Friday, June 21, 2013

Guest Post: Cosmetologist Candidate Loves Uncurly: "BEST THING I HAVE EVER USED!!!"

PHOTOS TO BE POSTED SHORTLY

Okay, I'm not one to write reviews for anything, but I felt I HAD to this time to help my fellow frizzy-haired peeps out.  Here it goes…...I'm Dominique Zarate (39 years old) from San Gabriel Valley, CA.  I'm a cosmetology student (trying to finish up my hours), a mother of two girls and a beauty consultant (when time permits) for a skin care company.  I work on customers at my home where I have set up a station for myself.  (For those interested in my services, I can be reached at dominique_z@me.com or at (562) 243-7270.)

I am Mexican-American with naturally curly hair that has changed over the years to become this crazy curly, frizzy mess that is super resistant.  It's not even nice enough to wear curly anymore.  I have always joked to my family that I am a natural weather balloon because my hair always knows when it's about to rain.

I was so happy years ago when the whole Japanese Thermal straightening craze began.  I used to pay $250 every 4 months to get it done.  What I was left with was never completely straight hair…..more like 50% less frizzy hair that was easier to blow dry and easier to straighten with a  flat iron.  Don't get me wrong-- it seemed better than what I'd had.  But eventually, after about 2 years of getting this done, I had "layers" where I hadn't had layers cut in my hair--all due to breakage.  That's how badly damaged my hair had become from the Japanese Thermal straightening.  So that was the end of that!  And, waaaaay before that, I'd tried doing a couple of relaxers to no avail.   I did stop getting them done and just concluded that I would have to live with the frizz.

Fast forward to the keratin craze.  Yeah, I've tried tons of them.  And I'm not exaggerating.  I've been to many hair shows/cosmetology conventions where I've been convinced that their product was the best thing out there.  Of course I had to buy it.  Each time I've bought a new product, I've easily spent about $250 for the starter kit.  I was convinced that I would make my money back with all the straightenings I would do with these great products.  NOT.

I've been trying to find the ONE brand that I could use on myself, my friends, and family members with the same type of hair as mine.  I've tried Pravana, Redken, California Smooth, Global Keratin, One N Only, Bio Ionic, Bio Ionic Agave, Ion, Chi……some with formaldehyde; some without.  I bought some without formaldehyde when the whole scare first came out.  There were tons more, but I can't even remember their names.  The brands I've named are just the ones I still have leftover in my cabinet.  I would say, however, that the Bio Ionic was the best out of that bunch,  BUT it needed to be carefully timed because it can completely break off your hair.  Scary.  [Editor's Note: Despite incorporating the word "Kera" in its name, Bio Ionic is not a keratin straightener but rather a traditional thio-based chemical straightener, hence the ability to cause severe breakage.]

After all the breakage that I had, I started wearing extensions.  I found that they helped weigh down the frizz a little, so I was good with that.  I have an extension client that had been getting the Japanese Thermal straightening because like me, the keratin treatments did not do a thing for her hair.  But her breakage from was horrible.  Hence, her whole reason for getting extensions.
  
I decided about a month ago to again try and find the miracle keratin treatment.  So, this time, I decided to stay up all night reading reviews.  I came across a blog, can't remember which one, that had the top 10 systems out there; Uncurly was one of them.  Since the others were ones I had already tried, I decided to take a chance.  Of course I test all products on myself before I use them on my customers.   Well, I wasn't expecting the results I got…….at all.

This is BY FAR THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER USED!!!  I was nervous when I first washed it out, because like I explained before, I've always been disappointed.  I let it air dry for the true test.  I almost screamed from amazement when I saw my hair STRAIGHT & FRIZZ FREE!  Okay, so here I am amazed, so I called my customer and asked her if she would like me to try the product on her.  Again, Uncurly worked its magic!  She is soooooooo happy with the results.  Not only did it straighten her hair,  but it brought back the shine that the Japanese Thermal straightening had stripped from her hair.

So if you are questioning whether or not Uncurly can be used on top of hair that was previously straightened using thermal straightening, it definitely can.  I just did another one this week on my cousin whom I'm always using as a  guinea pig for my new products, and she too has beautiful straight hair now.  She has the same exact type of hair as mine but also has highlights using bleach & 20 vol developer.  That was my test for highlighted hair.  Check.

Okay, so I'm not a before/after picture taker because of course the hair looks completely straight after you just spent hours straightening it with the product in your hair.  I do take before pics, though.  And, I can definitely take some after pics of my hair to upload for those of you who want to see how my hair is about a month after using Uncurly.
  
So, long story short, try this product.  It's GREAT!!!  I've been raving about it to everyone I know. Although I'm a student cosmetologist, I can tell you that this product is very easy to work with.  Plus, it's not damaging at all.  Really.  The owners have also put together directions that are very easy to understand and follow.  And, if you do not already have the Babyliss flat iron that they recommend on the site, you need to get one.  I've been using Babyliss for about 4 years now and would never use another brand of flat iron.   Other companies (some I mentioned above) recommend you buy their flat iron with their product as well, but yeah, I have those left over in my cabinet too.  :(  

Hope I helped those of you that are wondering which product to purchase.  There's soooooo many out there now, but I promise you Uncurly is it.  Save your hundreds of dollars & purchase this easy do- it -yourself kit.

I know it's kind of long, but I wanted to really express my whole experience.  Everything I've said is the truth and I am soooooo happy with my hair now.  I'm booked up for next week with clients coming in to get their treatment done now.  :)  There are still those people who don't want to do it themselves, even though I'v told them that they can.  :) 

Dominique Zarate

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Frizz Control: The One Thing I've Got on Kate Middleton


She's gorgeous, rich, and famous, with better clothes, better legs, and better prospects than I'll ever have. What's not to envy?    One thing leaps off the page: THE FRIZZ.


Just when we thought every stone of Middleton trivia had been turned, the Solomon Islands photos revealed that <surprise!> Kate's hair is naturally curly AND frizzes badly at the beach.  Indeed, given that she'd brought along a stylist, who presumably refreshed her blowout several times a day, Kate's frizz quotient could be as bad as mine!

Mind you, I'm NOT being catty about Kate.  Au contraire--I love her all the more knowing that we share maddening common ground: frizzy hair.  And while she wears it well, the fact that she hasn't appeared this way before suggests that she prefers more royal restraint in her hair, as do I.

Fortunately, the island photos were taken before Kate's new face-framing layer cut or they might have been a lot worse. While it's a great style on dry land, nothing spoils a look faster than short layers rendered incoherent by humidity.

The surprising thing is, Kate's frizz was so utterly preventable that I'm astonished it happened at all--especially to someone of her stature.  I'm a mere peasant, but I can say for certain that my hair would have behaved itself under the same circumstances--a bold claim for someone with natural frizz/curl worse than Robert Plant's (Led Zeppelin). 
After decades of frizzy, pouffy, revoltingly curly hair, I'm now 95% frizz resistant at the beach (so invite me!) thanks to keratin treatments.  Uncurly keeps my hair under control even when the humidity's out of control.

I hear that Kate's a Kerastase girl, but it wasn't doing enough for her in the tropics--SHE DESERVES BETTER!  Hadn't her stylist heard of keratin treatments?  Maybe I'll send an Uncurly Starter Kit as a belated wedding gift...