Sunday 16 February 2014

4 Steps to Straight Hair


A month ago almost to the day I had a whopping 10 inches cut off my locks, taking me from a hip skimming lady of length to a boob skimming long layered bob. Check out the before and after, complete with the world's worst selfie, here. Do I regret it? Not a bit of it! Honestly, it was the best thing I've done in a long time as now not only can I rock a pony tail without developing a killer headache but it takes literally half the time to wash and style. Hurrah!

So how am I managing with my shorter locks? I have to admit I've never been all that adventurous with my hair - it's almost always been long and way too thick to do anything with other than drag a brush through. Between that and being ridiculously busy at work recently it's meant I haven't had the opportunity to play with it as much as I'd hoped but one thing I have managed to do is truly master straightening it.

Step One: Get Product-ed up!
These are the products I use, starting with pretty damp hair to almost dry:
  • 4-5 pumps of Tresemmé Oil Elixir Colour to soften, nourish and protect my raven colour
  • A little dollop of Tresemmé Texture Style Velvet Cream to separate out the layers and give a slightly piece-y look 
  • A generous helping of Tresemmé Heat Defence Spray to protect from the ravages of my straighteners 
  • Sometimes if I'm going out I'll add a squirt of volumising mousse to really lift my roots, but I haven't found one I'm truly happy with so no recommendations as yet.
Step Two: Rough Dry
I won't straighten my hair unless it's bone dry as if it's at all wet it tends to singe and snap so I flip my hair upside down and blast it with my hair dryer on a medium heat. This helps to add a little volume too, especially if I'm using mousse as well, but also makes me look like I've been dragged through a henge backwards. Mr P thinks it's the funniest thing!

Step Three: Straighten
The key to getting a really slinky poker straight finish for me is to work with small sections and use a comb in combination with my Babyliss Pro Elegance straighteners (I have the navy blue version). I slowly work on each section lifting it up and away from my head slightly to prevent my hair being completely flat. It takes a bit of practice to coordinate running the comb through my hair directly ahead of the irons but this technique gives much better, longer lasting results than using the straighteners alone. Once I've gone through all of one side of my hair I run the straighteners over the whole of each side of my hair to bring it together and iron out any last little kinks.

Step Four: Finishing
The final touch is simply to comb backwards through my hair while it's still warm to stop it falling into my face too much. Depending on what I'm up to I might add a spritz of shine spray or muss up my roots some with a few strategic sprays of Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle. And that's my everyday straightening routine! On non-washing days a quick run over with my straighteners usually revives my style and gets rid of sleep-induced sticky out bits. 

What's your every day hair routine?

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