Pro talk Archives

Wearing your hair up in a ponytail is an easy way to look polished and pulled together with minimal effort. Now with the holidays right around the corner, how about dressing up that pony for a little glam? Here’s seven ways for seven days that only take a few minutes.

1.  Inside Out
-Put hair in a low, loose ponytail.
-Loosen the ponytail base by sliding the elastic downward.
- From underneath, put two fingers up through the base of your ponytail right above the elastic, creating a small opening.
-Flip the ponytail upwards and pull it down through the opening.
-Pull it tight and smooth out.

2.  3 Braid Pony
-Put your hair in a pony, secure with an elastic.
-Wrap a piece of hair around the base to hide elastic. Secure with bobby pin.
-Take 3 strands of hair making sure the one in the middle is much smaller than the other and start doing a classic braid.
-Secure with an elastic and wrap a small piece of hair around it. Secure with bobby pins

3. Knot It Up
-Create a low ponytail at the base of your nape leaving 2 sections out on each side.
-Take the section not included in the ponytail and make a knot.
-Tighten the knot and secure by sliding from underneath some bobby pins. Smooth out any bumps.

4. Fishtail Ponytail
-Start a fishtail braid and stop about a quarter down the hair.
-Secure with an elstaic and wrap a pie of hair around it. Secure with bobby pins.

 5. Texture On Top
-Backcomb the top section of your hair.
-Using a spray wax or hairspray, create some texture by running some product through the top of your hair and using your fingers.
-Put your hair in a ponytail. At this time be careful not to flatten or mess up the top section.
-Once your hair is secure with an elastic, you can adjust by pulling lightly on the top to add more height/body.

6. Bouffant
-First, backcomb the entire head of hair and apply some spray wax through the ends.
-Then create a low ponytail. Make sure when you secure the ponytail with an elastic not to pull too tight or to flatten the top.

7. Braid Accent 
-Section out all the hair from your ear forward on one side.
-Proceed to create a braid  by the side of your ear. At this point you can decide what type of braid you want – fishtail, regular, twist braid, Deutsch. You can also do more than one braid if your hair is thick enough.
-Once your braids are done, incorporate them with the remaining hair and put it in a ponytail as you normally would. You can also leave a braid out and wrap it around your ponytail like I did.

So you decide you want your hair colored without spending money at the salon. Off you go and purchase what looks like the perfect shade. After reading the direction, you get started thinking how hard can this be? After all my stylist only spends a few minutes chatting with me before disappearing in back. Then returns with a bowl of color, applies it in a mater of minutes and it’s done!

Not so fast. You’re about to embark on a hair journey from hell.

Let me begin by saying that many things are taken into consideration as I am talking to you to establish what would be best for your hair. The formula I custom make for each client, is determined by the porosity, color, previous chemicals, undertones … the list goes on.

So how can a box of “light beige blond” work on anyone willing to spend a few bucks?

It simply can’t.

I know many of you as well as a few of my haircuts clients lucky enough to achieve OK results while doing it at home… And then there’s the not so lucky one…

I recently received a call from a friend asking me to get her in ASAP… Apparently she attempted to hilight her hair to a pale blond and ended up with a delightful shade of Creamsicle. NO bueno.

So basically, you’re taking a leap of faith when doing home coloring. So many things can go wrong you hear me? SO MANY!!!

Now, the cost of having a stylist fix your hair after turning it orange or blue is, in most instance, high. This is when the $7.99 box of color gets real expensive. Color correction typically starts at a couple hundred dollars, and really, it could go much higher depending on the amount of time it will take to turn your light orange hair into something pretty. Savings a few bucks huh? And did I mention the amount a God awfull stress you just put yourself through?

Please think long and hard before attempting hair color chemistry at home. This could be a very costly venture on both your hair and wallet.

My client had a great thought… “Next time I’ll get a bottle of wine instead of a box of color.” Something to think about next you’re heading to the store feeling ambitious. Hahaha!

Monday January 11, 2010

You know what they say: “The bigger the hair the closer to God”  Haha!  Well while that might debatable, here’s a few tricks when looking for lotta badass volume.

1. Use volumizing product
There are tons of products out there geared specifically to BIG hair.  Some of my faves:

Puerology Root Lift is my preferred volumizing mousse that I use on my clients at the salon.  It works great!

Aveda Volumizing Tonic is equally efficient.  May be used on wet or dry hair to add instant volume.  Spray on roots, section, use a round brush and a blow dryer and voila!

Osis Dust it has got to be the winner for serious volume when styling dry hair.  It comes in a powder form and is completely buildable.  Sprinkle on roots then run your finger in a circular motion.  Mega volume with a mat finish.  Not for the faint of heart.

2. Flip it upside down

All right ladies once you’re done spraying your roots with the volumizer of your choice flip your head upside down and blow dry.  Once you hair is almost dry you can finish up with a round brush focusing mostly at the root area.  Guaranteed volume.

3. Hot rollers work!

Hot rollers are probably the most underrated hair tool.

For overall volume…
Place the rollers all over you head on clean hair, previously dried with  your fave products.  Let them cool off, remove, and lightly run your finger through the curls.  Fabulous!

For targeted area volume…
For a nice poof, place hot rollers on the crown area only .  Follow same directions as above.  Bump it move over! :biggrin:

4. How about some teasin’

As a little girl I watch my grandma tease her hair daily.  Queen of the prefect beehive, the only hairspray worth her time she said was L’Oreal Elnett.  Available in the US Elnett may be just what’s you needed fir that perfect tease. Teasing is usually done at the crown area by taking small sections.  Use a comb or a small brush (I prefer a brush) and tease 1.5 inch going toward the scalp.  Spray.  Repeat.

Have a fabulous hair day!

Friday July 24, 2009

My weekend started off with a bang, a visit to the MAKEUP FOREVER boutique in Paris!

Located 5 rue De Boetie in the 8th arrondissement, the store is hidden in a very old building.  The location, away from tourists in a true local neighborhood, is extra appealing, but the boutique set up, is really what makes this spot a true make-up haven.

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