I recently got a sample of the Bumble & Bumble Don't Blow It (H)air Styler ($15-$30) in my June Sephora Play box and I was really excited to try it because I'm always looking for ways to dry my hair without heat. The trouble is, my hair is a complete disaster when I air dry it. It has a bit of natural wave to it...not completely straight but not curly either and it has a tendency toward lots of frizz due to damage from bleaching. Also, since my hair is fine in texture, it usually looks really flat if I don't blow dry it.
I've tried putting it up in different styles when it's still damp (thank you Pinterest) but those never seem to work because when I take it down hours later, it's still a bit damp and the waves end up falling out. I've also tried sleeping in rollers, but I end up tossing and turning...it's just not worth it.
So the idea that I can put a product in my hair and just let it air dry to perfection sounded perfect! Especially now that it's 90+ degrees outside and the last thing I want to do is use a blowdryer.
Claims:
This innovative hair cream creates a more refined take on this relaxed style for great hair days—without the heat or hassle. A texture-enhancing blend of lightweight polymers boosts hair’s natural texture and adds bounce while a plant-based conditioning blend keeps hair soft and hydrated.
Work evenly into towel-dried hair, scrunch, or twist, and go.
This cream smells great (light and fresh) and doesn't feel sticky...it's lightweight and spreads easily through your hair.
I use somewhere between a nickel and quarter sized dollop for my medium-length lob, and work it all through my towel-dried hair. Then I scrunched it a little and twisted large, two inch sections all over my head. For the next hour or so, I played with it on and off...re-twisting certain sections that were falling out, raking my fingers through, parting it one way, then the other.
It never felt like I had product in my hair...there was no sticky or crunchy feeling, it just felt soft.
So here's what it ended up looking like! There was a wonky piece in the front that stuck out in a weird way, but I was happy that I didn't have the usual amount of frizz and my hair wasn't completely flat-looking.
Obviously, it didn't look as nice as when I blowdry it but it also didn't look nearly as bad as it does when I air dry it without this product. In fact, it gave a sort of rumpled, surfer-girl vibe that I didn't mind at all. Hey, it's summer after all!
I wanted to take this photo without doing any styling whatsoever, so you can see the results with just this cream, but afterward, I did use a curling iron to define my waves and fix that piece in the front that was sticking out awkwardly.
Overall, I was pretty impressed with this product but it's not a miracle cream by any means. It definitely gave me better results vs. air drying my hair on its own, namely less frizz and more volume. But at the same time I still had to work at it a bit. I couldn't just put it in and go...I was constantly playing with it to get it to behave during the drying process.
But in the end, it was nice not to have to use a blowdryer in this hot weather and once I touched it up with a curling iron, it looked the same as it does when I blow dry it first...not bad!
Have you tried this product? Do you have any tricks for avoiding heat-styling that work for you?
You can purchase Bumble & Bumble Don't Blow It at Sephora stores and Sephora.com
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I feel like my problem with most hair products is I never know how much to apply. I used about a nickel sized blob of this in my waist length hair and didn't notice a difference. Based on how much you used I probably just didn't use enough. It's so hard to tell. Maybe I'll just use whatever is left of the sample in one use.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel! I always use too little when it comes to hair products because I'm afraid of weighing down my hair and making it greasy. But this is really lightweight so I concentrated it from the mid-shaft to ends and raked what was left on my hands into my roots. :)
Deletewow your hair looks amazing! I got this in the Sephora Play but yet to try it....
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! :)
DeleteI am so surprised, I thought that this would be a dud. Will have to pick it up!
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing! Especially when I saw the Sephora Play preview video and the guy was saying you just put this in and it looks like you blow-dried your hair. Nope, not quite! Haha, my skeptic brain was going crazy with that one! But it ended up being a lot better than I thought. Still takes a bit of work but in the end, I can actually let my hair air dry and not look like a hot mess. :)
DeleteI randomly tried this a few months back and ended up loving it! I can probably count on one hand how many times a year I blow dry my hair (virtually never). My hair gets so frizzy and crazy when I do. I love this stuff, doesn't make my hair crunchy and definitely gives you that undone beachy waves look to your hair. Thumbs up for me
ReplyDeleteThat's so great to hear that it works well for you! My hair is the exact opposite...if I DON'T blow dry, it gets crazy so I do it several times a week. Once a week I usually try to give it a break and put my hair up in a bun wet, but other than that my hair gets fried so it's nice to have another heatless option!
DeleteI have this and like it. When my hair needs an occasional break from blow drying, it cuts down on frizz and adds shine. I like how your hair looks very natural in that picture. If you want to smooth the ends and add more shine, try adding a little bit of Verb Ghost Oil either damp or dry. I have straight hair with oily roots, and it's the most lightweight oil I've ever found (even lighter than B&B Invisible Hairdresser's Oil), and won't weigh my hair down, and price is pretty reasonable. Think it could be HG for me. (Katherine T.)
ReplyDeleteThanks Katherine! :) I was so tempted to put oil in it before I took this picture but I didn't because I wanted to show what it looked like with just the B&B cream. But afterward, I smoothed a little bit of Carol's Daughter Monoi serum (I like it because it's silicone free and doesn't build up on my hair) and it looked so much better! :) Now I need to track down that Ghost Oil you recommended...that sounds amazing!! Perfect for my fine hair. :)
DeleteOh gotcha! Yes, hope you try the Ghost Oil. Sephora sells it, and it got almost all 5 star reviews. I've been using it to fight frizz/humidity and add shine without weighing hair down. And it's beat anything I've tried from DS or HE brands (Redken, John Frieda, Phyto, Bumble & Bumble, Living Proof, etc. etc). I used it on 2 super foggy/misty days, and my hair held up quite nicely. My friend has very thin, fine hair, and she loves it too. (Katherine T.)
DeleteYes! That sounds amazing! I will definitely check it out, thanks so much for the recommendation! :) XO
DeleteOoh thanks for the tip on the Verb Ghost Oil! I love the Hairdressers Invisible Oil, but it's certainly not cheap! I am definitely going to try the Verb stuff!
DeleteI have almost the same hair you do, mine might be a tiny bit curlier. I have blond highlights now too and its very dry. I use Its a 10 for blonds and then Alterna's CC cream, or a dab of serum. I let it dry to almost 70% dry and then I put a few sections in bantu knots, secured with a little clip. A hour or two later, I take it down and I have great curls. Have you tried Bantu knots? You don't really need that many. Too many makes a very curly head.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Randi! I keep hearing things about Bantu knots...I need to look into that! I also love Alterna's CC cream...it's amazing! :)
DeleteI'm extremely lazy and my hair routine usually takes a grand total of 2 minutes in the morning. Brush hair (while wet if I showered) and apply a little bit of anti-frizz cream like Living Proof. I often leave the house while it's still wet. My hair never looked great but, again, I'm just lazy. I tried this b&b product and was completely sold on it after a few days of use. My thin and fine hair had great volume while still being very touchably soft. I bought the full size product as soon as my sample ran out. If you've got fine/thin hair then I can recommend it! (And I totally sound like a walking advert for the product. I'm not. I was just really impressed with this.)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! I'm so glad you love it! :) I have to admit, I thought it was a gimmick but I was pleasantly surprised by it!
Deleteyour hair looks great :)
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks Jillie! :)
DeleteThis is 100% my holy grail hair product! I always had the same issues with my fine, wavy hair air drying. I use the DevaCurl "No Poo" and "One Condition"--shampoo free for over a year now which I think has helped my waves a lot--and then I towel dry my hair for maybe 5 minutes and brush it out well. Then I apply a bit more than a quarter size and just scrunch it all over and then the key, in my opinion, is I do not touch it again until it is dry. If my part starts to get annoying I will just flip my head around a bit, but I find that keeping hands off has really changed the air dry game for me! Your hair looks great in the picture, and as someone who can relate I would just urge you to keep giving this product a try until you find the "procedure" that works for you. I just wish this stuff had been around during my awkward teenage years, ha! Definitely a game changer/time saver. If it is ever discontinued I will be devastated.
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks for this!! I will try a "hands-off" approach next time (as hard as that's going to be! Haha!). :)
DeleteI've read about this in magazines, and really want to try it! Your hair sounds exactly like mine, mine is fine and get weighed down easily by products, and if I don't give it a BLOWDRY, it's just too flat. How much is the Sephora play box? I've always wanted to try a beauty box!
ReplyDelete