Is Ombre over?

Well if you don't know what Ombre hair colour is by now your head may as well be in the sand. It's everywhere in North America. So much so I have not seen a hair trend catch on so fast and so universally then this. Why? Every age group can where it. It's customized depending on how much contrast you like and finally it's LOW maintenance. What is not to like?

Well as a hairstylist, I loved the idea of this technique and seeing how many variations that can be achieved. I personally am getting a little bored with it. I have spent most of my life trying to be different and non trendy. I want to keep one step ahead if not ten in many cases. When something becomes so trendy that the drugstores are coming up with kits for it...for me it's over and time to move on. It has become the Rachel Cut of the 2010's That being said...It's also not going anywhere any time soon. One thing I am trying to do is keep it fresh. Toning the bleach blonds into lovely pastel pinks, blue and grey. changing the base colours and doing more subtle gradual lightness to the ends.

I was in London this past April and I was surprised to see the lack of Ombre. So this very may well be the choking last gasp of this trend. I doubt we have seen the end of it.  Here is my variation of Ombre from my latest Dark Materials Collection

Do's and Don't to growing your hair.

So day in and out I usually get at least three clients daily who are trying desperately to grow their hair out. Whether it be for change, a disastrous haircut or for a lower maintenance do. It is a daunting task requiring a lot of patience. I myself usually am in some sort of hair growing flux. Just to end up chopping it all off when I have reached my goal. So as a stylist I do give my clients recommendations on how to make this process as painless as possible.

Fun Facts.

Hair has different life-cycles. People with thin hair have shorter cycles 3-4 years for turnover ( naturally falls out and replaced) Thick hair can grow from 5-10 years or more.

Hair grows average 6 inches in one year

Eyelashes have a turnover of 4-6 weeks. that is why they never grow the same as hair on your head.

Hormones ( testosterone) is responsible for hair growth.

 Pregnant women excrete a hormone that stops thier hair from turning over ( falling out) and after the baby is born they stop producing it. This can cause all the hair that was supposed to fall out during this time to fall out quickly in a short time.

It is normal to lose up to 100 hair a day.  When your hair gets longer this can seem like a lot more. But because we SEE long hair in the drain as apposed to short hair that goes down it. 

Do's



Get your hair as one length as you can handle. Longer layers are OK but one can go much longer in between haircuts if you have a simple shape. This is especially true for those women with fine or fragile hair. More layers make the hair look stringy on the ends when you grow them out. Hair has more strength in numbers.

Do as little as possible to damage your hair, this includes washing, blow drying, colour, highlights, hair extensions, over layering or thinning/texturing the hair. You may even need to cut out as much damaged hair as possible before you try to grow some real length as it will just end up looking very fried and split.

Colour your hair as infrequently as possible. Use demi permanent colours as they promote shine and seal the cuticle of the hair. Highlights should be spaced out to 4 times a year. The lighter your hair the more overlap will occur that may cause breakage. Do this minimally. Try only touching up the roots only.

Try hair clips, accessories and a curling wand or rollers. These are there to help you disguise a grown out cut. Keep you from becoming bored.

Get a really great conditioner. Keep your ends from getting dry.

Do invest in a good serum to seal the ends of the hair and help prevent fly away hair. 

LEAVE IT ALONE! I must emphasize this.

Drink lots of water, hydrate your skin, hair body.

Hair growth comes from hormones. So there is nothing one can apply on their hair to make it grow faster. Or repair damaged hair. It is dead, you can only prevent your hair from getting worse.

Get a small trims if your hair is really damaged. If you need to put the fear of god in your stylist when you say trim...this means 1/2 inch or less. Show them your inch...a hairdresser inch is usually double.

When your hair does get long, then shape it, layer it. But continue to keep it healthy. Remember long hair is what it is. Long. It will require more manual "styling" to have...well a style. A haircut will not do it all for you. So most women will get bored of long hair.  Yes, it is cheaper, low maintenance, and easy to care for as you can put it up. One must reconcile that it does get boring and laborious to style differently everyday. You are forewarned.


DON'TS...

Cut you hair...this is simple. Do not believe in the hairdressing propaganda that "trims" make the hair grow faster. It makes their bank account grow and that's about it. How will cutting off the very hair you waited so long  to grow off  make it longer? If you're doing all of the above, ( not damaging, colouring, highlighting etc) then one could possibly go 6 or more months without cutting. I once went two years. I only dyed my roots and trimmed my fringe.

To grow out your hair it needs to be as healthy as possible. Hair is dead when it grows out of the scalp. It sees every shampoo, flat iron, highlight, sunny day, chlorine pool, tight pony tail, back combed, braided day that you live through all year. It needs as much TLC as you can give it. It can only handle so much.

You will not be able to grow out

Do drastic colour changes and corrections frequently.
Bleach and tone or over highlight your hair.
Over style it.
Use extensions frequently for long duration. Clip in or otherwise.

Want more tips check out this blog with more great tips.

 http://www.longlocks.com/how-to-grow-long-hair.htm

Spring Forcast Hair

Ok I know, it's January. I already have clients coming in and saying, "I feel so blah." I'm looking forward to spring more so this year as I will be travelling to Europe in April. What am I excited about? Fashion and shopping. Oh yes!  history, architecture and fabulous museums. I always get inspired when I travel. It's nice to see what is happening somewhere else. Even town to town, style is different.

Let's talk about hair trends for spring. I will say, I am not on board with everything I am seeing. However one thing I can say is that there seems to be something for everyone, although derivative of everything we have been seeing in the last 2 years.

Trend Wet Look. Buy some gel ladies, it's back. Wet look bun's, chignons, slick backs, and partings. Severe and messy; it's all inclusive. So for those who cannot bother with a blow dryer or have been rocking this all their lives? I find this to be my least favorite.

Trend Powered Pastel. Kevin Murphy kinda brought this back. Coloured matte hair powered, for temporary colour fun. Ombre your ends or slick all your hair back and add some the hairline. Interesting and non permanent

Trend MESSY, Yeah messy back combed up dos. Hair in general. The frizzy ratty mess the better. Editorials have been doing controlled mess for a while. So if you don't want to look like a hot mess, DO NOT do this while dressing down. You need to play up the contrast with great dramatic eyes, and a dress.

Trend Short Bangs,  Baby bangs, shorter pixies like Michelle Williams. Cropped and rocked out.

Trend 90's Texture, Remember the Meg Ryan? Well if you do you most likely will not participating in this one. But for the under 30's this shag is a nice option to the pixie.

Trend Waves. Yawn.... of all kinds, on long hair, on bobs (flapper style) this is a sleeker polished look for those who don't want to look like they just rolled out of bed.

Trend Retro Glamour. So anyone who is into rockabilly or pin up culture, it is now hitting more mainstream fashion. Victory rolls, finger waves, pin curls, 60's Bardot beehives.

Trend Colour, Ombre...yes still . Now this has become so popular it's literally boring me now. Dip dye, high contrast, crazy colour, sunkist. It can be customised to any length or age. But to be frank if you want to look on trend this is THE look.

Trend Colour, Block Panels. Again, this is a easy update. we first saw this in the ear;y 2000's making a comeback so soon? Yes.  This is best if it's done with a high contrast colour or pastel synthetic colour. Clip in or tape in some hair extensions if you want a no commitment.

Trend Colour, Airbrush. I know this sounds crazy. But for the bold you can stencil colour onto the surface of your hair. Brocades, lace, paisley, zebra, cheetah, polka dots. Hey why not?

2011 Beauty hits and Misses Part 2, Hair Care

Ok so to round out the end of year regrets and triumphs, here is part two of  MY beauty hits and misses, hair care edition.



Hits

1. Frizz Ease 3 day straight. It's a spray keratin that helps lock in you flat iron form humidity and re curling. It works and was great in the summer.

2. Kevin Murphy, Hair Resort. beach wave and texture, smells amazing!

3. Loreal Everpure shampoo. I like the tube, it's rather thick, but decently priced for sulfate free shampoo.

4. Batiste dry shampoo. cheap and it works

5. Fructis, Instant Mask Repair, nice thick conditioner, made my very damaged hair feel soft. Smells lovely. good for dry thick hair.

6. Rusk 2.5" curling iron, any curl iron is great really I like the Rusk products. they are pro quality and you can usually find them anywhere.

7.  Loreal Elnet hairspray. Amazing and cheap, industry favorite.

8. Sebastian Laminates Cellophane's. I was blond for most of the year. I used the platinum to tone my hair every 4 shampoos. Semi colour, adds shine. easy to use. it is a pro product and pretty pricey, but one could get it on amazon.com. it works much better then most colour enhancing conditioners.

MISS

1. Kevin Murphy Texture Master hairspray. It is a sticky super hold hair spray. Unless you want to look like Amy Winehouse or Robert Smith, it is not workable to the average Jane. nozzle gets clogged every time I use it.

2. Kevin Murphy Colour Bug, temporary fun colour powder. I'm waiting for more shades. They only have three and I liked it for a day then I never used it again.

3. Loreal, Sublime Mousse hair colour. This stuff was weird. I liked it in someways, east to use, no mess, no bad smell, but the results were just so so. I used black and it turned out 3 shades lighter. So coverage was not great.

4. mini crimper. I used it twice, it is now for photo shoots only.

5. loads of Big Bow clips and hair bands fascinators  I don't know why I would think I'm allowed to wear something Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, or your average 16 year old would wear. I am having a hard tie reconciling that I'm 38.

6. FHI heat iron. I have bought many of these irons since the company launched. The quality in my opinion has gone down. I had my last two for less then 6 months before everything was falling apart and the thermostat failed.

2011 Beauty hits and Misses Part 1, Cosmetics

Every year I end up looking at my graveyard of cosmetics and it got me to thinking that even I can be a sucker for good marketing, cute packages, and empty promises. I generally do my reaseach when purchasing something now a days but every now and then I will buy something spontaniously and yes, I am most time disappointed. But sometimes I am pleasantly surprised.

This years HITS

Illumasqua Foundation, High coverage, looks natural, great skin tone. I use this for photo shoots and evening make up

Sephora Cream lip Stain, l I usually stay clear of store brands, I know its generally really overpriced for the quality, but this was a pleasant surprise. It had great colour selection, and didn't dry my lips like other ultra matte' do.

L'oreal True Match Foundation, very affordable, medium coverage. wears beautifully, blends nice, and does match my skin.

Benefit Coralista Blush got this as a bonus and I love the colour. I am told is goes with every skin tone they are right.

MAC Matchmaker Foundation, AMAZING! Great medium coverage and it matches. No NC this or NW that. Just pick your level ( mine is 1) and it adjusts to your undertone.

OPI Crackle Nail polish ( Black) I ended up using this all the time. Love it over glitter nail polish or over clear.

Paula's Choice Skin Care LOVE this line. Its my new standard. Very easy and affordable. Addresses every skin care need. I have had the best skin ever from this line. Mail order only.

MiSS

MAC Zoom Lash, clumpy, dries out after a month

MAC Wonder Woman Opulash Mascara, didn't show up on my lashes, dried out fast.

MAC Superslick Liner, Pure show (gold) seperated and didn't show up on my pail skin, irritated my eyes.and made them water, weird because the black does not.

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick 64, too sheer for me, lasted about 5 minutes, bled around my mouth,  even with a primer and liner.

Nars Sheer Matte foundation. even with a primer, I look like a dried up dusty old woman. For oily skin only

Make up Forever HD powder, AWFUL! I may as well use baby powder on  my skin. was not translucent at all.

Make Up Forever Primer, wasn't terrible, just expensive and didn't do much more then a moisturizer would before make up. nothing lasted longer or smoothed out any better.

Touche Eclat YSL. I know... almost blasphemous. But it really is just OK on me. I have seen it do wonders on other people. I am going to try the peach next time. I think my dark circles need more coverage. the search continues. MAC and L'oreal also make knock offs so I will try that too.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin moisturizer SPF15. This was supposed to be my new daytime moisture with SPF and AHA. It cannot be used near the eye, ( my bad) because it burns like crazy. So I ended up getting separate creams instead of the all in one. It's actually better. So much for time saving.

Sephora Kat Von D Eye shadow Love and Fury. It is OK, but I ended up using it twice and only for one of the shadows. the rest were too glittery.

MAC Penultimate Brow Marker. Dried out after two applications. was not smudge proof.

MAC Liquidlast liner. I love the colours, the texture is thick and hard to work with. I dilute it. It gets thicker over time so after a month it's nearly useless. It does last though...for days.

Marc Jacobs, Daisy. Bottle is cute, smells like ass on me.

Frugal Best in Beauty All Time

1, Baby Oil.
This is my go to for everything. Great for moisturizing after the bath, removes make up, removed wax, removes latex bonding glue. eyelashes and weaves. shines your shoes, quick hand lotion, shave your legs, massage oil...the list goes on and on. http://projectfidgetyfingers.blogspot.com/2010/02/45-uses-for-baby-oil.html

2. Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly.
cream for chapped chip, lips, hands, elbows, cuticles DIY  lip glosses and many more uses
http://www.christinaloves.com/2008/09/13/50-uses-for-vaseline/

3. Brown Sugar
Cheap and plentiful is amazing when you add it to a baby oil or you favorite cleanser as a exfoliating BODY scrub in the shower. Not recommended for the face.

4. Baking Soda
brush you teeth, use with water or cleanser to mix into a paste for a gentle facial exfoliate. Under arm deodorant, use to remove product build up in the hair before shampooing, foot soak

5. Apple Cider Vinegar
hair rinse to add shine and close the cuticle after a colour. dilute with  rose water and distilled water and it's a great toner for acne prone skin, drinking it is supposed to treat age spots, rinses away dry dead skin fro the scalp.

Winter hair woe is me...

Yes it's upon up another Canadian winter. Harsh temperature changes, hats, dry scalp, fly away static hair. Just when you think... Hurray no more humid frizzy hair days. They make way for parched summer hay textured hair and flaking scalps. What to do? Well here are some steps to help combat those winter woes.

Start in the shower.  You may need to change up the routine and start using a more moisturizing conditioner. add a leave in as well depending on you hair texture either a cream (thick, course or curly hair) Or liquid spray for normal to fine types. It will add more moisture and protect the hair from and dryer damage. Try to use cool water. I know its cold out there! but really hot showers actually case the hair, skin and scalp to dry out and cause flaky dryness. if you ca find it try Wen Cleansing conditioner. This stuff is amazing for any hair texture and colour. Its a one step cleanser/conditioner/leave in. It does NOT lather, or contain sulfates, detergents. Will not strip colour or moisture from you hair. It feels amazing and doesn't leave a trace of greasiness on the hair.
http://www.wenhaircare.com/whyitsunique.php

Washing hair daily is a no no. It is a great time to start using the dry shampoo. The more you wash they dryer you hair will get.

Go darker or richer with you hair color. Add a clear rinse or tone the hair down a couple of shades with a demi permanent. Garnier has a great selection of ammonia free gloss colours. if you don't want to go darker, try a gloss. It will close up the cuticle and add tons of shine to the dull locks. It can be done every 4 weeks to keep it up. darker hair will reflect more light and make even the most damaged hair look better. The lighter you are the dryer it will look if you don't like to style it.

Try to allow your hair to dry naturally if you can manage it. Blow dryers damage the hair and with the lack of humidity can cause the hair to get static. To prevent this. try not to shuffle you feet across the floor it builds up the electrical charge. Use a dryer sheet. Rub it on your hands and then rub through your hair. Static Guard sprayed on you brush or hands will also do the trick. Use natural bristle brush as apposes to nylon or plastic brushes. Ceramic or tourmaline irons a re great. The will neutralize the positively charged hair and remove the static.





Moroccan Oil is on every one's lips these days. This expensive little bottle of oil is turning up everywhere and there are many imitators. The line now boasts an entire regime around Argan Oil but does it actually work? We as consumers have to remember a couple things. All a company needs to take off is a couple celebrity endorsements and the marketing placebo will take effect. The ingredients say it all. Argan oil is a fantastic moisturizing oil that contains many anti oxidants, but so it Olive, Almond, Brazil Nut, Hemp Seed basically any nut really. It's fat and it will coat the hair. Hair my friends is dead. and antioxidants will do very little to "revitalize" it. One would need a great deal of this oil to coat the hair for and real noticeable benefits. And that would be outrageously expensive.

 The other main ingredient is Silicone. Serums have been around forever and they deliver some smoothing effects to the hair. End result leave it looking shiny and feeling soft. Is it a miracle? Not really. Just overpriced oil. Check out the health food store and get some pure almond oils or cold pressed olive oil. Any cheap silicone spray, serum will work as well. Like anything this is a fad. If you like it by all means use it. But there are some cheaper options out there. Just remember that if you hair is thick, curly or coarse use a serum. If it's fine, thin, use a spray.

Cheap serums.. Citre Shine, Frizz Ease, Sebastian Laminates, L'Oreal Ever Sleek Serum, One and Only Argan Oil Treatment.