Healthier Relaxed Hair is Possible

Hello world!
I've mentioned my shampoo & conditioner switch before, but now I'm raving again. I've been using the John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo and Conditioners for the past couple/few months now. I must say my hair is happier for it. I had my hair relaxed when I the bangs were cut, and I was really worried about my hair's health. I'm pleased to say this stuff has helped. My hair is still dry, but nowhere near as dry as it used to be. I have much less breakage, but still a little. I'm sure that sounds lackluster, but I can't stress enough that these products have helped a lot. It's amazing. My hair is soft, shiny, and full of body.

Here's a fine example of just how shiny (not greasy) my hair is now.

That crappy photo doesn't do it justice, but at least it was taken with a real camera. My hair was just washed, dried, and curled (by flat iron). Aside from the years when I avoided relaxers and colorants, this is the healthiest it's been in a long time. It's definitely the healthiest it's ever been while relaxed. Yay.

For reference: John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo and Conditioners are available for about $8 each at drugstores, as well as online via Amazon, etc.

As always, no one paid me a single cent for this post, but it'd be nice if they would!

My NEW Straight Hair Routine

This post is long overdue. I upgraded my styling tools from Farouk's Biosilk line to the BabylissPro brand. I'm not sure what other people's qualifications for the term "upgrade" are, but it used to take me 2+ hours to get my hair straight. Now it takes 30 minutes to blow dry and style.

Here's what I typically use to get my hair straight.
- BabylissPro Nano Titanium Profino Hair Dryer
- BabylissPro Diamond Titanium Flat Iron (not pictured)
-Conair Brush (nothing fancy about it)
- John Frieda Root Awakening Strength Restoring Smoothing Lotion

Now truth be told, I use other products as well. But the reason is more about scent than anything else. I love to make sure my hair smells great, but I need the smell of my hair to complement my body's scent as well.

Back to straightening. It takes me 6-8 minutes to dry my hair. Need I repeat that? It's a glorious thing. When drying is done, my hair is soft and shiny, with tremendous body. The only reason I use the flat iron is to super smooth my ends. The plus to using the iron is that my hair gets even softer and shinier. I used to dread washing my hair. It meant I might not feel like straightening it. That meant not doing my "gal curls" Now I'm on a regular straightening routine again. The beauty of it is that there is no increased damage from the heat. I expected there would be, but there isn't. Yay!

Oh yeah, I have bangs again.

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From Amazon for <$100

So I need a new blow dryer. My Conair dryer is nice and nifty, but I REALLY don't have the patience anymore. It takes too long. The salon I go to uses BaByliss dryers and irons. The process is SO fast. I'm in and out in under an hour if there's no one ahead of me. I leave with silky smooth and shiny tresses. Why? Because of the greatness that is BaByliss (and the skill of the stylist).

I know the technique. Now it's time to upgrade my tools. A while back, I did a post on my BaByliss flat iron (still awesome, BTW). Well I ordered a blow dryer by the same brand from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. I will gladly post a product review at that time, but I'm confident it will receive 5 stars. My only sad spot is that it's not the matching dryer to my Swarovski crystal-embellished flat iron. I chose this one because it's a bit more powerful. I figure it's better to have stronger than prettier because 20min drying vs. 1hr is definitely FTW.

Review: Babyliss Pro Diamond Titanium 1" Straightening Iron

BaByliss (l), BioSilk (r) - You can't really tell
from the photo, but the BaByliss iron is
a little thinner and a lighter weight.

I received the BaByliss Pro Diamond Titanium 1" Straightening Iron for my birthday. Well technically I got an Amazon gift card and used that to buy it. Either way, I absolutely love this iron. I have type 3C and 4A hair (some pinky-sized curls, some kinky) and this iron leaves my coarse hair silky and super shiny. Also, it has Swarovski crystals for kirakira power. 


Since I had extensions in 90% of my hair at the time of purchase, I used the flat iron on my friend Andrea. her hair has a natural wave and is dry and damaged at the ends. I think the results are pretty nifty. You can't tell after styling.


Below are a couple of photos of Andrea from when I styled her hair using the BaByliss iron. They're cell phoine pics in crappy lighting, but the purikura post I did a little while back shows her hair in better light with my real camera (Canon 40D).