Cheryl Shops

Website of the week
Like many girls, I am very particular about my hair. I wear it straight and blown out old-school, with a dryer and a round brush--not with a flat iron. (However, when May rolls around, I surrender to the humidity and let it be curly until September, when the weather returns to a tolerable state. A small part of me dies every spring because of this.) But while I am loyal to my straightening technique, I am not bound to my styling products (although, usually, I end up using some combination of straightening balm, volumizer, and pomade). I'm always up for trying a new product, and if it's something with cult status or it's scarce, I'm even more intrigued. So when I came across the Beauty Catalogue, my hair nearly straightened itself in anticipation. Started by a fashion-world hairstylist named Laura de Leon (i.e., she does models' hair for photo shoots and runway shows), the Beauty Catalogue carries hard-to-find styling aids used by the pros. de Leon provides product descriptions explaining why stylists use it and/or why it's so coveted, which add to its cachet. The site is set up quite simply, with products listed by brand (you can search the site by keyword as well). Some items are really innovative, like these bungee-cord-ish Elastiques hair bands, the super-strong Fedora pins, and the Klorane Dry Shampoo, a product that sounds perfect for me, as I often hate washing my hair on the weekends, when I'm feeling exceptionally lazy. The Beauty Catalogue also carries coveted lines like FWI and the French skincare line Embroylisse (no, it's not made of embryos). Then, there are the styling products: Biorene is good for curls; Brilliantine Pompeia is a light, non-greasy pomade; and Real Puala seems like a great all-around styling product (sadly, the Beauty Catalogue no longer carries the impossible-to-find-in-the-U.S. Elnett hairspray). Plus, for the allergic (or curious), they list ingredients. Items ship via first-class mail, and you can expect them in 7-14 days--far easier than trekking around the world.