A blog about hair, written by hair junkies at Folica.com

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s short hair appreciation comes Refinery29′s story today about the Best Short Hairstyles for Fall.

The Curly Bob is #1 (The Boy Cut and The Messy Bob following it up) which you may recall was my claim to HerCut fame earlier in the year.

The woman on the right up in the first photo is Yasmin Sewell, the Chief Creative Consultant for Liberty of London and one of my favorite fashion icons. She has fantastic style – a functional, classic, eclecticism – and her hair always looks great.

She’s worn it short and curly for years and I appreciate that it never looks over- or under-done. That can be challenging for curly girls.

Pre Keratin and Brazilian Blowout, I was on a mission to master that: simply, nicely styled hair, every day. (Oh, actually, I just went back to find the post and see that I would have been happy with good hair “four days a week”.) {Spring Training: Rachelle’s Style Revamp} That lead to Trend Run, which lead to the Keratin treatment, which lead to the Brazilian Blowout … ah how far we’ve come.

Last week we asked you for your favorite frizz fighting techniques in exchange for the chance to win the ultimate smoothing tool: a Keratin Starter Kit.

You replied with suggestions that ranged from carefully prepared product recipes and specific drying techniques to a simple, “Don’t touch!”

Read some of the advice here {Frizz Fixes From You} and all comments here {Contest: Frizz Fight}.

And the very lucky winner of the Liquid Keratin 30 Day Straight Smooth Strong & Long Treatment Starter Kit is: Lauren!

Congratulations Lauren! Send me an email (HairJunky@folica.com) and I’ll send you six weeks of smoother, softer, frizz-free hair. Ooowee that’s a great prize. You know I’m a Team Keratin cheerleader.

Shop Keratin on Folica | Shop Folica by Concern: Controlling Frizz

To the rest of the HairJunky community: Thanks so much for your comments. It is truly a pleasure to have you, hear from you and see you sharing tips, tricks and saves with each other. It gives meaning to HairJunky’s life. The future of which is bright … looking forward to sharing it with you.

Sentimental this afternoon!

I believe Jillian has a post for us, I may have another and then it’s off for a three day weekend. Great hair days to you all until we meet again.

x,

R

Hi. I learned a lot about hair last night. Here ’tis.

1. Washing with Conditioner: As you know, I’m not really a fan of washing my hair. I prefer how it looks and behaves when it’s a little bit dirty (less frizz, less wild, a little shaggy – second-day hair feels effortlessly done/undone). But, until they invent a way to wash without washing, (er, dry shampoo anyone? We’ll talk about that this week too.) I lather up about once or twice a week.

Readers Gi and Lauren encouraged me to try washing with conditioner. So, last night I did. The practice makes sense, but I was skeptical. (Would it just make my hair heavy and dull and greasy? I go so long between washes, don’t I need the shampoo-cleanse? Why bother if you’re not washing it?)

But, they were right, washing with conditioner left my hair soft and clean and moisturized. I’d say it’s second-day clean. So I went from dirty to second-day and simply skipped the poofy phase. Perfect. From now on, I’ll be doing this at least every-other wash. Gi and Lauren: Thank you!

Conditioner of choice: Frederic Fekkai Luscious Curls Conditioner

2. Gel: Empowered by the successful hair experiment above, I decided to try another: the gel that’s been patiently waiting for me to overcome my fear that it would relocate me to 1989. I used to use gel. In 1989. I would sculpt Gateway Arch bangs. My brothers used it to create lethal side spikes.

But, with faith in a decade of product development and encouraged by the fact that there are so many formulas on the market today (Folica currently carries 103 different gels – the competition is stiff (ha) to provide a quality product) – I embarked.

I actually had two bottles, both unopened:

• Nexxus Exxtra Gel Super Hold Styling Sculptor

• John Frieda Frizz-Ease Corrective Styling Gel

I chose the Nexxus since I’m familiar with (and like) John Frieda products. Applied a walnut size drop (conservative for me) to damp hair and let air dry for about 40 minutes. I scrunched a few times and didn’t feel any of the feared crunch so applied another walnut size, mostly on the ends. Dried with a Sedu Revolution Pro Tourmaline Ionic TGR 4000i Hair Dryer – the best dryer I’ve ever used. A few minutes with heat and then with the cool shot.

The result? I’m still in the year 2010 and my curls loved the gel. They’re soft, full and strong. No frizz, no stickiness, no crunch. I’ve used a curl cream for years; I’m changing my ways. How long do you think it’d take to try all 103 gels?

3. The end of a Keratin Treatment: Talking about my curls again must mean that the Keratin treatment has all washed out. True indeed. Bounce is back without a sign of grow out. That was my last concern with the treatment – despite promises of no grow out, could something SO effective at straightening, smoothing, flattening, taming my otherwise pretty unmanageable mane really leave no mark? Yeah.

(Well, after I took this photo I realized that my curls are still a little straighter than before. Partly because I slept on them, and maybe I have another ‘un’wash or two left before the Keratin’s all gone. Nonetheless, no weird grow out line.

Highlights:)

1. Washing with Conditioner: Definitely Do. Do you?
2. Gel: Definitely Do! Do you?
3. The end of a Keratin Treatment: No grow out = curls return to HairJunky and the process gets two thumbs up.

Pretty good day for hair knowhow, huh? What do you say?

x, R

Happy Monday my friends. How’s your weather? New York feels like a tropical island today. 91 degrees this weekend, thunder and lightning last night, a monsoon this morning. I swam to work.

Question: If you could take one hair product or tool with you to a tropical island (deserted or inhabited by a million other people), what would it be?

(Interviewing myself today, yes. If you’d like to take over, feel free to send me some Q’s.)

Answer: My Sally Hershberger Keratin Treatment.

Here’s an update of my Keratin Treatment in its third week. I have waves but not curls, no frizz and I let my hair air-dry (however that happens in 91% humidity) with no products in it. I cannot remember the last time my hair was product-free.

How about that gravity-defying necklace?

I still love my curls, but when I saw hints of them fighting their way back to life today, I immediately started planning my return visit to Sally’s for another treatment.

The biggest plus is that my hair is simply manageable. I haven’t had a bum day since I left the salon. I spend a fraction of the time styling (minutes in the morning and any evening style is easier to do). My hair looks healthier and I seemed to have found a way to realize my resolution back in March to “wear a polished, pulled-together look, oh, let’s say four days a week.”

Somehow, I thought it’d be more difficult. What’s next?

The weather, a Word of the Day and now, statistics. It must be educational week on HairJunky.

The May issue of ShopSmart, a mag from the publishers of Consumer Reports, features a poll that we found particularly interesting. Why? Guess.

Highlights:

• 44% of the women have had a mood affected by a bad hair day and 26% have actually cried after a haircut.
• 19% of women love their hair, 41% like it, 5% dislike it, 4% hate it and 30% are neutral.
• 49% of women have naturally straight hair but 10% of them style it curly; 23% have naturally curly hair but 19% of them style it straight.
• Biggest complaint women have about their hair is the thickness (23%), with 17% who feel their hair is too thin or too fine. Other top complaints involve the Type (14%) and the Color (10%).
• Women pay on average $39 for a haircut and $65 on salon color, although nearly two-thirds of women have taken steps to save money on their hair in the last 12 months.
• A majority of women (53%) regularly color their hair.
• Women spend on average 15 minutes or less styling their hair and wash it 4 times a week.

A lot of these stats surprise me. Only 44% of women have had a mood affected by a bad hair day? My hair affects my mood, oh, like, every day.

$39 haircuts?!

And, 15 minutes or less spent on styling in the morning sounds like me, but I thought I was in the minority.

Any of these surprise you?

Also, I mentioned it yesterday when talking about the weather, but Folica has some new features that let you shop by hair type, benefit and concern. I personally like shopping by type (curly though I may have to try some wavy or straight products since the Keratin treatment).

Do you like to shop this way?

Seems to me that if we’re looking to save money with fewer or less-expensive salon visits, we do so by being more conscious of the products and tools we purchase. Or, maybe shopping that way is just fun. Like a store where everything’s your size. ©HJ

x, R