on the scalp. I only concentrate on the tip of the hair. I think this is common sense.

A tip I got from my hairstylist is to blow dry our hair with hair-dryer after a hairwash. She said our hair would not look oily so easily. I tried that and yes, the hair does look 'drier' but blow drying with hairdryer is damaging to the hair la.

How to have thicker hair?

Can anyone drop me some haircare tips on how to have thicker hair?

I have been having thinning hair since I was a youth. It wasn't very serious as sometimes there are still baby hair growing at the hairline. But, the appearance of the thinning hair at the roots especially on top of the head, is rather obvious, though not at an alarming stage yet. I don't want to wait til that day happens, though.

I've tried a few branded shampoo that target hair loss, from the cheaper ones available in any pharmacy (about RM30-RM40 or USD9-12) to those premium ones (RM60-100 or USD18-30). Sebastian, Kerastasea, Nioxin and Aesop.

I've even attempted tonic, or hair-conditioner for problematic hair such as the one I'm using. I've long stopped tonic as I find it very tedious applying it on my head. For the conditioner that I'm using which target the scalp, it's called scalp therapy. My hairstylist recommended it to me. His advice is to the scalp needs to be taken care of so that healthy hair follicles can grown. His theory makes sense as I have oily scalp and it'll turn red and itchy and slices of dandruff begin to surface when I don't wash my hair on the alternate day. If still left unwashed, flakes of dandruff will 'grow' from the scalp.

The light green-coloured conditioner has a very fresh, minty fragrance. And, the best is when applied on the scalp, it gives a very cooling feeling on the head. If I have the conditioning done in an air-conditioned hair salon, I can even feel the chill on my body because of the hair conditioner (I'm not exaggerating). We are not supposed to rinse away the conditioner straight away. For the best effect, the conditioner should be left to work on the scalp for 10-15 minutes. I don't use this conditioner as often as I should be simply because I don't waste unnecessary time in the bathroom. My bathroom regime doesn't last more than 10minutes (without hairwashing). Moreover, this conditioner doesn't untangle hair. For my fine hair, only Pantene Extra-Rich works for me now. So, I need to use both this Nioxin and Pantene conditioner if I need to use Nioxin. What a waste of time (which I don't have much)! This conditioner helps to soothe my scalp but has to be used together with the shampoo for the best effect.

I was introduced to Nioxin foam for the scalp. Frankly, I don't find this product of any use to me.I've used up one bottle (which is miserably small for the RM100 (or USD29) I parted with) and yet don't see any noticeable positive effects.

Unable to dispel the convincing persuasion of a sales promoter, I bought a bottle of Aesop Dual cleansing scalp shampoo, claimed to be effective for thinning hair. Perhaps, this brand would work better. Not only I don't experience any growing hair, my hair drops more than usual. I stopped after about 2 months of consuming it. I don't want to risk losing my crowning glory. There went my RM60 something (about USD19).

I think I better forget about being adventurous and stick to the tried and tested brand, my faithful Nioxin scalp cleanser.

No need to do hair treatment in hair saloon

Hair stylists never fail to ask me if I want to do hair treatment when they touch my hair. My ends do appear dry and they are dry. The scalp, however, tells a different story.

Without even thinking, the answer would always be a resounding 'NO'. I don't believe that doing hair treatment once in a blue moon would really smoothen hair or give it moist. So, why bother to spend the money at saloon?

Many,many years ago I come across a product called hair treatment cream. I bought it (can't remember the price) and tried on my hair. You just need to apply the cream after your hairwash while your hair is still wet. Wrap your towel and let it stay for, I think, 15 minutes or so. The result? Soft flowing hair, but rather oily at the scalp.

If I'm diligent enough to try a few times, I can almost bet the result could be better than one done in a saloon. Unfortunately, patience and time are not with me. I didn't bother to try more.

What is the best hair-conditioner brand to detangle fine hair?

I have super-fine hair and fragile too. Hairstylists who touched my hair before can testify this. And I've never find this as a blessing except that it's smooth to touch. It can mess up easily too. When it comes to taking care of my hair, it can be a hair-pulling experience, literally.


I used to use Dove extra-moisturising hair-conditioner. Other brands don't seem to work. Believe me, I've tried. It's like applying tonnes of them and yet my hair doesn't seem to feel softer, the knots are still tight. I've even tried a couple of premium brands such as Kerastasea and . But they are not smooth enough to detangle my easily-tangled hair.

When I can't find this Dove hair-conditioner in supermarkets' shelves, I almost panicked. What happened to this brand? I can't find the exact type, Yes there are still other Dove hair-conditioner but not the particular one I was using. Wonder why Dove phased this one out from their production line? Anyway, I was still using Dove until I can find another replacement.


My prayers are answered when I found Pantene! I never used to be a loyal consumer of Pantene shampoo. Their shampoo is a little costlier than others. But, when I stumble upon this travel size leave-on extra rich hair-conditioner, I didn't think twice to buy it.

True to its description, this conditioner solves my problem. I find it a little odd that the regular sized one is not widely sold. Most shelves are stacked with the travel size. Probably, due to its price which doesn't make it so saleable. As for me, I'll never switch to other brands unless it's taken out of the market again. Maybe, I should just stock up one or two bottles???

Award winning shampoo

My shampoo is an award-winning one! I've been using this for my thinning hair.

I recently bought a jumbo-sized (this is the first time I bought this size) as it's definitely cheaper than the regular sized one and shops selling this kind of shampoos are not easy to come by.