Diffusion Confusion

Summer has finally come to the Pacific Northwest. For the past few days, it's been insanely hot and humid here. Despite the fact that I grew up in Maryland, a state know for it's hazy, hot and humid summer days, I don't do well in the heat. My makeup melts, my skin feels greasy, and my hair? Oh, god...my hair is a wavy, uncontrollable mess!

I have a tiny bit of wave to my hair. Under ideal conditions, I blow my hair dry to get it sleek and shiny. Since I know not to fight the losing battle against humidity, I recently decided to embrace my natural waves and let them flow.

To do so, I tried out my never-used diffuser attachment on my hair dryer. I heard that diffusers help make curly hair look great. After my first try with the diffuser, my hair was overly fluffy and very 80s metal. I ended up looking like a blonde Dave Mustaine from Megadeth (see below). Not the look I was after!

So...I must have done something wrong. (See? Beauty bloggers don't know it all!) I did some checking around on the Internet and here's how a diffuser is supposed to be used:

• Use only the cool or the lowest heat setting on the hair dryer.
• For volume at the roots, flip head upside down and place the teeth of the diffuser directly into the root area. Use the teeth to lift the root. Move the diffuser around the head.
  
• For a hair diffuser to work correctly, you must stay close to the hair since the air flow is restricted.
  
• Lift the ends of the hair with the diffuser, almost as if you were using your fingers to scrunch the hair. Dry hair about 80% of the way. Resist hand scrunching. Let it finish trying on its own so any curls are not flattened.

I'll try this out tomorrow morning and will hopefully look decent...and not like an 80s metalhead. If you have any tips on how to use a diffuser, by all means...leave me a comment!