Own: That Label M Spray and Kelly Madigan

So, it was time for the first of my two haircuts a year.  And yes, I went back to Alibi Salon, but this time it was different.  Every time that I've been to Alibi, I've always had a new stylist, but this time, I went back to Kelly Madigan and I'm so so so glad I did.  I would highly recommend her!

Anyway, if you remember, I've always been scared of product, but this time, I was ready.  I told Kelly to do her worst and show me what "product" was made of.  I tried mousse.  If you know me, you understand how momentous this moment was- the kind of leap of faith it was for me.  MOUSSE?  I would never, in my wildest dreams, put mousse into my hair without supervision.  My fear?  Helmet hair.  Eeeekkk.  Kelly looked me up and down and told me not to worry.  She reassured me that I was ready.  We took the step together.

She pulled out the mousse and this sea salt spray.

She sprayed.  I squinted.  It felt like that first moment at the dentist when he comes at you with the scrape-y thing.  I cringed a little, but when I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see a wondrously fluffy hairdo and some tres chic bangs!

Thank you, Instagram.

Am I ready for mousse yet?  No.  I still think it makes my hair feel a little stickier and stiffer than I like it to be.  Am I ready for sea salt spray??  YES!  I loved it.  It smelled like a spa had magically formed around me when I breathed in while Kelly was spraying away.  I bought it.  I love it.  LOVE IT.  Here's the SPRAY, by Label M:

On a regular basis, I don't  have time for all that fuss and styling.  My priority is always sleep and I'm not willing to sacrifice that for any kind of fashion.  This spray gives your hair a little bit of scrunch so you can bring volume back into day old hair, or if you want a little more wave for a night out on the town.  It gave my hair awesome texture.  Those days of product-shunning are over for me.  I'm hooked on this spray!

Do you have any can't-live-without hair products??

Own! L'anza Powder Up Texturizer

I only get my hair cut about twice a year, so I am always very calculated and particular about where I go to get it cut.  Now that I've been living in NY for about 5 years, I have found a place that my hair can call home.  It's a chic salon on the second floor in a Soho building called Alibi Salon.

The salon space is in a large loft space with high ceilings and plenty of stylists.  Also, their customer service is impeccable.  Whenever I've arrived there, the receptionist has always been happy and eager to take my coat.  I never have to wait more than a couple minutes from my scheduled time.  And to top it all off, they'll serve you a mimosa, coffee or water.  Excellent!

Anyway, down to why I'm really posting about this place.  I've never been a girl that's used product.  I have great hair (in my opinion) and I never really wanted to use product because I was afraid that it would ruin my hair.  I always go into salons asking that they don't add product to my hair when they blow it out, but you know what?  I am not the hair specialist.  They are.  So this time around, I just shut up about it.  I sat down with Kelly at Alibi (who is an amazing listener) and I just simply told her that I'm a low maintenance hair kinda girl.

She looked and me and laughed.

Everything that I was saying I wanted my hair to look like couldn't be achieved without product.  She did consider that whatever product she recommended to me had to be low-fuss and that is how she won me over. She introduced me to this:

So, let me back up.  My hair, though dark and lush, totally lacks any volume at all.  It lacks in volume so hard that it literally sits against my head like someone has gelled it against my skull.  I hate when my hair feels like straw or a helmet which rules out hairspray and gel.  Well, Kelly had the answer for me and it was L'anza Powder Up Texturizer.  

When she first brought it over, I was really confused.  I thought that powders were really just there to dry out hair and I didn't think that would help my limp hair situation.  But, boy, was I wrong.  This powder is the answer that I've been looking for all this time!  The powder itself actually has kind of a rubbery texture so that when you sprinkle a little on your finger, and rub your finger, it feels like you are running the outside of a rubber glove.  She sprinkled just a little at the roots near the crown of my head.  With a few finger scrunches, I had the perfect not-so-out-of-bed-head look.  It gave my hair just enough tackiness to make it stand up and look volumized!  On top of that my hair was still soft and fluffy.  SCORE.  I will use this product forever.  From the reviews online, it seems to also be a great solution for those of you out there that feel you have slightly finer hair. 

For a girl that has never really bought hair product, I think the price is steep at almost $20, but one little bottle seems to last for a while so I'll be investing in this.  Today.  Right now actually.  Oh, thanks Amazon!