Travel Russia Today

I’m sure many of you, like myself, have been blessed with unruly, time consuming hair. Whether I straighten my hair or curl it, it takes at least 20-30 minutes and requires some heavy artillery such as a blow dryer, ceramic straightener, and/or curling iron. When I first started traveling overseas I had a lot of questions relating to hair and travel such as - are the blow dryers powerful enough to dry my thick mane and will my $200 straightener work in Eastern Europe and Russia if using a converter? I now have the answers to those questions and would like to enlighten all of you.

All five star hotels in Eastern Europe and Russia have blow dryers in the room or upon request at the reception desk. Whether they are powerful enough is really hit or miss as I have had both wimpy dryers and supersonic dryers. For guaranteed satisfaction, I recommend purchasing a small, but powerful dryer to take along just in case. If drying isn’t your biggest worry, stick with the hotel dryers.

Straightening can be a problem. Even with a converter, the standard European voltage is very powerful and can be damaging to your straightener. My colleagues and I have learned this the hard way having blown out two $200 straighteners and almost setting fire to a hotel room (hotel to be left unnamed). I recommend leaving your really expensive tools at home and purchasing a suitable, but less expensive model that wouldn’t leave you heartbroken if it died. Folica even sells dual voltage straighteners, which can handle the high voltage better.

My last and most important piece of advice is to always prepare for the worst. Bring hair ties, clips, and even a hat just in case you find yourself without any hair styling provisions. Being able to style our hair properly while traveling overseas is the goal - being able to look good when all equipment fails is priceless.