I used to go to the Hair salon every couple months before they had to shut down, and every time I’d go, not only would I end up spending quite a bit of money, it required a lot of time and energy since the better stylists happen to be in LA which is about an hour away from where I live. Over the years experimenting with different hair colors ranging from platinum blonde to grey to purple, I learned that I look better with lighter color, not necessarily blonde-light but light brown rather than dark. So it had been a while since it’s been brown, more like ash brown actually ever since I decided to stop being a “fashion blogger” and be just a regular person a few years ago (Up to you to decide what that means hahaha). Now, my hair isn’t naturally straight which is far from what a lot of people believe with Asian hair. It’s frizzy, thin, and now damaged from all the enduring it’s had to do over the years from chemical treatments (sorry, hair). Thank God I still have a lot of it, but it is dangerously getting long due to the shutdown (and now out of concern and laziness). And so because of it’s natural tendency, I’ve also had to get additional treatments to lessen the frizziness and curliness along with coloring. If you’ve been to Korean hair salons, you know it can quickly get pretty expensive with such treatments added. Last time I went, I believe I paid about $300 with a discount (!!), and that’s considered a deal. I never even attempted to go to a stylist when I lived in New York because I knew it was going to be double the price, and also because I couldn’t find a stylist who would do a decent job with the budget that I really didn’t have. Anyhow, so having not gone to the stylist for over six months now, and after attempting to do it myself a few times (both color and cut), I cautiously feel like I might be able to live without a fancy stylist after all… that is, if I can get my hands on a very very good hair straightener. I’ve owned a few straighteners in my life with the favorite one being from Korea (which I’m unable to use due to a different voltage), but none of them gives me the result that a Keratin treatment or a Japanese Straight Perm gives. Recently, I’ve been seeing ads for Dyson Corrale Hair Straightener and been very curious about it. If it goes on sale at some point, I think this will be worth the investment for a couple reasons. I know $500 for a hair tool is expensive, but if you take into consideration how treatments such as Keratin and Perm can have a negative health consequences, it might change your mind. I didn’t know either, but I learned after my first and last Keratin treatment that the ingredients in it produces carcinogenic chemicals during the process which is why the stylists and myself had to wear a mask and I had to sit outside. After the chemical was applied, they had me sit outside to straighten the hair because they said it was going to smell bad. I didn’t know what that meant until I put on the mask and my eyes started burning due to the smoke and odor produced while they were straitening the hair with a tool. I kept my eyes closed the entire time but the stylist and his assistant obviously couldn’t. I learned later through my own research that a prolonged exposure to this smoke can cause cancer. I felt bad for the salon workers but was also afraid for myself, because I know even SLS which is widely used in shampoo products has been a controversial ingredient as it can be carcinogenic. Apparently, even the Japanese Straightening Perm can be harmful as well not to mention permanent hair dye products. Sigh. There are options though, for coloring, you can use a semipermanent hair dye like the Clairol Natural Instincts:

And for straightening, if Corrale can work pretty fast, I really wouldn’t mind paying for it, or I’ll somehow find a way to just be happy with the way my hair naturally is… because why not? Recently, I’ve been learning to accept the things the way they are… and to just minimize the need to wanting things I can live without. It’s slowly becoming okay to just be who we are, it seems. Don’t you think?

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