Bloor Street Hair-apy.

As I strolled along Bloor St West I caught a glimpse of myself in a store-front window. The humidity and sun exposure had turned my hair into a contender for the world's biggest frizz pouf award. Considering I have a hot date on Saturday this problem needed to be remedied. Since I had no other obligations other than my own narcissism I headed to the Runnymede public library, notebook in hand. "Today," I said to myself, "I'm going to find book bound beauty secrets to fix this mop, then I'm going to hit the streets aka local Bloor St salons to see what the professionals have to offer!"

I first focused on the fact that my hair is thinner and flatter than your boyfriend's bum. "A professional assessment is the best way to start a proper hair care treatment," says Carolyn Ansley, co-owner of 'Blo' blow dry bar, located just east of Runnymede on Bloor West. "It's essential to know what type of hair you have, yes, your hair may be fine but you also have a lot of it, which is different (and requires different care) then having not a lot of fine hair."

When I consulted 'Seventeen's' "500 beauty tips" I came across some useful tips such as:
-For fine hair avoid products with alcohol, they flatten thin hair
and some unusual advice;
-If your hair is fine perm just your roots to add body, it'll look fuller, not curly.
When I asked the professionals at Blo about this I was told that my dreams of perms were a tad extreme and outdated. Carolyn instead recommended Orlando Pita T3 refresh dry shampoo to "add light weight body to fine hair." To book a hair assessment and a 'blo' out call 416.402.3487 or email carolyn@blomedry.com. Assessment and blowouts go for $31.00 a session.

My next focus was preventing and treating damage and split ends. Once again the beauty bible offered me some cool helpers:
Start taking a multivitamin with folic acid everyday. It helps maintain healthy hair.

When I came across tips such as:
If the ends of your hair are fried shampoo just your roots every other day
and
Mix a few drops of honey with your regular shampoo and rinse well, it'll leave your hair feeling extra soft and smooth. I wondered if it mattered what kind of shampoo and conditioner would work best for damaged hair.

"Avoid anything not salon grade. Usually these shampoos have a lot of detergent in them which can actually strip the hair and leave it more brittle and prone to breakage," offered Justin, a stylist at 'Trade Secrets' at 2206 Bloor St W. "With store grade shampoos and conditioners you also need to use more product to get a good lather, where as with salon grade requires more water to create a proper lather. You pay more, but really, you need less." He also suggested looking for products with thermal and UV protection to shield hair and prevent damage. "Avoid excess heat, air dry your hair as often as possible and use a quality leave in conditioner."

Justin recommended Revlon's 2phase leave in conditioner, 250 ml for $16.95. When he mentioned it contained grape and tea tree extracts I couldn't help but think it must smell pretty yummy. He also suggested 'It's a 10 Hair Mask.' It detangles, improves elasticity, adds shine, de-frizzes and more." At $39.95 with the guarantee I wouldn't need much often I was sold... well, once pay day rolls around that is.

I headed to 'Evoke' hair salon at 2213 Bloor W and was steered to the Moroccan Oil when I asked for a quality damage control product. Having heard so much hype on this product I asked the very knowledgeable receptionist, Hilary Potter, what the deal was with this so called magic oil. "Moroccan oil contains Argon oil with makes your hair really soft and shiny," she said. "However, any product containing it is going to give you similar effects, however Moroccan oil has a special blend that makes your hair super soft."

Keeping my cherished red head friends in mind I asked her if there were any products out there to help prevent colour fading.
"Being a victim of red loss myself I'd definitely recommended something with pigmentation in it. The Davines "Sunline" is great because it has a complete hair care system for every hair colour and the pigmentation in the red line is so strong that if you were to leave it in dry hair for half and hour you would see a very visable colour difference in your hair, just as if you had coloured it a brighter shade. This line just used as a conditioner and shampoo is also awesome for protecting and treating damaged hair."

Returning to my hit and miss Seventeen guide I found this last bit of info pretty self-testable and less daring than a perm.:
To minimize frizz run cool water over your wrists. Hair frizzes when your body and scalp temperatures rise.

With all this expert advice by Saturday night I'll have a sexy new, healthier set of strands. Now the only question remains, what DO I wear?