Keratin Coppola Smoothing Treatment

Ladies, the time has finally come. After dozens and dozens of emails with questions regarding Brazilian Blowouts and/or Keratin Coppola Smoothing Treatments, Tera documented a a step-by-step Keratin Coppola Smoothing Treatment in hopes to help explain the concept and show the amazing results from the treatment.

If you have questions for Tera, please leave a comment and she’ll do her best to answer you!

Now, let’s get to it!

This is Cindy. She has very curly, unruly hair. It is sometimes cooperative, and this is a pretty good day. Our goal was to eliminate all of her frizz and make her curls more manageable. She also hopes that with the smoothing treatment , she will be able to blow her hair out straight, something she hasn’t yet been able to master.

Here is Cindy pre-treatment.

After retouching Cindy’s color, we shampooed her hair with the Keratin Complex Clarifying Shampoo to remove any color residue or oils that could prevent the treatment from adhering to her hair. I then quickly dried her hair so I could begin to apply the treatment. Immediately following color is the best time for a treatment as it seals the hair so color stays vibrant, shiny and lasts longer.

I sectioned Cindy’s hair into sections and begin applying the Keratin Complex Smoothing Treatment. It is applied to the entire head.

The entire head is covered with the treatment. Next it is covered with a plastic cap and she will sit for 30 minutes. In this time the treatment is finding it’s way into the open spaces in the cuticle.

When thirty minutes has passed, the hair is again quickly blown dry with the treatment in it.

The hair is then flat ironed with a 450 degree iron in very fine sections. This is when the magic happens! An activator in the treatment reacts with the heat of the iron sealing the treatment into the hair. The hair becomes extremely smooth, shiny and soft.

The finished product! Cindy will not shampoo her hair or get it wet at all for 3 days. When she shampoos it, her hair will be 100% frizz free and slightly less curly. Her own hair but only better!!!

Gorgeous.

What about three days later, after washing and air-drying?

Still great curls without any of the frizz!

And three weeks later…

Remember how Cindy couldn’t blow dry her hair straight before the treatment? This photo was taken after she dried it straight with her fingers. (She didn’t even use a brush!!) Pretty damn impressive…

And here’s a more specific comparison of her curls before and after the treatment.

Absolutely lovely. I have had several personal friends do the Coppola treatment and they can’t stop raving about it. (Literally. I GET IT, PEOPLE.)

If this process is something that would be perfect for your hair type and you live in Southern California, Tera is offering the process for 20% off! ($280 instead of $350.) Additionally, if you add another service (cut or color), she will give you 25% off. You can book your appointments with Tera at her website.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, Tera! Don’t forget to leave your questions for Tera in the comments.

2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards

Award season makes me dizzy. Frankly, I can’t keep them all separated in my pregnancy-induced pea-sized brain. So um, yeah. Another awards show. Good hair. Bad hair.

Who do you think looked the best? Though not usually a fan of Penelope Cruz’s highlights, I though her current ones looked gorgeous. Like honey, baby.

Help! I’m Bored with My Hair!

(While typing that volume number in the title, I just realized I’ve been doing these makeovers for 4 years now. Holy shit. That is all.)

Meet Georgia.

Georgia’s hair:

Medium-dark brown. Colors at home with salon-bought hair color.
Normal condition, thick and wavy
Straightens easily
Tends to get lazy when hair is longer (ponytails)
Doesn’t want to get rid of bangs
Proficient with products and tools

Georgia sent me an email eons ago requesting advice about her (darling) hair.

From Georgia’s original email:

My main dilemma with my hair is that, well, it’s boring. I’ve had an a-line bob for as long as I can remember, with a couple short-lived pixie cuts peppered throughout. Every time I get it cut I swear I’m going to give growing it out a shot, as I’ve always wanted long hair, but as soon as it gets to my shoulders, I chop it off again. I’m curious to see how I’ll look with longer hair, but I have a feeling I look better with a short bob. I’d be into either growing it out, or cutting it short (as long as I can keep my precious bangs), I just want to know what you and your lovely readers think would look best before I put the time/effort/money/tears into it.

I recently sent Georgia an email to see if anything had changed in regards to her hair dilemma.

From Georgia’s most recent email:

I actually ended up cutting it back into a bob with sideswept bangs, but I’m still contemplating going long again, as I’ve seriously had this haircut and color for over 10 years! So I guess the question now would be, “keep it short or grow it out again?” I’d still love yours and your lovely readers advice.

Before I jump in, let’s take a look a Georgia’s hair in its chin-length state.

And a bit longer.

This could be one of the most common issues I read from prospective participants. I like my hair, but I’m so bored. And trust me, I GET IT. My hair has been the same style for several years now, but what I’ve come to realize is that my hair looks its best with my current cut. Sure, I get bored and daydream of short bobs or different colors, but I’ve tried all that and I know that my current style is what’s right for me.

I feel the exact same in regards to Georgia. The fact that she thinks of growing it out, but always ends up cutting it shorter tells me one thing. She doesn’t truly LIKE it longer. If she did, she would keep it longer, right? And why would she want it longer when it looks SO DAMN PERFECT cut at her chin! I love the way the shorter bob accentuates her jawline, as well as how her bangs highlight her lovely eyes. Georgia, your hair gets me daydreaming again.

Now, I’m not saying that I don’t like the longer length on Georgia. I like it. But I LOVE it shorter. I’m especially fond of the length in the above photo on the left of the three shorter styles. Just barely brushing her chin is the perfect length for Georgia. In fact, this cut would look beyond gorgeous.

My final word? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Just some minor tweaking will create the fresh look you’re hoping for, without sacrificing what looks best on you.

Of course, this is not a dictatorship. Do you think Georgia should grow her hair out? Do tell.

It’s a Girl!

We’re having a little girl! A LITTLE GIRL! Bring on the dresses, tights, pigtails and teenage hormonal rage! As you can see, I couldn’t help myself and bought this darling Imoga cross stitch dress for the little one on Gilt (they have a children’s section, sohelpmegod), but I PROMISE to keep my little girl clothing expenditures in check.

(HAHAHAAAAAAAAA. Ha.)

We are so incredibly thrilled to be given the chance to raise both a boy and a girl, and when we told Wito the exciting news, he clasped his hands together and exclaimed, “Oh, a girl! I’ve always wanted something soft to sleep with!” Cue heart explosion. He is going to be such a wonderful big brother.

Oh! And! We got the house and will be moving in three weeks. Hooray! There is much to do before we move in, so the remainder of January will be a bit crazy. D is spending his evenings and weekends at the new place, and it is going to be a race against time to get our changes complete before moving day. I’ve been trying to document the renovations with photos, though, so hopefully I can post some of the small improvements we are making to bring this 60s modern back to her original glory.

In the meantime, please feel free to bestow upon me your best baby girl-rearing advice. We’ve been solely about the penis ’round here for the past three years, so any and all advice is welcome!

Happy Holidays!

We are currently in Oklahoma, awaiting the 3 to 7 inches of snow we heard might be making its appearance just in time for Christmas. Wito just might lose his mind in the presence of strange white stuff falling from the sky. We are cautiously optimistic, Mr. Weather! Please don’t disappoint this wide-eyed preschooler!

My father and I are also filming the sequel to this summer’s Candyman, which will be a hard-hitting documentary about my father’s quest to create the Perfect Chex Mix. (And he does make the world’s BEST, trust me.) It will challenge everything you previously believed about chex mix, and we have our fingers crossed for an Oscar nod. Cautiously optimistic.

In the meantime, please enjoy the vocal stylings of Wito. Happy holidays to everyone!

Jingle Bells from whoorl on Vimeo.

Ella’s Kitchen Giveaway!

ellask

If I had to pick one food item that has made my life with a picky and active toddler infinitely better, it would be the smoothies from Ella’s Kitchen. My friend Lauren, who works for Ella’s Kitchen, introduced me to these little wonders a couple of months ago and Wito has been hooked ever since. (THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THESE INTO MY LIFE, LAUREN.)

I’m not sure if I have properly conveyed to you how much my child detests vegetables, but let me bring you up to speed. Wito will not touch any vegetable known to man. (Not even potatoes! Or sweet corn! Or carrots! Even if I soak them in Ranch dressing! Kill me now.)

However, he’s a fruitaholic, so I was pretty sure he would love these 100% organic and totally portable fruit smoothies. I was not wrong in my assumption. In fact, I have to hide these in my closet to keep him from sucking down 2 or 3 at a time. (Just imagine…my Frye boots and J. Crew flats sharing space with a box of organic fruit smoothies. Good thing they don’t need to be refrigerated until opened, right?)

The true test, however, was to see how he reacted to the smoothies with vegetables. A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the green smoothie pouch. He was super excited to try a new color, so he twisted off the top and took a big swig from the built-in straw. And guess what?

He hated it.

Oh, COME ON. Did you really think I was going to tell you that my vegetable hater actually ENJOYED a puree of broccoli, peas and pears? Right.

But! He loves his orange and purple smoothie pouches, which contain carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. MY CHILD WILLINGLY EATS PARSNIPS. Take a look for yourself.

ellas

Ella’s Kitchen, I salute you.

If you are looking for a simple way to get more organic fruits and vegetables into your little one’s diet, you must try Ella’s Kitchen. Their Stage 1 baby food range (4+ months and up, but I serve these as smoothies to Wito) is a completely different concept in baby food, bringing together minimally processed, carefully chosen organic natural fruits and vegetables and extremely convenient and easy packaging. Both the baby food and smoothies are simply 100% organic fruit and vegetables, with nothing to dilute their goodness – not even water. All of the flavors come in squeezy packs that are super easy for toddlers to enjoy with making a mess. (Love that part.)

Ella’s Kitchen products are sold at Babies R Us and Toys R Us, and you can read more about the company and products at their website.

Now for the best part. Ella’s Kitchen is giving away a sample box of these little wonders to one lucky reader. The sample box contains one full-sized pouch of each flavor shown above, for a total of 8 stage 1 foods/smoothies. Just leave a comment on this post before Friday, December 11th at 6pm PST and I’ll randomly choose one winner. Good luck!

ftcwhoorl