My Review: FHI Nano Weight Pro 1800 Hair Dryer

For months now, I have been at my wits end trying to perfect my flat ironing technique. I mean, don't get me wrong...my technique so far has been ok. It was just really hit or miss. Sometimes it would turn out decent, sometimes it would be a huge, fat fail. I had to learn how to get great flat iron results though. I refuse to pay anyone to straighten my hair when I have a $130 flat iron sitting in my bathroom. After some research, I found that the good basis for any flat iron session, is a good blow dryer. A good blow dryer will do the initial straightening for you and result in less passes of the flat iron when you finally do flat iron.

So, I looked at my Jilbere Porcelain Series hair dryer that I got waaaay back in the beginning of my journey at Sally's for about $50. I found that no matter how good my technique was and after tweaking my technique a variety of ways, my flat iron results were never quite what I wanted them to be. It became clear to me: I had to get a newer, better hair dryer.

Today, I swung by Ulta and picked up the FHI Nano Weight pro 1800 hair dryer. This dryer is a ceramic tourmaline dryer-which is exactly what I wanted. It comes with a diffuser and a concentrator (nozzle). Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a comb attachment. I have to warn those who are watching their pennies, the dryer is pricey. It ran me about $100. If you order it online, it may cost more.

Now, without further ado, the review.


The cool stuff:

-The dryer is very lightweight! I was able to dry my hair without my arms getting tired midway through.

-It isn't as loud as your everyday dryer. I mean, yeah, it's gonna make some noise but it's nowhere near as loud an ordinary dryer.

- This sucker will dry your hair fast! Usually, it takes me about an hour to dry my hair completely. With this dryer, my hair was dry in 30min! It cut my drying time in half!

-Once dry, my hair wasn't puffy at all. It was very sleek and didn't have a dry feeling to it. My hair was dry and moisturized.


The bad stuff

-Limited heat options. There is low heat and low speed and high heat at high speed. I usually prefer to dry my hair at medium heat and this dryer doesn't have that. The high heat wouldn't be so bad except....

-The high heat freakin feels like Hell's furnace! This dryer blows out the heat! However, the high heat is just entirely too hot for my liking. What makes it suck even more is that you can't really go to low heat because low heat is slightly less hot than high. Slightly.


Bottom Line: This dryer definitely did the job in terms of being the perfect basis for my flat iron. It got my hair straight and did it in less time than my usual dryer. However, the high heat setting is just too hot! Additionally, there isn't a medium heat setting. In the future, I would probably air dry for a few hours then blow dry, just to limit the time I spend blow drying. Either way, if I give this hair dryer 4 stars out of 5.

Happy Birthday to.....ME!!!

Hey everyone!

Well today is my birthday! I have finally joined the 25 and up club lol! Since my birthday falls on a weekend, I have a weekend full of shenanigans planned. However, since this blog is about hair, I have to post what I did to my hair.

I went to The Hair Cuttery and got a blowout. I know you're thinking "The Hair Cuttery though?" Let me explain. I am back home in northern VA and to my knowledge,there aren't Dominican salons there. And if there are, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. I didn't feel like driving out to DC or Maryland to go to a Dominican salon. You can forget that. I didn't even feel like driving to Bubbles salon-which is my standby when I do go home. Anyway, I had washed and DCed my hair at home and went to the Hair Cuttery to get my hair blow dried. The thing about these hair cutting places (like Supercuts, MasterCuts, etc.)that I don't like is that everything is priced individually. I was quoted a price for blowdrying and a price for flat ironing ($12). I passed on the flat ironing and figured that I could do it myself at home. However, I do like the professional atmosphere. I waited for about 2 minutes before I was in the chair. I like that. They don't waste any time.

HOWEVER......

I learned something today....apparently my hair is considered "long hair" and I had to pay the "long hair" price for a blow dry. $36! Are you serious!? However, the stylist did a really good job of blow drying my hair. I was impressed. Everything was nice and straight. My hair is as thick as all get out but it looks really pretty. My mom was shocked. She said " I didn't think your hair was that long. It's always curled or pinned up!" That made me smile. Here's a quick pic of my hair:



Oh and I also picked up the Redken Smooth Down heat protectant....just to try it. So far, I like it but I want to give it a few more go's before I make a definite decision on it.

Anyway, that is it. Just wanted to drop in with my hair plans.

Ol' Reliable Has Died....

....and I'm sad.

The other day I was doing something completely unrelated to hair. I was getting ready to go into lab and I needed to dry my make-up brushes. So, I pulled out my blow dryer and plugged it in. I hit the button to turn it on and.....nothing happened. I reset the darn thing and nothing happened. MY FREAKIN' BLOW DRYER IS DEAD!

Granted, it was a $40 something blow dryer that I got from Sally's at the start of my hair journey (back in '08) and maybe it is time to get a new one but there is just so much to think about now. Now that I'm knee deep in this hair care game I can't just roll up into Wal-Mart and just grab one.

This is also a time sensitive issue. I plan to take these twist out sometime next month (mid-month maybe?) and there is no way, absolutely NO WAY that I will let my 19/20 weeks post hair air dry (I learned the hard way that at that point my hair says a big 'eff you' to air drying). I also want to be able to wash, DC, and dry my hair before I get cornrows put in. So between now and June I have to find a quality blow dryer.

So far, I'm looking at the Sedu blow dryer because I absolutely adore the flat iron and I know it will have what I'm looking for in a dryer (is is ionic? is it tourmaline? is it both?) but price is a major issue.

:sigh: This may take more work than I thought. Any suggestions ladies?

Who's Down For a Challenge?

So...I am in week 8 of a 13/14 week stretch and quite frankly my hair is getting on my nerves.

I guess it decided to do some rampant growing and didn't pass the memo onto me. Thus, straightening it with heat is just not a desirable option right now. So what do I do now? I'm laying off the heat for the next 5 to 6 weeks. This weekend I did a flexirod set and put my hair into a puff. That should last about a week. Next week I'm going to attempt I twistout (since I have enough hair to grab). Hmm...maybe I should post pics on that.....anyway, I'm challenging myself to lay off direct heat so why don't you guys give it a shot?? It doesn't have to be for as long as I'm doing it but the point is to give your hair a break from all of the heat.

So....who's down?

My Review of.....the Sedu!

Per your request, I am going to do a review of the Sedu flat iron. I have been using the Sedu for a year and a half and I absolutely love it!

Sedu Revolution Pro Shortie Mini Styler

I purchased this immediately after my hair cut. There were shorter pieces of hair that my 1 1/2" could not grab...at all.

In comparison to my other Sedu, this one was ok. It is pretty small and is about the size of a Sharpie. There is no temp gauge and this iron gets HOT! I constantly had to make sure the back of my head had enough heat protectant and I had to make sure that I DCed really good! I was so happy when I went back to my original Sedu. It does a decent job for the price but I think that there are better small flat irons out there.

Price: $50.00+ shipping ( I paid around $60 for mine)

Sedu Pro Ionic Ceramic and Tourmaline Flat Iron (1 ½”)

I purchased this at the beginning of my journey when my hair was longer. It is an amazing flat iron! As I stated before, the plates are ceramic and tourmaline. In addition, it has a very thick cord that doesn’t fray easily and the cord rotates with the flat iron, making styling a breeze! Another bonus is that this iron heats up fast!

Things I love about this flat iron:

The temp gauge—allows you to directly control how much heat you put on your hair.The gauge runs from 250 degrees- 480 degrees. However, I found when using the Sedu, not much heat is needed to straighten hair.

The ceramic/tourmaline plates—prior to my purchase of the Sedu, I never knew that a flat iron could get my hair to be so smooth! These plates are responsible for that.

Weight-the Sedu is very lightweight so it doesn’t feel like you have a million pounds in your hand.

Minimal work effort- when I use my Sedu, it takes 1 pass on any setting (well almost any- I never tried the highest setting) to get my hair straight. ONE PASS! Before the Sedu, it would take as many as 5 passes to get the same result. Since I have a lot of hair, this cuts my hair styling time in half!

Things I don’t like so much:

This isn’t much that I don’t like about the Sedu. However, as a student, this flat iron was a little price-y. I paid $130 (includes shipping) for the Sedu. Regardless, I think the Sedu is well worth the money. I probably spent the same amount of money purchasing the cheap flat irons that snagged my hair and were causing insane damage. For those looking to purchase a Sedu right now, Folica.com is selling the 1 1/2” for $119+free shipping!

Also, this flat iron works very well with the IC Fantasia Heat Protectant! The two combined makes my hair feel so light and flow-y (if that's a word). I've also tried it with the Beyond the Zone Heat Protectant and the results were...meh.

I think I covered everything about the Sedu that I like. If I missed something, give me a shout! :)

Turn the Heat Up....

After I got my hair relaxed last week, I did a dance of joy. Let me tell you...it wasn't because I just got a relaxer. As of 8/1/09, I can wrap my hair! YES!! You must understand, this is a very important milestone for me. I's can use less heat now! I'm sure you guys already know that shorter hair=more heat. It sucks but that's just the way it is. Shoot, on the days I didn't use heat I would look like Goku from Dragon Ball Z

Even though I had to use heat frequently when my hair was shorter, here are the things that I did to make it through those long, dark months:

1) Invest in a good flat iron

Find a good ceramic and tourmaline flat iron. This type of flat iron not only straightens your hair, but it smoothens it and helps to keep moisture in. Also, get a flat iron that has a temperature gauge (just so you don't fry your hair to death during your straightening sessions). Although there are other good flatirons (like the FHI Platform) I use the Sedu and the Sedu Revolution Shortie Styler (check www.folica.com for pricing/availability).

Just as a note, if you have a ceramic plated flat iron make sure the coating has not worn off. If it has, it is time to get a new one!

2) Find a good heat protectant and use it every time (yes...every time!)

Finding a good heat protectant is so important. It serves as a barrier between your hair and the flat iron which minimizes damage. There are sooooo many protectants out there and finding one may require a bit of trial and error. A good starting heat protectant is IC Fantasia Heat Protectant Straightening Serum (which is $7.99- $9 and can be found at Sally's and Walgreens).

3)You may have to increase the frequency of your regimen

It is important to keep in mind that heat a) changes the structure of your hair and b) removes moisture from your hair. Those two things combined can result in dry, brittle hair. When I first had my hair cut, I washed and deep conditioned my hair no less than 2x a week. I was always doing my hair! Sometimes I would use a moisturizing DC ( like Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose) or a light protein DC ( such as ORS Replenishing). I would then follow up with a light protein leave-in (Giovanni Direct Leave In). The point is: if you use more heat then you must make more of an effort to ensure your protein/moisture balance in check at all times.

If you can, try to sneak in no-heat/ indirect heat when you can. For example, you may decide to air dry your hair then flat iron or dry via a hooded dryer then flat iron.

4) That temperature gauge on the flat iron is important

Although I used heat frequently, please believe that the temp gauge on my Sedu was set a 250 ( 280 at the highest). Since my hair is relaxed, I don't need to crank up the flat iron to the max setting just to bump my hair. Shoot...I really don't need to set it to the middle temp (360). Just as a general rule (for me) a flat iron set at the lowest temp+ a heat protectant is better for my hair health than a flat iron cranked all the way up. I can still get the style I desire while keeping my hair as healthy as possible.

I've found that by following these 4 guidelines, the increased heat did not significantly damage my hair and as someone with short hair, there is no need to fear heat. You just have to make the appropriate adjustments to your regimen.