The Mane Event

Hi SYB Babes!!
How are you? I've missed you terribly...sorry I've taken so long to holler, but I've been in and out of town for the past couple of weeks, doing IT CHICKS stuff. Thank you so much for all your enthusiastic responses...I print them all out and put them in a file for when I'm besieged by writer's block. Which is now, because IT CHICKS Book #2 is due on June 18th!! Yes, girls, it IS a series, and you can expect Book #2 in your bookstores in Spring 2008. Somebody please light a candle for me, because I'm DROWNING in adorable teen girls with boy issues, crazy dance teachers, and flagrant hallway gossip. Speaking of...guess what? I'm giving away TEN SIGNED COPIES of IT CHICKS to the first ten SYB Babes to email me a delicious plot point I can use in Book #2 (beauty@tiawilliams.net). Cannot wait to hear your scandalous little thoughts...

I feel very 2007, you know why? I FINALLY started a Myspace page...www.myspace.com/theitchicks. Actually, it's not really about me, it's for IT CHICKS (you must check it out...my talented-beyond-words friend Kibwe whipped up the most darling illustrations for each of the main characters). I just put it up and I have zero friends so far...truth be told, I don't even know HOW to ask for friends, yet. I have never felt more 31 in my life.

Okay, I was going to do a Q&A this week, but I looked over my comments from the past month or so, and a good 75 percent of your questions have all been hair-related. I mean, just look:

* "If it isn't too much to ask, I hope that you can try and get more hair styling tips! Thanks!"
--Anonymous

* "What products do you use on your hair? Do you have your hair regimen posted on the blog? If not, could you post it?"
--Alexis

* "I second Alexis! What's your hair routine? It's fabulous!"
--Dandia

* "I'm needing hair help...your hair length is my goal!"
--Monique

* "How do you keep your ends so healthy?"
--Sinner saved by grace (loving your name, sugar)

See, here's the thing. I think I don't talk about hair that often because I don't really DO my own hair! I go to a fabulous Dominican salon (Adelina's on 5th Ave. in Park Slope...if you're a New Yorker, look into it) every Sunday, and my blowout usually lasts up to two weeks. So I'm really just a maintenance chick. But it's true...sometimes I'm too busy to get there and I do, in fact, sprain my wrists working out my hair, all by myself. And since I can take a hint, I'm devoting this post to my entire haircare regimen. I'm spilling all--everything from my shampoo to my favorite frizz fighter. Hope this helps, muchachitas!!

luv ya, mean it,
Taquita Williams (sorry, I'm deeply into Taquita & Kaui right now)


PS...Check me out in the latest issue of Teen Vogue (with Emma Roberts on the cover)! I wrote "Access Hollywood," an IT CHICKS-inspired piece on kids who'll do anything to get famous. And I'm on the contributor's page, too. Most of you will recognize the photo from an old Glamour profile on my apartment...isn't my Miniature Pinscher just SO glamorous in his oxford shirt and collegiate sweater? Yum.

TIA'S EXHAUSTIVE HAIR HOW-TO

STEP 1: Shampoo & Conditioner
PRODUCT: John Frieda Brilliant Brunette, Chestnut to Espresso Shine-Release Moisturizing Shampoo and Light-Reflecting Conditioner ($6.49, each)
THE STORY: I know it sounds kind of random, but me and my mom are really, really into John Frieda's Brilliant Brunette line. I remember going to the event years ago, when it first launched, and thinking that there's no way in HELL a shampoo or conditioner can make your hair sparkle and shine. Not even the color-depositing ones. Well, recently I discovered that the PR chick was so not bullshitting. Not only does this shampoo/conditioner combo leave my hair impossibly glossy, it's super-moisturizing, too. And the conditioner is a kick-ass detangler. Here's how I know: For years, my conditioning routine has always been to coat my hair in the stuff, run a wide-tooth comb through to detangle, and then rinse (it makes for really silky, tangle-free hair when you blowdry). And I don't think I've EVER had an easier time detangling than with Brilliant Brunette. If that's not enough to convince you, woman, then I don't know what.


STEP 2: Leave-in
PRODUCT PICK: Mizani Thermasmooth Smooth Guard ($21.99)
THE STORY: Okay, so my next step is to wring out all the water in my hair, and then apply a sleekening leave-in heat protector to prep my hair for the blowdry. Then I wrap my hair in a towel and do chores or something for the next hour, while my hair dries a little (you're never supposed to blowdry soaking-wet hair...you have to use tons more heat to dry it, and it's more prone to breakage). My product of choice is this SUMPTIOUS Mizani Smooth Guard. Heaven! This lightweight, heat-protecting serum is chock full of special fancy polymers that help shield, polish and smooth hair while you blowdry. This stuff is a godsend. And you usually can only buy it in-salon, but Sneaky Me found a site that hawks it. Yay.


STEP 3: Blowdry
PRODUCT PICK: Vidal Sassoon Fast Dry Professional Styling Dryer ($21.49)
THE STORY: I've been deeply involved with some incarnations of this blowdrier since 1981. And it's all because it comes with a special brush attachment that makes blowdrying a zillion times easier. Instead of trying to coordinate the whole dryer-and-round-bristle-brush situation...it's built right in! And the brush attachment makes it easy to really get at stubborn roots and kitchens. Perfection. Oh, and here's my technique: I part my hair down the middle so that I have two ponytails, and I work on one side at a time.


STEP 4: Curl
PRODUCT PICK: Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey ($9.50)
THE STORY: Once my hair's all dry and straight and stuff, I then beat it to death with a curling iron. Some may find this an almost pornographic abuse of heat tools, but it works for me. First, I pull all my hair on top of my head. Then, I pull down small sections, apply a teeensy dab of Carol's Daughter's heavenly Hair Honey to each section (it controls frizz, moisturizes heat-damaged hair and smells citrusy-delicious!), and then curl with a 1" barrel iron. Next, I slip out the iron so that the curl falls ringlet-style, and then I wind it into a pin curl. Once I've got pin curls all over my head, I QUICKLY blast them with the hot air from the blowdryer, and then wait for the curls to cool. After about twenty minutes, I un-pin, shake out, and voila! Mama's got a head full of sultry, tousled bounciness.


STEP 5: Nighttime Maintenance
PRODUCT PICK: Global Goddess Shine Coconut Amla Hair Revitalizing Treatment ($45)...and if you're on a budget, try Ellin Lavar Textures Nourish Oil ($7.99)
THE STORY: At night, it's all about a high ponytail ontop of my head (with a soft scrunchie, though, so I don't get creases), and an elastic headband around my roots (you can get them at American Apparel for cheap, cheap, cheap). I take the hair in the ponytail and create about four pin-curls, pinning them around the scrunchie...it actually turns out to be a pretty bun. This technique keeps your curls for, like, up to a week and a half. But before I do the ponytail, I rub a itty-bitty dab of the coconut oil between my hands and rub over my ends (JUST the ends, or your hair'll get way greasy). I've totally written about this stuff, like eighteen times. But for those of you who've asked me how my ends stay so healthy, this is the answer. And a tiny trim every four months.

PS...TWO EXTRA HAIR HINTS!!!


ISSUE: Humid-day frizz
PRODUCT PICK: Kiehl’s Climate Proof Shine Enhancing Non-Aerosol Spray ($14.50)
THE STORY: I've written about this, too, but maybe it bears repeating. You know those really humid days when you walk outside and your hair immediately explodes? This Kiehls' stuff is SUCH a savior. And it's really the only one of it's kind. It's a lightweight, non-aerosol hairspray that's chock full of frizz-fighters, shine-enhancers and moisturizers. So it manages to hold your style all day (but not in a freeze-frame kind of way; you can still run your fingers thru it), while totally combating frizz AND giving you major shine. Go Kiehls!


ISSUE: Dull, dead-looking hair
PRODUCT PICK: Oscar Blandi Luce ($25)
THE STORY: You know how it goes...you've killed your hair with all the blowdrying, relaxing, coloring, and flat-ironing, and now it looks like a dead, dull disaster. A hot mess. Well, Oscar Blandi's new emollient-infused, rinse-out gloss is designed to revitalize chemically-damaged hair and tired-looking ends. Here's how to use it: Once every two weeks, apply Luce to wet, shampooed and conditioned hair, slap on a shower cap, and leave for five minutes. Rinse and behold the most vibrant, glossy, revitalized hair!