A few weeks back Pro Beauty Tools showcased some of their upcoming launches with a mini-beauty school by celebrity hairstylist Johnny Lavoy instructing. He took us through hair trends, how to achieve them at home, different techniques of varying lengths, and so much more. As attendees tested newly acquired tips, Johnny talked me through using Pro Beauty Tools, on textured hair like mine
Do you have recommendations for protective treatments, along with how to use Pro Beauty Tools on textured hair like mine?
Okay, first of all, anytime, any hair type should use some kind of protectant when using heat products. That could be a leave-in condition, could be a thermal protector, even a lot of styling products will act as a heat protector, like a Moroccan oil or something like that is going to protect. Using a styling product is going to give you that, a little bit of buffer, as long as it doesn’t have a lot of alcohol in it. If it makes your hair stiff, it usually means there’s a lot of alcohol and it’s something that you’re not going to get a good result if you try to curl on top of it.
So what should we look for?
You want something pliable, something with some kind of moisture in it. In terms of the styling tools, because of the temperatures they go up to, they’re great on any hair type.
For your hair because it’s shorter and you want something different, I would recommend the flat iron because you can get a bend with it, like a curl with it. You can relax it, relax the curl, make it straighter. If you wanted to go spiky or something like that, you can do that with the flat iron; this one tool’s going to give you both results.
If you’re going in with a curling iron, it’s going to make it look too saggy, too dated. Whereas just by flicking your wrist with the flat iron, you can get enough bend in there to get a little movement without it being Donna Hendricks…you know what I mean?
I saw Pro Beauty Tools has a diffuser attachment with their dryer. What are the best techniques to properly use a diffuser, so that when you diffuse it, it’s not a clump of curls?
The diffuser has these little finger things on it, which you can actually separate the hair with. What a diffuser does is it just blows heat. It doesn’t blow air. Air actually disrupts the curl as it’s drying and that creates frizz. When you want a dry curly hair, I always say try to prevent yourself from messing with your hair too much as it’s drying. Once the curl separates, that’s when it just looks frizzy. Those little fingers are a way to move the curl around.
If you have longer hair, you push it up to make the curl tighter and get that bouncy curl that way. If your hair is shorter, you just move it around, kind of massage your scalp with the diffuser as you’re going, and that will separate.
Should you keep it a little damp when or do you want it completely dry?
Yeah, that’s the whole purpose of the diffuser. It is for people who don’t want to leave the house with wet hair. Use a curl cream or something to keep the curls moisturized.
Would you use a protectant and a curl cream for the diffuser?
No, a curl cream is going to give you some protection, but if your hair is damaged, doubling up on protection is great.