Superstar Hair on a Budget

(Originally published August 22, 2008 as a guest post.)

Let’s have a little chat about hair. My three-year-old was blessed with waist-length ringlets. EVERYONE comments on her gorgeous “adult” hair.

Me? Not quite so well endowed. I have shoulder-length hair that’s mostly straight, but with
enough wave to make it positively annoying.

Clearly, life is not fair.

And we live in the South, which means I’m constantly battling humidity and its negative effects on my head.

If you’ve spent any time around the salon world (I have; mostly because one of my close friends is a hairdresser), you know they have these really awesome ceramic flat irons they use to tame the frizz, smooth out a kink, and straighten any unruly waves. It basically makes you leave the salon feeling like you have hair to rival a movie star.

(It’s really just a calculated ploy to get you to come back.)

Unfortunately for the average mom, those salon straighteners are also quite pricey. Easily a hundred dollars a pop or more.

So what’s a girl to do?

I’ve been using hair straighteners for years; beginning in high school with the chunky metal-plated ones that if you weren’t careful, they’d rip a chunk from your innocent and unsuspecting scalp.

And then one day, probably in 2005, I was browsing the hairdryer section at my local Walmart and noticed they were selling a ceramic straightener knock-off (by Andis) that retailed for about 15 bucks.

For that price, I decided it was worth a shot and threw it into my cart. And you know what? I still use that same ceramic straightener today.

And did I mention it was $15?

Over three years ago?

I’ve used my friend’s fancy salon ones. This one is every bit as good and it’s already stood the test of time. I always leave it on the hottest setting, and it really and truly works fabulously. No complaints. And it has never once ripped my hair out.

Which is convenient.

Take a look.

Before:

After: