Although I’m not a blonde, I loved Beach Blonde Ocean Waves… if I buy any product more than once I usually really love it. The bad thing is that somehow most of the products I fall in love with get quickly discontinued. Now that I’m getting towards the end of the bottle I have here I decided to write the company to see if they had plans to bring it back or for information on where to find an online retailer that still had some in stock. Below is their response:

“Thank you for your interest in Beach Blonde. All of Beach Blonde is now discontinued due to low sales. We will have a replacement product for Ocean Waves only called Brilliant Brunette Starlit Waves in Feb of 2006. Starlit Waves can be used on any hair color. You may still be able to get Beach Blonde products via medichest.com or folica.com while supplies last.

Please try our Sheer Blonde line for possible Beach Blonde substitutes as follows: Kelp Help – Blonde Hair Repair Cool Dip – Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Shampoos Smooth Seas – Sheer Blonde Glistening Perfection Conditioners

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.”

Yay! Just thought I would share. 🙂

As for Ocean Waves, it doesn’t create curls when you have none really, it just helps to bring out what you have naturally. Be careful to not apply too much because if you do, you’ll end up feeling and looking a bit oily

For a frame of reference, I also own a Conair Instant Heat large barrel curling iron which is what I have been using to straighten my hair (I know it sounds weird but it can be done – you just run it down your hair instead of rolling your hair up on it.)

Conair Satin Finish, Instant Heat Ultra Slim Straightener, 3/4″ CS4CS
PROS: It heats up quickly for those times when you’re in a rush. I like the slim design because you can easily get up close to the root of your hair. It’s easy to get the ends straight.

CONS: I thought it was going to heat up hotter than it does – the settings on this go up to 25, the setting on my curling iron by Conair goes up to 20 – both seem to heat to about the same level. It takes just as long if not a hint longer to straighten my hair. There is a piece of plastic after the heating plates to keep them from pressing together too hard – it’s easy to close it on your hair accidentally which hurts (I usually don’t notice that this has happened until I start to slide it down my hair sometimes pulling hair out. Big design mistake in the product I think.)

Would I buy it again? No.
Will I continue to use it? Anyone want to buy it from me? I’ll sell it cheap… Probably not since I can straighten my hair to about the same extent with my large barreled curling iron and I don’t pull hair out accidentally with it.
Would I recommend this to anyone else? Probably not – it’s ok but I would probably try a different straightener if I had the chance. I’m still looking for a straightener that will give me that almost unnaturally straight look without having to spend a really long time getting there.

I’ll probably review the Conair large barrel curling iron that I use later in case you’re wondering. 🙂