Official product endorsement

First, we have to go back in time to Christmas. I was watching HSN (Home Shopping Network, 'natch) at home with Mom when a hair stylist came on with his line of styling products. Samy (the stylist and also the name of his products) took his models, who had freshly washed, un-producted hair, sprayed some of his stuff in it, finger styled it and fluffed it, and bam--their hair looked GREAT. It had texture, body--it looked like they had just spent hours getting their hair curled, straightened, styled. I'm telling you, this stuff was MAGIC. Of course, since I'm always looking for a good deal (i.e, I'm a sucker), I ordered a kit that had small bottles of each product he had used.

Fast forward to last night, when I finally opened the box. =-) For you to fully appreciate the fabulousness of these products, I must disclose that I am hair-styling-challenged. I can flat-iron but that's about it. So I took out the products and kind of played around with each one. And then today, I actually straightened my hair and used them again.

I don't love all of them, but there are 2 that I MUST share with you. Even though my hair is crazy thick, when I flat-iron it, it just kind of hangs there. I put some of this stuff on and BAM--I looked GOOD. My hair had body--the GOOD kind of body, not the afro-humidity-frizz that I usually have. =-) Seriously, it was awesome. I went out for a few hours with my little sister, came home, went for a pretty intense walk in the Florida heat (I even RAN twice--but that was to get out of the way of cars), came home--and although my face was all red and sweaty, my hair still looked GREAT.

So, without further ado, here are the 2 that I highly recommend: Samy Faststyle Stylist Mist (aqua bottle), which is a gel/hairspray all in one (sprays on, styles like a gel, holds like a hairspray), and then the Samy Skyscraper Volumizing Hairspray (orange bottle). I haven't used the hairspray stuff alone yet, just the 2 together (which might sound like overkill, but my hair is so thick that it "absorbs" product so I needed a double-whammy). And no, the Skyscraper hairspray doesn't give you 80s-style "tall" hair, so don't worry (although I'm sure it could be used that way if you wanted to)--just fantastic body and volume. It went on a LITTLE stiff, but after half an hour or so it had settled into great hold but my hair was touchable again (although, as I said, that could just be my sponge-like hair, LOL). Seriously: they took my already thick hair and just made it SO healthy and body-licious.

These are only available at Walgreens (at least from what I've been able to tell); they're $15 each (more expensive for drugstore brands but SO worth it--plus, each bottle is like 3 feet tall so they'll last a while). If you don't have Walgreens, you can go online to Walgreens.com. They have other products, too--stuff designed for curly hair, a combination mousse/hairspray (that's the one I wasn't thrilled with, but I've never been a mousse person, either), a dry shampoo (to freshen up without taking a shower, like after work but before going out--I haven't used that yet either, though, so I can't vouch for it yet).

The only drawback is that these 2 products are aerosol, so I'm probably bringing down Mother Earth--but damn, I'm gonna look good doing it. ;)

Go check them out. Yes, now. I'll wait. And then come back and tell me what you think.