Hair for fall

Whether it's a rich, russet red or a burning orange accent, when we think fall we tend to think of leaves turning, jack-o-laterns and cooler weather.  It's the perfect time for a deeper hair color or a little change to get you through the busy holiday season ahead.

Ombre` and balyage are still leading the trend for popularity, but shadows and peek-a-boos are making a comeback this fall.  Deepening the hair color helps disguise some of the summer's damage and makes the look and sometimes even feel healthier.  We're not talking go black...just a half a shade deeper or a little deeper color underneath in the back.  Think of it as a frame for your face, if your frame looks amazing, so will you. 

What do you want your hair to say about you?

AMAZING EYES! How to choose your eyeshadow color

We have all faced the same dilemma, standing in the drug store trying to choose make up so we look as amazing as the models shown on the ads.  How do you know if that color will look ok and where do you learn how to put your eye makeup on like that?  Lucky for you there are a few "insider" tips that will make your choices a little easier.

1. Go for contrasting color to really make your eye color stand out.
 If you have:
BLUE EYES- peach, pink, golds, oranges and warm browns
GREEN EYES- pinks, peach, orange, purple and browns
BROWN EYES- you lucky dog!! You can wear almost any color, the darker brown your eye, the bolder your color can be. 
HAZEL- purple, pink, blue and soft neutral tones.

2. Apply the darker color to the outer corner and outer crease of your eye lid to make your eyes look more open.  Be careful to not take the color out past the eyebrow because that can give the appearance of drooping, tired eyes.

3. Use lighter colors on the midlle and inner corner of the eye lid to draw attention to the eye.  Light colors open and expand making the eye look bigger.  Be sure to blend the colors together.

4. Shimmer or pearl are great on young skin, but can settle into "textured skin" (otherwise known as wrinkles) as we age.  A little sparkle goes a long way if your eyes are starting to get texture.

5. Experiment and have fun, or make an appointment with a stylist.  Many cosmetology schools, like The School of Hairstyling, offer facials and make up applications, they typically have the products they used on you available for purchase as well.  The best thing about makeup, it's easy to go glamorous in a matter of minutes, or just give a quick perk and make you feel pretty!

How to apply false eyelashes

Most women want long, thick full eyelashes, but not all of us are blessed with them.  There are some viable options.  Mascara is one of them but sometimes it smears, runs or bleeds leaving us with dark circles under our eyes.  Lash extensions can also be an alternative but they can be expensive to maintain.  A quick easy alternative is strip lashes you can apply your self.  Here is a quick how to for applying lashes.

1. Measure the strip against your eyelid, trim with scissors if needed.

2. apply adhesive to the strip

the easiest way is to use the end of a brush dipped in a small dot of lash adhesive.  Allow the adhesive to "dry" for about 30 seconds before trying to apply.  The lashes will slip and be difficult to place if the adhesive is too wet.

3. apply strip of lashes as close to natural lash line as possible.  Some times it is easier if you gently lift the eye brow to softly stretch the lid.  Press the strip lashes into the natural lash line. Gently press your natural lashes into the strip lash. Repeat to the other side.

Beautiful lashes!!

I want to swim but I don't want green hair!!

Memorial Day has come and gone, the kids are out of school and the swimming pools are just calling your name.  Don't worry, they call out to all of us, and we all worry about ending up with "swimmers" hair, especially those of us with loads of blonde highlights.  There are several things you can do to help prevent getting those funky green ends, and most of them are fairly easy.

1. Get your hair wet before getting into the pool.  If your hair is already wet, the places where your hair is dry or damaged is less likely to absorb the water from the pool.  The clean water "fills in" the places where your hair has a higher chance of turning green.

2. Rinse your hair out with clean water as soon as you get out of the pool.  Most swimming pools have an outside/poolside shower so it's pretty easy to do.  You don't have to completely shower, just  rinse the chlorinated water out of your hair.

3. If possible, use a spray leave in conditioner after you rinse the pool water out. Using a leave in conditioner will help prevent sun damage and keep your hair from being further dried out and bleached from the sun.

4.Don't let pool water dry into your hair.  If you are done for the day and headed  home, take just a few minutes to shampoo and condition before you head home.  This time you'll want more than a quick rinse to prevent green, you'll want to actually get the pool water out.

5. Use clarifying shampoo at least once a week if you swim often.  This will help prevent build up of chemicals that can possibly lead to green hair.

Don't worry to hard if you do end up with swimmer green hair, just book an appointment for a clarifying treatment and a deep conditioner!!

Why your personality matters

As part of learning to deal with others, we have to take a minute or two and learn a little about ourselves.  How do we get energized? How do we manage information?  What influences our decisions? How do we organize our work?  Why in the ever loving world does any of this matter?  Wellllll......... The answers to those questions give us insight into how we deal with the people and situations around us.  Someone who is energized by being with others around them in an active, whirlwind environment will be bored and possibly cranky alone in a quiet room while working on a project.

By nature we all have parts of our personality that balance each other, but typically we are more comfortable being more one way than the other and that can determine how well we interact with those around us.  Extroverted people like being the life of the party, they get motivation from life and activity around them, most of them like being in groups and are seldom alone in a quiet environment.  They approach the world with a "FIRE, Ready, Aim" attitude, this doesn't mean they don't think about what they are doing, just that they are excited and want to get things going.  They want everyone to be involved and have fun too.

To balance those crazy extroverted people, we have introverts.  Introverts can seem shy because they dislike being in the limelight or in noisy, crowded places, but don't think they don't have a fun side, they just have to dig a little deeper and flex to find their inner extrovert. While the extroverted approach seems insane to an introvert, they look at what is happening, think things through and then make their project happen.  Their approach is more of a "ready, aim, aim, fire."  

All of us have a little bit of both in us, it just depends on the situation we are in and how we are responding to the environment around us.  If extroverts didn't reflect and evaluate occasionally they could become anxious, stressed or overly tired.  On the other hand, if introverts didn't ever "cut loose" and take a walk on the wild side, they wouldn't find opportunities for growth.

When a guest comes into the salon and sits in our chair, we have to make decisions that can change or influence a person's entire look.  Our job is to make your hair, make up or nails fit you as a person.  It's usually easier to get information out of an extrovert....in fact they probably brought people with them and are volunteering information that may or may not have anything to do with the service they are having done!  Introverted people make our job  a little more difficult because they may not freely give the answers, they may require specific directed questions to get the information needed for the service they are having.

Now imagine what can happen if an extroverted stylist has an extroverted client.... there may be fireworks over the flat iron!!!  No, that won't always happen, but if the stylist isn't able to pull in their crazy outgoing personality, they may make that guest very mad, and I guarantee it won't be pretty when an extroverted client goes postal because they aren't being heard.

So if we have fireworks over the flat iron with the extroverts, what might possibly occur when an introverted stylists gets an introverted guest?  Very little....until the introverted stylist reaches in and taps their inner extrovert.  Then the consultation can begin the client usually ends up happy.

We all encounter personalities that are very similar to our own, along with the ones who are our complete opposites, that's what makes the world such and interesting place.  In our industry we get to  be ourselves and sometimes we get to do a little acting and be "someone else" to accommodate all of our guests, every once in a while it's fun to let our inner personality out before we go back to our normal everyday routine, so we can stretch and see what the big, bright world has to offer.  Whether you jump at the chance and plan a party to do just that, or take a minute to think about the when, where and how you are going to stretch and peek at the world is completely up to you...... me, well my invitations already went out by e-vite!

Ombre` here, ombre` there, ombre`, ombre`, everywhere

Ombre, dip dye, color melt....oh my!  Now what the heck do they really mean? Can I eat it or is it only for hair?  Well, last time I checked I wouldn't eat any of the products used in these hair coloring techniques, but the names of some of the colors do make me a little hungry.  So what exactly is an obmre`? What is the difference between ombre` or dip dye?  Drum roll please....the color choice!  The techniques used to create the blend from dark to light or one color to another are the same.
Dip dye is typically done with vibrant colors on pre lightened hair, ombre is a blend from a darker base color to a lighter color at the ends.  Color melt is another term used to describe the technique of blending the colors together.
You can choose any of the terms and visit google images to see all kinds of different color combinations.  This is just one example....