The Jewish Straightening Method

The Japanese-

The Brazilian-
(no not that kind of Brazilian...)

The Jewish-

?

Since the beginning of January, I have been straightening my hair. Many people have asked me how I straighten it, attempting to prompt me to respond that it has been chemically straightened. No, I have not used some nationality's commercial straightening method. I have heard good things about the Japanese straightening method and the newer Brazilian. Since seeing how silky smooth my hair is just from a flat iron (secret's out, ladies!), I looked into the Brazilian. It is much less expensive than the Japanese and tends to have a better track record. However, a lot of websites warn the chemical used to straighten the hair may also contain carcinogens. As much as I love my hair, no product is worth that risk.

That being said, I've decided that I live in a world of many opportunities and possibilities. Why should I (semi-) permanently straighten my hair when I can just have The Jewish Straightening Method?

A girl needs options. And frankly, I like having them.

I am often asked how my curls work (when I wear them) and now that I am getting the question daily about whether my hair is permanently straightened, I have decided to let my secrets to The Jewish Straightening Method out of the bag. Well, most of them.

Before I fess up, let me first put this disclaimer: There is nothing inherently Jewish about the way in which I style my hair. Jews have curly, straight, wavy, frizzy hair and some Jews have thin hair, some have thick. Some even have no hair (God forbid). While there is a stereotype that Jews have thick, curly hair (hence the term, "Jew-fro" and many others I don't use), not all fall into this category. I have simply reached a place in my life where I finally know how to appease this mangled mess of hair my genetic code has passed along to me. Whether "Jewish" or not, I finally love my hair.

Please allow me to share this love.

The Jewish Straightening Method:

1) Find an amazing hair stylist.

If you have curly hair, you do not need to go to a fancy curly hair salon like Devachan (http://www.devachansalon.com/) or Ouidad (http://www.ouidad.com/) in NYC. I was once nearly brainwashed and told that I needed to embrace my hair. I made an appointment at Devachan and upon confirmation I was told that even though my stylist was new, that it would cost $145 and I was expected to pay this upon receipt of service. I knew that would make me buy all their products, possibly swear to worship them forever, which would cost more money. I quickly informed them I would be cancelling my appointment.

I did, however, listen to what my co-worker said about how she styled her hair, the one who had referred me to Devachan.

Many months and many bad haircuts later, I took a chance on a new hair salon in my neighborhood. I made an appointment at Saloon (http://www.saloonhaircolor.com/) with Joe. Within five seconds of taking a look at my hair, Joe knew exactly how to cut my hair. Layered and texturized, I left a happy girl.

A good hair cut isn't the be-all, end-all, though. You have to do your part.

2) Know the curly process

My co-worker, who went to Devachan, told me that following her shower (where she does not rinse out her conditioner), she takes strands of her hair and twirls them into curls. Banking on this whole "not rinsing out conditioner" thing, I was baffled at how a girl could not rinse the conditioner out. Just sounds gross. So I continued to shampoo and condition, but I added leave-in conditioner once I was out of the shower.

Zing!

Nexxus Headress Weightless Leave-in Conditioner. It is $20 a bottle, but you only need a small quarter-sized amount each time. I have a lot of hair and the bottle lasts more than six months.

Pantene Pro-V Products

I have, for years, used Pantene products. Since I am adding mousse (I'll get to that) and thus drying out the hair with product in addition to the natural elements, I started using Pantene's Pro-V Restoratives Time Renewal shampoo, in addition to the same type of conditioner. While it's meant to restore damaged hair in a month, I use it year-round. When I go cheap and don't use it for a while, my hair isn't as perky.

After the shampoo, the conditioner and finally the leave-in conditioner, I scrunch my hair and apply mousse: Pantene Pro-V Classic Styling Mousse. I have used the mousse for curly hair, but find the curling mousse makes my hair more frizzy than the others (I have also found that the pantene shampoos and conditioners for "smooth and silky" hair tend to give me a fuller curl than the ones for "curly" hair).

Once the mousse is in, I take strands of hair and made Shirley-temple style curls. I let it dry naturally and never expose the curls to a hair dryer. Frizzy curls are not happy curls!

3) The Straightening Method

I owe it all to Maxi-glide. The other nuances and techniques simply would flop if it were not for this amazing flat-iron.

http://www.maxiusbeauty.com/

Another co-worker, who happens to be African-American, told me about this one. When she told me about all the chemicals and products she's used through the years and saw how absolutely gorgeous her hair was, I simply had to have the maxi glide. I wash my hair with Pantene Pro-V restorative shampoo and conditioner. After the shower, I put on Nexxus leave-in conditioner. I either allow it to dry naturally (but who has the time?) or blow dry it.

Then I allow the Maxi Glide to do its magic. The Maxi Glide has one side of the flat-iron where steams come out of in order to straighten the hair. The other side has small "teeth" like a small comb that smooths the hair. There is also a button on the straightener where you can make steam come out (for ends and unruly frizzy sections). There is a specific technique to using a flat-iron that you can't explain in a blog, but check out the user manual before you buy it and use good mirrors. The maxi glide gets hot and if you're not careful, you can burn yourself easily.

It takes me at least an hour. Keep in mind I have a lot of hair!

I would not say it's easy by any stroke of the imagination, but gives a beautiful straightening job, without the salon expense. I never washed my hair every day (she needs a break every once and a while) and when I straighten it, I usually wait 3, 4 and sometimes 5 days before straightening it again. It's important to be kind to your hair, regardless of how thick it is (and mine is thick).

In reading about the Brazilian straightening method, I learned that it straightens by way of Keratin proteins and a lot of steam straightening. Nexxus leave-in conditioner contains Keratin proteins. And the Maxi Glide lets off steam!

The Jewish Straightening Method gives you options.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5y9A4DKmjM

Reality Check: Is it better to look older, younger or your actual age?

On this 22 of February, my half birthday, I am left to ponder: is it better to look older, younger or my actual age? In six months, I will be 25, which is an age I am not looking forward to being.

I remember being six and for the first time in my life possessing the awareness that in ten years I would be sixteen. "Wow," I thought. "Sixteen" And at seven, I was amazed at the prospects of seventeen, and at eight, eighteen. As the years passed, I revelled in my years, but still yearned to be older. To reach that point. 25 could possibly be the first year I'd like to go backward. I am aware that I am shorter than your average 24 and a half year old. I also have a very fair skintone and don't wear much more make-up than is necessary. I go for the natural appearance. And in a city like New York, that is not of the norm. That being said, let me share a few tales all occuring since my twenty fourth birthday:

September: It's a typical fall Saturday night out at the movies with friends. I get to the ticket counter. We're seeing a Rated-R movie. "One for Towelhead, please."

There is a pause in this exchange.

"How old are you?" the clerk asks.

I open my mouth and no words come out. I swollow those non-existant words.

I chuckle, "I'm 24. I just turned 24! Would you like to see my ID?"

The clerk declines and reassures that I look young because I'm not wearing a button-down shirt. Weird. I guess that makes me look 16? A new low, so to speak.

Sometime in the Fall:
I'm sitting at my cubicle at work. The clock has passed 5:00 PM and most people have left for the day. Another co-worker hears that I am still in the office and comes over to chat. I tell the above story, at which point, he asks, "How old are you?"

Like I'm going to tell!

I retort, "How old do you think I am?"

"25."

Yes!!! I seem older! Although, in the working world, 25 is still young.

December:

I'm riding in a cab in Jerusalem after a long day as a tourist. My friendly cab driver has just uncovered that I'm only in town for a short period of time and is disappointed at me.

“Why are you only here for two weeks? You are young. You should be learning here for a year.”

“No, no. I have a job I have to get back to unfortunately.”

“But you are young. How old are you?”

"How old do you think I am?”

I chuckled, knowing he would be off-base.“Eh… 17, 18.”

“Hahahahahahaha. No, older.”

He guessed 20.

And then I informed him that I am 24.

“But you have a baby face! This is a good thing for when you get older.”

Is it?

February:

I have time to kill after work one evening before meeting my brother for pizza. I wander over to Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue in the hopes of finding a new purse (on sale). I find nothing in my confines. Next to the purses are the make-up counters.

One of the Clinique ladies catches my attention. She tries to sell me on superdefense, which is an age-defying moisturizer. I tell her I used to use it, until Clinique changed the formula and the new product literally burned my face.

Even though the cab driver in Jerusalem told me I had a baby face and the clerk at the movie theater thought I was 16, a salesman still managed to sell me superdefense probably over a year ago. At 23 and a half. I was at Macy's that day to fulfill a Clinique bonus, and even though I told him I did not need to regenerate any cells since I look like a child already, he told me it would help when I'm older. So, I spent $39 on a container of cream because it would help when I'm older. And I proceeded to rebuy that container of cream every 6 weeks thereafter until Clinique reformulated it and my skin felt aflame (don't worry, I returned it and got my $39 back).

So, back to Lord & Taylor's. Somehow the saleswoman convinced me to sit in the chair and try out a few products. While removing my current make-up, applying all sorts of fun products, I lamented that maybe I needed something to make me look a shade older. I shared the movie-theater story.

"Well, you do look young."

"How old do you think I am?" I asked.

"Now that you've told me that story, I know you're a little older than I originally thought." She shared.

Oh, no. She probably thought I was 16...

"I would say you're about 20."

Sarcastic laughing follows.



I spent a good chunk of my childhood longing to be older. I get to the beginning of that "being older" stuff and I spend money on some cream that is supposed to prevent the appearance of aging. But on a professional level, to appear older is the goal. My face is stuck in its teens, unfortunately.

So, is it better to look older, younger or your actual age?