A Tool That May Help With Updo’s

Winter time is the best time for formal events. Long and sleek dresses, beautiful diamond jewelry, and don’t forget the big hair. Most women stick with lustrous updo’s for formal events, which can require lots and lots of pins and hairspray. Some stylists even use curlers to give hair volume and bounce. What some people don’t know, though, is that a hair straightener can even help put things together when styling your hair in an updo.

Although it won’t help give much volume, you can use a hair straightener as a tool to help weave through your strands and get the perfect silky start before you perform an updo with your hair. Some straighteners are great for this because they remove some frizz and smooth over curls that may be winding through your hair. The best part about using a straightener to start, however, is that it gives your hair a fresh look that will last all through the night. Most women who have a shorter length of bangs use a flat iron to style after their hair is already in the updo, to give the hair a classier look. If a straightener can do that on bangs, imagine the kind of work it can perform on longer strands of hair!

To begin, spritz a root lifter and a small amount of heat protectant spray. You won’t need too much of the heat protectant spray because you won’t be using your straightener to completely go over your whole head of hair. The key to this process is to remember, you aren’t straightening all of your hair, you’re only going over a few areas to give a good polished look before beginning an updo. After spraying the product into your hair, you may want to finger through and find pieces that need to be straightened. Whether they look dry or curly, your best bet is to run the straightener through so your updo won’t look sloppy. The goal is to create a sexy hairstyle, not a bird’s nest on top of your head.

To get the best look in your strands, run your straightener through the hair at a diagonal angle. Most women press the plates through their hair at a horizontal angle, which will create a dented look in the hair. The dents may not be quite as evident in an updo since all of the hair will be pressed back, but it’s still a good idea to get a smoother look. As you begin straightening more and more, you may notice that other pieces of hair look sloppy compared the newly straightened pieces. This isn’t a big deal, as the straightened pieces will cover up the not so straight strands in the end. You may run through the others but it won’t make too much of a difference in the final look.

After you have used the straightener enough and have smoothed through the hair for elegance, you may begin to pin it back into your updo. As some clients of stylists have noticed, pieces that hang out of the updo look a bit flirtier if they are curly. However, since it is the season for sexy and sleek styled dresses, your hair should match your formal outfit by being just as soft and smooth as the dress you wear. The final look of an updo looks very polished and professional when it is straight.

How to Get Perfect Side Swept Bangs

Side swept bangs are not only a hot trend but are also a very flirty and sexy bang. To get the perfect side swept bang you see on stars like Reese Witherspoon follow these simple steps.

• Ask your stylist to cut your bangs so that they hit right between your eyelashes and eyebrows.
• Remember, when styling your side swept bangs, you want them to lay flat, not flip under like they did in the 80′s.
• Part your bangs at the side and using a medium sized flat brush, brush your bangs downwards as you blow dry.
• As you blow dry your bangs be sure to point your hair dryer downwards at your bangs, holding the dryer directly about your fringe.
• To help keep bangs in place spray an eyebrow brush with a light mist of hairspray and comb over bangs for a soft hold.

See what Reese Witherspoon’s hairstyles look like on you – Click Here

Getting Those Curls To Stay In That Thin Hair

For women with very thin hair sometimes getting curls into your hair is hard enough but then getting them to stay is then next to impossible. There is a solution out there that will help those curls stay in place a little longer without having to put so much hairspray on your head that the hair is crunchy and hard. Tourmaline curling irons can actually help you retain those beautiful curls longer than a regular curling iron can on its own. The negative ions produced by the tourmaline in combination with the ceramic makes these the best curling irons for getting that curl to stay since the curl will take deeper into the hair follicle and not just a little on the outside.

Making Sure Your Curling Iron Is Clean

Many women never stop to think about how dirty their curling iron gets even with just occasionally usage. Between just the dirt and grime that collects on anything and the build up of hairspray and styling products your curling iron does get grimy which can affect its performance. This dirt and grime cannot be good for your hair when you heat it up and apply it again each and every morning. Of course you will read all sorts of cleaning methods on the internet, many of which are not good for your iron. The best way to clean the hair curling irons is to find out from the maker of the tool what they recommends to clean the unit.

Ceramic Irons For Curling Short Hair

Curling short hair can be a real pain and that is why so many women with shorter hairstyles do not take the time to but a little body and curl into their hair. Shorter strands of hair were notorious for slipping out of the older metal-based barrels. The slick barrel just could not hold onto the hair unless hairspray was used to create some grip. This made a sticky nasty mess on the iron and on the hair. Newer professional ceramic curling irons do a much better job of holding onto that hair so it can curl it properly with no hairspray needed to keep the hair on the barrel.

Making That Curl Stay in Your Hair

Sometimes the curl you put in your hair with a curling iron just does not stay very well. Maybe it is the humidity or even your hair type, but for some women the curls you create with your curling iron just do not stay very well. One simple tip if you have this problem is to try spraying your hair with your hairspray before you start to curl. For many women this extra stick before styling even begins will help your curl stay in place better. A little spray before you style with curling irons and little once you are done will go a long way to making that style stay in place.

Get This Look using a Hairstraightener

A Chignon sits lower on the head than a basic bun so be sure to focus on the nape of your neck as you style.

1. Towel-dry your hair and apply a loonie-sixed dollop of mousse evenly throughout to add texture and volume.
2. Blow-dry with a round brush to add bounce and then set with hot rollers or a curling iron. Concentrate curls on the bottom half of your hair,-keep the roots and crown smooth and use a hair straightener for your bang area.
3. Let hair cool and professional hair brush to bring out the shine.
4. Secure hair in a low ponytail at the nape of the neck, swept off to one side. Leave a one-inch-wide piece stray and wrap it around the hair elastic to conceal it. Secure with a bobby pin.
5. To add more texture, backcomb the ponytail. Don’t be afraid of your bun being too messy, this will be the beauty of it-it doesn’t have to look perfect.
6. Pin the hair under in small sections to create the chignon. Don’t go crazy with the hairspray. Instead, make sure it will stay put by anchoring the base with enough bobby pins.

Till Next time Good Luck,

Niki

Hair Build-Up – How to Remove Product Build Up From Hair

How do you really know if you are using the right styling product. I know sometimes it can be hard to look at your own hair but here is one note that should be taken seriously…When you see a ton of flakes, piling up in your hair, this is usually from bad hair products not getting washed out properly, too much hairspray or simply can be a case of bad dandruff.

Now I know this photo isn’t pretty but you need to see what other people see when you are standing or sitting below their eye level. Now, from my research these are some treatment shampoos that should help if indeed you have dandruff. First though, what I know about Head and Shoulders is this, it (don’t know if it still is) used to be so strong that if you put rollers in your hair then poured Head and Shoulders all over your head, rinsed the shampoo out, removed the rollers, your hair would keep the curl. If this product is strong enough to perm your hair, then yes, I guess it will get rid of dandruff, but in the process you would have BADLY damaged hair. So please try something else!

Here is an all natural treatment that you can do yourself.

This recipe is from “Dandruff Cure Recipes”

Boil some water and soak rosemary leaves in it. Let it stand for one night. Strain and add vinegar to it. After shampooing, wash your hair with this preparation. It treats the hair very fast. Make sure you eat lots of greens and take vitamin E and B complex supplements. Biotin in your diet is very important and is considered an important anti-dandruff compound. Eat foods rich in biotin: soybeans, oats, barley, corn, garlic, avocado,ginseng.

Now onto product residue. KMS Head Remedy, a purifying shampoo that gently removes oil, chlorine and product build up. Rosemary and fennel help soothe itching and provide anti-bacterial benefits to the scalp to leave your hair and scalp clean and healthy. KMS Head Remedy

Senscience Purifying Shampoo.

It cleanses away residue and styling build up without stripping hair. Novel chelating agents remove excess minerals such as chlorine, iron, magnesium and copper leaving hair thoroughly cleansed. Bamboo remineralizes, restructures and tones.

Something simple that probably every person has in their home is baking soda. Mix about a tablespoon in with your shampoo and this will also strip your hair of chemicals. These products must only be used periodically, the baking soda method should be used maybe 2 to 3 times in a row, every 2 to 3 months. Same goes with the shampoos, too much use and your hair will start to dry out. Till next time, Good Luck,

niki

Triple Barrel Curling Iron – How to Use One

A triple barrel curling iron can be a wonderful and easy way to add beautiful waves to your hair. Here are some simple steps to follow to ensure you get the best results.

1. Taking sections about 2-3 inches wide, place the section of hair between the top barrels and bottom plates. Be sure to stay about 1 inch away from the scalp.

2. Clamp the Iron shut and hold for about 5 seconds.

3. Move the waver down and to avoid ‘dents’ in the hair be sure to place the first barrel in the last so the waves look continuous.

4. Move down to complete the section of hair and to finish the edges tuck the ends of hair into the barrel with a tail comb.

Tail Comb

5. Repeat steps 1-4 but when working on the crown (top pieces) turn the iron up on a slight angle to avoid getting any harsh lines around the crown of your head.

6. When you have finished your entire head you can break up the waves gently with your fingers for a softer looking wave. Spray with a small amount of flexible hold hairspray and your done!

Hair Stylist Interview w/ Trish from Sweet Hair Trends

1. Name

Sweet Hair Trends, Maple Ridge, B.C. – Trish

2. Where do you currently work?

I rent a chair at a salon called Time in Eden in Maple Ridge, BC

3. How long have you been a stylist?

17 years

4. Which hairstyle is ‘Hot’ Right now?

Victoria Beckam’s

5. And ‘Not’?

Mullets

6. What hair color do you recommend for the upcoming season?

Depends what color your hair is to start with… caramel’s still popular

7. Have you ever worked your magic on a celebrity? If so who? If not, then who would be your dream client?

I wish! Matthew McConaughey, or Jennifer Aniston

8. What brand of professional hair styling aids would we find at your work station?

Sebastian- Shaper Plus Hairspray, Paul Mitchell- Super Skinny Serum, Joico- JoiGel, Rusk- Being Warped Wax

9. When someone is choosing a stylist, what is a ‘must’ they should look for?

ME! (Just kidding!) Someone who listens to them and what they want. However, it is exciting to change with the styles and not stick to the same old look for years. I suggest you let the stylist know what you want, but then also be willing to hear what they think will look good on you. You may be pleasantly surprised… you may not have thought that style could be on YOU!

10. Would you share with us a few your best hair tips or insider secrets?

- Use a mousse/gel/ liquid shine combo (on wet hair) to get volume, control, and shine when styling.

- If mousse is too drying on your hair, try a spray gel at the roots and mid-shaft, and gel or wax on the ends to hold them together.