My new toy

I have always fought my hair. When I was little, I had my Lil'T's hair. It was straight, silky smooth, and I wore it long. But this was in the age of Farrah Fawcett. I wanted hair that was wavy and feathered. Growing up in Hawaii, if I attempted to curl this stick straight hair, the curls would fall instantly. Add to that the fact that my mother had no idea how to style hair. She had a curling iron but had no concept of hair product aside from Johnson's Baby Shampoo which I probably used until I was in high school.

Puberty had changed my hair only to add waves but did not implant any knowledge of how to deal with them. My father suggested I use his VO5 pomade. I refused as I didn't want to smell like an old man. Luckily, it was the age of Footloose and short spiky hair. I was able to simply avoid figuring out how to style that wavy mess and got a short spiky cut. The bonus was that it drove my mother crazy. She loved my long hair.

I've done crazy things to my hair. I did the spiral perm. I've bobbed and braided. I've lived with bangs and I've lived without. I've even done the Rachel cut (which I did rock back in the day).

Now I've got myself a flat iron with which I've achieved hairvana, but it's been tough. My hair doesn't seem to like the daily flat ironing. Can't imagine why not. I was finding that I was doing a lot of damage. I did try to embrace my waves, but no matter what product I tried, it looked like frizz to me. My only hope was to figure out a way to get the straight hair I was jonesing for without the harshness of using a ceramic flat iron 7 days a week.

This is my new toy.

 

It is the Revlon Ionic Hot Air brush. 

When I moved up to Seattle for school all those years ago, I brought with me a Conair travel hair dryer. It's travel "feature" was that you could fold the handle up against the barrel of the hairdryer and make it take up less space. It was a pos, truth be told. It didn't make it through my sophomore year. Knowing that I needed a new hair dryer, my dear friend Jenny got me one for Christmas. That was in 1988. That thing has been kicking around my bathrooms most of my adult life. 

My friend Susan came for a visit and showed me her hot air brush. She got great results and didn't need to flat iron her hair. I got hair tool envy. 

A few weeks ago, my husband borrowed my 1988 hair dryer. Not for his hair, mind you. He had spilled something on his pants and didn't want to change. It's been missing since. It's not in the bathroom anymore. That was its last known use. 

But I never forgot Susan's hot air brush. On a whim, I bought one last week. 

Being a good consumer, I actually did read the safety instructions that came with the tool. It is a good thing I did. For example, I now know that I should never use this appliance while I'm taking a shower or bath. I mean, how effective can it be as a hair dryer if I'm just going to get my hair all wet with the water in the bath tub? Duh. Also, I now know that I should not use this appliance while I'm sleeping. Probably because I would not get good results as I'd be fighting against bed head the whole time.

I love this tool. It straightens my hair while drying it, gives me great volume, and my hair frizz is at a minimum level -- to the point that I'm not even reaching for my flat iron. But the thing I love best about it is that it stores so much easier than a traditional hair dryer. It comes with the three attachments. The brushes and the funnel directional thing all sit with the rest of my brushes in my brush basket. The handle sits with my curling irons and flat iron. I had to keep my old dinosaur of a hair dryer underneath the sink for all these years. How nice to have all my hair tools in one organized drawer! 

I'm entering a new age of hairvana. Namaste!