More Hair Tips and Tricks - Page 2

If some curl remains in the hair, move on to the next step. Heat up a large barrel curling iron on high heat. I prefer ConAir irons because of their heaviness. The weight of the curling iron will signifigantly determine how straight the hair will get. Heavy irons will work better, especially on permed hair or overly curly hair.

Section the hair into four and again start at the nape. The hair should still be the slightest bit damp. About 98% dry is ideal. For this step, work with extremely thin sections (about a half-inch). Get yourself a small container of Artec's Purehair Grape Seed Pure Shine. Work a little dab of Pure Shine onto each half inch section and comb through to the ends. The Pure Shine has oil in it that will prevent damage to the hair when straightening it with an iron. It will also make the hair sleek and shiny.

Start ironing as close to the scalp as possible. The idea here is to iron the hair the same way you would a shirt or trousers. The Pure Shine allows you to really heat up the hairstrand with the iron with no damage. The heavy ConAir curling iron should pull out the last of the curl. It may be necessary to go over the section a second time with the iron, depending on the curliness of the hair.

When the entire head is done, it should be straight as a board, shiny as silver and smooth as silk....all with one technique.

Now that we covered a pretty lengthy technique, here's a true "shortcut'. This one works great for short hair or men's hair. After you shampoo your hair in the morning (or whenever you do your showering), towel dry the hair. Instead of applying gel, apply Sebastian's Potion 9 conditioner. If you leave this conditioner in, it will dry like a gel. It also conditions the hair and prevents color fading at the same time. Most gels contain alcohol, which will dry the hair. Then you have to shampoo the gel out and then apply conditioner, and it becomes a pretty mundane task day after day. Substituting Potion 9 for gel will save alot of time in the morning and keep the hair healthy at the same time.

I often get asked about the proper care of motor clippers (sometimes called trimmers), by people who want to cut hair at home. Always apply a drop or two of clipper oil to the blades after each use. Turn on the clipper and let it run for a second or two to allow proper lubrication. Most people neglect to oil their clipper blades, and it is the most common cause of premature blade wear. Always use a brush to remove hair clippings from the blade. A toothbrush works great for this. Just make sure it's an old toothbrush. When I was a kid, I had the tendency to take my parents' toothbrushes and run off with them to clean various things (like cleaning dried mud off my G.I. Joe action figures). I always forgot to tell them I took their toothbrush. So make sure it's an old toothbrush that no one plans on using in their mouth again.

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