Products that changed my life Pt. 3

Hair product edition. A girl born with ultra frizzy, coarse, curly, violently thick, plentiful and long hair that winds up damaging it to the point of no return with coloring and heating, yes, winds up trying a lot of hair products. Here are my super stars.

Image courtesy of sephora.com
Ah, my beautiful beloved GHD. I have waxed poetic about it many many times now, but let me say it once more. I LOVE this thing.

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I am the undisputed frizz queen. There are very very few who outfrizz me. So when I FINALLY after years of lust, dropped the sum on this, I found it to be even more than I expected. I did expect it to dry my hair quickly, which it does, to minimize damage, which it does and to cut down on frizz to some degree. Not only did it cut down, it cut down entirely. I can now go on a humid day, all day, just blowdryed (even without the assistance of GHD) and not have to carry serum with me. This thing is THAT amazing.
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A small detail that should never be overlook in the fight against split ends, is what we use ti tie our hair back. Now if you're like me, the vast majority of time, work, casual, whatever, you've got a ponytail in. In fact my hair is so violently thick, I can't use bobby pins when doing updos, etc, so I sub with these. These little buggers stretch to three times their size, without breaking, slide straight out of hair as if in a Pantene commercial and I have not noticed a single split end from them (I have become so sensitive to breakage I can actually feel and count when I get new split ends. It chills me to the bone).

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Frederic Fekkai glossing cream: Probably the ultimate styling multitasker. Leave-in when hair is airdrying. Check. Styling cream when heating. Check. Detangler for emergency 100 brush stroke sessions. Check. Post styling finishing cream. Check. Emergency de-frizzer. Check. One of modern beauty's greatest products, adds shine and softness without weighing hair down. MIRACLE!

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Aveda Damage remedy intensive reconstructor: This stuff made me a believer in protein. When I started blonding my hair (I would go from a level 2 to a level 9 ladies) my stylist would leave me under the bonnet with this for an hour each time afterward to help regain some health to the hair after such abuse. I would walk in with softer, bouncier more manageable locks than before, even if I had bleached and toned. And let's just say, that when I stopped using it, the split end count multiplied exponentially. If you chemically process your hair, protein is a must. I also love Kerastase's Ciment Theramique and Frederic Fekkai's proteinRX lines.

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Well, I am a sulfate free believer. When hair is not subjected to the ultra foamy shampoos of days of yore, it comes out feeling so much healthier, with much less frizz and it's so much easier to brush (in fact, I of the ultra damaged curly hair, can brush wet when I use this, hat is saying something). As the company says, it also makes a fabulous leave in. And yes, it REALLY does clean (but you must rinse like a maniac!).

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The shampoo of those in a hurry, those who love foaming shampoos but know it's bad so they have to cut down, the styling trick of the fine haired or ooily scalped, Pronto dry shampoo. A few spritzes of this and even the lankest locks spring back to life, bounch, movement volume all that good stuff. And nothing even approacing a powdery finish or dulled locks. This stuff is amazing. I use it even on clean hair when blowdrying in order to get amazing lift at the roots.

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All Kerastase products: It's too hard to pick a favorite from this ultra pricy ultra effective line. Masquintense, changed my life. It healed my hair from a bleach from black situation. MIRACLE! Same goes for Ciment Theramique, it's like a fake it for split ends. Plus there's nothing I love more than being bale to heat style my hair and calling it a treatment. Voile nuit cream is my hands down favorite deep moisture treatment and makes an AMAZING detangler. Nutri sculpt serum gave me hope when I had none. It had been years since my hair had felt elastic, bouncy and truly healthy upon heat styling (plus, BLINDING shine) until my stylist had used that stuff. It seems like every Kerastase product I try, I LOVE. If the pocketbook allows and you have truly hard to deal with hair, bolt for this line.

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Frederic fekkai shea butter hair mask: When hair just plain needs MOISTURE, not silicones, not proteins, not hot oil treatments, MOISTURE this is the stuff to go for. Many many products say they use shea butter but usually it's like a 5% concentration which is nothing. It is one of the first imgredients on the label in this potion, and the hair can tell. The softness and luxuriousness that happens afterward is immeasurable.

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Biolage detangling solution: This is my hands down, never has been beat favorite when air dyring my hair and letting it go curly. This lovely smelling blue gel says it's just to detangle hair without weighing it down, but it provides almost as much conditioning power as many masks, yet really does let curls go into Shirley Temple formation and BOUNCE. My hair feels incredibly soft when I use this.

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Biolage hydrating shampoo: The old standby in my books when just NEEDING the suds, but still wanting gentleness. This was one of the first shampoos I used where I could actually run my fingers through my hair when wet. It was my first salon shampoo too, so I think that may be a contributing factor in my ongoing love for it. One of my favorite products ever, for just plain straightforward gentle moisturizing washing.