hair

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Add a ‘Tude

Most days, I want my hair to look smooth and shiny, each soft strand perfectly in place. There are days, though, that I want to rough it up a bit. I still want my hair to look nice, and clean, and pretty, but I also want to look a little sassy. I want some attitude.

Happily, I’ve found the perfect product to help me achieve that desired level of imperfection. Bumble and Bumble Styling Creme is the product to use if you want to add some texture and ‘tude to your hair. It’s especially good for girls with thin or fine hair, as it helps create the appearance of thicker, fuller strands. I recently used it on my sister to help her create an adorable – and sassy – short-hair style. And for my thick-but-fine strands, it serves as a great root-lifter.

A full-sized bottle of the styling creme is kinda pricey – $24 – but the trial size is just $8 (at Sephora) and will last for a surprising amount of time. As with most hair styling products, I find that a little dab is all it takes to see results.

So try it. Let your attitude go to your head.

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Great Hair in the Storm

Looking out the window at what promises to be one hell of a snowstorm, I’m feeling a bit blue. But I’ve been a little uplifted today by the emergence of great hair in my office.

It sounds shallow, I know, but seeing someone who looks really put together – great hair, great outfit, great manicure, etc. – really inspires me. Lately, one of my co-workers has had especially sassy hair, full of bounce and shine. She told me that she has been using Herbal Essences Body Envy shampoo and conditioner, and following up with the brand’s Tousle Me Softly line.

I’ve also been using the Body Envy Conditioner, and I’m very pleased with the tropical scent and the way it leaves my hair soft and with a reasonable amount of volume. My bouncy-haired co-worker has been raving about how easy it has been to acheive such hair greatness. After shampooing and conditioning, she spritzes her hair with the Tousle Me Softly spray gel and then blow dries it. To finish, she lifts up sections of hair and sprays her roots with the Tousle Me Softly hairspray.

The result looks effortless, and has certainly given her a bit more attitude. All from a few spritzes of product.

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Second-Day Hair

You know how some girls can just roll out of bed, throw on some clothes, and waltz down the street looking perfectly tousled and incredibly cool?

I think I might know their secret.

About a week ago my sister called to thank me for turning her on to the Aussie Aussome Volume haircare line, which has long been my favorite drugstore pick for bouncy, good-smelling hair. She told me she recently discovered they had a 2-in-1 shampoo, and that she L-O-V-E-D it. I’ve never been much of a 2-in-1 gal (I’m very careful to use shampoo on my roots and conditioner on my ends), but she raved about it so much I decided to give it a try. She said it made her hair look better than ever.

“Especially the second day,” she said.

Interesting. So over the weekend I picked up a bottle. I immediately liked the idea behind the product.

“Work this superstar of simplicity through damp hair. Rinse with warm water and go on with your day.”

Well that sounded easy. I used it in the shower and styled my hair as usual. I have to say, it did nothing all that remarkable. My hair was soft and smelled good, but I didn’t think I looked any better than I normally do. Feeling a little let down, I went about my day and forgot about it.

The next morning, having completely forgotten about my sister’s second-day hair comment, I shuffled sleepily into the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. 

WOAH!

My hair was a little messy, in that sexy bedhead kind of way. It didn’t look the least bit greasy, and was actually still bouncy. I didn’t even reach for a comb. I just strutted out of the bathroom, feeling extra sassy.

Mystery solved.

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Learning to Like My Hair

Looking back at old photos of myself throughout my younger years, there is one glaring flaw that kept me from looking as put together and pretty as I would have liked: I had bad hair. There were never any crazy styles or anything; my hair has, for the most part, been of medium length, and I spent the majority of my childhood with a bob, or whatever a bob becomes when it grows out a bit. In my teens I would occasionally go to my hair dresser with a picture of a pixie cut and instruct her to lop off all but a couple of inches, but I never had a hot pink Mohawk or crazy big hair or a bad perm or anything like that. 

No, the problem wasn’t the style, it was the lack of style that the previous paragraph clearly indicated. My hair was always just there, a separate entity, not a part of my overall outfit or look. I did practically nothing to take care of it. I’d get it cut every now and then. I washed it and combed it and let it dry. Eventually I cared so little about my hair that I would let pretty much anyone cut it. Friends who wanted to practice their hairdressing skills would snip and style it. I figured a free haircut was worth the risk of a bad haircut. What did I care?

Somewhere along the line I started caring. Tired of never being completely pulled together, I wandered into a Rite Aid one day and bought a bottle of John Frieda Daily Nourishment Leave-In Conditioning Spray. It was on sale and seemed about as low maintenance as a hair product could be. I went home, took a shower, sprayed some of the frizz fighting potion in my hair, and went about my day. Hours later, I looked in the mirror and noticed that my hair looked… good. What had formerly been a kinda wavy, slightly frizzy mop was a soft and shiny, still wavy, head of hair. I was hooked.

But fighting frizz was only part of the battle. You see, my hair is very dark, very thick, and very prone to a condition that I call triangle head, where, upon reaching a certain length, my hair ceases to increase in length and instead increases in width, giving my whole head a very triangular look. Suddenly giving a damn about my hair, I resolved to get a real hair cut and start getting them on a regular basis.

The cut I chose was not earth shattering, but it worked. A trim, some subtle  layers and a blow-dry later, and I was actually feeling pretty. My hair actually looked like it belonged on my head!

Since that day I’ve been getting my hair trimmed and restyled regularly, and I won’t leave the house without blow-drying my hair. It adds that bit of polish and style that my hair was definitely missing in my younger days. And I’ve graduated from the John Frieda spray to some fancier frizz fighters. Until about a week ago I was hooked on Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream, which protects hair from heat damage, keeps frizz at bay, and leaves hair nice and shiny. Lately I’ve been using Living Proof Styling Cream, part of the brand’s no frizz line. The new product  keeps my hair almost completely frizz free and also makes it incredibly soft, but it lacks the shine that the Glossing Cream provides. I still have bad hair days, but simply putting a little effort into my hairdo makes me feel a lot better about it, and sometimes I actually feel proud of it.

One night while out having drinks at my favorite bar, a girl I barely knew came up to me and said,

“Your hair always looks perfect. I hate you.”

I couldn’t help but smile.