For international travel and hair maintenance tips and links, see full post at http://moknowshair.com/europeantour

To see more beautiful pictures of the sights by an awesome photographer, see C.J.'s Instagram at http://instagram.com/cj_urbane

I recently went on a ten day European tour beginning in London, then to Paris, Lucerne, Venice, Florence and Rome. It was an amazing experience! I was fortunate to see and tour so many historical monuments and scratch off several "bucket list" items, such as seeing a live show at the famous Moulin Rouge!

While on this trip, I decided to wear my natural hair. I left the U.S. with a wash-n-go, which lasted about four days. There was lots of humidity in the air, and we spent a lot of time outside each day, so I ended up washing my hair twice on this trip.

I took travel sizes of the following products:
Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Shampoo and Conditioner
Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner
Creme of Nature Perfect 7 Leave-In
Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter
Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel
Kera Care Edge Tamer
Chi Deep Brilliance Reflect
Agadir Argan Oil Treatment

I quickly discovered the water in Europe is very hard compared to what we have in the U.S. As a result, my hair felt very tacky, heavy, dry and seemed to have build-up (likely from the lime in the water there). I am used to my hair feeling light, soft, full of body and natural hydrated. Thankfully, I was able to manage with overnight braid outs and morning diffusing on wash days, with nightly re-braiding. And by the end of the trip, protective styles saved me!

See post on my blog for international travel tips!!

Original music produced by The Nest:MS, http://thenestms.com

All photography and video captured and edited by Monica of Mo Knows Hair, http://moknowhair.com, 15-24/11/2013