The Art of Blowdrying (It's Really Not That Tricky)

The weekend I had the urge to wear my hair straight for a day or two. Crazy right? What's even crazier is that I decided to straighten my hair...by myself....after being out in the sun for the better part of the day. Can you say tired!?

Anyway, I am learning that there is an art to blowdrying your hair. Back when I was younger and didn't know any better, I would blow dry my hair using a regular blow dryer (not a ceramic/tourmaline one) with a comb attachment that you can pick up at Wally World. I wouldn't detangle my hair beforehand thinking that the comb attachment will do the job and I definitely didn't put any product in my hair. I can't tell you have many comb attachments I have broken using that method.

The end result of all that poor hair styling? Big, poofy blow dried hair. I looked like Alex the Lion from Madgascar.

I never really quite knew what to do with my hair after those blow drying sessions. SMH.

Well thank goodness for knowledge!

I found that proper blowdrying consists of 3 things:

1) the correct tools

2) the correct products

3) the correct technique

On Saturday, after washing and DCing my hair, I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today (moisturizing leave in), Aphogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructrizer (I spray this on my hair whenever I'm using heat), and One N Only Argan Oil (heat protectant) to my hair. I then proceeded to blow dry my hair w/ my FHI blowdryer using the method that Salon Cabelo describes (yes with the Denman brush and everything):





The result? Non poofy, non cottonball like hair. If I wasn't trying to go for a bone straight look, I could have stopped at the blow drying.

The point of this horrendously long post is this: when blow drying your hair it is important to have the right tools. However, it's equally important to use the right products for you hair (I know for me I have to have a great leave in and a great heat protectant. Otherwise you can forget it) as well as a great technique. Once you get those three things in a magical, glitter driven configuration-you will have perfect blow drying results every time! :)

Rockin' the Curls

Yesterday I talked about using flexirods on dry hair to get a nice curly style. Well last night I did just that so that I could wear my hair curly for church today! I have to say that I am absolutely loving the results. My curls are so bouncy and fun! I love them! I definitely gonna keep doing this!

However, one thing I will not do anymore is use 16 flexirods to set my hair. I had the hardest time finding a comfortable position to sleep in--and I likes my sleep so yeah. From here on out, I'm using 4 of these bad boys.


Anyway, without further ado.....my hair

What Every Bunning Diva Should Have: Goody Spin Pins

Happy Hump Day everyone!

So as you guys know I have been bunning lately. What you guys don't know is that I was about to give up on it. Yep. I was. It was just so frustrating trying to make the bun....all those bobby pins...dang bun not staying put....UGH! It was just too much. But..something told me that I should try those Goody Spin Pins that I have seen on those commercials. One pin that can do the work of 20 bobby pins!? I definitely had to check them out.

Last night, I swung by my local Wal-mart to pick them up. The come 2 in a pack and come in 2 colors: blonde and brunette. I have to admit, I was kinda skeptical about these pins at first. I stood in the aisle staring these little corkscrew pins down. They look like the kind of pins that can get tangled in your hair and cause all kinds of disaster. Well let me take that back. They look like they would get tangled in my thick mass of hair. Nevertheless, I purchased them anyway. The PJ (product junkie) in me wouldn't let me NOT try them.

I promise you, these pins have been one of the best purchases of the my hair journey. I gathered my hair into a bun, stuck these pins into it (one at the top and one at the bottom), and BAM! Instant chic for less than $6! I haven't tried them on wet hair yet (for wet bunning) but we will see how that goes.

If you haven't gotten these pins already get them today! They will make bunning that much easier for you!

Ol' Reliable Has Died....

....and I'm sad.

The other day I was doing something completely unrelated to hair. I was getting ready to go into lab and I needed to dry my make-up brushes. So, I pulled out my blow dryer and plugged it in. I hit the button to turn it on and.....nothing happened. I reset the darn thing and nothing happened. MY FREAKIN' BLOW DRYER IS DEAD!

Granted, it was a $40 something blow dryer that I got from Sally's at the start of my hair journey (back in '08) and maybe it is time to get a new one but there is just so much to think about now. Now that I'm knee deep in this hair care game I can't just roll up into Wal-Mart and just grab one.

This is also a time sensitive issue. I plan to take these twist out sometime next month (mid-month maybe?) and there is no way, absolutely NO WAY that I will let my 19/20 weeks post hair air dry (I learned the hard way that at that point my hair says a big 'eff you' to air drying). I also want to be able to wash, DC, and dry my hair before I get cornrows put in. So between now and June I have to find a quality blow dryer.

So far, I'm looking at the Sedu blow dryer because I absolutely adore the flat iron and I know it will have what I'm looking for in a dryer (is is ionic? is it tourmaline? is it both?) but price is a major issue.

:sigh: This may take more work than I thought. Any suggestions ladies?