10th Day of Beauty - Pick & Play with Your Hair Tools

My new obsession as my hair is continuing to grow is all the different hair tools out there that I haven’t been able to use in about four years. Before I chopped my hair off, I could have done anything to it, and it would hold. It was super long, super manageable and in great condition- all key factors in giving yourself a great heat style.


I’ve written recently about my love for Bed Head’s triple barrel waver, so I won’t gloat about it again (I do think, however, this is what I will use to style my hair for Christmas Eve). There are so many tools out there that can give your hair extra body, extra curl, make it extra flat and straight…anything you’re looking to achieve can be done!

So how do you pick the right tool to use to get you the ultimate look? More importantly, how do you pick the right style for the day? I’ll be telling you my favorite tools to get you the most popular hairstyles, and hopefully help you pick out what will work best for you on Christmas day.

Pin Straight Hair

I’ve love straightening my curly hair, mostly because it’s such a different look from what I’m used to seeing. I’ve gone through a couple of straighteners, but finally found two great tools that give me the best straight hair I can get. If you have super thick and super texturized hair (like me) it can be hard to find something that gets hot enough to work with your hair properly.

My favorite flat iron is a half-inch iron by Helen of Troy, which heats up to a crazy hot 450 degrees and never steers me wrong. It’s lined with the oh-so-popular ceramic plates, so it won’t damage your hair as much as some other tools do, and doesn’t snag individual strands. If you don’t need that much heat to work with your hair, there’s a great, easy to adjust heat toggle on the front that can range anywhere from 0 – 450 degrees.

Helen of Troy products are available at Sally’s Beauty Supply. If you’re not a fan of straighteners because of the horrible crease mishaps that can happen, you can always try my other favorite straightening tool, the InStyler!

InStyler…where do I start discussing my love for this tool? Well, let me start with the one negative I have about it: It freakin’ hurts when you burn yourself with it! I’ve never really burned myself with a heating tool before, but I seem to have horrible luck with this guy. Because of the bulky size, I’ve burned my ears, my neck, my scalp, my back and my fingers. A colleague at my last job used to burn her cheeks constantly from her InStyler. Maybe I just need to be more careful…

So what’s great about this tool? The rotating barrel and comb combination leave you with silky, beautifully straight hair with no frizz. It creates great flips, but can straighten your hair under as well. It also can create great body by pulling your hair out with the comb part underneath. It has three heat levels (I always leave mine the hottest) and if you’re an airhead like me, it has an automatic off if it’s left on and idle for too long. It’s a pricey item, but it’s been worth every penny since I got it!

Curly Hair

As mentioned in the 12th day of beauty article, big, soft curls are totally in this year, and I don’t see them going away anytime soon. I haven’t been able to do this style myself, but I’ve heard some great things about the Hot Tools 2111 Ceramic Tourmaline two inch curling iron. I’ve been told it heats up in a flash and the curls it creates come out perfectly big and bouncy. It heats up to 430 degrees and even comes with replacement springs, so if your curling iron pops you can fix it yourself. I’ve had the Hot Tools gigantic dinosaur straightener for more than eight years and it still works awesome.

Looking for tight, Shirley Temple curls? I’d go to Hot Tools for this also. They have a huge variety of different one inch curling irons that can definitely give you those adorable ringlets.

A few tips to remember when playing with heat tools:

• Don’t forget your heat protecting products. Use this before you dry your hair to make sure you don’t blow dry your hair to death or fry your ends. My favorite heat protecting tool is Sleek Look by Matrix. It’s a great crème that has always helped my hair by keeping it protected while I torture it.

• Make sure your hair is completely dry before you start styling with tools. Wet hair leads to crazy hot steam and burns, and also totally jacks up your hair.

• Day old dirty hair is the best for heat styles. The natural oils in your hair help to hold curls better than freshly cleaned hair.

• Hairspray should set every style you do. Don’t over-do it and give yourself crunchy hair though.

Playing around with the style before the day you will be wearing it is a great way to get adjusted and learn how to use your tools well. Practicing can give you ideas on how to style it once you get the texture you want, teach you what to do and what not to do while working with the tools, and show you how well your hair products will hold the style.