Just wanted to pass on a great holiday deal from Karen at Curlslikeus.com!

Every Curl Deserves to be Happy this holiday season. Surprise your best “curl friends” with a set of curl-friendly towels that define curls while defying the frizz.

Buy 1 Curl Cloth™ Set and 1 Set for 50% off.

Regular Price: $24 for 1 set

Sale Price: $36 for 2 sets

One week only. Offer valid from November 27-December 4th. Color options may vary based on available stock

You can also read my (and silly Tracy’s) review of the Curl Cloth here:

Curl Cloths:  Naturally Curly Gals Rejoice!

Some of my favorite curly hair products come from the award winning DevaCurl line (follow the link to learn more).  I personally use both the No-Poo and the One Conditioner from the DevaCare collection, because they are products specifically for color treated hair.  Sometimes just the washing with the No-Poo is all I need for lightly-conditioned bouncy curls, and this or the Low-Poo are the products I would recommend for finer haired folks.  When my hair feels fried, I will add in the One Conditioner, and apply it usually just on my ends and let it sit for several minutes before rinsing.  All of these products have a bright and natural orange smell – leaving your hair smelling so yum!

The newest product addition at DevaCurl is their “MirrorCurls.”  A finishing serum that can be applied to wet or dry hair, is 100% silicone free, and is meant to add moisture and incredible shine.  Leaving your hair so bright they say, “that you can see your curls in it.” (more…)

Wanna hear a great entrepreneurial story? Read on about Karen and what she is doing at CurlsLikeUs.com.

Once, while on a trip to NYC, I had the opportunity to have my haircut and styled at a salon that focused exclusively on curly hair. To my surprise, after washing my hair the stylist used paper toweling to remove excess water from my hair.  He said he preferred using an old t-shirt but that was not allowed at this upscale salon.  He went onto explain that traditional terry cloth towels have too course of a texture to them.  Not only can this texture disrupt the natural “S” formations of your curls, it can roughen up the hair which can cause breakage, split-ends, frizz and even inhibit your hairs ability to shine!

Karen put this new information into developing her own  product, the Curl Cloth. The Curl Cloth removes just the right amount of moisture while setting your favorite styling product in the hair.

The Result? After testing out the Curl Cloth for the past few weeks, I will never go back to using anything else.  (more…)

A well-deserved repeat post, and after using this morning was again feeling the love for this itty-bitty towel!

Towels. They are a functional, everyday, commonplace household necessity.  How many of you remember the type of towel you dried yourself off with after leaving your shower or bathtub recently?

After Mo wrote a wonderful nano-silver based soap, “What doesn’t this soap do?”, the same company sent us a set of their towels to try out.  They are quite small  (37 X  65 cm), unbelievably soft, promise to be anti-bacterial, odor resistant, and 7 times more absorbent that regular towels.  As Mo and I both discovered, Cyclic towels turned out to be most absorbent, addictive, coveted items in our households! (more…)

In embracing my natural curl, I have dramatically changed my methods of taking care and styling my hair.

If you are not familiar with the No-Poo, water-soluble silicone, air drying, no brushing, deep conditioning, cool final rinse, finger scrunching, hair plopping, and hair clipping terms associated with the “Curly Girl” Method, I have some good reading for you.

“Curly Girl,” by Lorraine Massey: A great introduction to the entire concept and theory behind the correct way to manage your fabulous curls. Massey is the Queen when it comes to the curly girl method. (more…)

A few weeks ago we reviewed the Curl Cloth, an amazing specialized towel that is designed for the specific needs of curly hair. Now that I have been using the Curl Cloth regularly to dry and style my hair, I cannot imagine life without it!

For this week, we are giving away a set of Curls Like Us – Curl Cloths to one very fortunate person.  If you have dry, wavy, curly, distressed, or frizzy hair these cloths will help you achieve curl perfection.

Every Curl Deserves to be Happy!

All you gotta do:

Type in your name and email address in the contest machine box!  One entry per person and the deadline is Monday, June 29th, 2009. One winner will be announced on at the Mythbuster Beauty site and contacted via email. MBB will not share your email address with anyone, and only uses your email address to contact you if you are a winner.  This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada only.  One winner will receive one set of Curls Like Us – Curl Cloths which has the total retail value of $24.

I used to be a total cosmetics snob. Only the best for me. I’d look down at all those cheap drugstore items and count my blessing that I could afford the “good stuff”. Well, that was back in my DINK (Double Income, No Kids) days and a lot has changed since then. Time, and my bank account, have taught me that sometimes you don’t really have to fork over a bundle to get a decent product. Sometimes the least expensive mass market products can work wonders compared to their uber-expensive counterparts.

But sometimes, cheaper is just, well, cheap. (more…)

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17 Hairstyles That Take Less Than 10 Minutes Up ‘dos mere mortals like us can actually replicate at home With a few (and only a few) key products and styling tools, you can quickly give yourself a salon-worthy ‘do. And hey, if you hate it, try a different one — at least you haven’t blown 60 bucks and a hour of precious time on it. …More

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Since adopting the naturally curly hair care method I have avoided using a hairdryer.  It has been over a year since I have used a blow dryer to straighten or flat iron my hair.  I have discovered more curl in my hair than I ever knew I had, and the qualities of my hair have vastly improved.  These changes include having less hair breakage and overall heat damage, hair that feels much softer, shinier, and has hardly any frizz. 

Julyne Derrick, a beauty writer at About.com recently wrote a post called, “Beauty Mistakes We’ve All Made.”  Number 4 on her list? 

We leave the house with dripping wet hair. Yes, curls should airdry. Yes, that can take forever. So do it the night before, or wake up early. Or use a diffuser on your hair dryer or roll your wet hair into a bun. But please do not go out into public with a dripping wet head. 

Is wearing your hair wet in public offensive?  After many divided comments at that post, she elaborated her complaints further in a second post titled, “Drip, Drip, Drip: Should One Go Out in Public With a Wet Head?”  Julyne writes, ”So I have a beauty pet peeve.  I don’t like it when women with long, wet, curly hair ride the subway.  If the subway jolts, I can’t help but imagine a bunch of wet hair slapping me across the face.”  The comments on both sides have been fascinating.  Clearly there is need to educate and clear the air.

Does it offend you when someone at work or around town has wet hair?  I am not talking soaking wet, straight-out-of-the-shower wet hair; I mean clean, damp, neatly styled wet hair.  Does having it cut short or long matter?   I am also referring to this hair being “first thing out the door morning hair,” not on your way to a formal evening event, or to a professional business meeting.

If you would have seen me today, this is what I would have looked like dropping off my daughter for kindergarten.  Would I have offended you?  I really would like to know.

You know, way back in the day (8 or 9 months ago) I got an email from a new web friend asking me for advice on dyeing her daughter’s hair. All this time later I get to dish out the same advice to a larger audience, facilitated by the same web friend, the amazing Jen Hill. Imagine getting to talk about all the new things you’ve found and all the things you love, and occasionally even getting a box of goodies in return. It’s been an amazing and fun journey and I’m so proud to be a small part of this awesome project Jen has going on here.

“What Have I done????”

I am a hair color afficionado. I have been coloring my hair for more than half my life, no joke. My natural haircolor is unclear, but I assume it’s some random brownish auburn color. Currently my hair is a lovely, shiny raspberry color. I’ve tried most colors at least once, with the only exceptions being green and yellow.  With my skin tone? No way. I’ve done professional and home color, even playing the role of the guinea pig when I worked at a salon…”Do you think this’ll work? I don’t know, let’s try it out on Mo”. So I’m here to offer a few of my pointers to the uninitiated and the curious.

First things first, you have to decide on placement. Are you doing streaks? Bangs only? Tips? Just underneath? All over? A few streaks or just part of the back are good just to play around and try it out. If you have very thick dark hair you can pull up the top half of your hair and add some color around the middle, that’ll add some dimension and a little eye candy. I once had a nice normal color for most of my hair but changed my bangs from week to week. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Next you need a color. I’ve found that purple looks good on most people, but red and pink are pretty all purpose as well. This part gets tricky, because this sort of hair color does funny things sometimes. A friend applied a vibrant purple to her freshly bleached locks, only to have it end up as an odd sort of gray color, barely even visible in her dark hair. Another applied ‘Apple Green’ and ended up with bright turquoise. My own ‘Deep Violet’ once came out as a rather shocking royal blue. If you aren’t willing to risk a bit of a surprise then I recommend having a professional help you with color choice and application.   It’s pretty easy to find these colors if you know where to look. A quick trip to your local beauty supply store or Hot Topic should be all you need. Some of the more standard and well known brands out there are Manic Panic, Punky Colour, and Special Effects(they have a great user photos section for each color). Upkeep is a factor to consider when choosing a color as well. Green and blue can fade to icky versions of themselves in no time at all and red fades faster than pretty much anything out there.

Prepping your hair will depend on your placement choice a bit, but to get the most out of these colors you’ll usually want to bleach your hair before applying. However, L’Oreal Colour Rays are a kit that require no previous color removal and are great on dark hair. They are an easy one step product for the first timer and are pretty darn reliable as far as results go. If you’ve never bleached your hair before I HIGHLY recommend going to your favorite trusted stylist the first time. Home kits can be harsh, and if you aren’t sure how your hair will respond it can get ugly quick. My stylist recently started using Paul Mitchell and the lightener is effective and so ridiculously gentle I instantly fell in love. It’s best to get a feel for your hair before you start abusing it. If you don’t remove all of your original color you will alter the way your new color ends up, so again, be prepared for a surprise. In my opinion it’s always better to risk a surprise color than a head made of straw, so err on the side of caution and don’t over bleach. Be sure to shampoo your hair before applying color so that you don’t leave any lightening agents in your hair. DON’T use conditioner between the bleach and the color!! Hair that has already been processed(sraightening, perming, etc..)may not even need to be beached unless it’s dark. But red or purple over dark hair without lightening can still give some really great highlights.

Most colors come in a squeeze bottle or a jar. Preference is key here, I’ve used both but actually prefer a jar. There’s more room to reach in and grab globs of dye, and you aren’t spreading dye around the outside of the container every time you have to squeeze it into your hands. A jar is also easier to dip a comb into for touch ups or for applying to short hair, like mine. Since these colors stain fast and hard, always wear gloves and a grungy shirt. Keep a pack of disposable latex or vinyl gloves on hand, since you’ll need them for coloring AND for rinsing your hair afterwards. Almost everyone recommends petroleum jelly to coat your hairline and ears, but I like something like Repelle because it’s easier to remove and doesn’t feel as gross on my skin. Typical process time is 15-20 minutes, but I try for at least half an hour. A plastic cap and some heat will help you get better color, but an infrared light at your beauty shop gives maximum results. Walk around the house doing chores while you let it sit, you’ll get something productive done and you’ll let it sink in longer because you’re preoccupied, a win-win situation all around.

Once you’ve let it sit you’re ready for the rinsing. Rinse until the water runs clear sounds easy enough, but it feels like it takes forever.  Wear a pair of gloves until the water is mostly clear or you may end up with hands the color of easter eggs. This is usually the only time I will use shampoo on my brightly colored head, to help remove a lot of the excess dye. From this washing on I’m a conditioner only gal. It helps your color stay put longer and it’s gentler on your already taxed hair and scalp. A dark shirt afterwards is also recommended, since you never know just how much might rub off onto your collar right after coloring.

Upkeep is very important to me. With a little practice touch ups are easy, and you can simply slap some color on before your usual shower. I’m old enough that a faded funky head just looks like I’m trying to hard to be a kid again. Keeping your color fresh and touched up can actually help people take you more seriously with crazy hair because you’re obviously willing to invest time and effort into yourself. I’m a grown woman with 3 kids and, while I like having a little color and pep in my life, I’m responsible enough to know I’m not 15 anymore. There comes a time when you recognize the value of putting your best foot forward, even when that foot is encased in a Fleuvog.

I know that we have at least a few faithful readers (Jami) that enjoy dipping into the bottle just like I do. We want to hear from you. I mean it this time!! As always, PG rated pictures are encouraged!