Enfnts Terribles

A lot of the time I feel like the effort doesn’t match the result when I do my hair myself. Plus all that heat damage… that’s that shit I don’t like. But… leave it up to L’Oréal to answer my DIY-prayers with my new favourite S-word: Steampod! Since I’m not genetically blessed with Pocahontas hair, this baby is my new favourite beauty-tool.

Steamy but caring

The L’Oréal Steampod is a hair straightener that works by releasing steam into your hair to straighten it. Think of it as a fancy flat-iron. Which means that heat is targeted more precise into the hair-shaft than with a traditional iron. So less heat is needed to achieve the same, or an even better, result. A range of Keratin treatments are also made available to treat the hair before using the Steampod. A Keratin treatment is a hair-treatment which can restore health to damaged hair by bonding keratin proteins to it. L’Oréal came out with a matching Steampod Replenishing Smoothing Cream. But if your hair is in desperate need of a bit more TLC, you can also use the CHI Keratin Silk Infusion. You can put this in your hair before you start steaming but this is completely optional, any good heat protection product will do just fine.

Size does matter

The fact that the Steampod uses steam rather than actual heat to style the hair means its a lot more bulky than a traditional straightener. It has a separate water reservoir that must be filled with demineralised water. If not, the mineral deposits will clog up the tubes, which is not good. This ads to the bulk and makes it a bit more heavy. This comes in unpractical if you, for example, want to straighten your fringe. Or in my case, an undercut you are trying to grow out – don’t ask. Doing the back of your hair is also kinda challenging, since the steam is released only from one side of the plates. So you can only use it in one direction.

A quickie that lasts

However, if you have very curly, frizzy or damaged hair (check, check aaand check!) the results are amazing in terms of the look and “feel” of your hair. Plus it lasts… I rocked my steamed out locks for 5 days straight without any touch ups. Which is the perfect amount of days when you have a hectic work-week. Plus, the fact it cuts back my straightening time from 50 minutes to 27 minutes – yes, I timed it – makes me almost forgive its bulky-ness. But the Steampod is a tad bit slow to get started, as the water in the reservoir needs to reach the required temperature. It has 3 different temperature settings, (180°/200°/220°) but trust me, 180° is hot enough. Let the steam do the work for you and start swinging those locks in the sun baby.

Photo credits: L’Oréal, Beauty Rocks