Hair Styling Tools

Spornette has done it again!  One of the newest brushes added to their collection of awesome hairstyling tools is the Utra Lite Brush.  This Spornette hairbrush is by far one of the lightest brushes I’ve ever used.  What makes it so lightweight is that they have embedded the bristles in the barrel to save weight and material.  Pretty ingenious don’t you think?

Not only did I enjoy the lightweight feature of this brush, but even more importantly, the bristles of this brush grabbed my hair and held it in place while blow drying.  Each section of bristles have an extended ball tipped nylon bristle that adds to the penetration and holding of the hair without the hair getting tangled up in the brush.  I found that this made  it easier to unroll each section of my hair from the brush.  The bristles of the brush are evenly spaced apart, which,  allows for better airflow while drying.  

There’s even more to be said about the bristles and that is that they are natural procupine boar bristles that have been tourmaline infused.  Ok, so what does that really mean?  Plain and simple, certain natural minerals are ground up and are infused into the bristle.  When the brush is used in conjunction with your hair dryer, ions are released into the hair and this breaks the water molecules of your wet hair into smaller water molecules. Now, the smaller molecules more easily enter the hair and this results in promoting more supple, stronger, healthier, and shinier hair.  Spornette doesn’t stop there.  Nano Silver additives have also been added to the bristles, which, help eliminate odor causing bacteria.  Bottom line is that this additive will make your hair smell fresh and look cleaner.

The barrel of the Ultra Lite is tourmaline infused as well as ceramic.  The benefit of this is that  the heat from your hair dryer is distributed and retained evenly throughout the brush so that there won’t be any hot spots while styling.  And, for one last bonus feature, each Ultra Lite Brush has a removable sectioning pik at the bottom of the brush.  You really should check out this brush.  It is available in three sizes:  2 1/4″ barrel, 3″ barrel, and a 3 1/2″ barrel.

If you have fine hair, then you already know that unless your hair is cut short, volume is something that is difficult to maintain throughout the day.  Celebrity hair stylist, Daniel Howell has shared some of his secrets to help prevent your style from falling flat.  The two important haircare products to have on hand are hair spray and a smoothing gel.  Try the following steps and see how they work for you:

• Apply smoothing gel from the midshaft down
• Using your blow dryer, dry in 2 – 3 inch sections using a medium size round styling brush – Start at the nape of your neck and work your way toward the front of your head
• As you reach the crown of your head, mist your roots with a very strong-hold hair spray and pull your hair up and forward as you dry to create volume
• Should you need additional lift, tease your crown of hair with either a rattail comb or why not use Spornette’s Little Wonder Teasing Brush?
• Flip your head back over and give it a good shake
• Give you hair a light mist of spray all over and it’s off to a day filled with volume!

Using the right haircare products on a man’s hair can be equally as important as it is for a woman.  Obviously, a man’s hair is no different than a woman’s, and thus, the same problems that women experience with their hair can be equally as challenging to men.

Mens hairstyles and hair lengths ranging from the very short to shoulder length hair and longer can require even more attention than that of their counterpart simply because if the hairstyle is a neatly trimmed shorter cut, a trip to the barber or stylist may be more frequent.  In fact, it is recommended that no more than three weeks should lapse between trims.  If the hairstyle is a little longer, it’s always a good idea to check with the stylist/barber to see if they offer maintenance trims which can be considerably less than a full on haircut.  And, if men use a stylist on a regular basis it is not uncommon for the stylist to offer a free neck shave and quick trim around the ears.

Hairstyles for men are just as trendy now as women’s.  In fact, for certain styles it is not unusual for a man to keep on hand a flat iron for straightening their hair before applying gel.  And, naturally their hair styling tools are going to include a hair dryer.  However, regardless of what the style our men are sporting, the majority of the time it still boils down to whatever takes him the least amount of time to get ready (including the hair) and out the door.  In order to achieve this it is even more important that the right hair styling tools and haircare products are being used for healthy and great looking hair.

For a man’s hair health and to have the ability to complete the style, product should be used every day, regardless of the style.  To eliminate frizz, make sure a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner are being used.  Even a serum for the hair that will help eliminate the frizz and add some shine is perfectly fine as some styles just demand a shine.  The right hair brush is equally as important.  Using boar bristle brushes is an excellent choice as the boar helps to bring out the natural oils of the scalp and this too aids in keeping the scalp and hair healthy.  If you have curly hair, a wide toothed-comb works best, and, if you want to pik out some of those curls, you can use metal or plastic tines.  Lastly, when it comes to the hair dryer, make sure it’s ionic so that all of the technology that has gone into it can be enjoyed and applied to that manly head of hair.

How many times have you thought about getting your hair styled to include bangs, but then decided against it because having your hair shortened in that area is permanent.  You really want to change up your style but not necessarily on a semi-permanent basis.  Well, apparently, you can now have bangs and not get your hair cut.  Fake bangs aka “faux fringe”  have become quite popular in recent months.  Just as with hair extensions, you can now clip in a set of bangs to change up your everyday look.

There are websites that offer these nifty hair add-ons and some even will send you hair-color swatches to make sure you get the right match.  Once you have selected the right match for your hair, all that is needed is an appointment with your stylist to have the bangs cut them to fit your face.  However, hair stylist Mark Townsend recommends that in the cutting process that it is crucial to “bend the ends inward slightly with a curling iron“.   All you have to do next is to take a comb and part your hair about 2 inches from your hairline and attach the clip of the bangs by snapping into place.  Just think of how many different looks you can create by merely adding this small hair attachment to your collection of hair styling accessories.

As we all know, there are so many brushes available in the marketplace and it can sometimes become a challenge as to which one to pick just for simple every day use.  It is pretty obvious which ones stand out that are used for styling your hair while blow drying.  However, when you just want to brush through your hair to remove tangles or straighten out some messy hair, what really works best for your particular type of hair?  And, what hair brush is going to help maintain a healthy head of hair.  To answer the question, it is best to break it down by hair types.

CURLY HAIR:  Believe it or not, brushes are not conducive to extremely curly hair.  The best tool to use is actually your finger.  If you can just gently run your fingers through those curly locks, you can achieve wonders.  Typically the detangling process for curly hair occurs after you have washed and conditioned your hair.  This is when it is best to use a proper detangling comb to achieve the best results.  If you feel you absolutely have to brush your curly hair, Denman brushes makes a wonderful small grooming brush that has 5 rows of nylon pins.  They are widely spaced and set into an anti-static rubber pad. This brush is quite effective for detangling curly hair and it fits perfectly inside your purse.

FINE and NORMAL HAIR :  Tufted bristle, porcupine, or more commonly identified as brushes with a combination of nylon and boar bristles is best for this particular hair type.  The reason for this is that the bristle combination allows for a good grasp of the hair strands with gentle but yet great control.  Typically these are in the form of a paddle brush and can be found in a variety of sizes.  Cushion brushes that are made with a soft rubber panel that holds the bristles are also good for fine or thinning hair as they are gentle on the hair and scalp.  Denman brushes are a great brand to take a look at.  Natural boar bristle brushes are great for fine, thin hair as there will be less breakage with this type of  brush.  Boar bristle brushes help to aid in distributing natural hair oils throughout the hair and are gentler on both the scalp and hair.  Fine hair tends to be prone to static so natural bristle brushes are good for this or there are brushes that are deemed static-free such as the Cricket Static Free line of brushes.  One side note is that if your hair is extremely damaged, you may want to refrain  from using a boar bristle brush until such time that you have repaired some of the damage. 

THICK/COARSE/WAVY HAIR:  Cushion brushes with strong, nylon ball-tipped bristles can be a good choice for this type of hair.  This brush is great for taming the hair.  Probably the best brush for coarse, thick hair is an all nylon bristle hair brush simply because these brushes tend to be stronger and will go through the thickness of the hair.  An all natural bristle brush may be too weak to handle the tangles.  However, a combination of nylon and boar bristles will work better than a brush consisting of all boar bristles. 

As with anything, personal preference always plays a major factor.  What you feel comfortable using is probably what you will end up buying.  Just take into consideration what is recommended if you want to avoid damaging your hair or improving on what you already have.

While it can sometimes take a little or a lot of extra time to tease your hair (depending on the style), it can make such a huge difference in the outcome.  The key in creating any style, however, is what styling brushes are used to pump up and tease the hair.  Yes, I said styling brushes and not styling combs.  In addition to this there are some simple rules of thumb to follow and selecting the right haircare products for finishing touches.

If you are starting from scratch, meaning your hair is due for a shampoo, the best aid in obtaining the best teasing results  starts with using the right shampoo and conditioner.  You want these haircare products to have body building and volumizing ingredients.   Next, when doing the blowout, use a large round styling brush, pulling your hair up and out to achieve more lift at the roots.  Depending on the style, use whatever styling tool that you have to either curl, wave, or straighten the body of your hair.  You are now ready for the “tease”.

1.  Gather your hair at the crown of your head and separate out in two or three inch sections those areas of your hair that you want to tease.

2. This next step is where you use the appropriate styling brush that is determined by the style.  If you want an airy, wispy look which is usually associated with a chignon style, you will want to use a paddle brush.  Take each section of hair and rather than starting at the roots pull the hair up and brush down each section from the ends of the hair toward the roots.  Continue this process until all sections that you want teased are completed.

3.  If your style is based solely on volume, and it’s lift you are looking for, the best way to achieve this is to section off the hair that you are wanting to tease in small amounts.  Starting with the back sections first, raise the strands of hair up and taking a flatback teasing brush (Spornette Little Wonders are the best) start pushing the brush through the section from the tips of the hair into the roots.  Once that section is complete, lay it toward the back of your crown and then repeat the same process with each forward section.  Once you have the sections teased and laying down, smooth other with the brush so that the top layer is covering all of the teased hair.

As an aside, it sometimes works best to lightly spray each section of teased hair with some hairspray so that the teasing doesn’t drop and maintains stability.  One additional side note is that if you don’t have to wash your hair, don’t. Sometimes teasing works best with day or two old hair.

When you have longer hair and are always wearing it down,  it can sometimes becomes a challenge in figuring out what other styles can be created for something new.  Well, there are other options and they don’t have to be just pulling it up in a ponytail or wearing it in a bun.  How about creating a side braid or weave for a casual look or even something more formal?  Wearing the braid on the side will add that certain allure and attraction that women seem to crave.

All you need is the use of a curling iron, some shine serum, an elastic, and a comb.  Follow the steps below and have some fun.

1.  Section your hair off and curl each section with the use of a 1″ or 1 1/4″ curling iron to create some larger, looser, waves.

2.  Apply your favorite shine serum and rake it through the ends of your hair with your fingers.

3.  Using your comb, make a side part and gather the hair to one side.  Just below the chin start to braid your hair loosely, tying it with an elastic.

4.  If you want it to have an even looser look, hold the end of the braid and shake it a few times or even undo the braid as Molly Sims has done has pictured.

5.  If you have bangs, consider wearing them off to the side with a little extra shine serum raked through the strands.

6.  If you don’t have bangs, you may want to reserve a small section of the front hair starting at the part and braiding it separately from the rest of the section.

What is an extra added benefit to this style is that when you are ready to unravel the braid, you will have yet a new “do” of soft curly waves.

Fresh off the Academy Awards presentations, it was a night of fashion and this year a definite change of scenery when it came to  hairstyles.  Admittedly so, there were some real disappointments, and some really fab styles that of course many of us want to duplicate.  But did you notice that there were far less updos than usual?  Many of the celebs were wearing their hair down and shorter than usual.

So what stood out?  Side-swept styles with waves, varying length of bobs, and of course some very sleek, long flowing, straight hair.  Let’s focus on the side-swept styles and how they were achieved.

Amy Adams’ hair and Natalie Portman were the definite standouts.  Their side-swept styles were each unique and worked for both of them.  Amy’s style was extremely easy to do and certainly reminiscent of a Lauren Bacall old school hairdo. Working with some damp hair, a frizz-free hair serum was applied to her strands to give them that shiny and healthy look.  One and one half inch hair rollers were set into her hair while it was drying.  All that was needed after that was a brush-through with a soft bristle styling brush and pushing the hair behind the ear on one side.

As for Natalie, her side-swept do was a little more asymmetrical in appearance.  While on one side of her head she had the flowing waves, the other side was sleek, straightened, and tucked back and under as it joined the rest of her hair at mid point at the back of her head.  To achieve this style there is a slight variation needed and it of course would depend on the type hair that you have.  If you already have some natural wave to your hair, you may need to flat iron the side that you choose to pull back.  Apply some hair serum to give it that luxurious shine.  On the wavy side blow dry your hair and apply some mid-size rollers to give it a longer lasting wave.  Remember that depending on the length of your hair, you are going to get some falling out of the curl, thus resulting in a wave.

Photo Courtesy of Good Housekeeping

Having bangs can have its plus and minuses.  On the one hand it can shave a few years off your looks merely by the fact that they cover up wrinkles, but on the other hand, when they start to get too long, they can be a hassle.  Knowing that there are some easy options to either change up the look of your bangs or what to do to make them look more shapely, can relieve some of the stresses that bangs can sometimes present.  Here are just a few suggestions:

1)  If you are looking for a dramatic change, think about flattening the look of the bangs and give them a matte finish.  All you need to do is straighten your bangs with your flat iron (this works best on blunt cut bangs).  Spray your bangs with some dry shampoo, which removes the shine that the straightening brings on.

2)  For longer bangs, wash and condition your hair, and then towel-dry lightly to avoid frizz.  Take a dab of styling cream and blow dry with a large barrel styling brush to reduce any wave or curl in the bangs.  Let the bangs hang at an angle towards the ear.  If you want the matte finish, spritz with dry shampoo, which will also create a little extra volume.

3)  If you have a bob cut with bangs, take damp hair  and make a deep side part using a comb.  Blow dry your hair using a medium barrel brush to achieve a smooth finish.  Take larger sections of your hair and straighten with a flat iron to get that polished look.  Apply a spritz of shine spray and you are done.

Photo Courtesy of Good Housekeeping

4)  If you have layered hair, shampoo with a color boosting shampoo to bring out any highlights you may have.  Apply anti-frizz cream or serum from the roots of your hair to the tips.  Blow dry the roots and the bangs with a medium barrel brush.  Leave the ends of your bangs damp and roughly dry them for a more textured look.

Whenever there are ads on television or in magazines all you see are women with lush, thick, and most of the time long flowing strands of hair.  The reality of it all is that there are many of us who just don’t fit that profile.  There are probably just as many of us who have thin, fine hair and are many times struggling with styling it.  Using a hair dryer becomes a challenge because the power is just too much for the amount of hair we have to deal with.  That coupled with the frustration of trying to hold a styling brush in one hand and the dryer in the other, the experience is less than a positive one.  And, the problem doesn’t go away and we face it each and every time we have to wash, dry, and style our hair.  So are there other options?

If you ask me, hot air brushes were designed for us women who have thin, fine hair.  Why?  Well, for starters, hot air brushes range anywhere from 250 watts to a maximum of 1000 watts of power.  Why is this a consideration?  Most hair dryers range anywhere from 1300 to 2000 watts of power.  This is typically far more than is needed for people with thin, fine hair.  Secondly, the hot air brush is an all-in-one hair styling tool.  This hair styling tool is a hair dryer and styling brush combination.  You don’t need anything more than one hand to hold the tool and the other to be able to  take sections of your hair to wrap around the brush and work with it as you go.  While the hot air is blowing out from the center of the brush, it is not only drying your hair but styling it at the same time.  This is the same result that you would be achieving by holding a styling brush in one hand and the hair dryer in the other.

Hot air brushes are available with two different kinds of bristles for you to choose from.  One is the nylon bristle and the other is flexible ball-tipped bristles.  Both will result in frizz-free styling.   Another option of a hot air brush is that they range in barrel sizes from 3/4″ to 1 1/2″ so you can select the right size barrel for your particular length of hair and/or desired size curl.  Most models come with a curl release  button so that if the hair starts to get caught up in the brush you can easily release the hair.  Another great feature is that newer versions of hot air brushes are now available with ceramic and ionic technologies so these are even better for the health of your hair.

The price range for hot air brushes runs anywhere from $20.00 to $38.00, which is very affordable when you look at the fact that a hair dryer ranges anywhere from $40.00 on up, coupled with the fact that a good styling brush would cost you upwards of $10.00.  But most importantly, think of the reduced frustration you will experience.  For me that is worth more than the price of the hot air brush and then some.