In the winter time, when I have to wear a heavy coat, the hair at the nape of my neck snarls something fierce. Since I spent most of my life in the Northeast, this meant I was tearing my hair out for months at a time. Now that I live in the Northwest, it's not such an issue since winters aren't as cold so I rarely have to break out the heavy coat.
Another problem with my hair is actually a positive. It's really soft - always has been, even when I torture it with chemicals. Once I was in a show where I ratted my hair and used half a can of pink Aqua Net every night. After the show, I'd go home and dump half a bottle of Salon Selectives (remember that stuff?) on my hair and let it soak for 30 minutes before I washed it out. It was the only way I could get a comb through it without tearing all my hair out. Since I am used to my hair being so soft, I have had a hard time getting used to products that weigh it down or make it crunchy/sticky.
I am inept at blow-drying, can't tease my hair worth a damn nor get it to hold a style for more than an hour if I do it myself. All I want is a little volume. Is that so hard? Finally, the answer is NO, thanks to Living Proof Root Lifter.
I'd seen Living Proof at Sephora for quite sometime, but the lure of color cosmetics often keeps me away from the hair product section of the store. I didn't become intrigued until Allure profiled their Full Thickening Mousse as a Beauty Breakthrough in October 2010. I was sold when they said the product didn't focus on the roots and instead volumized the whole hair strand. Since root lifters had failed me in the past, I was hooked.
In that same issue of Allure, Pantene Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner were also named Beauty Breakthroughs. Since they were available and you couldn't buy the Full Thickening Mousse anywhere but QVC until New Year's Eve, I got my hands on the Pantene to tide me over. I like the Pantene. It's certainly weightless, but it wasn't wow-ing me with newly bouncy locks. I was going to have to use product and a blowdryer to get the look I wanted.
My sister-in-law surprised me with the Full Thickening Mousse for Christmas. Thrilled, I tried it out the next day. Yes, it volumizes all the way through. It looked amazing when I first finished blowdrying. An hour later, it was falling flat. I experimented with using more or less product, trying to find the perfect amount. The sad fact is, mousse weighs down my hair. It doesn't matter what kind, it just does.
When I went on my birthday shopping spree, I can't even explain why I picked up a bottle of Living Proof Root Lifter. Hopeless optimism? I didn't even mention it in my shopping spree blog. I think subconsciously I expected it to join all the other products filling up my side of the bathroom counter.
I used the Root Lifter in conjunction with the Thickening Mousse (also some heat protectant - Thermasilk Leave-in Conditioner for now) over the weekend. Hmm. My hair held up all day, but I still had that heavy feeling I dislike so much. The next day, I tried just the heat protectant and Root Lifter.
MAGIC! My hair was downright bouncing! I could toss my hair as well as any chick in a shampoo commercial. It was a teeny bit crunchy at the roots, but the overall feel was still nice and soft. I couldn't be more thrilled - until the next day when I woke up and my hair was still bouncy and soft. For the first time in my life, I could rock second-day hair! Are you kidding me? Second day hair lost all the crunchiness at the roots, but I still had enough texture that I could put it up easily. I even LEFT THE HOUSE with second day hair and didn't feel self-conscious!
I am so happy with my hair right now. I even look forward to blow-drying it!
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