My hippie hair...

It is a complete oxymoron that I of all people am writing a post on how to style hair.  The thing is, I have no clue how to do such a thing, and do not have the will or the patience to blow dry my own hair and much less do anything else that is more complicated.

I believe this all goes back to growing up in Honduras, where "El Salon" is really truly affordable and a blow out is done quickly and efficiently - giving us girls the luxury to go at least twice a week. This phenomenon (because those of you who live abroad, know that getting "a blow out" is not affordable, and is not done quickly or efficiently) seriously hindered my will to learn how to do these things myself. This proved to be quite a problem when I permanently left Honduras. 

Since then, I have just come to terms with the fact that I am a no nonsense hair person ( I actually think messy hair looks better than perfectly groomed hair). 

This does not mean however, that I am willing to walk around with a horrid head of hair. So here it goes for those of you who like me, find the act of blow drying and/or straightening or curling your hair a complete drag:

Up to 4 months ago I had virgin-jet-black hair. It was truly quite boring and I wanted something cool and different but low maintenance. My friend recommended balayage (or "ombre" as some people like to call it). 

Balayage is a french technique for painting (they actually paint it on with a brush) on highlights. It has actually been around for ages, and just recently became the insanity in Hollywood (Rachel Bilson famously has this hair, and so does everyone else for that matter). It basically looks like your roots grew out and you have not cut your hair in ages after getting color in it. 

The highlights are usually painted somwhere mid hair really lightly (on a few strands) getting more intense as you reach the bottom (the bottom should be completely blonde/light brown). 

*** This is important! Not everyone can do this technique, it literally takes 4 hours to do. It is very complex (though the time you spend on that chair does reap the benefits). If your hair dresser does not pull out some sort of comb and proceeds to do what looks like regular highlights *RUN* 

This happened to me in Montreal (of all places), at a very renowned coiffure on Sherbrooke (which shall remain unnamed). It was really terrible to have tacky blonde streaks in my jet black hair. Luckily the streaks proved to be an asset when I got the actual Balayage done (since they were done on the second layer of my hair not right on top).  

I had to go to Honduras (as ridiculous as this may sound) to get this done.  If you do live in Honduras the ONLY person to go to is the incredibly talented Jesus (who should be in Hollywood if you ask me- but Thank God he isn't). Contact at the bottom. ***

I have recently discovered Argan Oil products. To be truthful, I don't even know what Argan Oil is (hmm will google it right now).. But this is the only shampoo that seems to not leave my hair up in knots since I got it bleached for the Balayage.

Balayage is perfect for me because it is no nonsense, it is cool, it looks different and I don't have to go to my hairdresser every two weeks because actually the more you let it grow out, the cooler it looks.

The thing is, since my hair is so black , I had to get it bleached before any other color could adhere to it, and this seriously damaged my hair and it made it look like a broom. So this forced me to discover various no nonsense hair products.

No Nonsense Every Day Hair

After shampooing and coniditong your hair, apply a mask. This is not BS, trust me, it makes a world of a difference. I would not spend an extra 5 minutes with my hair tangled up in a shower cap if I absolutely thought this did not work. The ones I have used are these:

These masks I find are basically like a super potent conditioner. They are more expensive, but I kid you not, they make your hair look stunning. Put it on after your conditioner for 3 minutes.

This brand is actually the mother of all brands. I have seen and experienced the difference. One bottle (like the one above) is $75 (they make REALLY good shampoo and other things as well, but if you are going to splurge on something for your damaged hair do it on a mask)... I am OK with the "cheap" Argan oil one you can get at CVS.

Once you are out, towel dry and apply Moroccan oil ONLY to your tips (otherwise your hair will look like a grease pit in which you could fry an egg or something). This will take away all the static, and just leave your hair wavy and natural without the frizz - its perfect really.

No Nonsense Special Occasion Hair

While your hair is still wet, just towel dried,  instead of applying the moroccan oil, you apply the treatment below ( I got mine from Jesus)...

The main difference between this and the masks, is that you leave this on.  This is post your hair wash, and you put this on instead of the oil. It has the same anti frizz effect, but its different. It doesn't take away your hairs natural volume. I don't know how to explain this properly, lets just say your hair is more "malleable" with this...

 .... aside from this you need 6 large clips to do this to your hair:

Do this with wet, towel dried hair after applying the anti-frizz treatment (instead of the oil).

Seriously, walk around like a crazy lady for a couple of hours, or just blow dry it for a few minutes and then let loose. This will give you a wavy/messy "I just spent hours doing this to my hair" look. 

** Clearly this post is only for people with my type of hair. If you have a curly/short/purple different type of hair of then mine and have cool tips for people please email me, and I will post about it! I am sure clueless people like me will truly appreciate it!

** All hair tricks courtsey of Hair Dresser Extra-ordinaire.. If you live in Tegus the number to call is 504-239-6958.**