More About Hair

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on hair blowers, one reader commented that she purchased a professional grade hair blower for $170 a few years ago and it's still going strong. I'm glad she mentioned this because I had not touched on quality as an issue. This would hold true for any styling tool as well. Basically, you get what you pay for. If you purcahse a hair blower for under $20, then don't expect it to last too long. They are cheaply made and will burn out in a relatively short period of time. Do you have to spend $170 for a decent hair blower? No, there are good quality hair blowers that you can purchase that are well made and will last you over time. I use a Vidal Sasson Ionic Hair Blower and have had it for a couple of years. I've never had any problems with it. Of course, how you treat your hair blower will lengthen it's shelf life. When blowing out your hair, keep the blower at least six inches from your head. This will not only protect your hair, but the hair blower as well. Another poster asked if there were any way she herself could tame brassiness at home, without having to make a trip to the hair salon. If you are looking for an over-the-counter products to adjust color, I would recommend the John Frieda line of shampoos and conditioners developed for color-treated hair. If you are a blond and are experiencing brassiness from time to time, then stay away from the treatment for golden blond hair and stick with the platinum collection. You have to use these products over time in order to begin to see a difference so don't get discouraged if you don't see anything after the first use. Also, there are now at-home hair glazers available which work very well to tone down color at home, in between hair salon appointments. I have used the L'Oreal Gloss treatment which is fabulous, but now Nice and Easy has come out with a similar product. These are not permanent so if you try it and don't care for the effect, don't worry, it will wash out, but used over time, the gloss treament becomes more evident, leaving hair soft and well-conditioned afterwards. Finally, there are treatments you can do at home as well that don't cost very much at all. Every week do an oil conditioning. There's not need to heat the oil in order for it to condition your hair. Use olive oil if you have dark hair and sunflower oil if you have light hair. You can leave the oil in your hair for as long as you need to, but leave it in for at least twenty minutes, then shampoo and condition as usual. Again, thanks for the comments and questions!