Girl Talk: Tress-Taming Hair Products

Ever feel like you're in a constant battle with your hair? You're not alone. The majority of the women I talk to say the same thing. The 'do goes left when you want it to go right. You spend an hour curling every inch of hair just to have it go flat 10 minutes after you walk out the door. It's a different version of the same story no matter who you ask. So, how is it that some women appear to have perfectly done hair?

Bumble & Bumble Straight
$32.99
Available at: CosmeticMall

I called in the Stiletto Jungle Girl Talk Panel, real-world women with astonishingly fab hair, to find out how they deal with their natural hair texture-- either battling against it or working with it-- in order to achieve a good hair day. It looks like the secret to good hair is finding the "just right" product and using it well.

"I have curly hair and I love to straighten it all the time-- to get the look I don't naturally have!" divulges Kim, a 23-year-old from La Jolla, California. "I love Bumble & Bumble Straight (left). You put this stuff in when your hair is towel dried and blow dry piece by piece. This stuff can make anyone's hair straight, I swear it! After my blow drying is done I have straight, bouncy, shiny hair."

I'm in the same boat, Kim. My hair, which was board-straight in high school, developed a crazy, Orphan Annie-like kink in my early twenties. I'm constantly fighting to keep it straight and my weapon-of-choice is Phyto's Phytodefrisant Botanical Hair Relaxing Balm combined with my trusty ionic hairdryer. I can banish my curls in 20 minutes flat!

Jonathan Product Silky Dirt Creme
$28.00
Available at: Amazon.com

Michelle, a 40-year-old SoCal nurse, has a different hair issue: her fine, natural blonde locks tend to be limp. How does she cope? "I truly love all of the Jonathan Product hair products," gushes Michelle. "I've been using Create Root Volume Volumizing Spray and it works great on my limp hair-- I get great volume for Friday nights out. I also love the Silky Dirt Shine & Define Cream (right). I don't even have to use hair spray when I use it. Just for fun I will use Dirt Texturizing Paste. A little goes a long way on a natural blonde. Jonathan rocks-- I can't wait to splurge and go to a Jonathan salon!"

Frederic Fekkai Smooth Hair
$17.50
Available at: Amazon.com

On the other end of the texture scale, "Random Chick" is working with a super thick, super straight mane. "My hair is thick and straight, and furthermore is thick enough and straight enough that it will most likely be thick and straight no matter how much I try to persuade it otherwise or what products I use, especially if it's even a smidge humid out," explains "Random Chick," a 31-year-old freelance writer. "If I am curling it, I will use gel, mousse, AND hair spray of whatever brands happen to be around and if I'm lucky it might still be wavy by the end of the day/night. I have yet to find a single product or brand that will do the job on its own. Styling is such a pain that unless it's a special occasion, I generally just blow-dry and go...or just go even."

Sounds like you've kind of made peace with the fact that you have thick, straight hair (which I'm totally envious of!). How do you keep it looking fab?

Biosilk Silk Therapy
$24.50
Available at: CosmeticMall

"Occasionally I do use John Frieda Sheer Blond Spun Gold to control random flyaways, on the off-chance they are there. It's easy to use and adds texture and warmth with it's subtle sparkle of gold, so that's nice," offers "Random Chick." "Oh, and I love Frederic Fekkai Smooth Hair (above left). It has about the same effect on my hair as any other smoother/silkener-- that is to say it works exactly like it's supposed too-- but it smells divine, which makes it infinitely more desireable."

Pearl, a 28-year-old LA-based music industry coordinator, is working with versatile long, thick, wavy hair. "I'm lucky because I can either blow dry it straight, or just scrunch it with a bit of product for a wavy look," admits Pearl. "I usually use Biosilk Silk Therapy (right) on the ends when my hair is wet. If I use it on dry hair, it weighs my hair down too much-- it's pretty thick stuff. After I've straightened it, I use Bumble & Bumble Defrizz because it smoothes all the flyaways, gives it shine, and also adds some moisture without the heaviness of the Biosilk stuff. If I'm going wavy, I just scrunch my hair when it's wet, and use John Frieda Beach Blonde Ocean Waves Sea Spray. This stuff is so good, but it is being discontinued. I bought about 5 bottles to keep me going for a while. I have really dark hair, so you don't need to be a blonde, and it gives you that 'just tousled from the beach' look. It's a blend of seawater and conditioning oils (be sure to shake before you use). Although it's discontinued, you can still hunt for it. Here is one place I found, there are only 8 left!!!"

Don't despair, Pearl. You can get a similar effect with Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray. I have a bottle in my hair product arsenal right now and I love it!

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