Super Easy Beachy Waves with 1 Touch of a Button! From Sarah Potempa

I'm a big fan of celeb hairstylist (and Aussie's Celebrity Stylist) Sarah Potempa. I've already shared some great tips from her such as how to have a good hair day while in labor, new mommy at home hair tips and how to play with hair texture. Her tips always easy to follow and actually give results!

Sarah has an amazing event tomorrow. She's created a new curling iron. Oh, but not just any curling iron. This is a super easy way to do beachy waves super fast, and not mess them up.

This video really shows how easy it is to use.



I'm adding it to my "to buy" list, what about you?

The Beachwaver will be a QVC exclusive product. Watch Sarah on QVC tomorrow, Jan 21st from 2-3 pm and again 9-10 pm on their "Beauty Newsmakers" hour.

Beachwaver

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The 10 Best Dry Shampoos

Yesterday I shared with you how to use dry shampoo, and today I'm sharing my favorite dry shampoos!

I've tried about 25-30, and while no dry shampoo is absolutely perfect, some of them are really amazing! I've only shared the best of the best here. These are the ones that work great for me and I'm more than willing to pay money to use them again. All of these do the job. They suck up the oil, give me volume and don't leave a white cast to my hair. They all will last a good 12 hours as well!

While there are 4 products featured here, this is really 3 products, with an alternative form that I think works a tad better for curly hair. These are products that should be easy for pretty much any one to buy at a big box store near you. I bought the Suave at my local Target, the TRESemmé has been at my Walmart, etc.

Batiste Dry Shampoo: Look for this one at ULTA. It comes in 2 scents, I've only used the "Blush" which is a light floral scent. I smell it during application, nothing lingers.

Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo: This stuff works great but can be hard to track down. At least near me. It's constantly sold out! Maybe it's a sign?

TRESemmé Dry Shampoo: There are a lot of options for the TRESemmé dry shampoos. Volumizing or not? Foam or spray? It should be easy to find one that might provide a little side benefit for your hair. I'd stick with the spray unless you're curly, I found that the foam is easier to use than a spray on days I'm curly. Why? Because I need to use a natural bristle brush to get rid of all the white-ish cast left behind by a dry shampoo, which is a nightmare with curls. The foam doesn't need this step, though it usually isn't quite enough to sop up my oily hair on straight days.


In case you feel the need to splurge a bit on your dry shampoo, I do have 2 favorites.

Ojon Full Detox: This has a nice fresh scent and I thought it was one of the easiest to apply without a white cast to my hair.

Oliver Ifergan: Full confession.... this is the dry shampoo that lives on my bathroom counter and that I reach for about 95% of the time. I love this stuff. It sucks everything up, gives just enough (but not too much) volume and I barely even have to zjoos my fingers through my hair to remove the white. I'll be sad when I finish the can.


If you'd prefer to sprinkle over shake and spray, I found some options, though they're all over the $10 price tag.

Finley Hair Powder: Finley comes in different colors, which is great for avoiding the white cast if you have darker hair. But use a very light touch! Too much and you can make your hair look like hair plugs. Really! (I did it.) A small sprinkle, zjoos and zjoos a bit more and you're done.

Keratin Complex: I can't actually find my Keratin Complex dry shampoo (I believe it is hiding out in my bathroom somewhere), so instead you get to look at my box with the refill. This is my favorite of the powder products. It is released through the brush! Just shake a little, and brush onto hair. It is so easy to get a well distributed application and no overdo it! Oh, and it comes with a free refill!

Oscar Blandi Dry Shampoo: This is a classic, mentioned on almost every dry shampoo best of list. It just works. I like that the application tip is little, I put it in my part and slightly squeeze the bottle. (I don't know if this is what you're meant to do, but it is how I use it.)


Redken Powder Grip: This isn't really a "dry shampoo" so much as a texturizer, volumizer and dry shampoo all rolled into one. If you want to achieve volume, reach only for the Powder Grip 03. This stuff seriously puts all of the other products to shame. A small amount and your hair feels a bit tacky. You can move it anywhere. Put your hair up and I swear you will need fewer bobby pins. This is a must buy for prom and wedding season!




Some of these products I bought, some were sent to me.

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Curling Iron Alternatives: You Curl and You Wrap and Wave from Conair

I fully admit to being intimidated by any hair styling tool more complicated than a curling iron. Or hot roller. Because I do actually really love me some hot rollers.

Anyways, you've probably noticed that over the past year or so, there have been a lot of new heated wandish things showing up in the hair tools area of your local salons and stores. Some of them look crazy. Seriously, how can some of these things create pretty hair? While they first seemed like a big investment (some of these double barreled things can easily run over $200), the good news is that they're pretty affordable now since Conair has started to release their versions as well. I thought we'd take a quick peek today at the You Curl and You Wrap and Wave, both from Conair.

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Easy Beachy Waves: A Tutorial

I have been really obsessed with Pinterest lately! I've found some of the beauty tutorials linked on there to be very inspiring. More from a photoshop perspective than anything actually. (I'm a bit shocked by how many people link eye tutorials that start with mascara and end with shadow. Do people really do that??)

So, today I played around with Photoshop. A lot. Here's the result!

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A Guaranteed Good Hair Day: Kerastase Shampoo & Conditioner

I can not believe that I haven't posted about this shampoo and conditioner duo yet. I feel like I've started this post so many times, didn't I finish and publish it once upon a time? Apparently, no, I did not.

This duo is the answer to an amazing hair day for me. If I use them, my hair with be shiny, it will cooperate with all styling and it will be perfect for at least 2 days. Yes, really. I've never experienced such amazing hair. I started using it when my daughter was only a few months old, and I posted a picture of us together on Facebook. Instead of oohing and aahhhing over the cute baby in the pic, friends from high school, work and all over my life started talking about how shiny my hair was. The power to distract from a cute baby??? Seriously???

So yes, I love this duo. They both have a light floral scent, though I can't pick it up on my hair later. The shampoo has a great lather and the conditioner is nice and thick. They both rinse out easily without the dreaded squeaky clean that means you've stripped your hair of all the oils.

I've been hoarding this duo for "good" days. I used up the last of it this morning. Maybe if I'm a good girl Santa will bring me more for Christmas!








Kerastase

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Pantene Breakage to Strength: Can Your Hair Suddenly Become Stronger?

Another day, another type of Pantene. Truly, I think this company makes products for pretty much every conceivable hair type/condition/problem. While I've tried out Pantene for Colored Hair in the past, I was recently asked to try out another form as well. I went for Medium-Thick, since that is my hair type. I was sent the Breakage to Strength products to try out.

The basic idea is that that fine hair likes to lie there aligned with itself, not really moving as much or rubbing. Medium/Thick hair is different. The cuticle is more likely to not be fully down, and then the hair shafts are also more prone to rubbing together with every little movement of your head. The end result isn't great: the damage to those little cuticle scales really can add up and the result is weaker hair that isn't as shiny and breaks much more easily.

To help combat this issue, Pantene created this duo. They contain "Anti-Breakage Complex to help moisturize and strengthen hair against damage from root to tip. The formula reduces the friction by smoothing out the cuticle edges. Hair is revitalized and left strong against future damage." So, basically there is something that coats your hair, protecting your cuticles from being damaged from all of this friction. Therefore, hair is protected, cuticles are actually present, hair breaks less and looks more healthy because it actually is more healthy. See how that works?

Overall, the experience of using this duo isn't all that different from other Pantene products that I've used. There's a good lather with the shampoo. Both products have a nice floral, perfume scent that I love in the shower but doesn't linger all day to mess up my perfume. They both rinse off easily without that squeeky clean thing that makes me cringe (I just imagine that my hair is turning to straw since everything has been stripped off, not a good feeling).

The end result is that my hair feels very hydrated. I have to be careful to only put the conditioner on the very ends of my hair, any higher than the distal 1/3 and everything is weighed down and flat. If I keep the conditioner to those bits, everything is soft, shiny and looks great! Styling my hair is easy and I have noticed few split ends. Is it the Pantene? I'm not sure, but it could be.

Pantene

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Playing with Texture: Hair Tips from Sarah Potempa

Sarah Potempa is the Aussie's Celebrity Stylist and her tips have been among my most popular posts. (Check her out with quick hair tips for new mommies and great hospital hair for childbirth.) Today she has some great tips for fast hair that lasts.

Sarah suggests playing with your hair's natural texture to create a day look.

Daytime Fun
This all starts with enhancing your natural waves and going with the weather. Start by taking a test day where you have a little free time...pull out your products and ¬play a little:
• Test your natural wave pattern by spritzing Aussie's Heat Protecting Shine Spray on damp hair and scrunching it up with a towel.
• Take the diffuser attachment of your blowdryer and lightly dry the ends to the roots by scooping large sections into the diffuser.
• Spritz a flexible hold hairspray on hair and allow to air dry as you do your makeup).
• Once you’re done and your hair has dried, you can always enhance this wave by making "C" shapes with your flat iron.

After your test day is over and you know your natural hair texture, this style turns into a quick 5-minute “scrunch and go” look that dries instantly in the summer heat, which is perfect for any mom! I also love to add braids on top or hidden ones on the side for a boho chic beach day.

Christine's Note: I followed Sarah's suggestions and you can see the results above. I especially loved the Shine Spray and have been incorporating that into my daily routine more often. I can't tell that it is in my hair and the shine is very natural, though definitely present. I've found that it is pretty hard to overdo it with this product, so if you've had problems with that in the past.


Nightime Chic
After you’ve mastered your natural texture, add a textured half-up section or a messy high bun with accessories to instantly glam up your style for the evening!

Textured Half-Up
Waves and volume combine to create the perfect, fun style.

• Start by teasing your roots with a large-toothed comb and spritz on a heat protecting shine spray on hair, and curl small sections with a ¾” curling iron.

• Pull the sides up and back and secure with a small elastic. Then take the top section and separate into 2 pieces.

• Take the pieces and tie them in a knot and secure them to the base of the half-up ponytail, leaving the volume throughout. Although this look is textured and fun, it doesn’t mean it needs to be dull-looking.


High Bun
Hair pulled into a knot on the top of the crown of the head is very trendy and cool (literally, when it comes to the summer, very cool!) This style can be done in under 5 minutes.

• Flip your head over and spritz Aussie’s NEW Spray Gloss all over. This new conditioning spray will add instant shine to your hair and allow for a polished look to a super easy style

• Secure hair in a high ponytail, twist hair to one direction and pin with large 2” bobby pins as you wrap into a bun. Allow little pieces to stick out, as this style is meant to be carefree and natural.

• Then add an accessory, like Collette Malouf's metallic headbands. They are sophisticated and dressy, and can add style to any outfit. I also love a double wrap headband to wear with a messy updo. Zipper headbands from gla.MAR.ous (shopglamarous.com…which has tons of amazing, cool hair accessories!) are unique, but much more casual.

Aussie

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Success! Heat Free Curls Despite Long Layers

Success!

So, apparently the 3rd 4th try post makes the charm. If you've been following along for the last few weeks, I've been attempting to curl my hair at night. I did not want to use curlers, even little foam ones. I feared ridicule from my hubby (he is a nice guy, but he would laugh since he finds my beauty antics amusing) and strange looks from a half asleep 8 month old at 3 am who may (or may not) recognize mommy.

(If you haven't been following along, first I was excited about sockbun curls, which kept falling out at night. I tried curling my hair with a head band, which worked but some areas were flat (too much hair, not enough band...) So I tried 2 headbands. In a nutshell, all of these attempts were foiled by my crazy thick hair (I have a ton of hair, enough for about 3 people), the length of my hair (it is past my shoulders but somehow too short for the sock bun to work well), or the long layers that I have (the shorter layers love to fall out and refuse to be in a sock bun).

So, via another video, I finally succumbed to using something more like a curler. Well. A rag curler.

Of course, like all things inspirational, this technique was via another Pinterest Pin, that led to a Babble blog post looking at life changing hair videos (OMG, the first 2 are the ones I've already watched... is the entire world on Pinterest??), and the third was this one from YaYa Lifestyle.


So, this isn't really so terribly different than any other tutorial or mention in a magazine telling you to wrap your hair around a ribbon or scrap of t-shirt to curl it. She uses socks, she shows you how she wraps her hair around it and then rolls the whole thing up.

I already have some socks that I was trying to use for my sock buns that weren't so stable. I cut those in half (so I have 4 scraps of material to wrap around my hair), wet my hair and got going!

I only wrapped my hair into 3 sections, though for smaller curls a smaller section would be better. I wanted bigger curls that would be easy to brush out into a mostly straight style. So, 3 sections.

I found that the hair I initially wrapped around the sock (before rolling the whole thing up) was pretty much the part that got curled. I think this is because I wound it around in a corkscrew, rather than the looser rolling. You can see this with the tighter (and higher up) curls that I had in the back. Those were wound tighter and higher up. Because of the way everything is wound and then tied, taking this down was way easier than the other techniques and left the curls intact.

Since this was second day hair I styled it with a dry shampoo. My current fave is by Oliver Ifergan, that stuff adds amazing volume, never makes my hair look dusty/white and the nozzle doesn't clog. I need to write an entire post about it. I sprayed the dry shampoo on my crown, tousled my hair with my fingers and then sprayed some hair spray on the whole thing. Quick and easy, it was about 3 minutes total styling time in the morning.

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The Best Smelling Shampoo Ever: Privé Concept Vert

When I lived in So Cal, I had a Meyer Lemon Tree in my backyard. Meyer lemons are not regular lemons. They are tres Martha, a fancy lemon. The difference is that they aren't quite as tangy, instead they are slightly sweeter and deeper in flavor with a tad bit of an herbal note. Yes, I just wrote note when discussing a lemon flavor.

Why is this important? Because I swear that this shampoo and conditioner smell exactly like the lemons from that tree. So yes, tons of nostalgia, but mmmm..... so yummy in the shower!

The interesting thing about this duo (other than the sumer yummy meyer lemon scent) is that they come in pressurized cans, almost like moose. And yes, it's eco friendly! The can is powered by air and is designed to be refillable (Privé has info on how to reuse the cans on their website). Each can gives the same amount of useable product as a bottle twice the size. Since weight is saved on the container size, the product also saves fuel and emissions.



What comes out of the container initially isn't too terribly different from normal shampoo and conditioner, though they do feel a bit more dense. When you rub your hands together they foam up quite a bit and are much lighter and more airy. I recommend getting the foam up first before applying to your hair, the product will distribute more evenly. After that, other than the amazing scent, things aren't too different from normal products.


I also tried out the Volumizing Froth. This product comes in a 3 ounce squeeze bottle, and while it looks like a styling milk in your hand initially, after about 30 seconds you'll notice bubbles appearing. Rub it in your hands and again you'll have a light foam, though you can see it is definitely thinner than the shampoo and conditioner and with less "oomph". I didn't notice the scent as much of this product. It has light hold and some shine associated with it, perfect for the days I decide to let my hair air dry to slightly wavy. It doesn't feel sticky or weigh down my hair.

Privé

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Summer Buns Made Easy by L'Oreal

This video popped up in my Facebook feed this morning. L'Oreal Paris posted it, and this is a great explanation of how to obtain a chic and easy bun! There are 3 different styles included. I want to try them all!

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Damaged Hair: John Frieda to the Rescue? Full Repair Review

Damage control is definitely a hot area in hair care right now. Unfortunately, that usually means products that are overly hydrating, resulting in flat and greasy hair. This is particularly true in the mass market price range. If I see "damage" anywhere on the packaging (or "heat protecting") in my mind that equals "greasy hair".

Fortunately, John Frieda has a damage control line that won't weigh down your hair. The line features Inca Inchi Oil, from teh Sacha Inchi plant. This oil was used by Incan women and is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids. True, hair is really just dead proteins, but somehow the oil and moisture does seem to make a difference. The line includes Shampoo & Conditioner, a few serums to help with damage, a root lift foam and a mascara-wand with fly away tamer. You can watch a how to use them all on the John Frieda Website.

So, does this line deliver weightless moisture to help improve your hair's damage? It didn't weigh down my hair and it certainly did seem like my hair looked healthier. It was shinier, easy to style and my fly aways were tamed. The shampoo & conditioner do have a stronger perfume scent than I typically like, though the scent was gone once my hair had been dried. I used the Perfect Ends Sheer Mist as well, and I noticed that this did weigh down my hair a little if I applied it near my roots. When applied to the ends of my hair I still had great volume and my hair was smoother. I think my favorite product of the line is the Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer. It looks like a big mascara wand, and when I run it over the little hairs that are "flying away" on the top of my head and smooth them down.... amazing! They actually stay down and I can't see or feel that I've put anything on my hair. Love it!


John Frieda is also hosting a Damage Control: Live Webcast with International Creative Consultant, Harry Josh on the John Frieda Facebook Page. You can sign up starting today.

Date: Wednesday, June 8th
Time: 6pm – 6:30pm EST

Each participant who signs up will be asked to submit a question for Harry Josh and in return will receive one full-size product from the Full Repair collection: Those with fine hair will receive a Perfect Ends Sheer Mist and participants with thick hair will receive a Perfect Ends Deep Infusion. Harry will answer all submitted questions during the half hour live webcast and will provide a special code that participants can use to enter to win the grand prize – a trip to New York and a haircut/style with Harry!

John Frieda Full Repair

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Plumping Up the Volume: Alterna and Oscar Blandi Take A New Approach To Volumizers

My hair has suddenly really entered the post-partum shedding phase. Part of me is sighing in relief (it was a bit too much, my hair was so thick it was hard to style), but part of me is afraid. What if it... just keeps falling out? What if my hair, which has always been very thick, becomes thin and lanky?

So, while I'm worried about losing too much volume, I've started looking for new and different ways to replace the volume that I'm losing. Alterna and Oscar Blandi have just released products that are perfect for this, and they work in somewhat similar ways, though I definitely prefer one over the other.

Alterna's Plumping Strand Expand does exactly what it sounds like, plumping up each strand to add volume. Oscar Blandi Hair Lift attracts moisture to the hair with hyaluronic acid increasing the size of each hair strand. I don't really know too much beyond that little bit of info. I am a little curious how the plumping affects the cuticle of the hair. Does it lie flat or are the scales all lifted up? If so, the hair is usually dull appearing and more prone to breakage. Both products do seem to keep my hair looking shiny and healthy, so my feeling is that the cuticle is likely lying flat.

Alterna's product does increase the volume some. I felt that it didn't weigh down my hair, but I did feel like there was "something" on my hair, as if I had used too much gel. The added volume lasts most of the day, my hair falls and looks a bit more lanky than usual by the end of the day. I've also found that my next day hair is too difficult to deal with. Usually I can style without an issue, but even dry shampoo can't salvage my second day hair with the Alterna.

The Oscar Blandi on the other hand is ahhhhmazing. Love it. I get great volume that lasts all day long and even into the next day. My hair doesn't feel like it has product on it at all, and I've found that my hair can be styled very easily. My hair looks shinier and healthier on days that I use it.

So, plumping up the actual size of each hair strand isn't what most of us have done in the past to add volume, but it definitely seems to work. I've been loving the Oscar Blandi product as it lasts longer and I can't detect it in my hair. This is something I'll be repurchasing in the future.

Oscar Blandi
Alterna Hair Care

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