Archive for the ‘Hair’ Category

Oh the irony. I’m so busy temp-editing in the beauty department of a magazine that I’m sliding into home plate with this week’s much-anticipated Beauty Armoire Monday.

(Okay, so I was also detained trying to YouTube swoony Colin Firth’s Oscar acceptance speech. I’m only human…)

Sadly, I need a haircut like nobody’s business. I have a new cutter who completely rocks (and totally looks like a dude from Scorpions, that kickass German heavy metal band, so the fact that he rocks is quite fitting.) But I haven’t been in to see him since mid-December, and eight weeks between trimmy trim-trims is pushing it.

When my locks need pruning, and when it’s also been raining like cats and dogs as it has been in Gotham recently, my frizz goes into overdrive.

So I just dove head-first into a big hair bucket in my BA, and grabbed two Redken post-shampoo conditioning treatments that are specifically geared toward fakey-fake dyed hair like mine: Color Extend Rich Recovery and Color Extend Total Recharge.

I’m too mentally whupped right now to figure out the big difference between the two of them, but Recovery needs to stay on the hair a lot longer than Recharge. So given that I don’t have five spare seconds in the morning lately, I think I’ll be recharging much more frequently than I’ll be recovering.

But speaking of recharging and recovering, Mommy needs to go forage for dinner and then try to stay awake long enough to catch the season premiere of Bethenny Ever After. Night-night, my gorgeous (frizz-free) Momoverettes.

Ever since the first Beauty Armoire Monday, when that ancient (but untouched) Clarisonic wouldn’t buzz for love or money, I’ve had a bee in my bonnet. I was so mad at myself for missing the money-back guarantee (by, ahem, several years), that I went digging and came up with another still-in-its-unwrapped-box skincare gizmo: a Neutrogena Advanced Solutions At Home Body MicroDermabrasion System.

Happily, this one works. And extra-happily, even the batteries included weren’t due to expire for another year. So that alone put me in a cheerful frame of mind as I headed to my master bath for a little trial run.

It’s equipped with two heads that are snapped onto the hand-held applicator: Polishing Triangle Head for dry, cracked feet in need of TLC (like mine), and a Body Foam Sponge Head for pretty much the entire rest of you – chest, arms & elbows, stomach & hips, and legs.

Of all the real estate the foam head is intended to tackle, my chest is probably the area I’m most concerned about. While I don’t have any major age spots (hurrah), after years of baking like a brownie, it’s definitely crepier than it needs to be – especially since I wear endless v-neck tee-shirts.

So far I’ve only used the gadget on my rough little size 5s, but I can already feel the difference in my heels and soles, which are considerably softer. And I love the grainy Resurfacing Cream that comes with it. It smells completely delish, and if I didn’t think it would scrape several layers of skin off, I’d use it on my face.

Since I was on a Neutrogena roll, I selected Clean Replenishing Shampoo as my next victim. Because of loathsome frizz (which is obvi less irksome in the bone-dry winter than the humidity-drenched summer), I try tons of shampoos. And frankly, from time to time, I get mighty skeptical that you can actually tell one damn potion from the next. But lo and behold, my hair looks g-r-e-a-t after using this little brew, along with the companion conditioner. Two big thumbs-up for both of them.

Finally, I grabbed a slightly spendy, but über-lovely, old favorite: Darphin Aromatic Seaweed Bath And Shower Gel. Faithful readers know Momover Lady is absolutely besotted with the ocean, and I’ll use any means to get a little sea into my daily life. This lovely concoction is not only ramped-up with numerous skin-soothing essential oils, it’s one of the most beautiful shades of Mediterranean-esque blue-green I’ve ever seen. Yum times a million.

I have a cute kid (photographic evidence at left), but she, like her mama, isn’t quite as cute when the ol’ locks start to inch past the shoulders. Once the nanny takes a pair of scissors to her, however, and gives the Wee Lass a lightning-fast chin-length bob, she instantly looks more Ralph Lauren ad campaign and less Average Josie. Alakazam! Classy!

Time to apply that strategy to Yours Truly. Actually, it’s beyond time. I haven’t had so much as a trim since June, and given my size and fondness for grandpa cardies, I’m starting to look like a past-her-expiration-date riff on Mary-Kate Olsen.

Back in October, my mama-friend Alev alerted me to the raging debate going on in The New York Times about Dominique Browning’s take on long hair for middle-aged gals. “There are almost 1300 comments!,” she emailed. “I think long(er) hair looks fine. I can’t even think of anyone with long hair that looks like mutton dressed as lamb. Goldie Hawn/Meryl Streep/Vanessa Redgrave — they look great with medium-length or long hair!”

For the record, Alev has long-ish hair. But it’s lush, voluminous – a real mane. Mine is none of those things. It’s just kind of…there. And when it’s humid, it’s just kind of there with a gnarly cloud of frizz attached. Granted, my weekly deep-conditioning sessions are helping with the texture, but I’m in desperate need of shape.

So this week, I’m getting whacked. I’m completely loving Scarlett Johansson’s new bob, so that will serve as a ballpark template. Oh, and just to raise the stakes, I’m trying out a new hairstylist. Gotta shake things up, right?

Because of what I do for a living, I’m very lucky to be surrounded by numerous Girl Beauty Geniuses. (GBGs, for short.) And my all-time favorite GBG is my great friend Tina Hedges, who has created probably 10 of the 15 products parked in your makeup bag right now. (She’s Co-President of the beauty brand incubator Twist new brand venture.)

One of Tina’s best look-great inventions is the Jonathan Product water filter. That little marvel (technically christened a “beauty water shower purification system”) is not only lovely to behold – the Maserati of the filter world, basically – it also zaps all the undesirables from H20 so that your skin and hair aren’t being bombarded with dastardly chemicals.

When Hubby and I hightailed it across the Hudson a few years ago, I left my beloved Jonathan Product filter behind for the lucky peeps who would next inhabit our Manhattan pad. I knew Hubby was quite smitten with the flying saucer-sized heads in our new showers, so I decided to pick my décor battles and move on.

Now, however, I suspect my locks might be paying the price for that sacrifice. Yes, I need a trim, but even before I hit the split-ends wall, my hair had a serious case of the blahs. Fried, frazzled, blech. And I think one big reason is the hard-as-nails wah-wah pouring forth from the New Jersey pipes.

Recently, I pestered Tina about my cockamamie scheme to wash my hair in bottled water. Turns out my plan is not so crazy after all. But, per Tina, there’s a catch: It has to be acidic water, not alkaline, because alkaline water roughs up the cuticle of your hair, generating frizz.

So essentially, the kind of water you want to wash your hair with is the opposite of the kind you should be drinking to balance your pH level.

According to Tina, one of the most alkalinic and pH-balancing bottled waters on the market (making it a great bet for quaffing) is Fiji. As for the most acidic bottled water, she didn’t have a ready answer for me (the gal’s got real work to do…), but suggested I buy a few varieties and test them using those little pH strips that you can get at any health food store. I’m such a wellness geek that I actually own some (Alkalive pH Stix).

But since we Momoverettes are also busy, busy, busy (maybe not as busy as Tina, but busy), and totally obsessed with our looks, I did some detective work so we wouldn’t have to test-strip. Voila, two options that tilt in the acidic direction: Perrier and Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water.

There were a few other acidic waters I stumbled upon, but they were flavored. And even I wouldn’t wash my hair in flavored water just to get rid of the frizzies. But can we please just discuss what a public service I provide? Who else would tell you just the right bottled water to wash your hair with? Only Momover Lady. Word…

I think I mentioned I’m from Oklahoma? As such, there were more than a few horses in my midst while I was growing up, including a few I rode bareback, much like the brave lady here. Still, in this day and age, when we slap a helmet on our tots every time they step out the front door, can you imagine? Trust me when I tell you that my helmet-less head and I got tossed into the haystacks on several occasions.

Happily, despite the near-concussions, I retain enough of my brain cells to remember Mane ‘n Tail. And evidently the cult-fave shampoo and conditioner is enjoying a renaissance among mamas d’un certain age, as the French say, who are passing it along to their teenage daughters.

My Diapered Darling isn’t quite “there yet,” but that won’t stop me from diving in, especially if it can help me healthy-up my longish locks. I’m a big believer in what I call “covert low-maintenance,” which is basically beauty stuff that seems, on the surface, to be a major pain in the ass, but secretly isn’t. One such example is to buck the new-mama cliche of chopping all your hair off because it’s “easier.” Newsflash: It’s a thousand times easier to just shove your hair into a pony or bun.

But before any shoving takes place, hair needs to grow. Mane ‘n Tail can, theoretically, help with that. That’s because both the shampoo and conditioner are loaded-up with “micro-enriched proteins.” All I know is that there are beaucoup testimonials on YouTube and much chatter in the blogosphere. Bonus points: You can use it on your horse or pony too. Vive long, luxe locks for the entire family!