Give it a Try!

As most of you know, I am a big advocate on trying new styles and trends, putting your own spin on it and making it your own. Here are five trends to give a try as spring is rapidly approaching.



BRIGHT COLOR JEANS- Spring time is no stranger to bright colors, the bright colored jeans can seem a little loud for some people, butI would encourage you to give it a try! I have recently acquired a pair of red and electric blue jeans. (Which I was inspired to buy after seeing my Mama's awesome coral jeans...) And I have fallen in love! Pair them with a fun printed top, or a muted down colored top and you have a very fashion forward outfit! I.E. I paired my red pair of jeans with a Navy Blue top and camel belt, brown and camel wedges and the bright red was the perfect off set to the navy and camel! I bought mine in a cropped length, much longer then capris, but stopping a little before the ankle, which went very well with the wedges! Or try a big fold on the hem to make a more cropped, updated look.



FUN, LOUD PRINTS- Whether its a top, skirt, dress, shoes or accessories, Prints are the way to go! Which with the first trend of colored jeans, prints make a perfect pair! Floral is always an easy way to go in the spring, but try to branch out with paisley patterns, geometric shapes, chevron strips or native American inspired prints! Pair the prints with a bold color clutch or jeans and the look is very chic!



CHUNKY HEAL SHOES- The wedge is definitely back this spring and summer, so I say put your own twist on it. Floral and nautical inspired shoes are what you will start to see a lot of with the warmer weather, and with a bold pair of statement shoes, its the perfect pair with black dresses, or an earth toned top and jeans. For those of you that are more conservative, loud shoes is a great way to add a little flare to an outfit without having to be terribly bold everywhere else.



DENIM- When we think of denim, you usually just think of jeans, but branch out a bit. And No, I don't mean a Canadian Tuxedo! I recently bought a denim dress from GAP that I can't wait to wear. Also for the cool spring nights or an accent piece to a fun sun dress, a denim vest or jacket can be a great additional to a wardrobe. In my opinion a nice denim jacket is a classic piece to have in any ones closet, there is something timeless and Americana about them. If your feeling like stepping the denim up just a tad, try a white jean jacket! A white jacket can make the simplest of out fits, a touch more bright for this spring.


UPDOS- Whenever you think of updos, most women's minds go right to their senior proms. An updo can be a very fast, and fashion forward way to style your hair. Whether its a braid or a modified pony tail, your options are truly endless. The nice thing about the updo trend is that the 'texture' look in hair is in. Texture meaning it doesn't have to be smooth, perfect or symmetric. Give the crown of your head a little back combing, pull over to the side or middle with an elastic, twist and loop different pieces and pin in place. There are tons of videos on YouTube of how to do updos and braids, so check a tutorial out! Like I said, in the AM, it can be a quick, chic way to make your look even more put together.


I hope that some of these trends you are willing to try.... with spring coming, its a perfect time to play with colors, get the hair up from hanging down your neck, and have fun!! I would love to hear how some of these ideas have worked for you so don't be afraid to comment or email me!!



Cheers!

Toning with Purple Shampoo

FINALLY, a question! It was sent by a facebook friend:

So my hair has a very slight purple-tint to it from my shimmering lights. What do you suggest I do to change this? Besides take a break from the purple shampoo for a bit? Will it go away soon?!?!

First I would like to say that I am a big fan of toning shampoos/conditioners! Its a great way to keep your hair color refreshed between your color appointments. That being said it can go wrong if you aren't careful. The whole point of purple shampoo, is to help eliminate gold (Yellow) tones in blond hair, for a more platinum blond. Depending on the shade of blond and the length of time you use the purple shampoo, you run the risk of over toning the hair and it turning lavender. The best way to avoid this, can be controlled by the amount you put in. When using the purple shampoo, I always tell clients to cocktail the purple with your regular shampoo, 50/50, and leave it on for 1-3 minutes and rinse, (and condition as normal). This was you can determine if you need more purple. If you need more purple, then try 2/3 purple and 1/3 regular, and so on. Same with the amount of time its left on. However I would not put that shampoo and leave it on more then about 4-5 minutes. The more yellow (warm, goldish) blond, the longer you'll probably leave it on.
A lot of times when I am pulling dark color out to add highlights, you come across two tone hair : really blond at the roots (where the grow out is virgin hair) and then the warm ends (where you are trying to pull and strip out the previous color). If this is the condition that your highlights are in then when using the toning shampoo, only use the purple on the warm ends to help take out the yellow and give you more even highlights, roots to ends.
Now, if you have left this toner on to long and your your rockin' the Easter egg hair color (lol JK), it will come out in time, but there is a trick to getting it out faster. One way would be do buy a clarifying shampoo, which will help strip all product, oils and cuticle stains from the hair. Using that a couple days in a row with warmer water should help the color stain come out.
On a side note, I do think it is important for everyone to have a clarifying shampoo on hand. About once a month use the clarifying shampoo to help pull out any product build up on the scalp (to help the scalp breath) and down your hair strands. If you don't want to buy a clarifying shampoo, another way to clarify the hair is to rinse your hair with vinegar. I would use the apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar. Vinegar is an excellent way to remove stubborn product from your hair, especially for men's hair glue and gel.

I hope I answered your question (let me know how it worked!) and hopefully gave some of my readers a new tip on how to improve the quality of your own hair. I would love some feed back or comments from anyone who has tried these suggestions on their hair or any additions to removing cuticle stains from the hair.
As always, you can email me or comment/message on blogger with suggestions for topics or questions of your own!

Happy New Year Everyone....Unless emailed a question or topic, my next blog will feature an edgy new style trend for 2012! I will be doing 2 blogs a week, so stay tuned!! Cheers!

$604 !!!!!!

HAPPY AUTUMN !

(PHOTOS ARE ALL FROM THE 'LOOK FOR A CURE' BREAST CANCER AWARENESS EVENT)
For the month of October we all know that it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every year, I try to offer some kind of deal to help raise awareness and buying products that donate to their proceeds to finding a cure. This year, I decided I wanted to do more. Really try to do something bigger, where I could feel like I was really helping make a difference in fighting for a cure.

The"Look for a Cure" Breast Cancer Awareness Event was held at the salon on Saturday October 8th. We offered seated massage, PINK nails or toes, Pink clip in extensions (real hair), face painting, Pink rubber bracelets, and had a raffle of 6 different gift baskets filled with products who's proceeds went to cancer foundations. We also had PINK refreshments and PINK decorations EVERYWHERE!!! The event came together seamlessly and I had plenty of help with providing the services... I am lucky to have such great family, coworkers, and friends that wanted to help the day of the event!

I would like to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone that came to support my event and your generosity to donate by having one of our 'pink' services done. Whether you spent $1 or $50, anything helps, & I truly appreciate each and every one of you! I honestly have the best family, friends, co-workers and an AWESOME clientele that showed so much support!! With our 4 hour event on the 8th and our bracelet & extensions sales for the month of October, we raised $604!!!! I will be donating this to the Breast Cancer Awareness foundation, with a letter explaining the event, and will include a full list of every ones name that donated! (which is why Jeff was there taking down every ones info, to make sure everyone that contributed would listed and acknowledged)

Again, Thank you so much for supporting the event and recognizing how important it was to me to make this a success! We had such a great turnout, that this will become an annual event. Love you all!!

Calling all Brides and braids...

Hello everyone. I am sorry for my absence...It has been a BUSY summer for me. Between work and traveling, its hard to find much time for anything else.

I wanted to put the word out there for any brides who's hair I have done for their big day. I have at least a handful of weddings that I am doing in 2012, and wanted some of my own styles to show and have brides possibly reference from. Sooooo, if there is anyway you could send me a picture of your hair from your wedding day, I would very much appreciate it!

There are a couple new things this fall that I have been experimenting with that are fun, simple ways to change your look from day to day. I have started parting my hair more towards the center. I usually do about a 1/2" from the center, and letting my bangs kind of swoop to each side. I wouldn't necessarily do a complete center part because the center isn't always the most flattering for certain face shapes. This look is such a simple way to try some chic, classic styles... I.E. big loose curls and buns.

I have also been really into braids and twists lately, which anyone that knows me, knows I LOVE BRAIDS. Anything that adds a change in movement and "texture" difference to a style, is fun and helps to break up an all curly or all straight do. And you can pull this look of with anything, whether it be beach waves for a day out or a special night out on the town. (the picture isn't the greatest, but it will do for now...)

I also want to put out there for everyone, that as usual, I will be running specials during the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness, so stay tuned!!

And as always, for questions or comments , you can email me @ hairgoddessblog@gmail.com. I would love to know who reads this!

Happy Fall! Cheers!

Flowers and Feathers

Sorry for my absence from my blog, it has been a pretty busy first half of the year.

As warmer weather approaches, bright colors and floral prints start to emerge in style trends. This year, more then ever... and a couple new, different trends have surfaced. Feathers, flowers and bows are everywhere it seems like!!! There are so many was to "spruce" up a a hair style and/or outfit with fun, unique hair accessories. There is so much out there, that I think everyone can find something to fit their style. Here are a couple trends that I have been loving... enjoy!

First, would be the flowers and bows for your hair. Pinning one off to the side is one of my VERY FAVORITE looks right now. Its a fun way to add a little some thing to your day to day shirt and jeans or even to add a pop of color in your hair with a dark dress...etc. So many options really. I have been loving them so much, that I had my neighbor (THANKS KAITYLN) show me a couple of styles of flowers to make with fabric and it just gave me a huge boost of creativity, turning into figuring out new, unique styles and looks. I am selling them at the salon and they range from $5 to $10. If there is a style or color that you want to have made, just send me an email, or comment on the blog. I would love some feedback on what everyone thinks of them!! (I have also been making ones with peacock feathers, that are more like a hairpiece then the bows and flowers.)

Another HUGE trend right now is feathers put in like extensions. I think they are beyond awesome!!And depending on what color and where you place them, it can be very bold or more hidden. I currently have six in, (Two extensions, 3 feathers in each, just so you don't think I am looking like a parrot),One extension is kind of hidden which has a hot pink and black one, hot pink one and a turquoise and black one. In the other I have a white and black, gold/tan fading down to white and a pink and black short one, which is placed closer to my face making it more noticeable. I am offering them as a service at the salon for either $10 a feather or 3 for $25. Give it a try, I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine!!

Hopefully I've inspired you all to give something a chance. You might surprise yourself with something you didn't think was necessarily your style. Its summer, so be bold... add some color to your style, in whatever way, shape or form that might be.

As always, feedback is always good, and if there is something that you would like to have me write about or questions, you can email me @ hairgoddessblog@gmail.com. (Also, if your interested in a hair piece, and don't live around here, you can place an order w me as well)

A winter friendly pedicure

Happy Friday Beautiful People!

I absolutley love fun, painted toes! I am one of those people that paints their toes every week. But in the winter time, my feet get so cold and I don't want to walk around barefoot on the cold wood floors.... So I came up with a "remedy" for a more winter friendly polish change.

I always seem to get holes in the toes of my socks, and one night it dawned on me.... I could just cut the toe off, and use them to keep my feet warm when doing my toes! I though it was pretty brilliant myself. :) SO, if you get cold feet, but want to do your toes, give it a try... really, too easy not to try it :)

I get asked all the time about how I get polish to stay on my toes so long and not chip off. I can usually get polish to stay for about 3 weeks +. There a couple of products that I really like, that I think make a difference. Well, this is what I do....

1-Apply a base coat first. This is important, because some nail polishes can stain your toe nails. I.E. Red polish can stain a toenail a yellow color, and no one wants toes like that. I use OPI's NAIL ENVY, which can act as a base coat, but is also a nail strengthener. (If you have "fake" nails that have just been taken off, this works really well to help build back the brittle nail beds)

2- I apply OPI's CHIP SKIP. It appears to just be a watery liquid, but dry's instantly. I brush that on each toe twice, applying mostly to the edges.

3- Apply 2 coats of nail polish. 2 coats to ensure you get the desired color you want.

4- Let the polish dry completely, and then apply a top coat. I like Essie, OPI and Creative nail's top coats. OPI makes a RAPID DRY top coat, that really dry's fast. 1 coat is sufficient, and 2 will give it more shine.

In the picture I posted, I picked out some of my favorite colors that are in right now. Mostly the current trend is "metal" colors like gray, silver, bronze, etc. And also dark gem tones, like forest green, deep navy blue, indigo, etc.

SO there you are, some tips on a longer lasting polish, color trends, and a use for "hole-y" socks.

If you have any questions or topics you would like to read about, you can email me @ hairgoddessblog@gmail.com or leave a comment on the page.

Shampoing Everyday.... Do or a Don't?

Washing your hair every day... a DO or a DON'T?

A very popular concern and question a lot of my clients have. In my professional opinion, unless you are doing strenuous activities everyday that make your scalp sweat, it is not necessary. Some of the oil that your scalp produces are beneficial. Especially with a dry, flaky scalp and itchiness. That being said, you should not go a week without washing it. (Unless your 70+, that's a different story..) Not washing your hair that often, can be very bad. And by not that often, I mean people that go 5+ days all the time before washing. All the oils, product, "dirt", that builds up can start to "plug" up the hair follicle and is not allowing your scalp to breath. Which in turn, can lead to hair loss. Use your own judgement, you know how your hair is and nobody wants to look greasy or go into the poor house because they go through product too fast because of frequent use.
Moral of the story...
Everyday - Not really necessary
2days- Perfect
3days-Not bad
4days-Don't do that often
5+days- Not healthy.

For those of you that go 2-3 days between shampooing, SEXY HAIR makes a Volumizing Dry Shampoo. I love it, and think it works great!! To the touch, your hair still feels 'dirty' but to look at, not greasy at all. You spray at the roots throughout the hair, wait a couple minutes and comb through. It has a kind of clay base that 'holds' onto the grease and when you are combing through, it pulls the grease through with it. And this brand really does add volume. So, if you are looking for a way to get good volume with second day hair, and you don't want to look greasy on the 2nd day, give this a try. You wont be disappointed!

If you give this dry shampoo a try, let me know what you think. If you have questions or comments,