Short hair blues.

A friend read my last blog and asked me this morning 'what about us short haired girls?' 'we still want to iron our hair!'.

Well normal hair straighteners are too big to use on hair that is shorter than a bob, however help is at hand with these great ones from Cloud 9. My understanding of the company is that they originally co-founders of the GHD's so they come from a good background.

They are perfect for those shorter hairs, small enough to take on holiday, still with enough heat to smooth that hair down AND wont break the bank (under £60)

Take a look you short haired Goddesses or God’s (lets not forget you gents that love to groom)

http://www.cloudninehair.com/shop/products/cloud-nine-micro-iron/

SH

Do you love to iron?

Top tips for ironing your hair well...yes there is a knack.

• Apply a good pre-styling product to your hair. ( I think a further blog is required for this)
• Blow dry you hair well and into the style that you want, no kinks, as straight as you like.
• Make sure all your hair is completely dry, if not you'll fry it with the heat.
• Apply a little serum to the ends of your hair...too much and it will look greasy.
• Take small sections from your nape to the parting and run the iron slowly down the hair, from roots to tips, too fast and you will be ironing the same piece of hair way too many times, drying it out and causing damage.
• Slightly round the irons when you reach the ends to give a more natural bend to the hair, bringing in all those wispy ends together.
• A little hairspray at the end just to sent the style and the jobs a good one. I love Elnett!

Most of all use a good quality pair of irons. Yes GHD's are great but there are other good ones on the market. Make sure they have high temperature, the hotter they get the less you have to iron the same area preventing damage and over ironing.

Last of all, once is enough in between shampoos...A frizzy mess is so 1990.

SH

To blond or not to blond,

That is the question! And it's a tough one.


I've changed my hair colour so many times I can't remember what my natural looks like, but is blond best?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Picking the right colour for your skin tone, eye colour and hair cut is tricky, so how can you?

Look back at old pictures of yourself when you were lighter and darker, do you like what you see?

Your natural hair colour can give you all the clues you need on if going lighter is for you. If your naturally very dark the possibilities of being a sun kissed blond without bleaching it till your hair falls off are very slim and lets not forget to mention that if your dark haired naturally then very light blonds are not going to work with your skin tone either. Thank mother nature for that one!

To be totaly sure if lighter is the best for you, try on a few wigs, get to the salon for a consultation or even try this website...Up load your picture and see what colour suits you best.  http://www.taaz.com/


In the mean time check out some of these celebritys who have got it wrong.......

Jessica Alba...Both wrong, wrong, wrong!

 Lindsay, please let me give you a make-over!

Katy...Dark please!

To be continued, for sure!

SH

We love it dirty....

Yes we do! Honest.

Ever woken up on a Saturday morning, needing a hair wash but you have a hairdressers appointment later in the day?

Ever washed it just because you don't want to turn up, embarrassed with greasy hair for that colour job?

Well the truth is we don't mind a little dirt. In fact a colourist LOVES it.

So embrace it.

 A little extra something something on your scalp not only means your highlights are a little easier to put in (we can get that highlight closer to the root) it also protects your scalp from the colouring chemicals we use to make your hair fabulous. A little sebum (hairdressers speak for grease) couldn't be more important when we are bleaching your hair. Bleaching and toning can be....painful. Especially if you've washed your hair a least 2 days before your appointment. It protects the skin and the more you have the nicer your hair experience. 4 days of un-washed hair is perfect for a less painful bleach.
Its not only for bleach, however, any colouring service being applied to the scalp is more comfortable with some extra lubrication.

Smothering Lard on your head may not be a great idea before your appointment though.  Ha ha

SH

Buy cheap buy twice

Now I'm thinking that we are starting to know each other very well by now, this being my third blog, so I think its about time I got a little serious. Well...maybe ha ha

I want to talk about hair products. Not just any hair products....Salon hair products. Shampoo, conditioners, treatments, styling products. Go in to any salon and you will find unlimited bottles full of sweet, musky smelling potions to tame, lift, moisturise and fix your locks. But how can you choose the right ones and are these expensive little bottles a waist of your money when you could buy the fancy celebrity advertised ones that are 3 for 2 in the supermarket.

 

Hair products are like H&M and Hermes....buy a bag in H&M and it will do what you want, it will look OK but wont have that WOW factor. Buy a bag from Hermes......Do I really have to go on?

 

Just for you.... The biggest Birkin Ive ever seen.

 

 

International cosmetic company's spend millions on researching ingredients and testing expensive products, they make sure that every single cuticle, every ounce of dirt and every colour molecule is looked after. Not that I'm saying that the 'cheaper' ones don't, there are some good ones out there, the difference is exclusive not general. Like Fairy washing up liquid and own brand ones, they do the same job but Fairy will last you longer and cuts through the grease.

 

Have you ever heard the saying 'I have to change my make of shampoo regularly as my hair gets used to it'. Have you ever said it? I have. The truth is that if we have the correct products for our hair we shouldn't need to and if the one we have stops being great then it's now the wrong one for us.

Take my friend 'Sally' She had dry damaged hair and starts using a salon shampoo and conditioner for, you've guessed it, dry hair. After she had finished the first bottle she started to notice that her hair was becoming greasy and limp. This was not because her hair had got 'used to it' it was because the products had done their job and it was now overloading her hair. She needed to change to a less heavy product.

Product company's also spend a huge amount of money and time training hairdressers in the products that they sell. I sit through a good 2 hours every couple of months, before work, listening to them. We know them, we've tried them and yes sometimes we hate some of  them (shhhh don't tell). We are not, however trying to sell you more stuff, commission on products isn't that great. What we are doing is making sure our walking advertisement (that's you by the way) looks great all the time.....

 

Call it a love thing.

 

SH

FringeTox

 

The fringe

We love to hate it. We grow it out, cut it back in, sweep it to the side and when it gets too long blow upwards like its a birthday candle.

However the humble fringe is quite possibly the best way to disguise our wrinkles without surgery, needles or harsh potions. Cut correctly, now that means NOT by yourself in the bathroom with a pair of nail scissors (yes I know you do it), it can frame your face bring out your eyes and hide those little happy lines. All without making you look like Cher, leaving you free to actually have facial expressions and look surprised once in a while.

A good hairdresser will (if you go to them for a hair cut) cut your fringe in between visits for free. A tip would be nice as a thank you but Please don't attempt to do it by yourself especially with the said nail scissors. Hairdressing scissors are expensive (£250 upwards), sharp objects mainly made from Japanese steal. They cut your hair accurately without causing split ends. However, if you absolutely have to and this is a life / death, a last minute hot date with Brad Pitt situation, then there are a few tip to being successful.

1. Cut it what your hair is freshly washed and blow dried 
2. Do not cut your hair through your fingers, allow for root lift otherwise you fringe will look like a 30's pin up girls.
3. Allow your hair to fall in its natural place before you cut otherwise it will never be straight
4.  Buy a good pair of scissors to the job, Boots ones wont do. You'll be hacking at it for hours.

With a good fringe you also need a good colour to go with it. If you have dark features then a solid one colour works better.

Here Kiera Knightly's fringe looks great! The right length with a beautiful rich chocolate colour that brings out her amazing eyes. The ends of the fringe work in line with the corner of her eyes, down to the side of her nose and that draws the eye along her face giving the appearance of full cheek bones.

J Lo's doesnt really work for me. The sweeping feel I like but it could have been a little longer, its the colour. The hightlights through it give the fringe a finer look, J Lo has lots of hair but the colour makes it look like its fine and damaged. One colour would have made for a stronger, bolder look.

For blondes, stay away from too many bleach highlights. A bleached fringe can look stunning, I love a bleached and toned fringe however people with the finer type of hair should maybe avoid that look.

 Taylor Swift and her fringe...enough said.  Stunning!

There are however people who should seriously consider not having a fringe. A round face is never going to pull one of as well as someone with an oval. Kelly O below proves that, it hides her eyes, cheek bones and makes her head look smaller. The same goes for kinks or what hairdressers call 'cows lick'. A stright, harsh fringe will never sit right.

If you want one but your not sure always go to the salon for a consultation and dont attempt to put one in yourself or you will be back to us to get it fixed......Let the pro's do it

So there you have it. FringeTox. The new old thing that still works for us.

 Hurrah for the fringe!


SH

Hair days......

After a slightly tipsy conversation at a party with a media type, a crazy week of  'hair' work and then a late night research session. I came to the conclusion that there are not many blogger's out there for you. Yes there are hairdressers talking to hairdressers with lots of shop talk and their blogs about this famous person that they have just cut, met and what TV program they are on. There are also lots on online magazines and professional guests that are there to help but is there a hairdresser that is on the WWW that wants to talk about real hair, who is accessible and not edited by some big wig in the city.  Do you want to know what not to do, how to get the style, the colour you want without having that 'waiting in line to see the headmistress' feeling, when you go to see the hairdresser?

There is something about going to the hairdresser that sends you back to being a 5 year old. Your sit in the chair, its busy and suddenly everything you want to say, everything you feel about your hair is sucked up into a void that can only be released when you open the door and leave.
After changing my hair colour and style so many times I cant remember, some very good and some horrifically bad, my fluorescent mistake many years ago being one of them as was my Lego haircut a few years after that. Feeling good about your 'do' is what gives you a spring in your step and makes you feel great.

Lots of you don't want/cant go to the hairdressers, for many reasons, so the only other choice is a home job.

Oops!

How many of you have resorted to the hair colour section in Boots. Stood there for what seams to be an age thinking 'dark blond or light brown, dark blond or light brown' until you've gone crazy, not knowing which one to pick and then picking up some random one that you discounted 5 min before that, gone home and the next morning wished you hadn't. A sea of patchy oranges, yellows and browns with your natural hair colour scattered throughout.

Not good.

If I'm honest I never did a home job, I was always too scared of it....I still am. Especially after seeing all the people I do see who come in to the salon asking me to correct it but it can be a great way to colour your hair cheaply, as long as you know how to do it.  You can get the Cheryl Cole look, you just have to know how.

I am a hairdresser, I work in a busy salon but this is not a way to promote my business. Ask me questions and I shall tell no lies and if your lucky Ill post a few Celeb hair disasters on the way....Ha Ha

So...

My first blog, exciting times!

SH