Greetings from Aly!
October 31, 2008 by Aly Walansky
Filed under About Me, Beauty, Beauty Books, Hair Care, gift-ideas
Hi!
As I pen this introduction, I am readying myself to hit the skies…not for vacation (alas) but to explore the spa and beauty regimes at a hotel and spa in Los Angeles.
Most certainly indulgent, and not entirely sane (there are probably more responsible ways to spend the final days before an election when the nation’s economy is in shambles…), it is actually pretty reflective of my very existence.
I’m not shallow, I am just goal-oriented…and said goal is to make everyone around me as pretty and well informed as can be!
My name is Aly Walansky, and I am an avowed beauty product junkie.
And so, when I was approached to take over eBeautyDaily, I got a little hyper excited and nearly plotzed in my non-sensible Betsey Johnson booties.
To all my friends and readers who already know me from my iVillage and SheKnows columns, thanks so much for the continued support! To my new friends, it’s so nice to meet you! Please visit me daily, every morning I will post beauty product reviews, tips, and advice – and, every few days, contests where you can walk away with valuable freebies!
To start things off, I have decided to buy your friendship and continued readership.
One reader will win an autographed copy of Nick Arrojo’s new – and awesome – book, Great Hair. I will be writing more about this book – and referring to it often – in the days and weeks to come, but if you want a head start this holiday season at being the hottest girl in the zip code (as I aspire to be), this is a great way to start.
Nick Arrojo – whom I admit to having a tremendous crush on – is sort of the yoda of the hair industry, and in this book, shares his secrets! “In this book you will find my voice, my vision, and all of the advice I willingly and happily share with anyone who seeks me out, sits in my chair, and asks me for help. I hope it inspires you to be confident and beautiful; sexy and happy!” Arrojo says.
To have your chance to win the book, please share with us the most awful thing that has occurred in your own life, during your pursuit of great hair. Did your locks melt? Did your flaxen roots become a nasty ashen green? Share! Your sorrow can also be your reward!
Deadline November 5.
Photo credit: ArrojoProduct.com
Well remember the age of big hair in the 80’s and perms- I really did a whopper, I did a perm for big hair at home double kit so it would be really curly and that same night my girlfriend tried to add lighter brown hightlights to my hair and oh well, It looked like bozo put his finger in an electrical socket- some of it normal colored but dried and fried..some red as can be fried as bright red- it was a mess- so much for that sexy look huh? then to top the thing off I thought it was cool n a pnytail and a scarf but had to take it off for swiimming and my hair had algae shades of green too- too bad it was not closer to halloween at the time- my hair was so bad I went for a cut and the hairdresser talked me into a cute longer bob like dorthy hamill- looked good wet but when it dried I looked like a rotten carrottop- summer came and I grew it out and never permed my hair again and have loearned wait in between and test colors out!
what are the rules of the contest? Is it the worst story wins or will you just pick randomly?
Nine months before my wedding I asked my hairdresser for a “soft” perm. I wanted body and I wanted length. He was the owner of a very high end salon in Brentwood CA and he had permed my hair before. The result? Poodles on the street were begging me for his number. The Westminster Dog Show sent me a registration form. My sister called me ‘FIFI’. The hairdresser after coiling and shearing me (perhaps he is now a master groomer at Pet Smart?) gave me a miniscule trial size of some deep conditioner and said, “Here, this should help.” He walked away from the chair and left me sitting there. And I sat for a very long time. When the receptionist asked if I needed something else, I responded that I needed about 18 months to grow this mess out. It took a lot longer and while my hair was once again straight on my wedding day (thank you Antonia wherever you are) it was far shorter than I had wanted it to be.
I have very fine hair and tyring to put a ponytail in it is a challenge.
Hi Aly! Welcome to b5media.
My worst hair experience was when I tried to dye my hair bleach blond. I looked so bad that my kids begged me to fix it. So, I sent hubby back to the store and told him to pick out a brown, any brown, just something different that what was on my head at the moment. So, two dye jobs in one night later, I had very brittle and messed up hair for awhile. Nothing some conditioning treatments couldn’t take care of.
Many thanks for to all and Happy contest
Being it on for the goodness
love all the contest; many thanks
Hi Aly!
Good Luck on your new gig, I enjoying reading your other blogs.
Worst hair disaster, I have had quite a few; I got highlights at a very nice, highly recommended salon, the colorist totally fried my hair. When I washed it, it would not dry, it was dead, I had dead hair on my head. So, I went for a hair consultation and the stylist, who cut hair in a tux (another time, another story) suggested that he cut my hair short, so that it would grow healthy, did I have a choice? Dead hair or short hair? Well, he cut my hair, SO short, my family teased me to tears, my children sang songs about hairless people. Very sad
i had my hair colored red and everybody hated it including me needless to say it won’t happen again
Going into the beauty salon to get gorgeous red hair only to have some weird chemical reaction and ending up with a purplish shade!
I went to the beauty shop for a perm and color touch up. My hair turned bright orange with kinky curls. I looked like Little Orphan Annie. That was the end of my trips to the beauty shop.
Hi Aly – welcome to the b5 family. I had auburn streaks (supposedly) put in my hair once by a “top” stylist in L.A. I end up looking like I was wearing an orange yarmulke because the highlights were heavy on the roots and nowhere else.
I went back and demanded it be fixed – the stylist tried to convince me that it looked “hip”. LOL
I once had my hair thermally straightened, which took hours and hours…and lasted a week or so. After that every time I left the house my hair started to frizz, it was awful for months. I will NEVER straighten myhair again.
I have always had very straight, fine hair and, now that I’m in my 50s, my hair is thinning out. It always looks awful even though I try a new hairdresser (based on the recommendations of friends) every time.
My worst hairstyle moment was back in my freshman year of high school. I guess I told the hairstylist to do what she thought would look good. I came out of there with what basically looked like a mullet. I cried for a long time. I did not go see a hairstylist for several months. I have never said that again.
My daily battle of hair is enough to not have a single really bad hair day
Getting great hair for me has been a problem for years. Especially when I dont have any hair!
I too have a bad perm story. I finally let my hair grow out to shoulder length. This was in the 80’s. My best friend was giving me a perm. Well I got company in the meantime. I just sat there and talked while Linda said to please rinse out your hair. Well I had a huge afro! My hair stood out about 8 inches. Linda had to cut it off. I couldn’t get a comb thru it. I sobbed while she cut. Short hair again! No more perms for me. Love Nick Arrojo’s styles on “What Not To Wear”.
I colored my hair once using the other half of a bottle that had been sitting on the shelf for awhile. My hair turned green!
Two words — Sun In!
i turned my pretty dark brown hair bleach blonde.. and it was a horrible mistake
Every day is a bad hair day for me
I have naturally curly hair, which of course I wanted straight… SO a friend mentioned getting a perm to reverse the curl.. I went to a very expensive salon told him what I wanted done and he said no problem we could do this he just had to roll against my natural curl.. 3 hours later… I was a POODLE!!
Someone told me “Neutral Henna” would make my hair shiny and smooth without changing the color. I accidentally bought “Natural Henna” and ended up with green-ish red hair!
I have light brown hair and I wanted to lighten it a bit. Well my friend and I tried an at home lightener and I think we left it in too long because it came out white and with the texture of straw…never again will I try that.
I had a hairdresser I trusted to nth degree. I would tell him to do whatever he wanted when I wanted a change and he always did something magical and beautiful. Until the time he got overly creative and gave me a Jane Jetson look that I could not recreate if I had 5 hands. The cut could not be styled any other way. After a week, I went back and he was shocked when I told him to do something else.
My mom turned my hair bright orange trying to give me red highlights!
I can’t remember too many good hair days
I don’t have too many scary stories, but definitely one of the worst things that I tried to do happened whenever I was a teenager. I have naturally medium brown hair. I decided that I wanted to go platinum blond. So, I went to the drugstore and bought the dye and everything. I went home and dyed my hair and it turned orange! We’re talking carrot orange. I flipped out (but I think my mom did even more, especially because she had to pay for it to be fixed).
In the end, I ended up with brown hair again, because that’s the only color we could dye it back to. Plus, my hair was so dry and damaged after that. It was terrible.
I have fine, straight hair–enough said!
Thank you for the contest!
Don’t die your hair black unless you are dead set upon looking like elvira.
Nick has such a terrific sense of styling hair. I swear there has been times I have seen him cut hair on TV and I thought it was going to be a disaster but it turned out terrific..He has such a talent! My horror story is that my hair is starting to thin and I have been diagnosed with female patter baldness…how horrible is that!
I would cry after getting a haircut because I thought it was too short or unflattering.
My hair was like ‘lil orphan Annie – frizz – every day was a bad hair day. Who wants to remember that – I was the queen of babushkas – hiding my frizzy hair!
right now my hair is completely fried. but its platinum and its hard to be this blond!
I once put a shiner product in my hair and it literally ate up my natural color and turned it brassy.
Trying to save a few dollars, I thought “how hard can it be to color the gray hairs that were peeping through my curls?” Big mistake… Huge!! I had the color stained into my neck, on the bathroom rug, my hands. The gloves provided ripped. And my hair? Holy brassy red, batman! It wound up costing me around $80 to go to a real hair stylist and fix it. never again!
Someone gave me a GC to a local spa so I went in to get my long fine hair cut and a body wave. The ’stylist’ convinced me into going with a spiral perm. Needless to say it was overprocessed and horrid. Came out looking like the bride of Frankenstein. Months of deep conditioner before I finally gave up and had it cut off.
MY hair always is so frizzy it looks like a nest every time i go outside im afraid a bird is going to land in it
Count me in please
I decided to get a perm because my hair is as straight as a stick. My hair was colored and the hair dresser said that that was no problem. In the following days my hair started breaking off. I went back but I had to get all the colored part cut off. My hair was 1 inch long. What a nightmare!!!!
Can’t stand my perm…HELP!!!!
Count me in please
The Perm from Hades. I have naturally straight and boring hair. So… I decided to get a perm. I actually liked it for the first month, but then the roots grew out. The roots kept growing and I looked like I had a skull cap on. I went back and asked to have it all cut off. Oddly, the more they cut, the more the perm came back… only not in a good way at all. It took over a year for that perm to finally go away.
My worst moment was the first time I straightened my hair. I didn’t know what I was doing. Half was straight, but the rest was still enormous.
My husband took a picture of me wearing one of those caps that have holes in them to pull the hair up through in order to highlight it. I looked like a chemo patient with just tuffs of hair sticking up all over my head.
My hair got so tangled I had to cut the clumps out. =0(
Back when I was a teen, I let my older brothers girlfriend (a student at a beauty school) perm my hair. She left it in too long and it burnt the back of my hair…right up the middle. It was a mess! It took years and years of cutting my hair to even it up until finally my hair became healthy again and the burnt part had grown out and become cut off. I have never had my hair permed again since!
I had the heat turned up too high on my dryer tring to save time. I burned my hair real bad.