Better Before or After - Audrina Patridge

I'm not a huge fan of 'The Hills' however I think Audrina's hair has the potential to be amazing. She has had a few styles that are odd so these are my opinions about her hair.

Starting with the worst

This is AWFUL!!!! Too light. If she wants to be blonde, this should be a shade darker and have the highlights a shade lighter & not so gold. A beige would be much softer and sparkle!

Both: The goal of your hair colour is to give your skin tone appear brighter. This colour choice makes Audrina's skin look very orange. If her hair was a shade or two darker, (with or with out highlights) she would look more natural.

Better

Top: This cool dark brown over powers Audrina. Her hair is now too dark and washs her out (.. but atleast she doesn't look like an oompa loompa). I also feel that her fringe is too round looking for how straight & sleek the rest of her hair is. Bottom: At first glance her hair isn't too horrible here. I would have like to have seen her base colour a shade darker & her highlights more defined. Also it looks lighter on top and like she doesnt really have highlights on the bottom.

Best

Both: I LOVE Audrina's colour in both of these photos. When she has rich brown hair with gold, copper, or mahogony reflects is when she looks fantastic. These shades all compliment her her skin and eye colouring.


And I appologize for the lack of postings, I've been busy with classes including one about a straightening treatment which you'll hear about in the next week or so.

How To - Trim Your Fringe

Let's face it. Most women go a little (or alot) longer than recommended between hair cuts. There's often an excuse. Whether your reasoning is you're too busy with life, (...kids, family, work, school or partner) you don't want to lose the length, financial or (my favourite excuse) you don't notice your hair needs a trim because you wear it up so often. Generally speaking, I recommend having your hair trimmed every 6 - 12 weeks. (depending on how fast your hair grows, length, & over all condition) After this amount of time your layers will start to lose their shape & the perimeter will lose it's clean edge. If you have a fringe, blunt across or swept to the side, 6 - 12 weeks basically guarantees you can't see anything. I always recommend seeing your stylist in between appointments to keep your fringe in check. There is often no charge and only takes a few minutes, however, time is money and if you don't have the time, here are a few steps on if you must trim yourself.

1. Start with dry hair. Style as you normally would.
2. Separate your bang from the rest of your hair. I use clips, if you don't have clips, you "ouch less hair elastics." Use as many as it takes to get everything else away from your face!
3. Comb your fringe how it would normally sit
4. Take the scissors and slowly trim upwards, making little upside down V's. The goal is to just get the ends. (approx. 1/16 - 1/8th inch...... or approx 0.15 - 0.3 cm) If you must hold your hair in your fingers, make sure you dont move your hair from where it would normally sit.
5. Try and follow the line that had been previously cut to the best of your ability. This is the best way to keep your fringe from change shape. (who would have that if follow the inital shape will give you the most similar result!)
6. Dont worry too much about the corners near your hairline. You can't really see if your gonna cut into your hair, so best to avoid it. Just trim from the outer corner of your eye so you can see.


IMPORTANT TIPS
ONLY TRIM WHAT YOU CAN SEE
If there is a piece longer than the rest, do not cut. Its long because it isn't part of your fringe
Trim about 2-3 weeks after your last fringe trim - this way you can see the line clearly & the shape is still easy to follow
ALWAYS cut vertically, as it softens the line (also easier to hide if you mess up)
Less is more - you can't put it back once it's gone but you can always take a little more off
Do NOT try and change the shape yourself
If you feel like you might mess it up, put the scissors down!! You likely will.
If you must trim yourself, try and see a stylist every second or third time you need a fringe trim so you can make sure the shape stay the same
Try to use scissors you can control - Smaller scissors are easier to maneuver for detail work.
Only look out of one eye. You'll either get hair in your eye or poke your eye (or eye area) with scissors. Have a towel ready once you expose your eye and wipe away the fallen hairs before you open! (from experience)

Blunt Fringe:
Tip: Start in the center, trim the side thats away from your cutting hand. (It's the harder side, get it done first, then the easier side will feel less stressful. Also, its easier to adjust the side thats easier you can always adjust the second side

Fringe that Sweeps to one side:
Tip: Start from the outer corner of your eye and work towars the center. To avoid getting scissor-happy (and ending up with the center piece too short) take your time. You can take a little less off as you near the center & go back over it again. Like i said, less is more! You can't put it back
***If you have a longer side swept fringe, and you feel more comfortable holding the hair. Start with the hair between your fingers where it would normally fall, THEN with out relaxing the tension, you can move your fingers so you can see a bit better***

BEST TIP I CAN RECOMMEND: (yes this will be the third time I'll have mentioned this one)

LESS IS MORE!!! If you leave it little long & it looks weird, a stylist has more to work with to fix it!

Please keep these in mind while you trim

click here for a video tutorial from Ted Gibson

Good luck everyone!!

Better Before or After - Nicole Richie

When I think of Nicole Richie, I think of the horrible extensions she wore "The Simple Life," The reality TV show with Paris Hilton (2003 - 2007). Since the show first aired, Nicole's hairstyles have definitely had their ups & downs. These are the good, the bad and the ugly. (and my opinions why)

Starting with the worst:

In all of these photos, Nicole's hair extensions look either stringy, skunk-y, or they just don't blend. The best of all of them, is the photo on the bottom right. Over all Nicole looks good, her highlight placement in her natural hair is very pretty. Her extensions however, don't blend at all. They are too coppery & have very few platinum highlights through the bottom, so all I see is orange.

Left: There is a complex balance of having your hair coloured copper hair & having your hair colour look like you were trying to go blonde and your hair couldn't quite get there. This looks like somewhere in the middle. If her highlights were a shade lighter it would look better, but this is still a strange colour choice for her skin tone. Right: Plain and simple, she looks washed out.

Getting better :

Left: Nicole's hair a lot of very fine blended highlights which softens the over all appearance. The colour tone in this photo is a lot cooler which compliments her skin tone. I would love this photo except she has a few extensions pieces that haven't been cut. (sigh) Center: Love the dark. Crooked fringe & stringy extension pieces that haven't been cut yet, not so much. Right: Her hair finally blends all the way through!! A few lighter highlights through the top would have brightened this look up beautifully and the base colour wouldnt blend into her skin as much.


Center part + larger forehead = very obvious large forehead. A more complimentary style would have deeper side parting (keeping the braids going back off her face with her waves) creating a carefree looking boho style.


My favourites:

Left: Nicole's rich brown hair looks so sultry & the contrast to her skin tone is amazing. Center: I approve of this center part as it doesnt pull all the hair off her face exposing her forehead. The colour choice is even and looks soft. Right: Elegant & simple.


Left: Nicole's hair looks cute. Paris' hair is big bird yellow (... sigh) Right: LOVE THIS PHOTO!!!!!

Left: Love the rooted look, over all tone is pretty, extensions are coloured to blend. Center: Can't get enough of the rich dark chocolate colour. Right: So chic.

Product Recommendation - The search for the perfect shine spray

Shine spray is a great finishing product for everyone. Long hair, mid length, short hair, spikey, wavy, curly straight, pinned up or worn down, regardless how you wear it, shine spray can add a detailed, glossy, photo-ready finish.

When I was in hairschool, a mentor had recommended to use Bumble & Bumble Shine Spray in a photoshoot I was doing. I loved it. High sheen, soft finish, non oily feeling, slight hold...

To this day, I love everything about this product.... Except the smell. It smells absolutely disgusting! If you are a Bumble and Bumble user, this sounds nothing like them. All their products have a distinct fragrance. I eventually asked a bumble rep why it stinks & the responce I got was something along the lines of..
"The product was created for runway and editorial shoots. It was never to be a retail product, however the demand for a shine spray was so high they launched BB.Shine. The initial product was formulated with no added scent, so all you'd smell was aersole. Models and beauty industry people raved about the product but always complained about the smell. Bumble then reformulated the product to have a pretty fragrance (this sounds more like bumble) and launched it to the public. New users of the product had high expectations but were forewarned by a model or a someone that knows (someone that knows someone that knows) a model about the smell. To wrap this up a little faster, users complained that this wasnt the same horrible smelling perfect shine spray they'd heard of, so they took the fragrance back out. Now all you smell is aerosol."

....gross

As I enjoy updo's & styling hair, I have been wishing for ever for there to be a shine spray that had all the great qualities of BB.Shine, with out the vile scent.

I've been searching and I am happy to announce I've found it.

L'Oreal Proffesional's Tecniart Crystal Gloss

The scent is lightly fragranced, it doesn't feel oily, nor do you feel a build up on the hair, it has very light hold (great for layering) not to mention it's phenominal light reflecting qualities! I don't have a fun/ strange story about the history of this product however i will be replacing my BB.Shine spray with this product shortly.

Celebrity Trend Watch

Okay so Halle Berry has had shorter hair cuts for years.

First Photo: Way to long, way to much hair. Bangs? really? Second: The strong baseline of her cut isn't angled to flatter her bones & make her jaw look like its excessively pointy. Third: The best of the longer styles but still too much hair around her face.

First Photo: off her face, not my favourite, but easy & cute for errands. Second: Shows off the texture of her hair, styled and has a little more polish than the left photo. Third: By far my favourite! Her hair just moves where it wants here. It's messy but it shows off her natural texture of her hair.

Victoria Beckham is a celebrity with a great influence in the hair world. Usually has an amazing style that's easy to achieve & suits everyone. Whether you're a mom, a chic business woman or somewhere in between, her hairstyles suit almost everyone.

First & Second Photo: The "Victoria Beckham Bob." The left is a symmetrical cut. The center is an asymmetrical hair cut (different lengths on each side) Third: Victoria Beckham after the bob, had put in extensions. They look okay, but she looks so plain jane. She might has well have her hair in a pony tail and sweatpants.

I love Victoria's bob, but i also love her pixie cut! The short fringe really opens up her face and draws you to her eyes!


Emma Watson (Hermione for the Harry Potter fans) is one of the most recent celeb's to chop off all her hair!

First photo: Her hair is so thick & big here, and not in a good way. Second: Beautiful girl, long hair, smooth, simple, longer layers. A pretty look if she wanted long hair, however I find it makes her look quite young.

First, Second & Third photo: She looks amazing!! The angled sideburns compliment her bone structure & combined with her wispy short fringe this edge cut stay feminine.

Short hair celebrity cuts that could use some adjusting:

First photo: Elisha Cuthbert - I would have loved to see a heavier side swipe fringe & a little more hair left for her side burn. Also her hair looks fine already, I feel this would be better if it wasn't wispy in the back. It just looks messy. The color would also pop if she had some darker low lights. Second: Hilary Swank - This looks so top heavy & the fringe is a weird length. It looks like a wig. I would love to see this with a more angled fringe ending low on her check bone for an asymmetrical style. Third: Keira Knightley - Such a beautiful woman, but all i see is hair. This also resembles a wig. If she wants the longer fringe she needs more hair on the sides (bob length or longer). Also with out a defined part of this fringe it looks like a curtain hanging over her forehead. I think Kiera would look amazing with a pixie cut, a short piecey fringe & clean/ detailed around the perimerter.

Tip: If your thinking about going short, and have never been above the chin before, have a consult with your stylist (or a few stylists) to see their opinion.
Ask:
What details they would add to personalize the cut of your face shape? (length of fringe, sides, back, details around perimeter)
How they would recommend styling? (products? hot tools? special events?)
Price (some salons/ stylists may charge a bit extra for a drastic change as it takes a bit longer to adjust the inital shape to suit you)
Maintanence (This one is very important!! If you have long hair and cut it once a year this change is quite big, as most short hair styles need to be cut every 4 - 8 weeks)
Will the cut affect my colour (only applies to people that colour their hair, however some short hairstyles look odd with certain colour placements)

Jessica Simpson

I do believe this is a wig, however, it is such a great look for her!! The short hair really opens up her face & shows off her features!

Recent Photoshoot - Jan 18

A couple of my co-workers were bored at work one day & set up a photoshoot. In-between clients i jumped in too.

This is Kim. Kim is a make up artist and like to wear her hair incredibly funky. She has the sides of her hair shaved down to a #3 guard & a wide mohawk section that she normally wears down. It looks like a short texturized bob on whatever side she chooses to wear down. When she has a party or an event to attend she often asks me to put it up into something interesting. I Will post a new pic with the next upstyle she has.



Make Up application - Kim D ***Stars - Heather P
Hair & Photograph - Myself