I have pretty terrible hair, naturally. I am not trying to gain sympathy here, but I have to use heat on it every-darn-day to get it to pick a side (straight or curly). Good products are KEY to doing this to your hair without going bald in the process. My new favorite hot tool is the GHD Marine Allure Professional 1" Styler. Full disclosure, I was gifted the product and extremely skeptical as I have a pretty stacked hair arsenal already, but I truly like it way more than the one I had been using because it just glides over my strands smoother and seems to be less damaging. It also is a less stiff movement about it which makes doing straightener curls easier. 

1. Straight with a little volume. Sometimes you just want something easy that will combat the heat and not go super flat in 10 minutes. To get this look separate your hair in to sections, then run your hot GHD over those sections until nice and glossy and straight. Then take the hair at your crown, spritz with hairspray, then using a fine tooth comb, tease it (some people call this "back-combing"). I also use an anti-humidity spray for this straight look. To keep things even simpler, I just swiped on some mascara to complete!

2. Curls. Use your GHD as a curler. I love wild curls in the summer, especially on vacation because you feel dressed up, but they are really easy to maintain when it's humid. I just let them do their thing and get crazier as the day goes on, scrunching and tossing them this way and that. Section off your hair as you would to straighten, but instead of running the pieces between the iron, wrap it around once so that it makes a loop and pull it down. When you are done use a hair spray to set. Since this is a little fancier, I put on mascara, primer, bronzer, concealer and a little highlighter to pretty myself up.

3. Polished waves. For a fancy night out to dinner or just for any date really, I like something a little more polished but still fun. Follow all of the above steps for curling your hair but tease the crown (like in the first look) and brush out the curls so they fall out a bit, then hit it with the hairspray to set.

See my unmakeuped, au-natural hair below and what this amazing little device can do to transform it!

I don't know when it happened exactly, but somewhere over the last year I feel like I have become more of a beauty blogger! I am so happy to take on this role as I LOVE trying new products and techniques. Function of Beauty recently reached out to me to give their custom shampoo & conditioner a try. At first I thought it sounded a bit cumbersome to create a custom shampoo but once I visited their website - which makes it easy as PIE - I was very into it. You select the type of hair you have (mine is wavy, fine, with oily scalp) then pick out the areas of improvement/goals for your locks and ingredients designated by actual chemists go in your bottles. Since I have long limp hair that I put heat on daily, my big ones were thermal protection, volume, and fixing split ends. You then even get to customize the color and SCENT! So coo! I went with sandalwood/violet because..well just because I am a huge sandalwood note fan (Bobbi Brown's "Beach" is one of my favorite smells of all time). The smell was muskier than I thought, and although still lovely, I think I'd try the grapefruit/hibiscus next time.

The formulas arrive with a instruction guide (how often to wash, where) and, which was a surprise to me, even have your name on them! So if you and your sister or roommate (or boyfriend - no judgement) order different formulas there would be no mixing it up.  After about a week of using it on and off I can say I really like it. It's SUPER hydrating and the perfume inside lasts all day long. The price point is a little higher than your nice drugstore brands but I usually keep a salon quality one in my rotation anyway.

The deets: Irresistible Me Hair Extensions

I am going to get very honest right now. When I was tapped to do a review of these hair extensions, I initially was apprehensive. I hadn't ever tried any version of them before and my feelings on extensions weren't great due to a particularly bad experience my little sister had with the kind that is bonded to your hair in really small pieces (I tried to google the right term but apparently there are way more varieties of extensions than I even thought, sorry - just don't do that kind). When she had them taken out she lost 75% of her hair from breakage and ripping, HORRIFYING! She is still trying to regrow her hair evenly. I also feel like I can always tell when someone is using fake hair bc it either looks unnatural or the shorter hair mixed in isn't as seamlessly hidden as I would want if they were on me, or both. I am also really picky and I don't like upkeep so just never thought they'd jive with me. 

As averse the the idea as I was, I'm still a true beauty junkie at heart and I was obviously intrigued.  I asked some friends what they'd think of me giving them a try and it seemed to spark their interest as well so I said said yes to the opportunity!

First of all, the Irresistible Me hair extensions are beautiful and soft and feel nicer than my own natural hair. I was actually so surprised with the quality! They send 200 grams in the pack but I only had to use the one main strip which is about half the weight, the rest come in shorter strips you can place all over. Because my hair is already pretty long, it was so great to be able to control how much product went in my head. I love that you can adjust how much you want to use. I have ombre hair so I matched to the color on the bottom which was #10 Ash Blonde in the 20 inch length. I also curled the strip so it would blend in better with my waved hair, they come straight.

I honestly loved it! It was SO easy to put in as you can see below I did it without a mirror at all.  It looked so natural and normal, and it doesn't require any commitment or hair damage. Basically, in my mind, they are like makeup for your hair. I can apply them when I want to look extra glam but don't have to wear them to the office. You can bet your bottom dollar that these will be coming with me on my trip to Vegas in June so I can be the most glam kitten version of myself. HECK YES. I took them for a spin around the apartment and then across the street to get coffee and I swear my boyfriend was looking at me like I looked just the tiniest bit tastier. I felt like a real land mermaid strutting across that crosswalk to the cafe. Who doesn't want to be a land mermaid? No one.

Girls. Let's get serious for a second. Who doesn't feel their absolute best after a fresh blowout? When your mane is in check the rest of your body just seems to follow suit, am I right? What if I told you that you could get hooked up with one for FREE and on a FRIDAY no less (a.k.a the BEST day to get one so you can stay fresh and fly all weekend)? Well you can! Bubbles Salon at Pentagon Row in Arlington (previously Colorworks) is giving them away for their grand opening on October 24th! Schedule one and come hang out with me this Friday. If you can't make it then, go ahead and get your appointment scheduled anyway as those freebie blowouts are redeemable until Halloween!

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray | John Frieda Luxurious Volume Root Booster

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