archives: Hair
I’m not going to mince words: I hate being hairy. This is not to say I am meticulous in my upkeep as I can be a very lazy and tired girl. But nonetheless! If all the hair could be gone forever from the places I want it to be gone I like to think I’d never ask for anything ever again. (I can tell you right now that that is indeed a lie.) To combat this loathing of mine, I live and die by my nose and brow trimmer. I even take it with me when I travel as YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. Or heck, I should keep it in my car, since I always seem to find some unsettling whisker when the sunlight hits me juuuuuust right and there’s nothing I can do about it. (Wow, I’m beginning to make myself sound like the main character in Billy Goat’s Gruff.) Come, let’s bond over unwanted hair.
- I don’t go and get waxed as I’m too cheap and it takes too much time. So I maintain at home. My trimmer is perfect for my upper lip (it happens to the best of us whether we like to talk about it or not) and the few rogue chin hairs I’ve been blessed with since having our son.
- My eyebrows are currently sculpted so all I do is pluck to keep all the business in order, but to me there is nothing worse than perfectly shaped eyebrows with a few long scraggly hairs that make you look like the Juice Man. This is great for trimming up those soldiers.
- The nose. It needs some attention from time to time and I am NOT about to pluck. I just shuddered thinking about it, actually. THE PAIN AND TEARS! So that’s why I use this handy trimmer–never had an incident involving blood, and my nose looked good as new. Just, uh, give it a good wipe down when you’re done. *coughboogiescough*
Sadly, the one I have at home is no longer available as I’ve had it for years. But there are a few to choose from all in different price points, though most are in the fifteen dollar range. Some have so many bells and whistles on them that you could even share it with your husband and really get your money’s worth. Not that I’m insinuating you’re both hairy beasts. Not at all. Gulp.
For me, the easiest way to experiment with my hair is to change up my shampoo and conditioner regimen. I mean, we all know that if our hair is weighted down by gunk it can be heavy and lifeless and if we use something naughty it can strip all the essential oils away and break more easily. I always start with the source if my hair is suddenly acting persnickety. Instead of spending money on STYLING products first, I make sure my hair isn’t getting the shaft. (HA HA get it? SHAFT? *wipes tear*)
I’ve mentioned before what I’m dealing with up top, which is thickthickthick hair that has a natural wave. I am sensitive to perfume-y smells because, call me crazy, I hate to be followed around all day by a dish of my grandmother’s old and dusty potpourri. Since my hair is so heavy I have to be careful when selecting a shampoo as it needs to rinse clean, and the conditioner has to be thick enough to get out all the tangles and snarls without me stepping out of the shower like a greasy monkey. See what I have to put up with? So it’s a tough match with me and my cleansing products is what I’m saying.
Thus enters Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly line. I have begun embracing my messy waves (that long ago were actual CURLS but apparently having a baby made my body re-set the hair function as well as turning a number that rhymes with blirty.) All I did was roam the aisles at Target and the fabu purple bottles jumped out at me. I was sold by the advertising that said “Embrace your softer side with perfectly imperfect hair” because DUH I could totally do that! I’m soft AND imperfect! I tossed my bottles in the cart and actually looked FORWARD to taking a shower. Seriously, I might have done a casual glassade into the bathroom.
I loved the shampoo and conditioner right away. The wild violet & pomegranate had a clean and romantic aroma which my husband has said on more than one occasion ‘smells heavenly’ which, I think we can agree, is never a bad thing. My waves are less frizzy and there is no added weight to my hair. The conditioner is fab in that it’s thick out of the bottle but spreads evenly over wet hair without glumping all over the place. It rinses well too. Herbal Essences also has a bunch of styling products to complete the whole tousled process but I’m not quite there yet. Just still enjoying the freshly clean and messy look I’m rocking over here.
All I’m saying is try it. You’ll like it. Each bottle is around $4.00 depending on where you go. It looks like it’s not sold online but I see it in stores all the time.
No go be imperfect!
Wassup, my livin’-life-on-the-cheap hotties? I really don’t talk like that, but sometimes, I have to get things like that out. Let’s all take a deep breath and move on.
My name’s Sarah Lena, and I write at The Anvil Tree and you can see me at Southern Fried Snark. When the lovely Samantha asked me to do a guest post, she did so for two reasons: 1) she loves me and that feeling is TOTALLY mutual and not just because we’re both married to a man named Bryan and 2) she knows I am a cheap product HO. And then I was all, Gah, how do I narrow down what products I want to tout?! I couldn’t, so I decided to narrow it down to a line. I? Am John Frieda’s lovah.
We’ll start with this: I have curly hair. It was curlier before the kids, but still has a lot of natural wave to it. Also.. get ready .. I don’t wash my hair. A lot. I maybe wash it twice in a seven day period. Judge if you must, but with curly hair? Dude, it TOTALLY looks best after two or three days of grit and oil.
Back to mah man, Mr. John Frieda.
His Curl Around ($5.99) line is a GODSEND for ladies with curly hair. Or, quite frankly, even if you don’t but you plan on adding volume to your hair. (Hot rollers, teasing, what have you.)
Also, his Luxurious Volume Root Lift Spray ($5.99) is a staple in my army. It totally gives you Texas-big hair. Spray it in while your hair is drying (DO NOT TURBAN WRAP YOUR HAIR and DO NOT PUT ANY HEAT INTO IT UNTIL IT’S ALMOST DRY) and trust me. Great lift.
Lastly, the piece de resistance (please imagine me saying that with a french accent):
This produce is aptly named. John Frieda’s Secret Weapon Finish Creme ($6.49) is THE BOMB. After your hair is finished, styled, whatevs, rub a tiny bit of this between your palms and just kinda scrunch your hair. Make sure your tips are hit by this. Amazingly moisturizing, not at all weighty, and your hair looks salon-perfect.
So what’s totally awesome? I just gave you a complete hair routine for about $20 that you can find at places like Target and drugstore.com! You’re very welcome!
(Many, many thanks to the ladies of Live Well, Spend Well for having me!)
So, don’t you all just love it when I post a contest and then NEVER ANNOUNCE THE WINNER? Ahem. Sorry about that.
I am pleased to report that random.org’s random number generator has selected Carla Pullam as the winner of the Land’s End lunchbag giveaway! Carla, I’ll be emailing you shortly so you can tell me where to send it.
I am especially pleased to report that Every! Single! Person! who commented on the McDonald’s premium salad entry is now the proud owner of a premium salad and McCafe gift card! I will be tiring my fingers out entering all your email addresses so you can tell me where to send those.
Yay! Prizes! Thanks to everyone for entering!
Aside from the fact that I have highlighted my hair since I was 15, I’d say I have virgin hair. I hate blow drying it, flat-ironing it, and I am most certainly NOT a product fan (I like being able to still have touchable tresses throughout the day). However, I have come to accept the fact that in certain instances I need to use something in order to achieve the results I want. But first, let’s get the lowdown on what I’m working with:
- It’s crazy thick. Even as a wee babe I never had baby-fine hair; right out of the gate it meant serious business. My hair stylist actually had to purchase special wooden wide-toothed combs just for me as I’d break all of her other ones with my wet and tangly hair. True story.
- It has a natural wave. Throughout high school all I had to do was scrunch it with some water and I’d have some texture. I liked this as I could go either straight or wavy without a whole lot of execution or, who am I kidding, SKILL. I never had to master the art of ANYTHING relating to styling my hair because it was essentially easy. Well, aside from up-dos and don’t even get me started on THOSE because any gal with thick hair will tell you that maintaining an up-do for the length of time a formal event requires is enough to evoke a panic attack.
- It is happy to be highlighted. I first highlighted my hair in highschool and have never turned back. My natural color is brown, but I have two-tone blond/carmel coloring throughout to brighten it up a bit. LOVE. I will never go back to a single flat color again. And even with all the processing my hair has always been healthy. No split ends or nasty flakey bits. Hooray!
I understand that with this flowing mane comes great potential, and yet I am lazy. I love a styled and polished look but hate the actual styling part. That is, until I discovered Guts by Redken.
Guts is a spray mousse. Did you catch that? A mousse. . .that SPRAYS. It adds volume! Isn’t heavy and gloppy! It’s genius is what it is. I love it because it still provides a good amount of hold without making me feel like I’m wearing a helmet, all while not weighing me down. I’ve tried water wax in the past and it was too heavy, and I didn’t like how my hands felt afterwards if I touched my hair. Remember, I have thick hair so anything that can add voume is key. The smell is friendly and not overpowering which is an added bonus.
I didn’t like putting this on when my hair was totally wet, so I’d dry it about 75% of the way through and then spray it on. I’d scrunch away, dry a smidge more and be done. When I use this product I am trying to acheive this look with a bit more volume and messiness in the back (still waiting for that medal to arrive though):
It works fantasitcally. The Redken site says you can also use this product with a round brush if you wanted a smooth look, but I think it is perfect for a messy tousled ‘do.
Redken Guts Spray Mousse, $18.00 for 10.58 oz. on drugstore.com. Can also be found wherever Redken products are sold.
And don’t forget to enter to win a $20 beauty.com gift card over here.
This morning while I was wrestling a very pissy 15 month old, Husband comes into the nursery and says, “Hey! I have something for you to put on your blog.” Lordy.
“What’s that?” I say. Meanwhile wishing he’d just contend with his son who recently decided I’m chump change and his father is King of All That’s Better Than Mom.
“You should talk about name brand things versus generic!”
(Blank stare from me.)
“You know that deoderant I used earlier in the week? Well, that was a store brand and I was stinky by 2pm. The other stuff is fine through the day and I’m not rank.”
And there you have it: one man’s experience with Old Spice deoderant v. jenky store brand.
I’ve been mulling it over all day and have decided to not do a review today, but simply put it out to the masses for you to tell us what’s been better in your experience: generic or name brand?
Leave your feedback in the comments section and be sure to mention a specific product and let us know whether you thought the generic or name brand version was better.
My son E has some crazy great hair. It’s cute and it’s curly and it has a mind of its own (Exhibit A). I am absolutely in love with it. The only characteristic our hair shares is that mine is also brown, however, mine also mainly hangs there like bad drapes at your grandma’s house–so, you know, maybe not a great comparison.
Anyway, with his curly hair comes tangles (Exhibit B)–particularly in a one square inch area right on the back of his melon.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
This area is snaggly no matter what I do. Comb it wet, comb it dry, comb it after being washed and conditioned–doesn’t matter. It’s just a patch of super tight curls.
While a dropping a hot dime at Target last week on lots of other things I didn’t need (new t-shirts, cookie dough, headbands), I thought I should see if I could find a detangler that would work. I was faced with two options: one by L’Oreal Kids and Johnson’s No More Tangles Detangler Spray.
Johnson’s can be used on both dry and wet hair, comes in a bigger bottle for less money and, frankly, is a company with upteen years of baby care behind them. I went with the Johnson’s.
I used it that next morning when E’s hair was especially snaggly, especially in the back. One spritz didn’t seem to do the job, so I spritzed 2-3 times, did a comb through and it he was tangle free (and with minimal whimpering). Also, since I used it while his hair was dry, I wanted to see what his hair looked like at the end of the day. Guess what! It was still tangle free and nice and curly and smelling lovely.
Since I first whipped it out, I’ve used after a bath (fabulous!) and on continuous days on dry hair in the morning (still performs with zero bizarre build-up). The product is wonderfully gentle on his hair and has a pleasant scent.
But would it work on my drape-esque hair? I don’t get many tangles but earlier this week it was hotter than hades here in the Midwest and I drove with my windows down all day. This did result in a few tangles. I took a shower and tousled my hair up real good to create a few more snarls (no one said this testing would be scientific). Using the Johnson’s No More Tangles worked as well on my super straight hair as it did on E’s super curly hair.
Bottomline: I recommend.
Johnson’s No More Tangles Detangler Spray, price varies from $2.99 and up, found at drugstore.com and most other major retailers.
Via random.org–the winners of the giveaway for the Pencil Me In Cosmetics eyeliners are…
(drumroll, please)
sil, and
leighann
Congratulations!
If you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you’ve probably heard someone raving about workout pants from lululemon. They’re so soft. They’re so comfortable. They make your ass look fantastic. Etc, etc, etc.
Now clearly, I am not going to be advocating in this space for pants that cost as much as a cashmere sweater but are designed to be sweat in.
But I AM here to tell you that if you’re aching for a little piece of that lululemon magic, you can get it for a lot less than $100.
Lululemon sells several headbands to keep your hair in check while you’re working out, and they are excellent. My personal favorite is the slipless headband:
I have hair that tends towards frizzy when it gets sweaty, plus bangs, plus a cowlick. This headband is made of the same soft stretchy material as those famous pants, and is lined with a strip of silicone about 1/2 inch wide, to keep it from slipping. Unlike some “no-slip” headbands I’ve tried, this one actually stays in place beautifully, without feeling like it’s pulling so hard that it’s about to rip my hair out from the roots.
I use the slipless model when I’m going running, and it keeps my hair off my face without requiring a single readjustment. This sounds like a minor thing, but after years of constantly battling with my hair, and hair accoutrements, during a workout, it’s a welcome change to have something work this well. There is also a less-expensive version without the silicone band inside, for those for whom slipping is not a problem.
They come in a rainbow of colors- there are several available online, and you’ll find even more if there’s a lululemon store near you and you go in to check them out.
These days, when I walk into my gym (which is full of lulu-lovers), I may be wearing 10 year old gym shorts and a tshirt from my high school math club- but my hair, at least, looks like it belongs.
Lululemon slipless headband, $12 at lululemon.com
