I have fairly straight hair. The issue for me is that the layers below the shiny, top layer are a little scraggly (as my Dad would say). They are straight, but from a texture standpoint they are kind of, well, meh. They are not silky and pretty like the top layers, and forget the glossy sheen. They are rougher, harder to control and like to swell and get bulky half way through the day. (This adventure gets long, so feel free to skip to the wrap up of the wrap up, at the bottom.)
The Garnier Blow Dry Perfector caught my eye. It claims to keep hair straighter, shinier, and reduce blow dry time for up to 7 shampoos. The active ingredients in it appear to include cystiene, which while it isn't a relaxer, it acts similarly. It is a real chemical process, so if you try it, please make sure you follow the hair color rules that go along with it (they are listed on the box).
Here is how you do it. You start by shampooing your hair and NOT following up with a conditioner. (I know. Egh.) Then while your hair is wet, apply the serum, making sure to coat your hair evenly. It smells strongly, like an old-school perm. After the suggested amount of time, you rinse it out and apply the straightening cream. Thank the gods that the straightening cream has a lot of slip to it, or your hair would feel fried. The key to the whole shebang apparently lies in the next step: blow dry and flat iron your hair to set it.
So I did all of that. My hair was straight, even on the icky under layer. It felt slightly thicker (the hair itself, not the volume) and didn't have as much movement as it usually did. But the under layers of my hair were lovely and straight.
The next day, my hair was still almost perfect when I woke up, making me extremely happy. Until the dryness began to set in.
My hair started to feel fried; some of the ends were dry and sparse looking. I shampooed and conditioned, which helped a little. The next day, it was still very straight on the underside, and my hair stayed straight, without expanding at all in the humidity.
By the following weekend, I couldn't take the dryness anymore and started throwing things on my hair, in an attempt to quench my uber dry strands. I started with Moroccan Oil. My hair laughed at it. In fact, it absorbed it so quickly, my hair almost looked like nothing had been applied to it.
Next up, I loaded up on Kerastase Masquintense, which appeased my dry hair for a bit. I decided to wrap my hair in saran wrap and let it cook. For a normal person, who doesn't have dry hair to begin with, the Kerastase would have probably done the job. But I still wasn't happy, and used a sample of Phyto Intense Nutrition Mask (with Plant Marrow).
I know that line of products is not exactly intended for my hair texture, but who cares? Really dry hair is really dry hair. The Phyto worked MAGIC on my hair. We are talking waving a wand, magic on my hair. And then, because I am me, never satisfied and totally impatient, I ignored the color advice on the box and colored my hair.
I should say that I colored it the next morning, after all of my wonderful conditioning. My hair, three days later, still feels amazing and after four shampoos, is still very straight on the underneath layers of my hair. It's holding up in the humidity and looks and feels great.
So to wrap up this entry: The Garnier stuff worked ok, but my hair is pretty straight to start with. I then determined that a combo of Phyto Intense Nutrition and Kerastase works magic and that your hair won't fall out if you essentially lightly relax it and then color it a week later. (Don't you do that, though. K? Thanks!) To wrap up my wrap up, I would use the Garnier Blow Dry Perfector again if it wasn't so drying or had the potential to impact my coloring habits.
I bought this. Garnier does not test on animals.
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