Hair Styling Tools

With so many professional styling brushes to choose from, what makes a boar brush stand out?  They tend to be more expensive and yet I see people spending the money for them.  What do they do for your hair that makes it worthwhile to pay the extra cost?   

First of all, boar bristles are natural bristles and are not manufactured like plastic and nylon bristles.  This automatically adds to the cost.  More importantly, however, using a boar bristle brush does so much for your hair.  When using a boar bristle brush you are actually helping to clean your hair.  These brushes also help to redistribute the oils that are produced by your scalp.  And, if you are looking for a brush to help massage your scalp, the boar bristle is the one.  It even seals the cuticles of your hair resulting in shiny hair.

What’s not to like about a boar bristle brush?  They even come in various types and should be selected based on your hair type.  If you have really long hair I would suggest using a paddle brush.  If you have thin or fine hair, try using a brush where the bristles are widely spaced.  If you are styling your hair and are shooting for body or more volume, try a boar bristle round brush.

Every time we look in a magazine, we see a different hair style that has become popular with the celebrities.  One month it’s curly and the next it is straight.  Maybe it’s age, but I have been of the school of thought that straight means casual and curly means dressy or formal.  NOT TRUE!  It really all boils down to how you feel at any particular given moment in time and how much time do you want to spend or how much time you actually have to spend on your hair.

In my book, it is all about taking the least amount of time to get ready as humanly possible.  Since the majority of us don’t have stylists at our beck and call, or someone just waiting in the wings to help us get ready for the day, it’s extremely important to get your timing down and find any way possible to cut back on the time it takes to do our hair.

So……if we are going for a sleeky straight look, blow dry your hair  after washing it.  If you are accustomed to bending your head over to get the underneath hairs dry, remember that this results in volume and volume is something that you DON’T want with the new straight hairstyle.  Instead, use a paddle styling brush and make sure you have a concentrator attached to the end of your hairdryer so you can focus on specific sections of hair and avoid as many flyaway hairs as possible.  If you have thick hair, you are obviously going to need to pin up the top sections of your hair while you are drying the under layers.

Now….if you have naturally curly hair, wavy hair, or any type hair other than straight, flat irons or hair straighteners are in order.  Contrary to belief, larger plates on a flat iron do not necessarily mean that the hair is going to get straighter quicker.  Most of the time it is the temperature of the flat iron that dictates how fast the process will go.  Taking small sections of hair and a one inch flat iron will allow the heat to penetrate your hair and straighten it at a much faster pace.  If you have really course hair you will want to make sure the temperature is set at a minimum of 300 degrees but generally somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees will work better.

Lastly…..if you want that straight sleek hair to give off that radiant shine, you are going to need to use some product.  Haircare products that produce shine can be anything from a shine serum to a smoothing cream.  Whatever you have tried and works best for you is what I recommend, however, if this is all new to you, I recommend Potions International Super Serum and the use of a tourmaline flat iron.  Now go dazzle someone……

Is your hair sticking together with hair product and collecting dirt?  Is your hair also looking limp?  More than likely you are facing the oily hair dilemma and are getting tired of dealing with it.  If it is your tendency to get oily hair, there are several ways you can manage this problem and it doesn’t have to be difficult or costly.

To manage oily hair problems, it is helpful to understand why this happens.  Most of us who have oily hair think that the reason our hair looks oily is because we have an oily scalp.  FALSE.  Typically, it is a dry scalp that motivates the oil glands in your scalp to generate more oil.  As a result, the excess oil then transfers to your hair.   The excess oil in the hair then starts to attract more dirt and dust and haircare products.  Ok, but why does this happen?  Well, if you are a teenager, blame it on the hormones.  In your teens the scalp can secrete more oily sebum.  As an adult, pharmaceuticals can affect our hormonal levels and can also have an effect on the oil in our hair.  This coupled with stress, or your basic skin problems all factor in. Are you also a person who likes to brush their hair, and brush often?  This too, can stimulate the glands resulting in more oil.

Now that we have identified several reasons why we might have oily hair, what can we do to diminish or even eliminate the problem?  Aside from the fact that a healthy diet will certainly contribute to the improvement of your hair health, something as simple as the type shampoo you use and how often you shampoo is important to monitor.  Use a mild cleansing , oil-free shampoo and if possible limit the number of times you shampoo.  If you are someone who feels they need to shampoo daily, only shampoo the hair and not the scalp.  As for a conditioner, you will also want to use one that is labeled for oily hair or something that is mild and oil-free.  Be sure to rinse your hair with cool or luke-warm water. as

Home remedies are bountiful when it comes to trying to deal with oily hair.  A vinegar rinse of one part vinegar to four parts water can be used as long as you avoid using it on the scalp.  A similar rinse using lemon juice might also be something to try.  A diet that is low in saturated fats will help as will drinking plenty of water.

Since we all have different body chemistries, it is extremely difficult to properly diagnose and come up with an all tried and true remedy, so experimentation is needed.  However, if some common sense is used as well as applying some of the previously stated suggestions, I am confident you will end up with the shining, beautiful hair that you so much want to have.

Are you challenged when it comes to using a styling brush and blow dryer at the same time?  It always looks so easy when the hair stylist does it, but when we get home and try to do it ourselves, it isn’t as easy as we thought it would be.

Hot air brushes have been around for awhile and the technology continues to improve their performance.  One of the technologies that has become more and more prevalent in hair styling tools is ionic technology.   In fact, the Hot Tools 1 1/2 inch Ionic Hot Air Brush has such technology.  This is wonderful for those of us who are concerned about our hair’s softness and shine.  It also helps reduce fly away hair.

Of course there are several brands of hot air brushes in the marketplace.  Some come with nylon bristles and others come with flexible ball-tipped bristles.   One advantage of the flexible ball-tipped bristle hot air brushes is that the bristles gently grip your hair and rest softly against your head.  They are also considered tangle-proof.  The locking barrel switch locks in place for curling and it unlocks when you are ready to unwind the hair from the barrel.  The advantages of a nylon bristle hot air brush is that the bristles also gently grip your hair for exceptional control in styling.

My personal preference is the nylon bristle hot air brushes simply because for my hair type, which is fine and short hair, the hair tends to curl better with this type bristle.  This may not be true of other types hair.  Additionally, if you have very thick hair I would not recommend this type of styling appliance as it will inevitably take longer to dry and style.  If there are any of you out there reading this article and find that this is not true for you, I would love to hear about it.  

Prices for hot air brushes range anywhere from the high teens to the mid thirty dollar range.

I don’t know how many of you have asked this question, but with so many types of conditioners available to buy, it can boggle the mind as to which one to select.  Besides helping your hair feel softer, and in some cases it helps with less tangles after you have washed it, what exactly does hair conditioner do for your hair?

Scientifically speaking, conditioners actually replace the sebum that is lost from your hair.  And, what is sebum?  Sebum is an oily substance secreted by the sebaceous glands in mammalian skin. Its main purpose is to make the skin and hair waterproof and to protect them from drying out.

More than likely you will agree that hair conditioners will, however, make your hair dull and lifeless if you use too much, and if you don’t use enough, your hair ends up with static electricity and definitely is unmanageable.

So, now that we have established that your hair requires conditioning, all that is left is to figure out what is the best conditioner for your particular hair type.    There are basically four types of conditioners available in the marketplace.  The first are the instant conditioners that are applied immediately after you have shampooed your hair.   These conditioners  contain additives such as aloe, balsam, herbal extracts, lanolin, and vitamins.  Your hair will end up shiny but in actuality only do a mild conditioning job on your hair.  The second type of conditioner is the deep conditioner.  This type of conditioner is a more concentrated version of the instant conditioner.  The only difference is that the deep conditioner is intended to remain on your hair for a longer period of time before rinsing it out.  Deep conditioners are intended for use by those who really have a need for conditioning due to damaged hair.  A deep conditioner should be applied at  least once a month.  Some deep conditioners come in the form of hot-oil treatments or protein packs.  The next type of conditioner for  your hair is  the leave-in conditioner.    Leave-in conditioners are applied to your hair after shampooing and towel drying.  There is no rinsing needed and it does not get washed out until your next shampoo.  This product will make your hair look shinier but it doesn’t take care of split ends or frizzy hair.  The last type of conditioner is the protein conditioner.  Protein conditioners are sometimes used as a temporary application to make your hair appear thicker.  They are just that….temporary.  The main benefit to a protein conditioner is that it keeps your hair lubricated between washes.  Although the protein conditioner contains proteins, the proteins do not penetrate the hair shaft.

Now that you know what the different type conditioners can  do for your hair, have fun picking out a couple to try on your hair and by process of elimination you will find the one that is best suited for you.

Well it is definitely time to start shopping for the holiday season.  If you are anything like me, I like to plan everything out in advance when it comes to filling the stockings.  In our house we have giant stockings so naturally they hold more.   As the children have become adults and gone off to college or just don’t live at home anymore, Christmas is the time when everyone comes home.  Come Christmas morning, the stockings are the first thing that everyone traditionally takes down from the mantlepiece to see what has been left.  No matter how old everyone is, the stockings are still a very popular event and it has become more difficult to figure out what to fill them with.  As adults, candy and small toys just don’t cut it.  Therefore, I am always looking for fresh ideas on what to buy.

A friend of mine recently suggested buying haircare products or even hair styling accessories for the stockings.  What a wonderful idea and definitely something that is useful.  Since haircare products come in an assortment of sizes, buying shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, etc. shouldn’t be a problem regardless of the size of the stocking.  So, if you are looking for a new idea for stockings, haircare products are definitely something to consider.

To answer the question, “Why are professional hairdryers better?”, one needs to ask the question, “do I want my hair to look like a million bucks or do I want it to look like $9.99?”  Obviously, this is a drastic difference but hopefully you get my point.

When the uninformed consumer starts shopping for hairdryers, typically they start looking by price.  Secondary to that are features.  This makes sense, however, what the consumer forgets to take into consideration is the long term goal.  Do they want to have to replace their hairdryer periodically, or do they want something that is going to last hopefully for several years?  Putting the pricing issue first, many consumers shy away because they just don’t want to spend more than $20.00 or $30.00.  Well, did you know that there are some professional hairdryers   out there in this price range?

Historically, professional hairdryers were created for hair styling experts.  Let’s face it, they are doing hair for a living and need all the help they can get in the hair styling appliance arena.  But, as consumers, we too can take advantage of these professional hair styling tools and should not have to think twice about it.

Let’s talk about what’s important in factoring in whether or not you should buy a professional hairdryer:

HEAT

The heating process of any blow dryer is very important when it comes to the health of your hair.  The traditional dryers or less expensive dryers are made with plastic or metal heating elements.  The affect this has on  your hair is that these elements burn with uncontrollable heat.  After prolonged use your hair will get brittle and break off.   Professional dryers typically are made with ceramic, ionic, and/or tourmaline features. (See Below)  

FEATURES

Probably one of the key features of a professional hair dryer is that it has a durable, strong motor that will last twice as long, if not longer, than the traditional hairdryer. 

EMF: 

An EMF is the electromagnetic field that is produced by the hairdryer.  For environmentalists the lower the EMF the better.  The traditional dryers still produce EMF levels that could be considered potentially dangerous while most of the professional dryers are now manufactured with extremely low EMF levels.  The lower the EMF level, the safer it is for you and our environment.

Ceramic: 

Ceramic technology generates infrared heat, which gently dries your hair from the inside out. Ceramic blow dryers also heat evenly and do not get too hot for the hair. It uses radiant heat which penetrates the individual strand instead of drying the outside of the hair first. Additionally one of the benefits of ceramic is the fact that your hair will dry up to seventy percent faster.

Ionic: 

Ionic technology in a hairdryer means that the tool is releasing negative ions onto wet hair.  The negative ions break apart the water molecules, which make them smaller and more easily absorbed by the hair or dried through evaporation.  This process helps keep the hair shiny and moisturized and also helps reduce hair frizz. The result is shinier and sleeker looking hair.

Tourmaline:

A plus factor for ceramics is that they can be infused with other elements like tourmaline crystals.  The tourmaline nano particles generate far-infrared energy when heated.  This penetrating form of heat passes through the hair cuticle, going directly to the cortex of the hair to dry it first.  The cuticle is not over-dried and resists brittleness and cracking.  This helps hair to maintain its shine and softness.  Tourmaline hairdryers also helps cleanse hair of odors and impurities.

Settings:

Bottom line on this feature is the more settings you have the better it is for you.  It is all about options/choices because we don’t all use our hairdryers just to dry our hair.  And, we all have different types of hair that need to be taken into consideration.  So, if you have fine, thin hair and your hair starts to dry before you even turn on the dryer, you can use a lower setting.  If you have thick, long hair, you obviously are going to want to use the max heat setting on the dryer.  Many of the professional dryers come with a separate Cold Shot button which is used to help set the style.  If you have completely dried one section of the hair with your styling brush, you can then press the cold shot button and it will lock in the style.  

WATTAGE:

Most consumers think that the higher the wattage of a dryer, the faster your hair will dry.  While this is a true statement, it is still important to take a look at what type hair you are going to be styling or drying.  The higher end wattage dryers (1875 and above) are basically designed for people who have thick, course, and longer hair.  For fine, thin, and short hair that is not necessarily thick, a lower wattage dryer from 1300 watts up to 1875 would be appropriate.   

WEIGHT:

While it makes sense for the professional hair stylist who is blowing out hair all day long to have a lighter weight dryer, there are those of us at home stylists who also prefer the lighter weight models.  The nice thing about professional dryers is that there are many in the marketplace that are lightweight and have all of the features that we are looking for.  Additionally, the lighter weight dryers provide much more flexibility for the user in terms of being able to easily maneuver the dryer in the styling process. 

ATTACHMENTS:

The attachments that accompany a professional hair dryer typically include a concentrator.  This is used to focus in on specific areas of your hair while drying with a styling brush.  They are great to have because it gives you better control over your hair and restricts the dryer from blowing hair that you are not yet ready to style.  Another attachment that comes with some of the professional dryers is the diffuser.  A diffuser is great to have as it helps in creating more volume and waves.  If you have curly hair it is almost a neccessity to have a diffuser if you are blow drying your hair.  The diffuser helps with the volume but also provides more control over the hair and keeps the curls intact with less frizz.  Some dryers even come with an additional bonus attachment, which is the styling pik.  This attachment lifts, shapes, and smooths curly hair while drying.

In summary, take a look at all of the options that a professional hairdryer has to offer.  Check out prices and you will find that they will be all over the board.  However, there is one that will catch your eye that you will be able to afford and inevitably once you have used a professional dryer that will be all you will want to use going forward.

If you are in the market for a hairdryer, hair professionals and stylists alike will tell you to look under the category of  ionic hairdryers.

So, you ask the question why an ionic hairdryer?  How is this different from the standard hair dryers?  What makes an ionic dryer so special?  Well, it all boils down to how ionic technology works. 

Ionic technology as it relates to hairdryers simply stated means that a stream of negatively charged ions is released into the air from your hairdryer once it has been turned on.  As you direct that airflow onto your wet hair, the negative ions break apart the water molecules in your hair, making them smaller so they ae more easily absorbed by your hair or dried through evaporation.  This results in your hair cuticles staying moist and thus, less brittle, and your hair dries quicker.

What else does ionic technology claim to do for your hair?   If you have flyaway hair, ionic technology is supposed to help neutralize the frizz and the flyaway hairs so your hair looks smooth and glossy. 

There are a multitude of ionic hairdryers in the marketplace.  They come in all shapes and sizes and price ranges.  When shopping for one, please keep in mind the type hair you have as this will relate to the wattage amount you will need.  If you have a lot of hair,  you will more than likely want an ionic hairdryer that has a higher voltage.  Typically an 1875 watt dryer will work best.  If you have short hair or thin or fine hair, you will not need as high of a wattage amount.  Typically a 1600 watt hairdryer will work just fine.

How many times do we keep hearing that we need to protect our hair from the heat that our hairdryers, hair straighteners, curling irons, etc. inflict on our hair?  This obviously is a concern because there are a great majority of us who do use a hair styling tool at some point in our daily regiment of working with our hair. 

In particular, I was looking for something that I could spray on my hair after my hair was dry.  Throughout the week, I find myself restyling my hair with a hair straightener or a curling iron.  Since I’m talking about styling my hair at any given time, it is usually when I am getting ready to go out at night and it doesn’t involve washing my hair.  So, it was a requirement that whatever product I was looking for, needed to be applied on dry hair.  Another requirement was that it wasn’t too costly so that I wouldn’t feel bad about spending the amount of money on yet more haircare products. 

My search did not take me long.  I had always seen CHI haircare products in salons and beauty supply stores and wondered how they would work.  When I saw the CHI 44 Iron Guard on the shelf, and also saw that it was something that I could afford, I decided to try it.  Needless to say, I love it  and decided that I needed to write about it.  I will pass along however, at first I was skeptical because my hair felt sticky and stiff after using it.  I talked to my hair stylist and she said that I’m probably using too much because she had never had that problem.  When I cut down on how much I was spraying on, I then saw the difference.  The time it takes to straighten or curl my hair was cut down by about a third of the time it usually takes.  Also, my hair looked shiny and silkier after using the product.

For all of you who already use this product, please let me know what you think about it.  You can never get enough information about what others think about a certain product and this is the perfect time to comment.

Yes, it is definitely that time of year when you start seeing the holiday decorations going up in all of the stores and you start asking that question, “Is it already that time of year again?”  Many of us are putting together our shopping lists and are already wondering  just what would be the right item to purchase.

Well, if you are shopping for someone who needs a hairdryer, why not try the Hot Tools dryers?  Hot Tools hairdryers have been around for quite some time and they continually are adding new technology to their already popular line of hair styling tools.  Not only do they offer some of the best technology, they also offer fun and creative styles of dryers.

Does the person you are shopping for like animal prints?  Well, if they do, Hot Tools definitely has some interesting  and fun prints in their Beauty Skins line of products.  How about a Rainbow Zebra, Pink Zebra, or even a Snow Leopard printed hairdryer?  They even have a Skull Design hairdryer.  All of these hairdryers come with 1875 watts of power for faster drying.

Hot Tools Tourmaline and Ionic technologies change how air treats hair, transforming the dryer’s high airflow into a moisture-enhancing shower of softening, luster-building ions.  Not only can you dry your hair faster, but you get shine, sheen, softness and control.  The Tourmaline/Ceramic far-infrared energy penetrates hair to dry it from the inside-out for optimum moisture balance.  Hot Tools hair dryers are marketed by Helen of Troy and are leaders of professional and personal styling tools because of their product innovations, superior quality and competitive prices.  All Hot Tools hair styling tools come with a one year manufacturer’s warranty.