AmandaPanda's Long Hair Odyssey

My new digital camera is a pink Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS75

Note: I did not get it there, and I did not pay that much for it.

I'll add an updated hair picture soon

after 1 month, 1 week and 1 day TLHC is finally up and running!!!!!

It all started with Sun-In...

~1997 Sun-In: My first time changing my hair color. My mother was hesitant about letting me try it (since I was so young). I believe I tried it at the end of 7th grade. It left my hair dried-out and orange . I had permed it too almost a year prior which didn't help any. Some people can get Sun-in to work for them, but most can't. Especially if you have darker hair (though mine isn't really). I have read MANY horror stories. On most hair boards, if you mention Sun-In people will always say it's TEH EVIL!!! It contains hydrogen peroxide which is basically bleach and can really dry out/damage your hair (even if you can't see the damage, that doesn't mean it's not there).
~Chemical Dyes: I believe I tried some dye to try to get back as close to my natural color as possible. It ended up fading so I let my natural color grow in.
~2001 Highlights: By my senior year, I got my third perm (the second was the summer before my Sophomore year), and the bleach was almost completely grown out (I just had a tiny amount on the ends). Hairdressers always told me that I would look good with highlights so, during my senior year I got some streaks put in. They weren't really what I was going for, but I did get them touched up once more before giving up on them.
~2002 Chem. Dye (again): The highlights grew out a bit but I ended up dying my hair all over to cover them up (though the dye ended up fading as usual) so I tried it a couple more times. What I didn't realize was that you are not supposed to leave the solution on the whole length of the hair for the entire time when it has already been processed before. So it damaged my hair much more than it should have, because it also lightened my hair more since the dyes I was using require developers, which contain hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, etc. When the dye faded, I was left with bleached hair again.
~2004 Henna: I let my natural color grow in for about 2 years, then I decided to try henna  (which I read was more permanent than anything else, and natural too) to blend in my natural color with the bleached length. It looked pretty good the first & second time, although I made the mistake of trying pure RED henna the third time which left my hair an orangey-red color. It can be built up to make a darker, more red shade, but I decided I didn't look good with hair with that much red. I went back to a brown henna mix just before I chopped my hair and stayed with that color until I realized it was still too red.
~2004 Highlighting & Chemical Dye: I tried an at home highlighting kit to add a few subtle highlights (why the heck not? It was short, and I wasn't planning on growing out again, right? lol). It did not turn out the way I wanted so I ended up using some demi-permanent dye over it. It faded, so I tried it once more before giving up on it. This particular brand/type required a developer so although it wasn't as bad as a permanent color, it still caused a little damage I'm sure.
~2005 semi-permanent dyes: I tried some dyes that didn't have any hydrogen peroxide or ammonia etc...so these just faded out and never damaged or lightened my hair.

I've left my color alone since :) I plan on never coloring it again

I finally found Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Shampoo & Conditioner after weeks of searching (I tried Wal-Mart, KMart, and Kroger). I was able to locate it in Target. They had the leave-in as well, but I thought I'd give the S&C a go before buying that too.

It doesn't smell like I thought it would. I has more of a sweet floral perfume scent. I thought it would be fruity. It doesn't smell bad, it's just a little too strong until it dries.
It made my hair silky, shiny and sleek. I like it

EDIT: Yes, it contains ammonium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates, but my hair & scalp don't mind them. Everyone's hair/scalps are different

10,600 views!

TLHC has been down for several days now

I'm trying to find ways to occupy my free time, but I think I'm starting to go through withdrawal...

I'll upload a new pic to the "Hair Misc." folder