The Conditioning Flat Iron: Everything your hair ever wanted and more..

What would you say if I told you that I'm thinking of buying a flat iron that doesn't heat up?  Would you think that I'm crazy?  Or would you call me a genius?

Many of you probably have guessed that I'm a technology buff.  I love advancements that improve the way we do things today.  Well I think I just stumbled on another gem that can change the game when it comes to flat ironing.  Maybe I should clarify a little.  These new waves of flat irons are not meant to straighten the hair, they are meant to repair and promote health.  Hence, they're referred to as conditioning irons.

These irons are used for "treatment purposes" to restore health to the hair fiber and promote elasticity.  How?  They use ultrasonic, infrared technology to change the structure and of our conditioning products. This makes the ultra nourishing ingredients (along with the water particles) easily absorbable by the hair strand (directly into the cortex) without the use of heat.  These amazing irons allegedly have the ability to seal gaps in the hair cuticle and seals it creating silky, shiny hair.

Here's the detailed info on the Jose Eber Conditioning iron directly from their site.

"This is why the revolutionary Jose Eber Therapy RX iron was created. It is the leading tool to restore the moisture in your hair using state of the art ultra sonic, antimicrobial, and far infra red technology. Used in conjunction with any hair conditioner or oil, the Therapy RX opens the cuticle, breaks down the conditioner or oil into nano particles and pushes it into your hair giving your hair an incredible moisture blast. NO HEAT no damage, no dry hair. This tool is not a flat iron and WILL NOT straighten or style hair, but is perfect for hydrating, conditioning and restoring hairs moisture. Within a few uses of the Jose Eber Therapy RX, your hair will feel healthier, look shinier, and be more manageable. Damage to your hair is constant, but now you have the tool to fight back."

I like the premise of this tool because it seems like it can be a God send for those of us who want to elevate our wash routine without having to buy expensive products.  One tool could have the ability to improve our entire routine.  A while back I wrote a post on Infrared technology. A reader reached out to me via email and said that she owned the conditioning tool and really liked it.  So I checked on Amazon and found this review on a "moisturizing iron" from Thairapy 365:

"I am an African American female who relaxes my long hair. I've always had a problem with dry, tangling and breaking hair when I wash and comb it. I started using Ovation Cell Therapy about a year ago with some modest improvements in the quality of my hair. Then I started using Mizani D'tangle about six months ago and there was a SIGNIFICANT improvement in tangles after I wash my hair. I wasn't left with clumps of hair in my comb, but I still had problems with weak, breaking hair whenever I would wash it.

I purchased this product from another website because it claimed to help better condition the hair. This tool is to be used after washing and adding a leave-in conditioner to the hair. The hair is still towel dried wet. It doesn't heat up like a regular flat iron. The hair is sectioned and the tool is passed over. It is silent. Initially, I didn't think it did anything, but my hair was straighter when I finished blow drying and it did felt better. My hair was comb-able and felt conditioned for the next few days, that rarely happened before. I usually wash my hair every three to four days, more frequently if I go to the gym.

It's been about a month since I've gotten the tool and my hair feels great! It's in the best condition since I can remember and the breakage has improved. I would recommend this product."

I can already see how this tool can fit into my regimen on those days when I don't feel like breaking out my steamer.  Or better yet, after steaming to further boost the effectiveness of my conditioner.  The possibilities are endless. In the latest issue of my Harper's Bazaar, they made mention of a conditioning iron called "The White Devil."  It's supposed to be the professional level grade of these healthy irons. Stylists using the White Devil have ability to adjust the strength of the ultrasonic waves depending on their client's needs.  "After shampooing and towel drying,  the stylist applies conditioner and runs the device over small sections of the hair three to five times. The molecules in the hair and the conditioner are excited by the ultrasound waves, allowing the conditioner to penetrate to the cortex of the hair shaft, where it is sealed inside rather than just sitting on the surface."

If that isn't enough to get you excited, I don't know what is.  I tried desperately to get my hands on the White Devil but apparently, it's only available to professionals for now.  I'm not discouraged because the MicroMist is a professional only product and I eventually attracted one into my life.  In the meantime, my curiosity has taken over so I'm putting these irons on my Amazon wish list.

Start your morning with an amazing Hair Smoothie

I'm finally getting used to my high powered blender. At first I wasn't at all fond of my first couple of smoothies attempts.  To be honest with you, I preferred the taste of freshly extracted juice. In fact, I almost made the decision to return my Blendtec. But instead of taking it back, I decided to use it in a way that maximizes it's most obvious strengths.

With juicing, I'm pretty much limited to the fresh fruits & veggies as my ingredient options.   When I make a smoothie, I can also include all sorts of little extras that help support my hair and health journey.  For example, this healthy hair smoothie contains fresh/frozen ingredients such as:

• Organic carrots~rich with vitamin A
• Organic Kale~loaded with iron
• Fresh Organic Spinach~has protein, vitamin A & vitamin C
• Frozen berries~filled with antioxidents

Then I went on to include amazing "boosters" that take my smoothie to the next level.  There are no rules when it comes to making healthy smoothies so I decided to blend a concoction of "extras" like:

• Silica gel~Great for hair skin & nails
• Omega 3 flax seed oil
• Kelp powder~rich in minerals
• Black strap molasses~filled with B vitamins 

I use protein milk as the base for all the ingredients to blend together.

Honestly, I had a little apprehension before taking a sip because I wasn't sure how that kelp powder & molasses would affect the taste of my breakfast drink.  Thankfully, my concerns were short lived because the drink was absolutely delicious.

The most glorious part in all of this was that cleanup time was pretty much non-existent.  This means that even when I'm feeling lazy in the mornings, I can still whip up an ultra-nutritious smoothie with zero hassle.  I hope to share other hair-healthy creations  with you in the future.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up juicing for good but it's nice to know that I don't have to compromise if I don't have the time (or interest) in going through the juicing process.

  I'll let you in on a little secret.  Lately, I haven't been taking any hair vitamins and I almost started feeling a little guilty about it.  Then I realized that these amazingly nutritious "loaded smoothies" can help support the my hair journey even when I'm not diligent with my vitamin intake.  Makes me sleep better at night just thinking about it.

Cheers!

How to keep the sun from destroying the most valuable part of your hair

Summer is upon us once again. What I love about summer are the extended daylight hours and the warm bright sun.  I'm a July baby so the heated temperatures don't bother me at all. One only thing that bums me out about summer is this, the potential damage that can be caused by the sun.

I'm not only talking about damage to the skin from ultraviolet rays. It's even worse than that. Hopefully by now, each one of us is applying a decent sunscreen to protect our skin on a daily basis.  But what about the part of our bodies that comes in contact with the sun first...our hair.

Did you know of the potential dangers of ultraviolet rays to our hair?  It turns out photoaging which is normally a term we use to describe the leathery skin created by excessive sun, can also happen to our hair as well. There was a study done on a couple years ago on this topic.  They studied changes to the hair after exposure to UV rays.  Particularly they were looking for shifts in the amount of hair lipid present in the cuticle.  Now, if you read my post on 18-MEA, you already know that this compound is a lipid (fat) present on the cuticle layer. It provides a level of protection against damage, creates shine, and helps promote a smoother cuticle which lessens the impact of mechanical damages and makes combing much easier.

Not only are we destroying our blessed 18-MEA when we relax or color our hair,   we're also impacting this precious compound by exposing our hair to UV radiation.  Basically, our hair is being damaged by the sun.   So now that we know this. What are we going to do about it?

Hopefully everyone reading this has scarf they normally wear to bed.  But do you have any scarves that are cute enough to wear outside?  There's are park near my house and, from time to time, I like to take a morning walk.  The difference in my hair on the days I wear my scarf vs. when I don't is undeniable.  I'm not just talking about the humidity-induced frizz, I'm talking about dry crinkly hair.  My hair looked and felt like the sun took it's toll on it. From that moment on, I began to feel really uncomfortable whenever I would spend long amounts of time (hours) in the morning or mid-day sun without some sort of protection.

If covering your hair with fashionable scarves outdoors isn't your thing, consider picking up a couple of products meant to help provide UV protection for the hair.  Aveda has a line of products for this purpose and so does Kerastase.  Neutrogena silk to touch leave in cream also contains UV filters to protect the hair from dryness caused by the sun.  These are just some of the few. ApHogee's gloss polisher has UV filters as well.  Feel like going the natural route?  You can opt to include some natural plant oils in your regimen before you head out for a day of fun and sun.  Oils like macadamia nut, hemp seed, sesame seed, shea butter and coconut oil all provide low levels (under SPF 10)  of UV protection.  So if you know you will be outside for the day, bring a little bit of a sun protecting oil with you to so you can reapply if needed.


Finally, even with the sun protection, I suggest you still have on hand products that contain 18-MEA to replenish the stored lipids that are brutally taken away from you.  I've been using MEA containing conditioners for the last couple of weeks and my hair has been very pleased. I still thought it would be a good idea to pick up a leave-in with this amazing ingredient so I can give my hair this treat between washes.  My next move was to adopt a bottle of Kerastase Chroma Thermique (Thermo-radiance protecting milk).  Meant for color treated hair, Thermo Milk contains both ceramides and the valuable 18-MEA ingredient.

Those two work together to create a fabulously healthy cuticle layer.  The lipids help provide elasticity and shine while the ceramides keep the cuticle layer sealed from damage. Oh, and I learned from the Kerastase site that Chroma Thermique also contains UV filters and can also be used to protect hair from heat styling.  Although it does contains silicones, it's first ingredient is water which technically can classify Chroma Thermique protecting milk as a moisturizer.  So far, my hair is loving this hot pink hair restorer.  Yes, it's a little pricey, but for all the benefits I get, I would say this is probably the most valuable Kerastase product I own.  Let's recap this product's value shall we:

• Heat protector
• UV filters
• Light,water based moisturizer
• Ceramides
• 18-MEA
• Color protector

It's like Kerastase was thinking of me when they created this product.  O.k. I'll stop gushing about the Chroma Thermique and move on.

 The bottom line to all if this is to raise your awareness of the need for sun protection throughout the summer (and pretty much every day).  If you relax, your already depleted levels of 18-MEA (from relaxing) is stripped away even further from sun exposure.  Even if you're natural, the sun will still damage your hair.  Color treated girls, you're part of this too!  Bottom line is that no one is safe.  We all have to protect ourselves one way or another.  When I re-read the details of the study mentioned earlier, I learned that the cuticle damage to the hair was greater in UVB (outdoor sun) vs UVA radiation (indoor sun like in the picture above).  This means that our hair is more susceptible to damage when we're outside vs indoors.   So even those of us who don't go outdoors much are still being exposed to UVA radiation and still must take precaution to protect our skin and hair. I hope we all learned something today and from this learning, I pray that all you will take some type of action to protect our hair and skin from accelerated aging caused by the sun.  Enjoy your summer!