Hair Styling Tools

The expression “the grass is always greener…” applies to more than just your neighbor’s lawn. Most of us are perpetually unsatisfied with what we have, and our appearance is no different. In American culture, we prize bronzed skin, while people in India bleach their skin to appear whiter.

Many women follow the same trend when it comes to their hair. Those with straight hair use a curling iron to give their hair “body” or “personality.” While those with naturally curly hair, on the other hand, often complain about the unruliness of their locks.

Yes, sun exposure can be harmful to your health but why do so many of us continually want to soak up the sun?  Well for starters, most of us think that a tan or extra color to our skin makes us look better, more attractive, and we don’t have that washed out look.   How many blondes or fair-haired individuals shy away from wearing pastels simply because it makes our skin tones look even paler?

There are alternatives to having that healthy look of having color and it all boils down to applying just the right makeup that can give you that natural-looking glow.  So, what does every woman need to be able to achieve this affect?  The first step is to select a bronzer that is the right shade for their skin tones.  Next, you will need the right makeup brush to achieve the proper application of the bronzer.  According to makeup artist Mally Roncal (artist for Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey), you need to be very careful to not select a bronzer that is too dark for your skin as well as don’t blend a bronzer all over your face.  Ms. Roncal says “Pick a shade that’ golden–not brown–on your skin, and wear it with a rosy blush for a more realistic finish.”  Ms. Roncal goes on to say that “Another common mistake is applying most of the bronzer on your cheeks.  The darkest color should be on the perimeter of your face, so start by brushing the color there.”

Step 1:  Look for a bronzer that is slightly yellow in color.  If you are fair skinned you need to pick the lightest shade in what is available in that range.  If you have medium toned skin then go middle of the road.  If you are dark skinned the deepest shade is probably the one you should select.  The important thing for everyone is to try the shade out by applying it to your jawline.  If it looks golden then it is the right shade.

Step 2:  Before applying bronzer you will apply whatever foundation you typically use.  If you use concealer apply that as well.  For those of us who have oily skin, we should dust some translucent powder on our shiny areas so that the bronzer won’t look too dark in those particular areas.

Step 3:  This step is where you want to use a good powder brush.  I like the Spornette Marche Powder Foundation Bronzer makeup brush.  Take the bronzer brush and dip it into the bronzer and tap off any excess.  With small circular motions dust your jawline and hairline.  Take the brush and dip it in the bronzer again and retap off any excess.  This time sweep the brush on your cheekbones, the chin, the bridge of your nose, and your forehead.

Step 4:  There should be some residual bronzer left on your brush.  Take the brush and dust all over your neck.  Then tap the brush to get rid of any powder that remains on the brush.  Now you will repeat going back over all of the bronzed areas by swirling the bronzer brush over any visible edges of color so that they will blend right into your skin.

Step 5:  The finishing touch will be to apply a rosy looking powder blush on the apples of your cheeks.  This application helps to keep the bronzer from looking dull or flat.  

When you go to apply the rest of your makeup, be sure that you don’t overdo it.  Try to be subtle by using a brown eyeliner, a bronze eye shadow, and either a sheer nude or light pink lipstick.  Now that you have applied all of the steps, you will see that your natural look is much more realistic looking and that’s what we all want.

Yes, it’s that time of the year when the Academy Awards Oscar show is televised.  For all of us movie buffs and lovers of fashion, you will be finding us glued to our seats for fear of missing something (except for those of us who have a recording system where we can fast forward, and replay to our heart’s content).

What exactly is so intriguing about the Oscars?  For me it is mostly to see what clothing is being worn, but especially to see the hair styles and makeup.  I generally focus on the Red Carpet show that is on right before the Academy Awards because that is where you can really get that close-up look. 

Focusing in on the actors hairstyles, I did a little research and found that Maria Valdivia, a long time professional hair stylist for the Oscars and many celebrities, favors this one particular styling brush that is made by Spornette.  Have you heard of the Little Wonder?  The Little Wonder is this fantastic little brush that does wonderful things with your hair, thus the name Little Wonder.

How can a little brush be so highly rated?  Well here is what Maria Valdivia has to say about the Little Wonder, ” I love that all that gets lifted is the hair that you want. I love that it has the 3 rows of bristles – with space in between them for air and exact styling and this brush allows that, too. I use it for lifting. I love that pick end! I call the Little Wonder ‘my perfect backstage brush’. I carry so many things to jobs, it is easy to pack and perfect for short and long hair. I use it on male and female stars!”

The elevated tourmaline enhanced nylon bristles penetrate any hair texture while emitting negative ions for hair conditioning.  Adjacent rows of pure boar bristle easily pick up hair.  A just right tail length handle for picking up hair sections.  This brush was created for back brushing, creating volume, and for  teasing.  And, something so wonderful as this brush is one would expect to pay a little more.  This is not the case.  They are under $5.00 and come with pinkish red bristles, blue bristles, or a yellowish green bristles.  Why not get all three?

Are you concerned that you are going to damage your hair if you continue to blow dry it?  To answer that question begs the question of  when was the last time you bought a hairdryer?  The reason for the question simply stated,  is that there have been, and will continue to be, ongoing changes to the mechanics of the hairdryer.  Modern technology will continue to be applied to the functionality of this all important hair styling tool.  Having said that, unless your hair is in extremely bad shape from perhaps over-processing or just plain neglect, using an up-to-date blow dryer is not going to make the damage any worse.

If you haven’t heard of ionic technology by now, then it is time to get educated.  When the hairdryer is turned on and you have it pointed at your hair, there is a stream of negatively charged ions that are injected into the airflow and onto your wet hair.  These negative ions break apart water molecules and make them smaller so they are more easily absorbed by your hair or dried through evaporation.  This process results in hair cuticles staying moist and thus, less brittle.   The final result is that your hair dries quicker.

We can actually take this one step further.  If you find a hairdryer that is infused with tourmaline, the tourmaline nano particles naturally generate far-infrared energy when heated.   When the hairdryer is on this penetrating form of heat passes through the hair cuticle,  going directly to the cortex to dry it first.  The cuticle of the hair is no over-dried and resists brittleness and cracking.  This helps your hair maintain its softness and shine.  Tourmaline also helps cleanse hair of odors and impurities.

Now I have hopefully dispelled any concern you might have about a hairdryer ruining your hair, that is,  if you are using a current model.  But what if your hair is still dry and damaged and you are using a current model ionic hairdryer?  Are you using other hair styling tools?  Usually the answer to this is yes.   And, usually, these same people are also coloring their hair, bleaching it, and doing everything that is possible to their hair but now suffering the consequences.  Regardless of all of the new technology in hair styling tools, whether it is a hairdryer, flat iron, curling iron, etc., a head of hair can only take so much.  Not all of the haircare products available to you will be able to save your hair if you are not treating it with some caution and limiting the amount of things you are doing to it.

If you are fortunate enough to have enough hair to be able to air dry it rather than blow dry it because you need the body, lift, and style that can be accomplished with a styling brush, then go for it.  Let’s face it, if your hair is long and straight, or your hair is naturally curly and you wear it that way, and,  if you have the time to let it air dry, then do it.  Most of us don’t have the luxury of time and rely on whatever electronic gadget there is to help us get out the door faster.

                                                                                                      I’ve never been one to be able to master the use of a curling iron.  For whatever the reason, I have always had a problem with the clamp part of the curling iron putting a crease in my hair and my hair always gets snagged in the process.

So, how can you avoid the problems that I have described?  Le Angelique curling irons has the answer.  I call their product a curling wand because that is what it looks like.  There is no clamp to lift up so all you get is the curling wand that has the barrel heat up.  How does this work you ask?  You just take the section of hair that you want to curl and with one hand holding the curling wand and the other you are twisting the section of hair around the iron.  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?  Well it is.

The fun thing about using the Le Angelique curling iron is that it is available in a variety of  barrel sizes.  The smallest size is the 13mm (1/2″), with the largest size being 25mm (1″).  They have also come out with three inverse sizes which are 13mm – 25mm, 18mm – 9mm, and 25mm – 18mm.  From small to large or large to small, you choose what size curls you want and in which order with this 100% ceramic curling iron.  You have a choice of a black or pink curling iron in all of the sizes available.  Each curling iron comes with a glove to protect the hand that is being used to curl the hair.  And, you can feel completely protected as le Angelique provides a Lifetime Warranty on all of their hair styling tools.

Whenever I hear friends or colleagues talk about buying a hairdryer, I sometimes cringe when I hear them say they just bought one at the local discount store (Target, Walmart, K-Mart,etc.).  The comments typically start out with “I only paid $20.00 and it works just fine,” or “why should I pay all that extra money for a professional hairdryer  or salon hair dryer, when I can just pick one up at _______ for really cheap.”  You see the operative word here is “cheap”.    I equate “cheap” to you get what you pay for.   When it comes to hairdryers, and you are going for ”cheap”, this typically means $20.00 or less.  But did you know that if you are willing to shop the web, you can actually find some professional hairdryers in the $20.00 price range?  Typically this might be a sale or a low end professional blow dryer, but the fact remains that there are some professional dryers out there that are “inexpensive”.

So why go for a professional model hair dryer versus a standard one?  Well, let me ask another question, “how much does the health of your hair matter to you?”   I hope that you are savvy enough to know that a standard dryer will, after time, end up damaging your hair.  For this very reason, professional hair stylists either when asked, or if they really care about your hair, will recommend that you purchase a professional hair dryer.  Most people who are skeptical about this recommendation will come up with excuses why not to buy one.   Probably the most popular one I hear is that “the stylist is just saying that because they sell dryers in the salon and they want to make more money.”  In reality this can be true but more times than not, a stylist wants repeat business and they are actually giving you sound sound advice.   And,  just because a stylist recommends that you buy a professional dryer, it doesn’t mean you have to buy it from the salon. 

Ok, so after you get through the financial excuses for why you shouldn’t buy a professional dryer, and if someone could prove to you that financially in the long run it will pay off for you to “give in” and buy one, what are the reasons you should do so?  

If someone told you that your hair would be less prone to split ends and drying out, and that your hair will look shinier and fuller, would you be interested?  Also, would it interest you to know  that with a professional dryer you would be spending less time drying and using  40%  to 50% less heat?  This means no overheating of the dryer, especially if you have a lot of hair, whether it be short or long.  These are just a few of the benefits of a professional dryer. 

 The truth of the matter is that when you pay more for something, whether it be a hairdryer, a vacuum cleaner, a coffee maker, etc. you are typically paying for better quality, better benefits, and usually more options.  I think we as consumers all know this and yet, when it sometimes comes to buying a personal item such as a hairdryer, we are hesitant to spend the extra money.    Additionally, when you spend more for something, you also expect it to last longer.  That is not to say that there are always exceptions to every rule and lemons can be found in anything that is manufactured in quantity.  This is obviously the exception to the rule.

Professional hairdryers are built to last longer.  Keep in mind that stylists are using their hairdryers all day long and we at-home stylists are either using them at the most once daily or every couple of days. 

So, have I convinced you?  The choice is yours, however, I think investing in a professional hairdryer is a no brainer.  For many of us, we just aren’t happy unless our hair looks good.  How do we keep our hair healthy so that it can look good when you style it?   Buy a professional hairdryer and then answer the question.

When I last visited my hair stylist for my usual  7 to 8 week trim and color, I was on the fence as to whether to make a change to my current hair style.  My style really works for me and it actually isn’t all that difficult or time consuming  to do, but there was this nagging feeling that perhaps it was time for a change.  I was flipping through magazines in the reception area and I wasn’t all that intrigued by what I saw.   While sitting in the stylist’s chair I thought I would just ask what the current trends are in hair styles.  I actually was somewhat shocked to hear her say that anything goes.  Since I didn’t really have anything particular in mind, I went ahead and stayed with the usual.  

After leaving the salon I started paying more attention to hairstyles being worn by women just out in the general public and in no particular setting.   My stylist was right.  There is this hodge podge of hair styles going on.  Long hair is either straight, wavy, or curly.  Some have their hair pulled back in a pony tail or hanging loose.  Short hair is styled all different types of ways.  Some women are wearing bangs, and some women aren’t.  So, as I drove home it hit me.  We are so fortunate to be living in this space and this time.  Why??  Because, with the use of a few hair styling tools, we can accomplish just about any hair style we want, whether our hair is long, short, straight, or curly.    

Obviously, having the right hair styling tools, and hair styling accessories isn’t the answer to everything, but it can make our life so much easier.  When I stop to think about when I was a teenager and the only two hair styling tools I owned (and felt ever so fortunate) were a hairdryer and a set of steam hot rollers.   Of course, my hair was long and became very damaged.  Hair health wasn’t the topic of the day back then and the only answer was to either stop using the hot rollers, or to get a trim every two to four weeks.  I remember always getting my mom’s sewing scissors out and individually cutting split ends on my head of hair.  One other major reason that we are so fortunate today to have the multitude of haircare products at our fingertips.  Albeit,  there are so many haircare products available it is sometimes hard to choose just what works for our own particular hair type, the point is that we have these choices!!

The next time you think about going for a hairstyle change, first consider your options in terms of what’s available out there to use to style the head of hair that you already have.  In these tough economic times, we sometimes just have to take alternative routes and much of what we think we need, we might already have, or a friend might have and could be easily borrowed.  Just remember what’s hair today, is still hair tomorrow.

After graduating from high school, I was at a loss as to what career path to pursue. Once I had worked the grill at McDonald’s for a few months, I knew that I needed to get some sort of education. That is when I decided to go to beauty school.

Although I took classes on many aspects of beauty and cosmetics, I developed an affinity for hair and styling. In November, I graduated from my training and immediately started looking for a new job. Luckily there was a salon hiring nearby, and after a series of interviews, I landed the job. The best part was that the company gave me a brand new set of styling combs, clippers and brushes when I started.

Isn’t it wonderful that we live in a time where all of the modern conveniences are right at our fingertips.  Some of these smaller modern conveniences include makeup brushes and for most of us women, we have a nice supply of make-up brushes in our drawer or make-up bags that are collecting  make-up, dust, germs, bacteria, and whatever else can latch itself onto these wonderful little instruments of beauty.

Makeup brushes are aplenty in the marketplace and can range anywhere from under $5.00 (yes there are some that cheap out there) to over $100.  So, if you are like some of us, when a particular make-up brush looks like it has bit the dust, we simply throw it away and buy a new one.  At least that is what most of us do if we didn’t spend that much for the brush in the first place.  Obviously, if you have spent a great deal more for your brushes, one can only hope that you are taking care of them.  Well, why not take care of all of your brushes no matter what the cost?  Let’s face it, in this uncertain economy now, we all need to be a little more serious about spending money.  Right???

So what exactly is proper maintenance for your make-up brushes?  There are several ways that you can clean your brushes.  Let’s start off with the most economical way.

SHAMPOO:    What  better way to save money than to use something you already have on hand.   If your brushes are natural brushes then this is the route to go.  Once a month, mix some warm water with a little shampoo.  Just swish the brushes around in the soapy water and then rinse well.  Pat dry with a towel  and then lay them out flat to air dry.  If your makeup brush is synthetic, use dish soap rather than shampoo and go through the same process.

VINEGAR & WATER:   Most households have vinegar on hand.  Use one part vinegar to two parts water.  Dip your brush into the mixture and swirl around.  Rinse with warm water, pat dry with a paper towel and then lay the brush flat on the towel to air dry.  Did you know that this concoction will also disenfect your brushes and that is great.

FACIAL CLEANSER:   Many of us have this already on hand as well.  If you do, take the cleanser and whatever instructions you follow for cleaning your face, apply to the brush.  Typically, you are rinsing your face with warm water so do the same for the makeup brush.  Again, pat dry and lay flat on a paper towel to air dry.

MAKEUP BRUSH CLEANER:   Last but not least is the Makeup Brush Cleaner which you can probably find in the marketplace at your favorite department store or beauty supply store.  There are all types and brands and price ranges.  Just follow the instructions on the bottle and you are good to go.

BABY WIPES:    Yes, you read it correctly, baby wipes.  This method is usually used just to do a quick daily swipe of the makeup brush to help reduce build-up of make-up residue and oils.   While I would not recommend this to be the only way you clean your makeup brushes, at least it is an interim measure to take before using the other recommended methods.

Of course there are many other methods one can use and perhaps there are some homemade concoctions you have already tried that work for you.  If so, PLEASE SHARE!! 

Lastly, how often should you clean your makeup brushes?  Alot depends on which brush you are referring to.  And, cleaning your makeup brushes becomes a personal preference.  At a minimum, every two weeks to a month is adequate, however, going back to that subject of saving money on buying brushes means being diligent at this process.  Therefore, I recommend with the liquid/cream makeup to do weekly, if not daily.  Powders of any type can go longer but every two weeks is probably best.  Just remember that if the buildup is not coming out of the brush and the shape of the brush is not returning back to its original shape, it just might be time to buy a new brush.

How many of you honestly can say that styling your hair with a blow dryer and styling brushes is relatively easy for you?  I have no problem admitting that while I seem to be able to style one side of the hair on my head, I always have problems with the other side.  I don’t know if it makes a difference when you or left-handed or right-handed, but being right handed I always have problems with styling the left side at the back of my head but no problem styling the right side.   Perhaps it all boils down to being able to have one hand free to help do the job.  However, as we all know, it takes one hand to hold the styling brush and one hand to hold the dryer.

If you fit into the category of at-home stylists as described above, then this question is directed to you.  Have you ever tried using a hot air brush?  If not, you just might want to try one because in my opinion,  hot air brushes   are definitely the solution to one hand styling.  While styling the sections of your hair, you can easily use one hand to hold the hot air brush and use the other to help roll the section of hair around the barrel.  This makes it so much easier to make sure you are getting the hair properly wound around the barrel. 

Hot air brushes basically come in two different styles.  First there is the flexible and soft ball-tipped bristle type.  This hot air brush gently grips your hair and rests softly against the head.  The Helen of Troy Professional Tangle-Free Brush helps do the finishing touches on drying your hair along with the styling brush all in one.  It is best to start out with relatively dry hair when using the hot air brush.  I feel that damp hair works best.    The rotating vented barrel will release tangle-free curls and with its 250 watt motor it is enough power to style your damp hair in a relatively short period of time.   Please note that unless your hair is extremely fine and short, you don’t want to count on a hot air brush to take care of the drying and the styling all in one.  With this particular model, you can select from three sizes, 3/4″, 1″ and 1 1/2″.    

The second type of hot air brush is the nylon brush bristle type.  Both Helen of Troy and Hot Tools have very good models available.  Between the two you can find them also in the 3/4″, 1″ and 1 1/2″ sizes.  The nylon brush bristle hot air brushes help hold your hair in place while styling.  I find this to be true with those of us who have fine or thin hair.  On the Hot Tools model, a curl release button allows the curls and waves of your hair to be released tangle-free.  The two different models available by Hot Tools come in 800 watt and 1000 watt versions.  With this increased wattage, you have the capability to dry more of your hair along with the styling.  The nylon bristle Helen of Troy model comes with 300 watts of power. 

If you are looking for ionic features, the Hot Tools 1 1/2″ Ionic Hot Air Brush is the one to get.  The anti-static ionic dryer and styler dries your hair faster. Negative ions reduce the size of water droplets on your hair, allowing more water to be absorbed. This helps condition, soften, and make your hair shinier while adding volume.