MY HAIR IS EVERYWHERE: PART 2

You've seen Part 1 - the shampoos, the conditioner, my selfie hair journey. Now let's take a look at style central, the best thing on wheels, and my reason for living: the rolling cart of doom.

Dun dun DUN

I purchased this cart from Ikea to house anything that wouldn't fit in my efficiency studio's medicine cabinet...which was pretty much everything. Now that I have a little more space, it functions mainly as my hair cart. I've got bobby pins and hair ties a plenty. I've got volumizers and serums galore. You want hairsprays? I got twenty!

But who cares? No big deal...I want more. 

I'm just this side of a product hoarder, but I've reached a very important level in my hoarding - I use everything I have regularly. I used to have tubs of beauty products stashed under my double sinks that just gathered dust. I'd toss it all out, then fill them up again with weird sprays and shampoos that didn't work for my hair type. Now I'm down to the superstars of haircare - well, for my hair anyways.

First level on this cart is a nice molded plastic, with lots of nooks and crannies whose only purpose is to gather layers of hairspray and dust until it's impossible to clean. Seriously though - usually when I buy a huge pack of bobby pins, they're all gone two months later. No longer! Now that I have a place for them, they have a home to come back to when I find them on the floor. Containment is the name of the game.

The other game is "how much volume can I force into my hair, and can it last longer than the walk to the car?" For this I have found two teeny tiny saviors - Big Sexy Hair Powder Play and Oscar Blandi Texture & Volume Spray. Now, both of these were samples, so usually I would not spend that much nor buy such small sizes. But I love them all the same, and I will be devastated when I run out.

Powder Play looks intimidating, but with just one video tutorial I was a master. It's just a lot of parting, powdering, and flipping until your hair is huge. And it lasts!

The texturizing spray is pretty self-explanatory - you spray it. On your head. I like to do it under my hair and then rough it up for a little movement without that "cement rope" effect that happens with some of these sprays.

Sometimes though, I just want my hair to be soft and lovely. For that I go to Aloxxi Essential 7 Restorative Hair Serum. Besides smoothing and shining up your hair, it also protects it from the sun and keeps it from fading.  Apply it to wet hair and it becomes a detangler, apply it to dry hair and it tames fly-aways.

I'm a lazy girl at heart. I don't like waking up early, I don't like taking a long time to get ready - if I do, it's because I'm laying around with wet hair and a bare face, looking at the internet and conveniently forgetting I said I'd be ready twenty minutes ago. So second-day hair is a very regular occurrence. Luckily I have Serge Normant Meta Revive to save me! This product was a gift, in real life and also from heaven. It soaks up all the gross stuff and has a lovely matte finish, making my hair look almost presentable! It also adds some body and texture, so I can do a little more with it - a true gift for fine hair like mine. 

I wouldn't be me without hairspray. My hair would do nothing if I let it, but I'm a strict disciplinarian (I'm not) and keep it in place with any hairspray I can get my hands on. My classic favorite is L'Oreal Paris Elnett, but that deserves its own post. For now I'm loving Big Sexy Hair Get Layered, a lightweight but strong hold alternative to their classic Spray 'n Play, which can get too product-y for everyday but is fabulous for up-do's. Get Layered has a fast-dry technology that actually does dry super fast. That speed is great for capturing that perfect wave that you can only get for a brief moment, if you hold your head exactly right, and move your hand this way, and - you get it. You need it. 

Heat tools. My damaged hair is telling me no, but my body and every hairstyle ever is telling me yes. None of my tools are particularly fancy; I've had my hairdryer since the beginning of college, the curling iron since middle school, and everything was purchased on sale. But they are all solid and clearly stand the test of time. I'm never going to get the Ceramic Ion 2500 Volt Extra-Neutron Dryer3000, because I don't believe anyone really needs that. The one heat tool that I do love? 

The  Revlon Volumestay Hot Air Brush. This is a professional salon blow-out in a tool. I am not coordinated enough to do the behind-the-head brush in one hand, hair dryer in the other method. But I am coordinated enough to do this. It will give you volume, smooth your hair, and make you look like you are a very expensive lady with expensive hair habits. It is the best $20 I've ever spent, and the only hot tool I can seriously recommend. 

Next up in the hair chronicles of MKS? Utilizing that hair chalk up above - I know, I'm an adult. Color responsibly, kids.