i love style needs to get their hair did

mine has a digital heat setting - but the lowest heat it allows is 290 degrees, which is apparently still too hot for my hair.

yes i totally love the elchim! it's greatness - hot & v fast. i'm just into my 70s style curly summer hair these days, plus it's been too hot/humid for blowdrying, for me.
xposts

i have been trying the past couple weeks to stop using a flat iron because it seems like it is just frying my poor hair. i have some heat protectant coming in the mail though, so maybe that will make a difference.

i'm still lusting after the solano platinum that my hairstylist uses. i've found for as low as $85, but i can't quite bring myself to purchase it.

yay, rrrobyn! ill check it out.

bell, i think my flat iron has a max temp of 200 degrees. Ill check later.

guys: i think i may have HYPERKARITOSIS like the neutrogena t-gel commercial says. actually, i've had persistent dry scalp for over a decade but it comes & goes depending on weather & the length of my hair. medicated shampoos make my hair as dry & manageable as straw so I refuse to use them on a regular basis, besides which they make one's head smell like a nursing home.

any help? i'm don't think i'm allergic to anything that would cause this and no dermatologist has ever given any diagnosis of what might be causing this. i'd prefer to solve this by taking supplements or adjusting my diet rather than medicating my head.

you know lauren, i've spent at least $50 on two dryers in the course of the last year, so if it is a good dryer that won't break maybe it's worth it?

use devacurl!
xpost

or a less stripping sulfate-free shampoo? perhaps? might help?

OK. I bleached my hair and I think it's sort of too brassy but just a little. I want to fix it before Friday when I get a haircut so the stylist doesn't yell at me!

i don't think it has to do with my current shampoo use -- i only shampoo every 3 or 4 days so i don't think i'm stripping my hair

try a toner? you can find them at beauty supply stores.

Yeah that's what I think I need. I wonder if they come in diff colors or if toner is just toner.

they come in different shades so you can pick the right blonde you are aiming for - ashy, strawberry, etc. - iirc

persistent dry scalp for over a decade but it comes & goes

This is what I had until I recognized it was the SLS doing it. The coal tar in the T-gel (which I used daily for years even though you shouldn't) would numb the itching and keeps the flakes down, but since I quit that, went to SLS free shampoo and only shampoo once a week or so (but rinse every day), my scalp is so much happier.

hm!

i had never heard about the perils of shampooing with sulphur compounds! do a lot of shampoos include them? thanks tza & jaq, i will look into this

wait does this mean that shampooing with selsun blue (which is v. sulphated iirc) has actually exacerbated the problem rather than helping??

possibly - that's what was happening to me with the T-gel. Some people are sensitized to SLS, but it's in so many things. Toothpaste is another major one that can cause trouble for some.

SLS is sodium laurel sulphate, which is really a cheap detergent btw, not the same as the stuff that lets go of free sulphur ions. You'll also see SLES (sodium laureth sulphate) which is milder than SLS.

what kind of shampoo do you use again, jaq?

i've gotten down to washing hair once a week! it is better, hair hardly looks oily by the end of the week too but i do need to rinse a couple times in btwn b/c of biking and exercise. scalp still dry in places, however :/ and i don't use sls or anything. i think that taking salmon oil really helps! i just remembered that! and i haven't taken it in months - ahaa

well shit. if this continues i will have sourced my entire personal toilet from $$ whole foods $$

I've been using the Miss Treated from Kiss Your Face rrrobyn, smells like rosemary + mint. I had been doing the baking soda thing, which also really calms down irritation, but stopped that when I got some in my eye (OW!) - it worked well though and I'll probably go back to it. I think fish oil, or just eating more oily fish, can be good for skin/nails/hair.

many xposts here but I have a super solano (it's red) recommended by my hair dude--at first I was put off by how heavy it is, but now I'm used to it and like it a lot. It has been much more reliable than the many cheapie dryers I've gone through over the years.

i think i'll probably cave and get one when my current dryer breaks. that's the real issue - there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the one i have now, which is about 2yrs old and going strong.

what is the benefit of more expensive hairdryers? do they just dry your hair faster? or is there less damage?

I doubt there is less damage--in fact stronger motor + killer heat levels probably are MORE damaging, but make for faster and more, er, professional-looking results due to SHEER POWER.

it takes about 15 seconds for the solano my hairstylist uses to dry my (short) hair, and it looks more polished.

and speaking of polished, i'm liking garnier's surf hair. i got it last week after finding out that kusco-murphy's beach hair has been discontinued (in the u.s., at least). it's quite cheap, and it seems to cover all the bases for me (gives slight hold, some texture, some smoothing, and an overall matte but not dull finish).

yeah i <3 surf hair.

i think the advantages of a more expensive hairdryer is that it drys hair faster(which, for me at least, = less frizz and less time with a flat iron) and, more importantly, the temperature is more likely to be even.
Cheap hairdryers tend to fluctate greatly in temperature which can equal a bad styling job and, even worse, a drastic temp spike which is a 2 second route to burnt hair.

'dries' and 'fluctuate', of course

so, yeah, i think they do less damage

less time drying definitely equals straighter, smoother hair. with a pro dryer, i don't need to use the flat iron at all.

WANT

remember how i got that 'great' haircut like less than 2 months ago? well, i was wrong and i hate it. it's so blah and i can't do anything with it, and my fringe - sorry, 'bangs'- is really awful and never looks good no matter how hard i try. i'm thinking about going a lot shorter, maybe to mid-neck length.

also, i used to have this great remington hairdryer that i sacrificed before coming to the US (different plug thingy, would need an adaptor) and my bf bought me a revlon before i arrived... but i don't really like it. it's only 1875w and i want at least 2000 and the cool shot is really weak (and cool shot is super important for my hair).

I got my hair cut today by my awesome ex-junkie pirate looking hairdresser who CORRECTED MY COLOR FIASCO FOR FREE. I <3 him. A lot. I am now very blonde but not at all brassy. It's sooooooo much better.

hey guys! i started using an SLS-free shampoo earlier this week and am already starting to see less dryness and flaking on my scalp -- hopefully this is the solution i've been seeking for over a decade! so awesome.

pics pls, e!

glad sulfate free stuff seems to help so far! i really don't think i can ever go back to sulfate-y shampoos, and there are plenty of affordable ones other than devacurl, too.

i bought regular devacurl this time, as opposed to devabrown, which i got last time, and i think i don't like it as much, which is odd since it is the one w/out extra 'color-depositing' stuff in it...

The haircolor I've been using looks like it's been discontinued :{ (Hydrience). I bought some Feria yesterday, though won't use it for several weeks.

Good news on the shampoo, elmo! I know it was a revelation and a relief when I got it sorted out, and something so simple as changing shampoos.

i am now trying to figure out if i should go have my hair dyed or try to do it myself which may be difficult since it's somewhat longer now and may require two boxes. it is v frustrating because i let it go so long to find out my 'true' color only to be kind of underwhelmed by it. if it was naturally like 2.5 shades darker i'd be ^_^ bc then i wouldn't have to lose the tiny gold strands by using an allover color :(

I'm tempted to get mine done professionally, but oh the $$$. I've got so much gray that I end up with highlight/lowlight effects with a level 3 all over color.

anyone ever had aveda color? i can go to the institute here and get it done cheaper than if i went to a real salon. i'm not too worried about a student messing up a single process color, but i don't think aveda is esp. known for their color, either...

*Additional product charge of $10 may apply to refreshing,
extra length, and/or high-density hair.

high-denisty?! lols. can't they just say "thick"?

But what if you just had one strand of hair that weight 34 lbs.

Feria (at least when I tried the black and blonde 6-7 years ago) is utter garbage, and I am shocked and dismayed to hear that Hydrience has been discontinued :( I have been having my hair professionally dyed (bright colours) right now but when I was a blonde I was a Hydrience girl. :(

the kerastase ciment thermique is doing very good things for my hair.

cool!

i think i may take the plunge and book a dying appt!

me too. mainly because i am afraid of damaging my hair more with at-home dying! though, i'm not sure if professional dying is any better for your hair? all i know is that i have 92435945 broken hairs by my crown and i don't know what is causing them to break.

my hair dye is organic supposedly, and my hair doesn't seem to be any worse than it ever was... I am not one to talk about smooth hair as I bleached it for five years and still blowdry/straighten but my hair is so nice and soft and lovely... though my ends are fading, may be time for a trim again, ugh.

here is a sort of press release thing from the people who make the dye my hairdresser uses:

Goldwell's Elumen Hair Color
Jayne Morehouse
Date: 2/6/2002

Introduction

One of the most exciting new technological developments in professional hair color is the new Goldwell Elumen. Now, there's more to share. Elumen is the first oxidant-free durable hair color that works without peroxide or ammonia. Using a purely physical process, Elumen's brilliant, direct-acting, negatively-charged color dyes are drawn deep inside the positively-charged hair shaft and held, as if by a magnet. But there's truly no fear, no commitment. With Elumen Return, the hair colorist can remove the hair color immediately and gently with no damage simply by reversing the magnetic charge.

What's more, Elumen repairs hair, smoothing porous and damaged sections not only on the surface, but deep inside the hair shaft, providing a healthy, smooth surface that reflects light brilliantly.

Elumen's new technology offers many "firsts," giving you a truly new story about hair color. Deborah Gavin, the creative colorist from High Tech Hair Studio and Spa in Philadelphia and the spokesperson for Goldwell's Elumen, is a great new source on Elumen, new color trends and technologies, and caring for colored hair at home.

Remember, only Goldwell, the worlds' largest professional haircare company, offers this new patented technology.

semi-permanent hair dyes are supposed to actually be good for you hair - they don't contain all the harsh chemicals that permanents have, and they condition the hair. i used to exclusively use permanent hair dye (i've always dyed my own), but am now on the semi stuff.

which reminds me: time to dye again