Hair and other stuff, like hair.

Hello!!! Hair It is a wondrous thing. I just (well, about three weeks ago now) purchased the Holy Grail of hair-straightening devices, The Chi by Farouk. I got it at Beauty First. They have a frequent shopper program there. I was first attracted to the store because they carry the Dirty Girl brand and I like the lip balm they make. They also carry all the salon hair care lines, and other stuff as well, ie OPI, Essie, hair notions, etc. I think they have a few lines of cosmetics there as well. Oh yes, and the frequent shopper card. Basically this card enabled me to a coupon that I would always forget to use. When I bought The Chi, however, I was informed by the SA that she was taking my card and giving me a new one. Barely paying attention, I replied something along the lines of, oh did you get new cards, and she responded that no, I had jut spent enough money to upgrade to the Gold Program. Yikes!!! Had I spent that much? Apparently I had. Well, it was worth it to keep my hair from frying, thought I. After all, I was using the Aveda damage restructuring line (with Quinoa, no less!). Well, now with my new and improved Gold Card, I was entitled to a 20% discount the first Tuesday of the month. So now I will switch back to some other salon line, as they don't sell Aveda there. But I get 20% off! Wheee! She also threw in a tiny bottle of something called "Biosilk". Eh, thought I. I mostly use a homemade concoction on my hair. I make it out of: Water, Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, emulsifying wax, Various essential oils. It is very nice, and very hydrating. I recently started buying some Dove products, that have the word "smooth" in the title. Basically they are silicone based products which act to smooth the hair cuticle, while affording some heat protection as well. I got home and threw the Biosilk into my drawer and never looked back. Yesterday, I colored my hair. I had some wicked grays popping up (gasp!) and they had to go. I used Clairol Hydrience in Driftwood which was apparently a medium ash brown. My natural color is a dark brown. The Driftwood is a very nice color, brown but not too red, or too light. The gray-coverage is crap though. I have light brown hairs instead of gray hairs. I'll have to go back to my Feria, which covered gray very nicely. I don't have the patience to sit around for 45 minutes with hair color on my head. Also, I was noticing that I may need THREE bottles of color, as the two I had offered meager, at best, coverage of my massive head of hair (think lion mane). Anyhoo. I proceeded onto the "straightening" process, which simply (Ha!) requires me to detangle (ouch), pile goop onto my hair, then use my Ionic, Digital, and Ceramic Hot Tools dryer (with the comb attachment), then The Chi to get it super straight and add a bit of curl. I saw the Biosilk and thought, why not? Just what I need, more silicone. And besides, it may keep my hair from burning. I love it. I love The Biosilk. It kept my hair from burning (no more burning hair smell!!!), and wow, the curls! It also acted as a setting lotion, so now I have straight hair, with a tiny bit of hard curl. I did need to use The Chi again this morning, but hopefully it will last for a few more days. My hair looks Fantastic! I love The Biosilk. I cringe at the thought of how much it must cost though. So please, don't tell me. At least I get 20% off.