The Straight and Narrow

Cosmetic confession: I have a standing date with my flat iron every morning at approximately 8:00 AM.  You see, I was blessed with not-quite-straight-but-not-exactly-curly-or-even-totally-wavy hair that is basically a hot mess when allowed to run wild. So I straighten religiously, with the help of the amazing GHD flat iron that I bought at the recommendation of my dear friend, Annie Rose.  Every now and then, when the mood strikes me, I opt for curl, but I generally keep things on the straight on narrow.


Straight Spray by Living Proof
$17 for 1.8 oz. or $29 for 5.5 oz.
Available at Sephora


The reason I felt the need to make this confession--that some might consider "TMI"--was so that you could understand how excited I was, upon opening Sephora's new fall catalog, to discover the mere existence of Living Proof's Straight Spray.  Until this recent discovery, I had actually never heard of Living Proof--and shame on me, for it turns out that the company was created just a stone's throw away from me in Cambridge, MA, and the Living Proof Story is actually a pretty interesting one.  The company was founded by Polaris Venture Partners (an uber successful venture capital firm) and a team of scientists that includes MIT professor Dr. Bob Langer, and it is this uniquely qualified team that allows Living Proof to utilize "advanced technology to solve beauty's toughest challenges."  The Straight Spray, a styling spray designed to extend the life of straight styles, is one of their newest inventions.

Here's how it works: The spray contains aerosolized PolyfluoroEster (trying saying that five times fast!), which is the fancy science term for Living Proof's breakthrough molecule that creates a weightless shield to prevent water from entering the hair shaft and ruining your straight strands. Straight spray can then be reapplied to wet or dry hair, so as to extend your style...for days.  As an added bonus, the lightweight formula is also said to repel dirt and protect against heat styling. Part of me feels like this all sounds too good to be true, but I ordered a bottle anyway--you know, as proof.  I opted for the smaller bottle size (1.8 oz compared to the larger 5.5 oz) to see just how seriously straight I can get, willing to risk the $17 on the off chance that this could be the beginning of some seriously fabulous hair.