A Few of My Favorite Things!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses; a Aston Martin to get in
Bright copper jewelry and brown furry mittens
Brown leather Chanel purse and a lot of bling bling
These are a few of my favorite things..

In the spirit of holiday singing and shopping, I revised this song just for this blog!

And, I would be some kind of blogger if I did not write about a few of my favorite and not so favorite things as the year comes to an end. In 2014 some creative folk introduced some interesting hair styling tools to help make this "getting cute thing" easier. Play The Supremes as you read this blog to see if any of your purchases or interests makes the list. 

Throughout the year, I periodically relapse into Ladosha the Hair care junkie. I just can't help it. I'm a hair stylist is my excuse. I try very hard to stick with tradition and stay on course. But then it hits me; the magazine articles, the sales reps, the customers exciting inquiries of "have you heard about..." and it's all down hill before I slip into the abyss of hair styling tools that I just swear will make my work day and my own hair styling better.  So as the year comes to an end my cravings for hair styling tools does as well. During my on again off again binges, I have spent my money and time playing around with and trying out these tools trying to get my next hair fix. Not that I am trying to encourage or discourage anyone, but here is my take on my 2014 hair fix relapses. Some have been worth the trip and others brought me back to reality. Drum roll please...

Air Curler

The Air Curler, in the infamous words of former President, George W. Bush, "Not one iota." In the very vast multi-trillion dollar world of hair care and it's infinite options of what to buy to style your tresses, this one does not cut the muster. Enough typed. Nexxxxxxt.....

Mira Curler

The Mira Curl by BaByliss Pro got my goat. It was the one tool that catapulted my relapse into the abyss! There I stood in the supply store that is supposedly "exclusively" for licensed cosmetologists, in awe as my heart raced as my eyes peered over at this apparatus. Initially, I tried to resist. I thought, "Now this supply store is suppose to be for licensed cosmetologists and barbers only, even though over half the products are sold over the counter how credible can this thang be?" You would have thought the price would have deterred me, but noooooo (in my John Belushi voice), like a feign; I tried it any way and I bought it. And, I liked it. That thang actually worked. It worked on all hair textures, hair weaves. It worked exactly liked the directions and the advertisement said it would. Of course that is rare, but hey this styling tool "creates perfect curls every time!" If you must, treat yourself. I even sold a few to my customers! 

The In Styler, a team of "esteemed 
hairstylists Bruno Meglio, Claudio Marino a design engineer and entrepreneur Michael Ragosta originally partnered with co-inventor Dave Richmond and invented this apparatus" as quoted from their website. While they may be esteemed, creative, dynamic and probably wealthy; they obviously have not consistently tried it on their own hair. I tried to desperately work this one out. However, because I specialize in hair care and not hair styling, I gave this one a

thumbs down. The "In Styler" is to hair what the "Fat Burner Belt" is to belly fat; not very effective. It sounds good in theory but what about practice? In theory, hair has many layers. The first layer is the cuticle (outer layer- what hair is mostly comprised of). Then there is the second layer, the cortex (where the strength and integrity of the hair is). The third layer is the medulla (this layer is absent in fine hair and the verdict is still out on why it's absent in fine hair).  Now considering your hair has all these layers, in practice, when you take a metal coated heated spinning barrel rotating in unison with a synthetic brush bristles, what do you think you get? You do not have to be a hair stylist who specializes in hair care to figure that one out.

I use this one weekly!

Next up, the Maxi Glide. The name says it all. It gives the maximum performance in SAFELY gliding through textured hair resulting in silky smooth, tangle free hair. This one was highly recommended to me during one of those, "Hey, have you heard about..." customer who came to the salon after relocating to Cleveland, Ohio from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina wiped away her community. I recall anxiously staying up late; night after night to catch the infomercial she told me about. For nights, I missed it. Then finally, I caught it. I watched it and in my Judy Tenuta voice, I said, "It could happen." So I called the 1-800 number to purchase it. I use it to this very day. It is the next best thing to a Kentucky Maid straightening comb (for those of us with thick, dense, wavy, curly and Afro textured hair). For the cry baby, for beginner, for those who do not like taking hours to flat iron and for those who are afraid they might burn themselves...this IS the perfect flat iron.

Speaking of Kentucky Maid, that leads me into my next favorite thing, the Kentucky Maid Straightening Comb. While Madame CJ Walker gets all the credit for inventing the straightening comb, her great great grand daughter Alelia Bundles wrote a book about the life and times of her great great grand mother that includes the truth behind her not inventing it. In fact, it

Ol Reliable a.k.a Kentucky Maid Straightening Comb

was just a few days before Christmas. It was on December 21st, to be exact, that the United States Patent Office awarded Walter Sammons, an African American inventor his patent. And the rest they say is history. In the trained and skilled hands of a licensed beautician this is the "ol reliable" of hair styling that is safe for the scalp and hair. If you have not be taught the family tradition of pressing or straightening hair; then do not attempt to teach yourself or practice on anyone. In the hands of an untrained person, practicing on real people can lead to more than burnt tresses. So, be sure to have someone teach how to properly use it first.

If the good ol' fashioned straightening comb is one of my favorites, you can only imagine the next hair styling tool I like. You guessed it, the Cast Iron Marcel Iron. If you are a new to the career of hair styling, this styling tool may seem to like an ancient artifact. Though it is not as old as a dinosaur, it will remain in the beauty industry until it gets as old as a dinosaur. If one is blessed to learn the "intricate finger twirling heat observing, determining when to actually curl the hair with it" art; they will have a career in hair styling until they retire. Why you ask? The electric curling irons and flat irons always stay at the desire temperature. They never cool down. Well, the Cast Iron Marcel Iron does. Once the desired temperature is achieved to curl the hair, it immediately begins to cool down as the hair is curled. And all hair stylists know that cooler curls lasts longer.

Ol Reliable Jr. a.k.a Cast Iron Curling Iron

Electric styling tools are always hot. When a someone has fragile hair, electric styling tools are not a wise choice. Instead, cast iron combs and curling irons that can be heated in a oven apparatus where a skilled hair stylist can determine how hot the utensil should be throughout styling the entire head are the best option. Using these tools accordingly will result in safe heat hair styling. This tool is best for the discriminating skilled and caring hair stylist. 

The expensive flat iron that works wonders.

Back to the future, the Flat Irons. Flat irons, flat irons and more flat irons. Flat Irons are like smart phones. Both are multi-faceted and can be very expensive. As multi-faceted as smart phones are, for some odd reason, people opt to use them for one common thing and will pay a lot of money for one. At the end of the of the day, rather it is an iPhone or a Droid, both are smart phones. Though they both have different operating systems, both can still make phone calls, allow you to go online and take photos to name a few. The same can be said about Flat Irons, at the end of the day the expensive flat irons and the inexpensive flat irons are still, flat irons. Though they have different heating mechanisms on the inside and different names on the outside; both will still straighten hair, curl hair and shut off if they are left on too long even though people will simply opt to just smooth out their hair. My best advice for this favorite thing is to shop within your budget. If you are $30.00 shopper; go for it. If you are a $180.00, go for it. To keep you from going over board, just look at your phone!

The LESS expensive flat irons that works wonders. 

When the snow drizz makes your hair frizz; it will make you feel so sad. I want you to re-read my blog on My Favorite Things and then you won't feel, soooooooooooo bad (yass, in your Diana Ross voice)!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!