Last March, I made the mistake of booking with a salon because it offered cheaper cuts than its competitors.

The stylist and I apparently had different ideas of what "shoulder length" meant, and I guess it slipped her mind that I had thick, curly hair.

I was still dealing with the botched job in May. She had cut my hair on such a blunt angle that my curls wouldn't take shape. I had to straighten it every day, which resulted in dry, damaged locks.

My old stylist suggested I use a hot oil moisturizing treatment once a week until my hair healed.

I read an article in Seventeen magazine on beauty hair secrets. A girl with a head full of curls claimed that VO5 Hot Oil Moisturizing Treatment was her "fave product."

SPEND: VO5 Hot Oil Moisturizing  has become a staple in my bathroom cabinet. I ran to Wal-Mart the next day, brought it home and gave it a try. The box claimed to "restore silky softness" and "reconstruct damaged strands."

The instructions said to place the unopened tube into a cup of warm water for one minute to heat, massage contents of tube into wet hair, leave on up to one minute, rinse hair and shampoo as usual.

While I followed these instructions, I couldn't help but think the oil wasn't hot enough to do anything.

Unfortunately, I was right: My hair wasn't silky-soft or healed.

Since the box came with two tubes, I tried it again the following week. But this time I followed my instincts. Instead of placing the unopened tube into a cup of warm water for one minute, I placed it into a coffee cup containing boiling water for five minutes.

I got ready for my shower, allowing the tube time to cool to avoid burning myself and then followed the remaining instructions diligently.

After drying my hair, I was relieved to see the product had worked: My hair was more than silky soft; it was shinier and stronger than it had been in months.

SPEND: V05 Hot Oil Moisturizing has become a staple in my bathroom cabinet. It fulfilled its promises; I just had to add a little heat. But I failed to mention its best feature: the price. Two tubes only cost $3.27 at Wal-Mart. Now that's what I call a real product solution.