- For years, I had coarse, brittle, and thinning hair from over-styling it with heat products, and dying it.

- In an effort to rebalance my locks, I stayed away from heat products and made a conscious decision to only use ones that didn't further damage my hair.

- Recently, I began to see all my favorite influencers (and friends!) using the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer to totally transform their hair on Instagram, and when I found out that it doesn't apply heat directly to the hair, I tried it as an alternative to traditional curlers and straighteners and found the results to be just as good as when I get a pricey blowout at a salon.

Till about age 12, I had the shiniest, softest, thickest straight hair. Even as a kid, I remember adults complimenting it. I couldn't have cared less, and usually returned to sticking my nose in a book (or legos), so the second I started frying and dying my hair with styling products, my mom watched from afar, basically in tears. As a rebellious teenager navigating independence, I could have cared less.