Haircut Picture

I don't know why, but my camera doesn't like to do bathroom mirror shots. The lighting is always weird and they come out blurry. So I don't have a shot of the back. But I'm pretty happy with it!

Haircut Update

Just thought I'd give a quick update since it's been a while.

I got my hair cut yesterday - 3 real inches gone (wet cut). It's really short!! Well, short for me. It's about shoulder-length when dry. I think that's the shortest I could ever go. My hair was above shoulder-length until I was a teenager since my mom didn't know what to do with it. Going that short now would give me bad flashbacks.

Anyway, my stylist doesn't use any products or even dry my hair (my choice), so I don't know what it really looks like until I re-do it myself at home. It looked SO good yesterday after I finished diffusing and scrunched the crunch. I wish I had taken a picture. I had legitimate ringlets (more 3b than 3a) everywhere, it was crazy. It's always been a typical 3a pattern, curling more as it gets longer. So this was really surprising. It was like a completely new head of hair.

It was nice because my stylist said a lot of great things about the condition of my hair and mentioned the fact that I don't get split ends anymore. I also didn't feel pressured to use the salon's products like I have in the past. Before we could even talk about what I wanted to do, she asked if I had brought conditioner.

I had somewhere to be tonight, so I washed again today. It still looks good, but I don't have as much shrinkage and fewer ringlets. I'm not sure if that's because we're supposed to have lots of thunderstorms tomorrow or what. The difference in dewpoints from yesterday to today is an increase of 20 degrees!

I'm still loving it though. It really feels like I lost five pounds, because it was SO long. Still getting used to using less product and having a faster drying time. I got a lot of compliments tonight, which is always nice. I'll try and post a picture tomorrow!

Diffuser Week: Conair Pro Universal Tourmaline Finger Diffuser

AKA the BEST diffuser attachment I have EVER used! :)

Price: $9.49 ($8.49 with Beauty Club Card) at Sally's

Bowl Size: 5 1/2 inches

Bowl Depth: 1 1/2 inches

Finger Length: 1 1/3 inches

Hole Size: Small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Bowl is large and deep, so more of my hair can fit in at a time
• Consequently, faster drying time
• Shrinkage: I actually have some! (2-4 inches, actually)
• Encourages normal curls and ringlets
• Small holes cut down on frizz

Cons:

• If I had to pick one, I guess it would be that the adapter part of the attachment is similar to the one for the Devafuser, though I haven't had any problems with breakage. I didn't even notice it attached the same way until someone asked.

Overall Experience:

I love this diffuser. I had never tried a traditional bowl diffuser until now, and I'm sorry I waited so long! I'm not sure if it's the bowl size/depth or the fingers, but my ringlets (or corkicelli curls) come out to play every time I use it. I love that it fits more hair in at a time; instead of diffusing each side/upside-down in 4 sections, I do it in 2. I love that I finally have REAL shrinkage, none of this 1 inch stuff I had previously. I love that it works on any dryer. And best of all, I love that it's cheap!

Would I buy again? YES!

*

This marks the end of my diffuser series. Thanks for reading!

Diffuser Week: Remington Tstudio Tourmaline and Ceramic Diffuser Attachment

AKA the WORST diffuser attachment I have EVER used. Let's take a look:

From this picture, the diffuser looks pretty similar to the Vidal Sassoon Ion Select, though perhaps with shorter fingers. It's a nice size with relatively small holes. I'll zoom in for you.

Here's what arrived in the mail:

In what universe are these two diffusers the same?! Not only is it just practically one large hole (because there's not much separating all of those) but it's also way smaller in person:

What IS that?!

The stats:

Price: $39.99 with dryer and free shipping from Amazon

Bowl Size: A whopping 4 1/2 inches across

Bowl Depth: Slight

Finger Length: It varies. This has graduated fingers. So the tallest one is 1.3 inches and the shortest is 2/3 inch. The biggest is also on the edge of the bowl with the shortest in the middle. The "dip" of the bowl makes it worse.

Hole Size: Ridiculously huge

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• I guess you could say the design of the holes is cute

Cons:

• The fingers don't do anything for me; too small, made of hard plastic, spaced out weirdly
• The bowl is too small to function
• The hole size is ridiculous. Nevermind the fact that the only dryer it attaches to has temperature issues (even low heat with a low speed is scalding!), the frizz you get from just turning it on is ridiculous
  
  

Overall Experience:

From day one, it was horrible. The dryer's issues combined with the fact that it is SO small made drying time well over an hour. The frizz was intolerable. There was no curl enhancement.

The instructions that came with this stated that you need to hole the dryer at least 9 inches from your scalp while drying your hair. If I did that, there would be nothing touching my hair. And honestly, what would the point be? It's not like the air is in any way being diffused due to the huge size of the holes. I chose to use this in the traditional way (with my finger almost glued to the cool shot button) and my scalp dearly suffered for it.

Would I buy this again? Hell no. I'm making the dryer work since I needed one, but I bought this specifically for the diffuser and was clearly disappointed.

Diffuser Week: The DevaFuser

Price: I'm now seeing this for about $24 online. I picked it up in a swap for $30 with shipping a few years ago.

Hand Size: 5 1/2 inches tall; 6 inches wide

Hand Depth: I'd say about an inch

Finger Length: There are none

Hole Size: Medium

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Comes with an adapter so it will fit most dryers
• Dries roots easily
• Holes around the attachment allow you to "dry from the inside"
  
  

Cons:

• Does nothing for curl enhancement
• Adapter broke pretty easily
• Hard to use
  
  

(My broken adapter will no longer hold the band that fits around the dryer)

Overall Experience:

My overall experience was a negative one. But I need a bowl and actual fingers for curl enhancement, so you probably knew that. I found this really hard to use, and consequently do not use it often.

Would I buy this again? No.

Diffuser Week: Vidal Sassoon Ion Select

Round Four: The Vidal Sassoon Ion Select Dryer for Fine Hair Diffuser Attachment

Price: I'm seeing anywhere from $14-$21 online, I think I paid $20

Bowl Size: 5 inches

Bowl Depth: Slight

Finger Length: 1 1/2 inches

Hole Size: Very small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• Longer fingers make my curls happy
• Bowl size allows for a decent amount of hair to be dried at a time
• Small holes allow less dryer frizz (can you tell this has been an issue for me?)
  
  

Cons:

• Fingers are made of hard plastic and are completely inflexible
• Does not fit on other dryers

Overall Experience:

I love this attachment. I'd still be using it if the temporary attachment I used hadn't broken. This attachment belonged to my mom's hair dryer and she had no need for it. I liked the finger length and hole size, so I used a Devafuser adapter to attach it to my purple Revlon dryer. It was love. But it only lasted a year. One by one, the hooks on the inside of the Devafuser adapter broke. I'll have more on this tomorrow, but they're made out of plastic and can't be repaired. Eventually enough of them were gone that the adapter would slide of the dryer as I was drying my hair. I loved this attachment so much I started using my mom's dryer (I don't recommend it). That lasted about a month (the dryer died).

This gave me my best hair days up until recently. I do wish I still had the option of using it. I think I'm holding on in case it can fit onto a future dryer (I do learn from my mistakes!).

Would I buy this again?: Yes

Diffuser Week: Sedusa

Sorry for not posting yesterday; I'm dealing with a sinus infection and wasn't feeling up to much. Antibiotics made things a little better, so I'll be posting two entries today.

The third diffuser in my collection: The Sedusa Diffuser

Price: £19.95 or about $32 plus shipping, from here (I received this for Christmas a few years back, so no real purchasing experience)

Bowl Size: About 6 1/2 inches

Bowl Depth: 4 inches

Finger Length: 4 inches

Hole Size: Very small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes

Pros:

• Great bowl size; allows you to dry all of your hair at once
• Tiny holes protect you from dryer frizz
• Long fingers help curl definition
  
  

Cons:

• Only available in the UK
• Bowl size only really works with long hair
• Once dry, curls can be wonky and roots are flat
• Fingers can actually pull out curls
• Small holes also equal longer drying time
• Can't move bowl easily; have to shake curls out
  
  

Overall Experience:

I wanted to like this one. It's hard for me to plop my hair in this dryer and just sit without moving for twenty minutes at a time. Because that's what you have to do with this; if hair isn't dry, it will wrap around the fingers and not want to let go. Maybe that's a cause for wonky curls. I don't know. I also have to gently shake the diffuser a lot to let them go, even when they are dry.

When I first started using this, I asked other experienced users for advice. Something I heard a lot was to use high heat AND high speed for optimum performance (even though the company warns you NOT to do this). I tried this with my purple Revlon dryer and got sparks. So I only use it with high heat and medium speed.

In my experience, this would probably work better for what it's designed to do: give some wave definition to those with straight or barely wavy hair. When I use this diffuser, my hair looks like it was trying to get that minimum definition. The recommended "massage technique" of rubbing the diffuser against your scalp didn't do anything for root volume and I'm pretty sure it helped lead to wonky curls. That said, I know a lot of curly girls have had great success with this attachment.

(next to a 20 oz bottle for size comparison)

Would I buy this again? (or ask for it, I guess): It's possible. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I haven't used this regularly and feel like maybe I haven't unlocked the secret to its success yet.

Diffuser Week: Revlon Ion Pro Stylist

Round two in my diffuser series: The Revlon 1875 Watt Ion Pro Stylist

Price: ~ $20 at Target, with dryer and other hair accessories

Bowl Size: 5 1/2 in diameter

Bowl Depth: Again, slight; more like a saucer

Finger Length: 1 inch

Hole Size: Varies, mostly medium

(Yes, that is dust)

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: No

Pros:

• The bowl is big enough to diffuse a decent amount of hair at a time
• Holes are small enough that extra frizz from drying isn't a factor
• Good for travel (provided you bring the only dryer it attaches to)

Cons:

• Doesn't do much to encourage curl (5-6 on a scale of 1-10)
• Fingers are short and mostly made of hard plastic, which can be hard on the scalp

Overall Experience:

This diffuser didn't leave much of an impression on me, as evidenced by the fact that I can't really come up with things for either list. I also switched to a weird hybrid diffuser as soon as I could.

This diffuser didn't do much for me. It didn't help with curl definition. It was hard to keep my hair cupped into it when pixiecurling because the "bowl" isn't really a bowl and the fingers are too short for my curls to wrap around. It would work in a pinch, but I wouldn't buy this dryer because of the diffuser attachment.

Would I buy again? No. I think the dust says it all.

I do however love, and am currently using, the dryer. So it's pretty much the opposite of my last post. If Revlon sold this dryer with the first diffuser I reviewed, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Diffuser Week: Revlon 1875 Watt Chrome

Hi all! I'm finally getting around to posting about my experiences with different diffuser attachments. I decided that instead of doing one long post, it would be easier for all involved to split it up. I have seven diffusers to talk about, so expect a new post every day this week!

If you follow my blog, you know that my hair needs a lot of encouragement to curl. I can only scrunch product in and diffusing is a MUST. Having a good diffuser is important to me, so I'm very picky about what I use.

With that in mind, let's get started!

First up: the Revlon 1875 Watt Chrome Dryer diffuser attachment

(I'm 85% sure this is the diffuser attachment I used)

Price: ~ $20 at Target, with dryer

Bowl Size: Let's say average? No exact measurement available

Bowl Depth: Slight (aka not really a "bowl," more like a "saucer")

Finger Length: About 1 1/2 inches

Hole Size: Varies, but overall medium-small

Easily Adaptable to Other Dryers: Yes?

Pros:

• Flexible fingers made diffusing for long periods of time more comfortable
• Good curl definition (7-8 on a scale of 1-10)
• Bowl is large enough to dry a good portion of hair at time

Cons:

• Only available with dryer, which began having electrical problems 4 months into usage
  
  

Overall Experience:

This was my first diffuser and my second overall favorite that I have used. It really helped encourage curl definition - I attribute that to the finger length. I have a lot of hair and it was able to hold enough so that my drying time wasn't ridiculous. The holes were small enough that I didn't feel I was getting extra frizz from the dryer.

Unfortunately my dryer started acting up so I had to get a new one. I accidentally threw the diffuser attachment away with the dryer. I have no idea what I was thinking. Even though I LOVED this attachment, I didn't want to buy the same dryer in case it had the same electrical problems.

Would I buy again? Yes! But I won't buy this dryer specifically for the diffuser attachment.

A Curly Moment

So I've been thinking lately about cutting my hair. Nothing drastic, just a little shorter. It's a little too long for my tastes.

Then today it decides to shrink to the exact length I want.

Thanks, hair.

Now it just needs to be consistent!

(pre-SOTC)