With a bob haircut the styling options are broad. Given the right products and tools you can do many things. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes they aren't - see new profile picture of curls gone wrong. I recently received the Revlon RV084C Professional Ceramic 3-Barrel Jumbo Waver and have to admit I was pretty intimidated by it though it claimed to be the perfect styling tool for waves and texture. The 3 jumbo ceramic coated barreled iron heats up in 60 seconds and it has 25 heat settings to assist in creating waves in all types of hair. Once I was over my fright I managed to impart waves and volume that lasted for most of the day. Still testing the hair benefits of its use.
Available at various drugstores and shopping centers for $23-$29.00.
I don't like to spend a lot of money on everyday shampoo and conditions because I learned long ago that shampoo cleans and conditioner conditions and it's really the natural state of your hair and how you respect it in between washings that matters. I wash my hair every 3rd day or so and allow it to air dry as often as possible and I don't torture my hair with many products or the constant use of styling tools. I have come to terms with the natural state of my hair and understand what I can and cannot do with it. Because my hair is pretty healthy I can get away with using more economical products that do the job without all the bells and whistles the extra dollars promise, of course there are some pretty amazing product out there that don't break the bank and deliver lots of bang for your buck.
I am patiently waiting for Aveeno Nourish & Moisture shampoos & conditioners to hit the shelves. The products in this line are packed with wheat proteins that strengthen and hydrate hair. They are expected to sell for around $6.49...waiting
About 2 weeks ago I tried to curl my hair. I used the hot rollers and the curling iron and sprayed it to set the curl, but as per usual by mid day I had body but no curly bounce. At the encouragement of a friend I borrowed her bottle of L'Oreal Vive Pro Glossy Style Glossy Curls Spray Gel, Extra Strong Hold to try again and loved the results. My curls lasted most of the day and my hair was pretty shiney. I wouldn't use this product every day, I prefer wash and go, but I am gong to purchase it for use when I want to make the styling effort. If you're interested walgreens.com sells it for $4.99 plus shipping
A year or two ago I and many of my friends cut off our long, blown straight locks and began to sport bobs that ranged from cheek to jaw length. At the beginning of last winter many of us began to grow out these bobs so that they reached lengths that graced necks and the tops of shoulders and despite their simplicity offered styling options the shorter bobs did not. About a week ago I began to read articles and see fashion reports regarding the effect the economy has on the length of hair we women keep. It seems the more dire the economy the more simple and the shorter the hairstyles are.
women's suffrage movement and reined after the stock market crash. It was a reflection of the changing times. It gradually grew out and wasn't really popular in its more severe forms until the 60s when the civil rights, women's and sexual revolution movements were once again on the forefront of our collective consciousness and women no longer had the desire to frivilously spend, or look like they frivilously spent time and money on their hair (of course there were those who keep their manes long, but that's another post concerning the sex kitten's reach for sexual freedom!).
this style their intentions were mostly economical, they wanted to save money, but also they wanted options, to be give themselves a style that is easier to handle and allows for the natural wave and texture of their hair. They all concluded that this style feels right for these times. I find it interesting that the the shorter more severe bob re appeared during the last years of Bush's term and that it is now slowly being replaced with a longer less severe version that is still somewhat conservative with options. Maybe there is a wave of subliminal messages that we all ride without being fully conscious of our choices.
I have a vivid childhood memory of my mother and a couple of her sisters, she had 6, getting together to do their hair and nails. I can recall my Aunt Patty, she was the beautician cutting, washing and deep conditioning my mother and Aunt Frances' hair before setting it on rollars the size of soda cans and placing each of them under the separate hooded salon style hair dryers she had installed in her basement. They would spend the drying time gossiping and doing their manicures while my cousin Chris and I pretended not to listen to the conversations that flew back and forth between them over the sound of the dryers. Aunt Patty would then send my mother home with weeks worth of VO5 hair cream and VO5 hot oil treatements, her favorites. The Saturdays that followed there was always a tube of VO5 Hot Oil treatment submerged into a warm glass of water so that my mother could continue her beauty routine and deep condition while she cleaned.
I am someone who scours the shelves of drugstores, beauty supply places and health food stores for hair products that deliver great results without the price of high end labels. I have also gone the natural route in this quest, washing my hair in beer for shine, mashing an overly ripe avacado and placing it on my hair as a masque, making rinses from rosemary and sage. That is why when I was given a number of samples of John Master Organics Citrus & Neroli detangler I did not hesitate to put aside my search and kitchen experiments to try the stuff.
Now that flat straight hair is on its way out I feel no shame when pulling out my set of Conair CHV14J Instant Heat Jumbo Supersized Electric Rollers to add some volume and wave. Using the extra super clips - see pic -that I purchased separately makes it easier to lock in the velvet flocked rollers until they have cooled. In about 5 minutes I have bouncy full volumed hair.
You can buy this set and the extra clips from amazon.com -http://www.amazon.com/Conair-CHV14J-Instant-Jumbo-Sized-Rollers/dp/B00005A441/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_pop_t/190-7188397-5868725
I am a brunette with reddish tendencies. With the exception of my birth, that one chlorine filled summer and experiments in rock star color strips againt black I have always been a brunette with reddish 
tendencies. I have no blonde ambitions but I do enjoy spicing up my brown hair every now and then with home dye kit that keep things as close to my natural shade as possible. The problem is that most at home kits either lighten brown hair to shades reaching to be blonde or red or darken it towards flatter black hued colors, all of which do not flatter most natural brunette, especially when our faces are clean of make-up. Because of this I am finding my self pleasantly surprised by the results I have had with Loreal's Natural Match Color (http://coupon.naturalmatch.com/ - get $2.00 coupon). This drug store available No-Ammonia Glossy Finish At-Home dye kit offers a range of natural looking color options that gently shift the shade of your hair so that the final results compliment your skin tone. Whether you choose to enhance 
your real shade or change it all together the results are amazing. Of course this product has been on the market for a while now, but if you're like me and tend to be confused by all the options on the beauty and drug store shelves I am hoping this review encourages you to reach for this product.
50 Years ago Elnett Satin Hairspray was born and since it's birth has become one of the most sought after hairsprays. Until recently the hair spray responsible for the full hair styles that graced the wanna-be Bridgitte Bardots and Catherine Deneuves was not exported to the states. Those seeking full bodied bounce had to rely on its stickier more making cousin AquaNet or the smuggling efforts of friends and family who visited Europe on a regular basis. The good news is that the golden can is now available at Targets for $14.99 a can and though the imported version has been customized with a more eco friendly propellant for the US market reports say the magic is still there and that the spray will leave your style with memory and comb-thru just like the European version.
Those of us born in the generation of Tenax and Sugar Water miss the days of spiking and teasing our hair, regardless of its length, and paying for it in deep conditioner and drastic hair cuts. These days I am overwhelmed by the amount of product on the market and the wide range of prices. Like many I find myself ignoring the old tried and true hair products believing that the industry has discovered bigger and better chemicals or uses for natural elements that will allow me to manipulate my hair so that it will be perfect, just the way I want it, every time I use it. I go through phases of buying lots of things and trying to style my hair and then just getting a good cut that lets me run my fingers through and go.
A few months ago I decided to get my hair cut. It was a spur of the moment decision coming on for weeks. I had been carrying a picture of a short easy hair style I knew I would eventually get but it took me awhile to find the reason to. After a long day of work and with a deep feeling of the blahs I decided to satisfy the urge for change.
For those of you unfamiliar with Supercuts it’s a chain of hair salons, over 85 in New York, that offer affordable hair and beauty treatments to the masses.
I love essential oils and over the years have amassed a fully stocked drawer of the ones I play with and use regularly. My interest in scent goes back to a childhood filled with them. I can recall someone asking for the vanilla to dab behind their ears on a big date night, being sent to the store for clove oil to soothe a toothache, an uncle jokingly adding more pepper to a dish for punch and hair growth, a wash cloth soaked in peppermint tea and placed on a head burdened with a headache, the freckled face of a cousin being scrubbed with a wedge of lemon and a freshly made bed being spraying with lavender water for better sleeping. Smells are a big part of our lives, they comfort and recall memories we want to hold onto and some we may want to forget.
If you really pay attention you can smell the difference between a synthetic scent and an essential oil that is pulled from a natural source. There is roundness to the natural smell that falls, well flat, in most synthetic copies. You will have to start comparing to understand the differences and find out what you can and can not accept. It seems that every new item is loudly and proudly telling us which essential oils it contains and the benefits it will deliver because of them. Though there are some oils that can deliver from first use, pimples beware of tea tree oil, most require either application within a diagnosed time frame or continuous application for any beneficial affects other than perhaps the physiological ones triggered by the scents. We have all grown up with both natural and synthetic oils and I suspect will continue to be exposed to and use both despite the return to green being hyped by every Tom, Dick and Jane who make and package things that are natural and organic to sell while promising to deliver us back to a good earth. OK, so I have some issues with the green craze because despite good intent most of what is made at this time that is natural and organic isn’t consumer friendly because of price and tends to concentrate on saving some far off place that we, that’s right we, were destroying to begin with by producing products. (OK, that’s a rant!). I could fill pages with my opinions on that subject matter but instead I will get back to the original purpose of this post, essential oils and their wonderful smells and a product I am loving right now.
Noting my caution on being taken in by the organic trend I find myself in love with Save the World’s Regal Blossom Save Your Hair Conditioner. It has mango butter, avocado and coconut oils, aloe vera extract and smells of lavender, geranium and rose with support from chamomile and palma rose and it delivers. I like the strong heavy bottomed floral scent, which lightens up when used. People will definitely comment about how good your hair smells! Though I am hesitant to believe that if I use it for a year I, little old me, will save an acre of rainforest, I am confident in saying it makes my hair feel and smell great.
This is another item from the goody bag I received and I have to admit I may have never reached for the bottle otherwise because I have a regular conditioner that does the trick, but I did bookmark the Save the World’s site because I am thinking if I am to save an acre of rainforest I better do it with great smelling hair.
Here’s the site
http://store.saveyourworld.com/Conditioner-12oz-Regal-Blossom-p/c12ozrb.htm
