Shortcut to a new me, thanks to Organika Hair

December 5, 2013

How has this happened? It’s December and there’s still so much left on my to-do list, including giving this blog a much-needed makeover. While the blog is going to have to wait a bit longer (stay tuned!), I did at least finally get around to giving my hair a long overdue overhaul. The last time I had it cut was before my trip to Bali – in June!! Why did I wait so long? Well, my hair is annoyingly fine and flyaway and while I know that a good hairdresser could make it look decent, I didn’t want to just visit any salon. My criteria was to find somewhere that shared my interests in doing right by the planet as well as knowing what they’re doing with my hair, and unfortunately there aren’t so many eco-friendly salons around yet. So it was with a sense of great excitement that I accepted a generous offer to test the expertise of the staff at Organika Hair in Elwood. I was, in fact, lucky enough to trust my locks to the lovely Lisa, one of the salon’s co-owners.

Lisa told me one of the catalysts for her and the others launching Organika was working in a normal salon and noticing the word “TOXIC” printed on the packaging of products that they were using on a regular basis. That certainly would be a good reason for change! Lisa also altered other aspects of her lifestyle and is very into eating healthily, incorporating raw foods into her diet and using natural and organic products on her skin (I hope I’m not giving away a beauty secret when I tell you her gorgeous complexion may just be thanks to toning with apple cider vinegar at night – something I will have to try!).

I started documenting my haircut because I intended to donate my chopped-off ponytail to this campaign to provide female cancer sufferers with wigs, but it wasn’t really long enough, and what there was was so fine that there would have been barely enough to make a fringe, let alone a whole head of hair. Still, I wanted to mention it here because if any of you out there are thinking of chopping off your locks, you might be able to do some good with them!
Anyway, after discussing lengths with Lisa, I showed her this photo of the stunning Nicole Warne that I brought with me for style inspiration (I hope Nicole wouldn’t mind me using it here!).

Sigh. Yes, “tell her she’s dreamin'” is the phrase that comes to mind. But Lisa seemed to think something similar would be attainable, even though my baby-fine kind-of-wavy locks are nothing like Nicole Warne’s strong, straight tresses.
I settled in for my haircut with some locally-made Hot Choccy (it’s hard to choose from all the drinks on Organika’s menu!).

Yum!

I managed a few shots of the salon in between snips – it’s all quite understated but with natural elements that reflect the salon’s eco-friendly philosophy (no scary chemical smells or harsh lights here!).

The salon uses Alterna products which incorporate sustainable ingredients and employ fair trade practices. Lisa gave me some of the range to try at home, which I’ll let you know about in a future post. I’m really looking forward to seeing how my hair responds to the natural ingredients such as bamboo, which apparently makes strands stronger.

All in all, the salon is very relaxing… see any similarities here?

Hehe…that was while I was having my colour done. My hair is naturally very dark, but Lisa suggested a near-black shade using Chi Ionic ammonia-free colour, and as I’d been considering going slightly darker for ages, I readily agreed, although I’m not sure how obvious the colour is here. It was quite tricky taking selfies at the salon! Where’s my professional photographer when I need him?

We decided to see whether I’d be able to do a glamorous retro style like some of the other looks Nicole Warne showcases on her blog (she looks so beautiful in every shot that Lisa and I got a little bit distracted scrolling through the images!) so it was out with the hot rollers…

… and then, silly me realised I had to hurry off as it was the launch of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival and I had to go home and change, so I didn’t take any more photos at the salon. You’ll have to take my word for it that I looked super glamorous – Lisa said I reminded her of the Chinese lady by Tretchikoff (image from here). Thoughts?

Without the special green effects (which took about 5 seconds in iPhoto, as you can probably tell) it looks like this:

A bit of the curl had dropped out by the time I took these shots, but I’m still very, very happy with the result. I think it will be a lot easier to look half-decent (if not quite up to Nicole Warne’s level!) with this cut, and it’s quite versatile, so I’m looking forward to getting creative in some upcoming posts and showing you some better shots that do justice to Lisa’s handiwork.

This particular styling put me in a kind of retro mood, so for the VAMFF launch I went a bit heavy on the eyeliner and debuted this secondhand dress.

And to cap off what had been a day made lovely by Lisa, here I am with another Lisa (Lisa Teh from Couturing!).

Just a few months until fashion week in Melbourne – imagine all the looks I can show off now that I actually like my hair! Thank you so much, Organika!