Rockin’ My Transitional Hairdo, Courtesy of Dove

We interrupt my first IVF cycle to bring you this review of Dove’s Daily Moisture Conditioner. Like my last review for Dove, full disclosure: I received this product and am being compensated for this review. My opinions are totes genuine and mine – promise!

I have, for my entire life, had a very complex love-hate relationship with my hair. In December of 2010, I cut off over eight inches of my hair to have the shortest ‘do I’ve ever had. After spending two years growing it out for my wedding, once I became a Mrs., the locks had to go.

So for the last nearly two years, I’ve been rockin’ something like this:

What I loved so far about this ‘do:

• It takes about 20 minutes to air dry.
• Shampoo lasts longer because I don’t need so much of it.
• No complex styling: just brush it and go.

But in the last eight months or so, I’ve been craving a ponytail, missing my long locks, my pig tails, my braids. I’ve missed them so much I’ve even had dreams of me just brushing my crazy long luxurious hair only to wake up and realize my hair doesn’t even come to my shoulders.

Yet.

I’ve been growing out my hair since the beginning of the year. My pre-natal vitamins have certainly helped speed the process along. And as sassy as the pixie cut has been – it gave me a HUGE boost to my self-esteem and confidence – I just miss having long hair again. After lamenting for years that all I ever did with my hair was throw it up into a ponytail all the time, it’s the ponytail that’s calling my name.

Here’s the challenge: trying to grow out your hair – your very layered pixie-cut hair – without verging into mullet territory is nothing short of an artform.

I think I’ve survived the worst of it and now it’s just a matter of continuing to cut the back as the layers in front grow out to catch up to the same length as the shorter hair in the back. I am officially in headband territory: everything’s growing out, but not long enough to pull back yet.

It’s not the best ‘do I’ve ever had, but it’s not horrible:

Right now, my hair is in a state of transition.

So when BlogHer presented me with an opportunity to review Dove’s Daily Moisture Conditioner, I was all over that. I’ve noticed that as my hair is transitioning from this short cut back to my longer style, it needs a little extra TLC. While it’s recommended for daily use, I know my hair. Much like my face, I suffer from something like combination skin: can go from oily to dry in 2 seconds flat. I usually struggle with dry scalp and oily hair. Since I usually only wash my hair every other day anyway, I used this conditioner every other day for a couple of weeks.

First, it’s a massive bottle and a lil dabbl’doya. It’s certainly thicker than any other conditioner I’ve used before but it rinses clean, leaving my hair shiny and bouncy without feeling greasy. Getting my hair to keep volume is always a challenge, so I’m always hesitant to use conditioner so frequently. But after two weeks, my hair was still going strong. It’s been softer, manageable (especially now that I’m getting knots in my hair for the first time in ages, just due to length) and really shiny.

I did notice that on particularly humid days, my hair was going to be wonky no matter what I did: frizzy and fine one minute, flat and limp the next and varying throughout the day. I think my hair will appreciate this product a bit more once deep winter and our dry hot heat kicks in.

For now, it’s helping my transitional hairdo look slightly more put together than it really is 🙂

Have you ever grown out your hair from a previously short ‘do? What were your secrets to keeping your locks lookin’ smart until you reached your ideal length?

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