Daily, Hair, Photos, Reviews, Videos

Cortex: Clipless curling iron

2 Comments

Flat iron experts is so good to me. I’ve gotten to review a number of items from their online store over the past few years. I’ve given mostly positive reviews in the past about the hair straighteners, curling irons or new-age crimping irons. But in all honesty I didn’t know what I could compare the products that I was reviewing, to. More specifically, I didn’t know what to do with curling irons. My hands were always gimpy and the barrels that I chose to review, were frankly too large for my hair. It just gave me volume, without curl. Which is great seeing as I have fine limp hair, but some days I just want a little curl on the ends.

It’s not because any of the the products were crap. It was because I am such a gimp when it comes to doing anything with my hair. If I wanted curly hair I’d have to fiddle with my flat iron and maneuver it in a way to create odd looking curls. It took forever.  Which meant I’d rarely take the time to do that to my hair. Not to mention the fact that I went over certain pieces of hair multiple times to achieve a look I could go out in public with. Damage your hair more, sure!

I think all of the products were meant for super long, super thick hair. I e-mailed my rep that I deal with at Flat Iron Experts and asked if I could review a smaller curling wand, one that was clipless.

This thing heats up so fast. To the right (above) the digital screen temperature just rises so fast. It’s kinda fun to watch it heat up.

Here is the base of the iron, and where all of the tubes (wands?) plug into. Idiot-proof for sure.

Some specs.

Lord almighty I had no idea what a world of difference not having a clamp on your curling iron could do for your hair. And how much less time it takes up!

I was sent the Cortex 4 in 1 clipless curling wand and have been using it on the days that I don’t wash my hair. Which is a lot. The first time I used it my hair came out like this. I used the smallest barrel which is the 1.5-3.4 inch. It gradually gets smaller toward the tip of the barrel.

Okay don’t let the photo below fool you. That was just my first attempt at using it. Not a bad one I may add, but please…keep reading. It gets better. Oh boy does it ever.

On the left was right after I curled it. On the right is when I combed through my hair with my fingers to make it less prom-like. Not bad, right? I mean, could be better. It looks a little messy on the right, and just too perfect on the left. I didn’t curl my ends, and you can definitely notice it, so I made sure to include the ends of my hair the next time I did it.

 I’ve gotten the hang of it so well that I curl my hair multiple days during the week now! It’s so easy and super fast. The camera flash darkens my hair by the way, I didn’t dye it lol.

I even styled the ends of my hair for girls night the other evening.

Even though I say I’ve gotten the hang of it well, it really wasn’t a huge ordeal for it to work magic on my hair. I’ve used it probably 6 times and it’s been just as easy as the first time. I’ve decided to film and put together a video of how I curl my hair in the morning now. Watch me curl my hair in this video!

Super easy right? You can buy the Cortex 4 in One Curling Iron here.

Thanks to Flat Iron Experts for sending this product over to me, to review.

Continue Reading

Daily, Hair, Photos, Reviews

Kérastase Elixir Ultime

4 Comments

I gave you a brief overview of my hair care routine last week and today I’m elaborating on the hair serum I love to use.

Ever since I decided to stop damaging my hair with the hair straightener every morning I’ve gone to other options to make my hair sleek and shiny on a daily basis.

I’ve written about my hair care routine but wanted to single out one product in particular that I can’t seem to live without. Now I know that’s going to sound absurd but I’ve been telling all my friends and co-worker’s how I’ve been getting nicely tamed hair without the use of a flat iron.

It’s two products put together basically. A boar bristle hair brush, and a hair serum.

I’ve been using hair serums for a number of years but until recently I don’t think I was using them to their full potential. I’ve tried plenty in the past such as Aveda’s smoothing serum (not shown), Aveda’s balm,  Joico Kpak, Macadamia Nut, and two Kérastase products that I received in my monthly subscription boxes.

Now? I’m all about the Kérastase.  I first heard about Kérastase Elixir Ultime from Fleur, a very well known makeup guru on YouTube a few years ago. I trust everything she raves about regarding products. I naively thought it was only available in the UK. That is, until I received a sample of it in my beauty subscription boxes. Kérastase is said to give nourishment, shine, softness and condition the hair.

The packaging is great but not as eye catching as I think it could be. The serum is housed in a 125ml plastic bottle with a pump at the top.

On the backside of the box it gives the ingredients and instructions. I didn’t realize you could use this elixir on your hair before you shampoo as a pre cleanse treatment. I’m almost afraid to use it before hand since I was my hair 2-3 times per week and I don’t want to “waste” my hair cleansing routine and have oily hair. Has anyone tried this?

 How I use the product. After I shampoo and condition my hair I immediately put my damp uncombed hair up in a towel and let it dry that way. If you rush this process you’ll get noticeably frizzy staticy hair. Trust me on this, you need to let the towel soak up all the damp wet hair. Your hair is at a brittle stage when its wet as it breaks easier. I leave my hair in the towel til I get dressed and off it comes when I’m about to do my makeup. I comb through my hair using a wooden wide tooth comb (spoken about here) and then put in a quarter of a pump of the Kérastase Elixir. The texture of the elixir is quite runny in consistency, so a little will go a long way and this 125ml bottle will last me a good year or more. I clip my hair up and continue onto my makeup routine. After that’s done I blow dry my hair and when it’s fully dry, I add one more pump of the elixir to my hair and I’m finished.

As for recommending it to you guys? If you’re willing to shell out the $42 Canadian for this product, I would say go for it. I mean, it does give  you shiny, sleek hair. Plus the elixir is silicone free so it feels weightless on the hair, which is one of the top contenders in a product that I look for, as I do have pretty fine limp hair. I can say for certain that the Kérastase Elixir feels much better on my hair than the Macadamia Nut serum, which weighed my hair down.

Where to buy?  It’s sold only at salons, and you can find one near you at www.kerastase.ca. I also found it on Amazon but it seems to be much pricier on there than in salon’s. The only con to this serum is the price. If I had to choose what product would be the most similar that I tried, it would be the Aveda smoothing fluid in the blue bottle. It has 25ml less than the Kérastase but it’s $26 compared to roughly $42.

Overall I give this product two thumbs up. A weightless product that works well in my fine, limp hair and whenever I use it at the roots very sparingly (not even a pump, just the leftovers from the ends) it keeps my hair looking volumized from the blow drying and styling I did.

You know those radio shows that tell answers and they want you to call in with the questions? A few days ago the radio show host said a woman thinks about this, an average of 43 times during the run of a day. I completely agree (though 43 is a little excessive) about the answer. It’s her hair! I swear, whenever I wash my hair and use the serum, I can’t stop feeling it.

How often do you use your hair styling products such as your straightener, or blow dryer? Do you use a hair serum?

Continue Reading

Daily, Hair, Health, Photos

How to get your hair healthy

7 Comments

I’m on my last installment of my morning routine. First you saw my skincare routine, then makeup routine where you see how I achieve an airbrush makeup look (both which are permanently linked over on the right hand bar) My hair was unhealthy and dry for a number of years of shampooing, blow drying and straightening it every single day.

In August before I flew off to San Diego I went to my hair salon and told them to chop it until it was healthy. He cut off quite a bit of hair. But it’s only gotten better since he’s done so. I no longer have layers in my hair. Who ever thought that putting layers in baby fine hair was a dingbat.

Recently, I asked my hair stylist if I should go get long layers when my hair gets to my ideal length. He said no way, as it looked messy and unkept in his opinion. Alright sir, you know what you’re doing. I’m loving every cut he’s given me, so I should trust what he says. I was straightening my hair so much my hair didn’t go straight anymore since it was that damaged. I reversed the effects of the use of a hair straightener. Go figure! Look at that frizz.

What do I do to keep my hair healthy and in top notch shape now? From August — December 2011 I still shampooed, and blow dried every single day. I didn’t end up flat ironing it because I frankly didn’t need to do so. In the states I picked up this Boar Bristle hair brush from Sephora which I blogged about.

Boar bristles are natural and won’t damage your hair. But they may hurt your scalp if you press too hard on it. I’m now used to it as I’ve been using it for a number of months. Plus you can kind of mold your hair straight with the manipulation of this brush. Occasionally I’d straighten it, and come into work and flaunt my hair off to Julie (hi friend!) and she mentioned my hair did not look any different than the day before. Huh! Weird hey? Well, now my straightener can go to heck, because I clearly don’t need it to achieve the look.

I use a hair serum and use a pump or two in my damp hair, focusing on the ends, and then putting it in my hair again once its dry, to leave it silky smooth, and shiny and frizz free. So that’s all I’ve been doing and my hair has grown a tremendous amount since then. I go to get my hair trimmed every 12 weeks now and my hair stylist always compliments me and tells me to keep doing what I’m doing. When I first went to him in the early summer the front ends of my hair were very thin and sparse as I straightening that part of my hair the most. It was breaking, and so brittle and dry.

He fixed that by chopping it all off in August. After taking care of my hair, the last photo shown is what my hair looks like now. Without the use of a hair straightener, I think I used it 4 times since August. See the difference six months can make?

(click to enlarge image)

January threw everything for a loop and I decided to try out only washing my hair 2-3 times per week. While it’s a learning curve for sure. Learning how to tease my crown so I don’t look bald from rubbing the back of my head on my pillow all night long, causing my hair to separate oddly, to using hair spray to keep things in place.

In order of usage on days that I wash my hair.

  • Lush shampoo bar
  • Walmart conditioner
  • The Body Shop wooden wide tooth comb
  • Kérastase Elixir Ultime hair serum
  • Aveda ceramic round brush
  • Sephora boar bristle brush

Days that I don’t wash my hair I use:

  • Principessa dry shampoo
  • L’Oreal hair spray

Embrace your natural hair as much as possible. Sure I treat myself and straighten or curl it once in a while. But for the most part it’s all the work of patience, a boar bristle brush and hair serums. I’ll get into detail more about the hair serum I use in a few days. I LOVE IT.

See related posts:

Continue Reading