My Favorite: Hair Products & Tools

Hair.  We have a lot of it at our house, more than average.  Everywhere.  With four girls/women with massively thick hair around it's inevitable.

My hair is naturally and unevenly wavy, creating a great beach wave with a little coaxing from #10, the Beach Chic spray.  My hair looks thick, but that's relative when compared with my girls whose hair in a ponytail is almost 2" in diameter.  It takes curl and holds it well, and no matter how frequently I get it trimmed the ends always look frizzy.

I like mine clean, so two days max, particularly with the amount of sweating I do.  I use the same products every day, #s 1-3 below.  I alternate between flattening it, curling it with my curling wand, or leaving it au naturale, skipping any heat treatments to give it a rest.  The family calls this style my "lion's mane".  I never brush my hair.  Mostly because I forget and the tangles usually shake out by the time I've done it.

My hair-do portfolio for myself includes pony tails, top knots, or a dutch braid I do myself.  I think I use up all my hair ingenuity on the three girls in our house.  Bobby pins hurt my head, and I like to feel my hair on my neck in every weather except really hot summer.  Mid-high pony tails give me a headache, as do headbands.  So I look like a crazy mad-woman when I exercise with my halo of short hairs and my messy ponytail.

The best thing I ever did for my hair is get consistent, with products, color, and hair dresser.  For years after I got married I tried every color in the book, and looked so weird every time.  I tried blonde the most and only got it right once, about 9 years ago.  But it fried my hair so badly to keep it up that I finally quit. I found a great girl in town at a reasonable rate and kept going to her.  It's important for your hair dresser to know your hair type and how it reacts to coloring.  I finally went more dark about 6 years ago to a shade a little darker, richer, and more interesting than my natural color.  We did a melt, or ombre, dark at the top fading to light at the bottom and that's what I've been doing ever since.  Brittanie is the best around, her melt is perfection.  A #6-7 on top, if you're interested.  I absolutely love it.  It gives me a little blonde, it's not over-dark, and it makes me look younger and less "done".  It's also lower maintenance than a weave or highlights and costs less too.  I get a trim every other time.

Over the past couple years my gray is starting to get the best of me.  I used to be able to color once every 3 months, but no longer.  I get antsy at 4 weeks, panic at 5 weeks, and make my appointment for 6 weeks, just like clockwork.  I really admire women who go to their natural gray, and someday I will, but that day is not today.  I love being freshly colored.  It makes me feel happy, beautiful, sassy, and pampered.

As I get older, I find myself more confident in myself and how I look.  Many days I let my hair air dry and skip makeup, giving my hair and skin a much needed and deserved break, as well as saving the 40 minutes the process takes to use on something else valuable I want to do.

Here are the hair products and tools I use (almost) every day:

1.  Sally Beauty Generic Color Protecting Shampoo & Conditioner - I spend way too much money coloring my grays to wash that color down the drain
2.  CHI Silk Infusion - this serum smooths my frizzies and protects during the heat stages of styling
3.  Conair 1875 Watt Cord Keeper Dryer - there are many better dryers, but this one is good to my hair and the cord zips inside for tangle-less storage with the push of a button
4.  Sally Beauty Generic Thermal Protectant Spray - similar to CHI 44 Iron Guard Spray this helps either curling or straightening to be smooth and silky (couldn't find Sally's product online, I get it in the store, it's been a while, maybe they are out, sad) UPDATE: Yes, GVP discontinued their thermal protectant spray. Ruined. My. Day.)
5.  Butterfly Clips - keeps layers up during styling without slipping or kinking
6.  NuMe Classic Curling Wands - in 19, 25, & 32 mm for different lengths of hair as well as their flat iron; don't panic, you can find them on ebay, ksl classifieds, and there's always a groupon; never pay full price! But do get nice tools that don't yank your hair out.
7.  Wide Pik or Comb - to gently comb through curl to get the wavy look, never ringlets
8.  Paul Mitchell Wax Works - texture creme to tame frizzies, define waves, and provide manageability without crunch; a little goes a long way.
9.   Goody Elastics - large for ponies, invisible for braids
10.  Garnier Fructis De-Constructed Beach Chic Spray - creates textured beachy waves without heat; think hair after a day at the beach.

Remember, you're beautiful just the way you are, but a little omph never hurts now and then!