STYLER ACADEMY: ADVANCED SMOOTH STYLING
The EVOLVh Styler Academy is winding down with the third and final installment of our Advanced Styling series. For this round we're spotlighting all of our smooth operators and sharing This Organic Girl's highly evolved tips for keeping her strands silky, moisturized, and cooperative. Bye bye frizz. Hello gorgeous!
Don't forget to check out the Curls and Volume editions too! A girl's gotta have options, right?
LISA FENNESSY AKA THIS ORGANIC GIRL
What is your favorite EVOLVh Styler for smoothing?
I’ve tried a ton of hair treatments to smooth and protect my gray hair and nothing comes close to SuperFinish Polishing Balm.
The Polishing Balm stands out to me because it’s water-based and really light and it doesn’t change the texture of my hair. It’s like adding nothing, but it’s like adding everything. I’m talking de-frizzes, adds moisture, softness, shine, strength, prevents breakage, splitting AND provides UV and heat protection.
I add a dollop of this to my hair before every blow dry and it leaves my hair super shiny, smooth and soft.
What is a smoothing styling hack that's changed your life?
I started letting my hair 90% air dry and then blow drying it right before it’s almost dry. This has cut down on damaging and drying heat exposure BUT has helped maintain the smooth look of a fresh blowout.
Lisa Fennessy is the founder and CEO of This Organic Girl, where she’s been blogging about better beauty and organic living for 6 years. She has a BA in Journalism from Northeastern University and a passion to explore the latest and greatest in clean beauty and organic lifestyle as well as THE WHY. Stick with her to talk about how to make educated decisions when it comes to what we put in and on our bodies.
The bottom line? Women should feel empowered as consumers knowing they are making the best decisions for themselves and their families. Get to know more about Lisa here!
THE SMOOTHEST BLOW DRY
With colder temps upon us, it's a great time to brush up (pun intended) on those smooth styling blow dry skills. Here are our 5 Golden Do's & Don't Of Blow Drying for your silkiest strands:
1. Don’t start blow drying the second you get out of the shower. Blot out excess moisture and allow your hair to air/towel dry* for at least 15 minutes as a general rule (*if you insist on towel drying, please consider a gentle hair towel that is good for your hair).
Hair is at its most vulnerable when it's wet, so to keep it from taking the brunt of damage in this delicate state - wait! The fine to medium hair girls should wait until their strands air dry about 60-70%. Thicker haired girls should only be about 50% dry if you’re wanting to dry it straight. If you’re wanting to enhance natural texture then you should add product, squeeze out the excess moisture, wrap it up in a hair towel (or an old cotton t-shirt) and dry once your curls/waves are done dripping.
2. Do use heat protectant, especially on the all-too-forgotten back of your head. Taking the time to apply your heat protectant on more than just the top of your head means you will save all those ends from breakage while increasing the longevity of your blowout. Work your chosen product from mid shaft to the ends either with a comb or your hands.
We highly recommend our SmartStart Leave-In Conditioner, or if you’re looking for a little extra thickness, our SmartVolume Leave-In Conditioner as your pre-blowout protectant. Not only do they prevent breakage and protect from heat, but as a bonus they also reduce frizz and flyaways, add shine, and protect from UV damage!
3. Don’t focus too much on your ends. Many start their brush at the roots but drag it to the ends of their hair too quickly and blast them with heat the most. Instead, slow it down. Focus on your hairline and roots getting dry first. By the time you have dried your roots and hair midway down, your ends should practically be done. This will save you time and save your ends from breakage!
4. Do use the correct brush for your hair type. In general, ceramics are better for smoothing. Ceramics and metal are able to provide a smoother look, but they heat up much quicker - meaning dry time should be kept to a minimum to keep damage at bay. Coarse or frizzy hair girls should consider a boar or nylon bristle, as both tend to have a larger quantity of bristles, thereby helping provide the right amount of tension in the hair to create smoothness.
5. Don’t ignore your blow dryer’s attachments.Your dryer’s lip is the hottest part, so the concentrator nozzle and diffuser help to give some space between it and your strands - meaning less damage. Smooth hair girls - you need the concentrating nozzle so the air is directed on your hair’s cuticle making the drying process faster and leading to less frizz and split ends. While curly girls need the diffuser to help keep curls smooth and intact.
We can't talk about smoothing without talking about... FRIZZ. Frizz is the result of your hair literally reaching out for moisture in the air and therefore an indication that your hair is dry/lacking moisture. Though humidity is often blamed for frizz, it actually merely creates the perfect conditions for frizz to appear - more moisture in the air means dry hair is more likely to swell and seek that moisture. Because frizz is a symptom, it’s helpful to look at the possible causes and ways that me might be contributing to frizz or making our hair more vulnerable to frizz, and then looking for solutions.
Here's Everything You Ever Need To Know About Frizz and what you can do about it >
MEET THE SMOOTH SQUAD
Here's a cheat sheet to compare our smoothing stylers so you can choose with confidence!
Thank you so much for enrolling in the EVOLVh Styler Academy - you're almost ready for your diploma and we'll see you again next Fall!
