fashiontakemyheart: curling

Showing posts with label curling. Show all posts

Friday, June 22, 2012

How to Maintain Your Curly Hair

If you are like me with curly hair that has a mind of its own, then you know it's annoying to maintain... ESPECIALLY in the summer when its hot & humid. These conditions mean only one thing for your hair: Frizz. Damn that frizz, taking over my life and all.

Never fear, Crisanta is here to tell you how to maintain your out of this world locks. First things first, shampoo and conditioner. It's important to find the right one for you, everybody is different, so where as one product may work like a charm for you it may not work as well for other users. The trick is to constantly experiment with different shampoo's and conditioners. Personally, once a bottle has run out I go for a new brand; I never use the same shampoo type twice in a row. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Especially when there is a shampoo sale at Shopper's Drug Mart. *CUTE-TIP: A sale is the perfect time to stock up on lots of different shampoo's and conditioners.* Here are a few of my experiments that really paid off:

Ojon Tunu Elastic

The best, and I mean THE BEST, shampoo and conditioner I have ever used is Ojon Tunu Elastic. They use nuts from the Ojon tree in the rain forests of Central America. After the first time using this product I instantly found that my hair was softer, shinier, smoother, healthier and most of all curlier. But it was a nice "curly", curls I wished I could make with a curling iron. It was amazing. The best part is that you only need a little dollop of it and it will cover your entire head.

Another amazing thing about these products is after rinsing out in the shower, all that's left to do is style & go; No additional styling products necessary. The only downside to all this awesomeness is that it's really pricey. Both the shampoo + conditioner total about $50 (CAD), and I've only seen it sold at Sephora and various hair salons. However, if you are able to get yourself into a MAC/Estee Lauder warehouse sale, they go for a total of $12 (CAD) which is totally worth it!

For details on other products by Ojon check out http://www.ojon.com/products/search/esearch.tmpl?search=ojon+tunu .

Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Fortifying

Now if you can't afford to buy Ojon shampoo and conditioner don't worry there are so many more products out there. Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Fortifying shampoo and conditioner for example, is great because it takes away most of the frizz, and once I'm out of the shower I rarely need to put any product in.

However, I have noticed that my hair gets very oily after using this shampoo and conditioner duo and then straightening my hair. I start looking like a Greaser or Severus Snape. (If you don't know who they are, go read a book or at the very least watch a movie. Hahahah just joking.) But anyway, that was the only real issue I had while using this product; Other than that it's pretty great. As a bonus it is 92% biodegradable... Woo! Go Green!

For product details visit http://www.garnierusa.com/_en/_us/fructis/index.aspx#products|PureClean|PureCleanShampoo .

Herbal Essences

My next favorite product line is Herbal Essences; These products have never done me wrong. If you have long hair the Long Distance Relationship shampoo and conditioner will work wonders. I have long hair myself, but I prefer to use shampoos that are targeted for curly/wavy hair like the Tousle Me Softly and Totally Twisted shampoos and conditioners.

Tousle Me Softly is a good choice for a naturally soft and wavy look, where as the Totally Twisted will play up your curls; Both are amazing products that I alternately use on a regular basis. Once I'm out of the shower, I use the corresponding hair mousse dedicated to that line for styling. If you have really frizzy hair the None of Your Frizzness shampoo and conditioner is a great buy! All of the Herbal Essences products do exactly what they tell you, and they smell amazing which is another reason I love them!

For details on all the Herbal Essences products take a look at http://herbalessences.com/en-US/hair-products .

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN

Once you've washed your hair using the shampoo and conditioner that fits your hair needs, the next step is deciding which products to use for leave-in or styling. You don't want to drench your hair in a bunch of products because that will weigh down your style and over treat it. So again you need to find what products work for you! Like I've mentioned before in a previous post, {Check out Can't Be Tamed: How To Tame Unruly Hair"} my favorites are Lush's R&B, Chi Silk Infusions, Macadamia Natural Healing Oil, and Marc Anthony Moisture Gloss. Other good products are Sunsilk Captivating Curls hair cream, TRESemme No Frizz Shine Spray, and as previously mentioned the Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly and Totally Twisted mousse.

For details on all of these products visit the following websites.
TRESemme
Lush
Chi Silk Infusions
Macadamia Hair Products
Marc Anthony
Herbal Essences
Sunsilk Captivating Curls

CUTE-TIP #3

When curling your hair, wrap section around the curling iron and AWAY from your face.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Do you have curly hair that has a mind of it’s own, and just constantly looks a big mess? I do. It’s so annoying. One day it will decide to look nice and one day it decides to just look ridiculous. I’ve always wanted to curl my hair nicely like how the celebrities do but I could never figure it out. I used to straighten my hair and then curl it with a regular curling iron but no matter how much hairspray I put in, the curls always went limp and ended up looking like an even worse dull mess.

However, I have recently learned that the real trick is to curl your natural hair. When you straighten your curly hair you are denaturing the proteins in your hair to make them straight. When you curl it over your newly straightened hair, you are attempting to bring the proteins back to its original form. This is how you get a “hot mess”. So here are the steps to perfectly curl your hair; to make it red carpet worthy or at the very least- not a crime against the public. ;-]

Step 1:

First things first, make sure your hair is dry when curling it. *Heat Styling + Damp Hair = Fried Frizzy Hair* If you have frizzy hair like me use some anti-frizz right after you wash your hair while it is still wet. My personal favourite is Lush’s R&B Hair Moisturizer. It is $20.95 (CAD) for a 3.5 oz tub. This may seem a little pricey but I can tell you that it is completely worth it. You only need to use a little bit for your whole head. And the tub itself lasts over a year. I’ve had mine for over a year and I use it ALL the time. For a product review and description of R&B go to http://www.lush.ca/R-B/03080,en_CA,pd.html

Step 2:

Make sections in your hair like you would when straightening it. This is important because you don’t want to miss a single strand. If you don’t section your hair you might end up having one strand that just looks mad awkward. Make the sections relatively thin, not too thick. If you take sections that are too thick it may not curl as nicely as desired.

*CUTE-TIP: BTW Some people are convinced that they need to use so many products in your hair. You really don’t; if you have one or two really good products it will really do the trick.* The most important thing is to find a hairspray that won’t dry hard and will leave a more natural look. (More about that later.)

Step 3:

Curl. Choose a curling iron that works for you. It doesn’t have to be some ridiculously expensive new one. The curling iron I use is my mom’s Conair from the 90s, and it’s still going strong. I think it’s a 1” barrel I’m not actually sure. But the trick is to wrap the section of hair around the curling iron AWAY from your face.*If your iron has a clamp feature also… you can open it, wrap hair around the barrel, and then release the clamp to secure for about 15 seconds. Try both ways of curling with your iron and choose which works best for you.*

Step 4:

Hairspray. Like I said before, if you get a good hairspray your curls will last. I’ve tried so many different hairsprays, and the best one by far is TRESemmé Naturals Finishing Spray. After you’ve curled an area just spray it all over the curls. You don’t have to worry about stickiness or it hardening. It keeps your hair soft and natural looking. It smells great too! It’s also an amazing product because it keeps your curls intact even after a good night’s sleep. Mine is from Shoppers Drug Mart, bought on sale for $3.99(CAD). But you can buy it from any drug store. For product details and exact instructions on how to use this product, go to http://www.tresemme.ca/Products/Naturals/Naturals-Finishing-Spray/ .

Step 5:

Continue sectioning, curling, and spraying your hair. Once you are completely done do a final spray of your head and run fingers through your hair. Once the spray has dried you can use an anti-frizz serum to keep your hair silky and smooth. I would stay away from using crème type products like the R&B. You can use them on dry hair but after curling my hair I prefer to use a serum. Whichever serum/oil you use just put a little dab in your palm and run through your hair evenly.

Here are 3 that I can recommend and that work equally well:

The first is Chi Silk Infusions it’s about $24(CAD) for a 150 mL bottle. You can buy it from any drug store, beauty supply outlet, salon or even Wal-Mart. My sister got a 15mL sample bottle for free from the beauty supply outlet, so if you’re sceptical about spending that much money you can always try it for free. For product review and description go to http://www.walmart.com/ip/Silk-Infusion-Reconstructing-Complex/14648427 .

The second option is Macadamia Natural Healing Oil, it works great. It is about $14(CAD) for a 30 mL bottle. You can buy it from any beauty supply outlet, salon or drugstore. For details on the product go to http://www.macadamiahair.com/products/detail/healing_oil_treatment .

The last product is Marc Anthony Moisture Gloss. All you need is one little pump and it works wonders. This product is just under $10(CAD) and you can get it at any drug store, beauty supply outlet etc. For product details go to http://www.marcanthony.com/products/moisture-gloss-hair/daily-drops .