Cortex 4-In-1-Curler

Cortex-HeaderJust so you know, I’ll be wearing my hair like this more than a few times a week.

But before I jump into the review — I wanted to let my beauty readers know that the Sephora VIB 20% sale will be starting today and running for a few days. Is anyone picking up goodies for a discount? I have a few things I want to pick up and will be heading out around lunch time to take advantage of the sale on the products I have either wanted to try, or I know are staples in my beauty cabinet.

In reality, I’m probably going to only buy the philosophy hope in a jar moisturizer, Bobbi Brown shimmer brick and the Too Faced bronzer I’ve been dying to try. There’s plenty more on my wishlist but being on a strict budget helps me not splurge like mad when a sale comes around. But I have no moisturizer, I’m running low on my Jouer bronzer, and I want a little shimmer-shimmer on my cheeks because I love a good lookin’ glow to the cheekbones.

Onto hair!

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Luscious long thick locks is something I’ll never achieve without the help of  hair extensions. Prenatal vitamins with folic acid can only do so much for one’s hair and nail growth. It is what it is, and my hair will always be fine and limp.

The titanium curler heats up to the temperature you select in a matter of seconds, and you can achieve anything from a relaxed wave, to a tight curl using the Cortex 4 N One. It’s surprisingly quick to transform your entire look with a hot piece of burning metal to curl your hair. I love how bouncy, soft and fluffy my hair looks after curling it. Since I’ve had the curling wand since early September, I’ve been curling my hair multiple times per week using the 2″ and 1½” barrels for big bouncy curls though, I haven’t used the tapered [½ — 1″] nor the 1″ barrels yet). I’m instantly transformed into having mesmerizing full set of locks. My only suggestion for people who have no idea what they’re doing with their hair, like myself — is to section it off, and curl your hair the exact same way on your head. Wear the glove if you have to — thankfully only burned my fingers twice since using it. To prepare my hair, I use my tangle teezer hair brush (amazing by the way), section it into four using my too expensive yet so cute yellow Dry Bar hair clips and a heat protectant if you do so desire to keep your hair in pristine shape.

The only complaint I have with the curling iron is that it doesn’t have a mini kick stand for itself. I’d rather not put the hot iron directly on my counter, but there’s no other choice. It slides all around and I keep it in place holding the cord against my leg and the sink so it doesn’t fall off while I section my hair.

Disclaimer: Flat Iron Experts sent me the Cortex 4 N One  for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

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I just don’t get it

I don’t think there’s any beating around the bush. Practice doesn’t always make perfect, especially with me and hair styling my own hair. I just don’t get it, and I probably never will. My hands fumble, my hair gets burned and I start sweating. Not sure it’s worth it. How do these beauts get great curls like that? Seriously.

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I’ve been testing out the QT performance diamond ceramic flat iron that I received from Flat Iron Experts lately, trying to achieve any of these looks that I see on Tumblr but no dice friends.QT-hair-straightener

I won’t be making any tutorials on how to make curls with your flat iron, or how to get volume in your hair. I just don’t know how. QT-performance-hairstyling

I tried to recreate the look that I had done while at the BlissDom conference, one of the booths were doing hair and makeup on the women, and I got my hair curled. I loved it. I can do one side and it looks decent, then my left side looks silly. Maybe I can just rock the one-sided curly hair? I can start a new trend, can’t I? Will you follow me? Lol.

What I do know how to do, is make my hair go from this, to this:

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The cheaper I go, the longer it’ll grow

I’m going back to the cheap route of doing my hair. It may be the biggest mistake of my life, but I won’t know until I keep trying (or screw up).

My mom used to cut my hair back in the day. Believe it or not the first time I went to a hair dresser I was in my early twenties. It was at what I thought was a fancy hair salon in the local mall. Turns out it was the one of the worst hair cuts in my life. She said oops, while she was cutting it. I never went back.

For years I thought expensive meant better; and sure, I left it up to the experts for the past few years or so, but my hair wasn’t growing longer. Recently I’ve been going to get my hair trimmed every 14 weeks. I have pretty fine hair so I really need the ends trimmed off every few months or it’ll look ratty and damaged.

My co-worker goes to this one woman who has a hair salon in her basement. Have to admit, I’m uncomfortable there, since it’s a little old and a bit sketch, but for a $15 hair cut I can live with it. My hair has been growing at a steady rate ever since. I don’t know why. Maybe they listen to what I say? Maybe she doesn’t go wild with the scissors? It just works.

In about two weeks I’m due for a hair trim. I may not even go for another month or two yet. Why? Because I got these hair cutting scissors (thanks to Flat Iron Experts) and I’ve been trimming off the dead ends myself.cutting-my-hair

My hair cut is pretty simple since I don’t have any layers. Though, it’s not long enough yet to cut the back, nor do I really want to depend on a blind eye to trim the back. I don’t want to mess things up. So there aren’t any before/after photos. I cleaned up the split ends in the front so it feels nice and fresh.

I forgot how sharp hair cutting scissors are compared to paper scissors. Have to admit, I almost got a little out of hand trimming off the dead ends. After I was done, my hair was just as healthy as if I had paid someone to trim it for me.dannyco-scissors

Great little Japanese motif design on the Dannyco scissors, don’t you think?

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Some features of the Dannyco scissors:

  • High-grade Japanese stainless steel blades
  • Hollow-ground blades
  • Zinc alloy, lightweight ergonomic handles
  • Adjustable stainless steel screw to set the cutting tension
  • Removable finger rest

Dannyco hair scissors retail for $76.99 on Flat Iron Experts website.

How often do you get your hair cut?

Who cuts your hair?

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