the kindness of strangers { grey hair edition }

Ok, so maybe I'm naive when it comes to this blogging thing.  I follow a few bloggers who, beyond the pleasure of blogging about what they're passionate about, obviously are gaining a bit more than readership through their blogs.  For instance, one of my fave bloggers, Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick, was actually approached by the manufacturer of "Sleep Number" beds, and given a brand new bed (!), free of charge. In perhaps the ultimate reward for blogging, the lovely and talented Joanna Gaines was rewarded with her very own HGTV show (!!!!) - "Fixer Upper" - which came about purely as a result of one of her blog entries being shared on another popular blog. I absolutely LOVE her style, and everything about that show - I'm seriously thinking of a move to Waco, Texas, just so Joanna and her adorable husband Chip can "fix up" a house for me! ;-) (In case it isn't obvious, I have a small passion myself for interior design/DIY - but that's another subject for another day). :)

At any rate, my reasons for blogging are purely for my own enjoyment - anything above and beyond that is the proverbial icing on the cake.  So you can imagine my delight when a few weeks back, the most lovely thing happened.

After I blogged (and subsequently tweeted) about my 10,000th view, it was picked up and re-tweeted by the lovely folks at White Hot Hair - or more specifically, by the founder of WHH, Jayne Mayled. A bit of background: White Hot Hair is based in the UK, and  makes a line of hair care products specifically formulated for grey/silver/white hair. As one with an obvious interest in such a line of products, I had been aware of WHH prior to them tweeting about my blog - but had been under the impression that it was a line only available to UK consumers.  I happened to mention this in response to Jayne's tweet - and she very kindly replied that if I sent her my address, they'd be happy to send me some samples.  Sweet!

I sent Jayne my address, and of course a big thank you for her kind offer....and a little over a week later - look what arrived in my mailbox - all the way from England:

Honestly, I literally gasped when I opened the package - when Jayne said "samples", I expected those little take-out ketchup sized packets - but this?  These weren't samples - they were beautifully wrapped, full size bottles/jars of the ENTIRE LINE of White Hot products! (yep, just as in the photo at the top of this post) WOW.  And here's the kicker - when I had written Jayne to thank her for her offer of samples, I also mentioned that I'd be happy to give the products a mention on my blog - but she deferred the offer, saying, "For me, the encouragement, inspiration and conversation is as important as the product, if not more so."  Truly, I was floored.  

Now, again, maybe I'm naive about the "perks" of blogging - perhaps this sort of thing happens all the time to established bloggers - but to me, Jayne's generosity, coupled with her expecting nothing in return, went above and beyond the call of duty.  This filled me with SUCH a sense of gratitude, and spoke to me of the kindness of strangers - reminding me that there is good in this world - which sometimes presents itself  in the most unlikely and unexpected ways.  

So what about those products?  Well, I'm happy to report that since receiving them, I've put them all to the test - and I'm LOVING them.  Without a word of a lie, my hair has never felt so soft and silky - and it smells delicious! Since transitioning to grey, I haven't really had a problem yet with "yellowing" - so I can't speak to the effectiveness of neutralizing yellow tones - but it definitely enhances the shine and brightness of my silver! I'm especially fond of the "shooshing creme" - demonstrated in this video by lovely Denise of "Grey Is OK!": 

I also love the "lifeshine oil" - especially effective when blow-drying my naturally curly hair - provides great shine and sleekness!  Here's a shot after washing and styling with the products - I know you can't feel it or smell it, but trust me, it's soft, silky, and oh so fragrant! :)

I would highly recommend these products - definitely the best specialty product I've tried so far marketed to those with grey/silver/white hair. I hear that Jayne is perhaps looking for distributors in North America - but in the meantime, they are available for order online via the WHH website.  You can also check them out on facebook,  twitter, pinterest, and YouTube. :)

Thank you again, Jayne!  I know you weren't expecting a testimonial, but there's no way I could NOT sing the praises of your product - and I couldn't agree with you more, and I quote, "This is not the white flag of surrender, I'm just choosing a new colour, and it happens to be grey!"