Tried, tested, and loved by our editors.
MiniPRO by Conair Tourmaline Ceramic Hair Dryer, $14.99
Last year I grew my hair out. It got so long I though it'd be a good idea to put it up into a man bun, until I saw photos of myself at a friend's wedding. Then I decided I probably shouldn't have a man bun. I went to the barber and after he asked me three times if I was sure, he cut it all off. "So what're you looking for?" he said. I said, "I don't know, surprise me." I've never been very particular about my hair. Did I have blonde tips in the nineties? You betcha. How about that crispy-gelled boy band look with the spiky front from the early aughts? Hell yeah. But since then it's sorta just been, well, hair. Shave it into a mohawk, grow it out, throw a hat over it. I'd try any style as long as I didn't have to waste time on it. The shit always seemed to grow back.
But let me tell you: When my barber finished my haircut, my hair looked amazing. It had lift. It had style. The dude even decided to take a photo, which is how you know a stylist is pleased with their work (same goes for tattoo artists), and needless to say that has never, ever happened to me after a haircut. So I left the shop feeling good. I left the shop feeling good-looking. I was, how do you say... feeling my look.
But then came the next day. I put product in my hair and combed it like my barber showed me, but the situation was now... different. I looked like Eddie Furlong in Terminator 2, which would have been awesome if I was 14 and it was 1991, but I was thirty-three in 2016 and it just wasn't cutting it. What happened to my glorious hair from the day before? Where had I gone wrong? What did my barber do differently?
I didn't figure it out until a week later. I was traveling, staying in a hotel, and had some time to kill. After I'd showered and was about to begin my now routine, futile attempt to make my hair look not-terrible, I noticed the hairdryer in the hotel bathroom.
OH.
It felt like a million clues and memories had hit me all at once, Keyser Söze-style. Or, fine, maybe just one memory—but it was a vital one. My barber had used a hairdryer while styling my hair. Could it be? Was this The Rosetta Stone to rad hair looks I'd been missing?
I had my doubts. I always figured they were for drying wet hair, and that was it. Hair. Dryer. That was what they were called. But I decided to give it a shot and switched the hairdryer on. As I combed my hair exactly as my barber had instructed, I awkwardly aimed the hairdryer at my scalp. All of a sudden, my hair was getting lift. Life! The haircut I had when I first left the barbershop began to materialize. It was like my hair was forming into the statue of David right atop my head and I was Michelangelo. Or, more like the hair dryer was Michelangelo and I was just some gawking bystander, but still!
The first thing I did when I got home was run out to my local Walgreen's buy this lil' baby. The Conair® Mini PRO® Tourmaline Ceramic Styler. She's light weight, folds up for easy packing (yes, I do now take my hairdryer with me whenever I travel), and gets the job done. Sure, I don't style my hair every day. Most days it's easier to toss on a hat and get out the door. But on those days when I need an extra pick-me-up? Or I've got an event that I'm nervous about? Well, me and my CMPTCS make sure I've got a look that has me feeling great. —Isaac Fitzgerald, Books Editor
Get it here for $14.99.
Alice Kim
Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray, $30
I started wearing more makeup this year as a result of sitting next to Augusta and all the fascinating tubes and bottles she gets on a regular basis. I tend to think of myself as kind of a greasy meatball on even my best days, but between the increased application of stuff to my face and summer approaching, I've been dreading the exceptionally slimy months ahead.
After reading up on various setting sprays (which are supposed to keep your makeup matte and in place), I decided to try Urban Decay's De-Slick. The first day I wore it, I was running around Manhattan in mid-80s weather sourcing pieces for a photoshoot (which, if you can't tell by my hair in the above pictures, was a very sweaty time in my life). But all the way from the morning until the end of the day, my makeup DID. NOT. BUDGE.
It's $30 for 4 oz, which certainly isn't cheap. Since it only requires two to four spritzes at a time, though, I feel like it will last me several months — or get me through the summer with minimal sliminess, at least. — Nora Whelan, Style Writer
Get it here for $30.
Nora Whelan
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