I have a lot of hair. My thick full of volume hair is a blessing, but can also be a curse. It's coarse, hard to style, hates humidity (and I live in the south) and can be expensive to maintain. While my hair has hardly been as bad as Mia Thermopolis' pre-princess look, once I leave the salon and try to style on my own, I lose that fashionable silky-smooth look. 

Perhaps it's my inability to be patient, spending the proper time needed to blow-dry.. or perhaps its the tools I have at home.. nevertheless, I've never expected much from hair tools and products that others claim to love. With the latest craze surrounding style dryers, I thought I'd check one out and see what kind of results I could achieve with my super thick does-what-it-wants hair. 

Started by Maria McCool, Calista exists to empower women to be and look their best using tools in their own home- saving money and time from expensive salon visits. Calista products are cruelty-free, all natural, and vitamin-infused so that our hair looks and feels great! As someone who has struggled finding the right tools to style her hair, I'm super excited that Calista offers such great products.. and empowers women along the way!

Calista sent over the StyleDryer Pro hair drying brush for me to check out. This electric drying brush comes with two attachments: an oval brush and a styling brush. Calista recommends that hair be towel dried before beginning.  

The brush comes in three sizes, depending on your hair's length: short, medium, or long. This brush is 1200 watts, has 3 settings (cool, low, and high), two attachments,  and is very easy to use! Attachments can be changed out by pressing in the two buttons, pulling off the oval or styling brush, and then reattaching the other by fitting it in and holding down the buttons. This brush takes up less space than a hair dryer and I find it easier to navigate than a hair dryer as well. 

As I've said, my hair is very thick and even proper blow-drying with a round brush can take up to 40+ mins. I don't have the time or paitence for that, so have been excited that Calista seems to have cut my styling time down in half. Now, I haven't tried it where I have to get straight out of the door.. generally, I keep my hair wrapped up, then towel dry after showering, make coffee, get dressed, then circle back around to styling. 

If I let my hair air dry too much, I do find that it does get frizzier easier, so I try to put product in right away, even if I don't get to styling the hair right away. After putting in product, it's best to section off hair so that the focus can be on a smaller selection, rather than the entire head. Sectioning off hair helps to achieve that smooth look too. 

Calista also offers several different types of hair products, including their Intensify Volumizing Styling Foam. I was also sent Jousse Cleanse + Condition to try out. I absolutely love the smell of these products but am really glad they sent pumps.It makes showering so much easier when one doesn't have to navigate screw tops! 

Now, I've always been skeptical of salons and hair stylists that claim a certain product works wonders.. because, when I get home, I can never achieve the results that happened in the salon. I can chalk that up to user error, but sometimes it just makes a gal wonder. 

These products, combined with the styling tool, have made my hair shiny, sleek (for the most part.. after all, I still live in the south), and easy to style. I can definitely feel a difference when I dry my hair .. and that shine/ smooth feeling lasts so much longer throughout the day! If I want to dry my hair quickly and I don't worry about the smoothing out or shape, I just use the styling brush. 

Honestly, when my hair gets so thick that it needs a good trim, it's hard to style it at all, so I was surprised that the Calista did such a great job on this head! I think I was running on week 13 of in between trims and thinning, so there was a lot of hair there! Definitely no problems with volume either.. not something I struggle with! 

Of course, I had to try out Calista after I received my "Easter" hair cut because I knew my hair would be shorter, less heavy, and thinned out... getting rid of some of that super thickness. Using the Intensify foam combined with the Jousse cleaning products has done wonders for getting my hair to be smooth (minus our insane wind this week) and sleek! 

Using the rounded tool seems to work best to get my hair to flip the way I like as well as keep it smooth. The styling brush seems to work better to dry my hair quicker, but doesn't do much for shaping, other than to give it some wave.  Both the styling brush and rounded tools work well, it just depends on what type of hair style you desire on any given day! Now, my hair has never held curl or wave well, (at least, not without a ton of product), so I don't really try to manipulate it like that, but every once in a while I can get a nice flip. 

I am so excited to have this Calista styling tool in my home, cause I really can achieve the salon look now! Of course, depending on how much I am in a hurry, how long my hair as air dried, results are always different, but I am genuinely impressed with the Calista styledryer pro!

Need some styling tips? Check out Calista's Videos for amazing "how-to's"on shaping and drying your hair using the StyleDryer Pro! 

I will continue to develop my skills over time, but really do like how it lays my hair flat, keeps it smooth, and keeps it shiny! The best part is.. no tangles and little frizz! The frizz I did find was smoothed out with a brush and a bit of foam! 

If you want to achieve quality hair styles without the salon prices, I definitely recommend grabbing a Calista Styledryer Pro and Calista hair products. You won't regret those choices.. or perhaps, you will even find another tool you might like. Curling Irons, Straighteners, and Go- Minis all will help you navigate the world of hair care.. and don't forget the smoothing brush. I think thats my favorite brush now! 

With Mother's Day coming up, Calista products would make a great gift for the busy mom or gal in your life. Not a traditional gift, but what can be better to cut your busy mom's time in front of the mirror by having great tools that make her feel confident, loved, and valued? 

Perhaps you aren't shopping for mom this year, but you yourself need a styling tool upgrade. Do yourself a favorite and purchase your own Mother's Day Gift. These tools and products will help empower you to do great things because your confidence will be boosted with great hair! 

Thank you to Calista for providing these great products to review! 

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