Men's Glossing

Grey hair on some men is sexy! but generally speaking grey hair can also be a sign of aging and in this youth obsessed society even men want a little something-something done to their hair color. I love having male clients in my chair for many different reasons, and in terms of hair coloring it has become easier to upsell a color service to them because of fast express services created for them.

No one wants to sit in a salon today for hours particularly men, I have always believed that finding the most private or hidden area in the salon is the best place for a male client getting hair color. There are many things we can do to refresh, polish-up or add a hint of sprinkle too men’s hair but the one express service I am loving is using the new Aveda Universal ON (clear/gloss) with a drop of a pure pigment or pure tone the results are fabulous!
 It can give a great overall tone too grey hair color using pigment, it enriches and adds body to natural hair color alone or with added tones and it imparts incredible shine and the process from start to finish using 5volume developer is 15/20 minutes max.  So call it Men's Glossing, Glazing! whatever name we give this service it's time to focus and encourage more men to get express services done in the salon, and remember "less is best".

Featured Corner #3

There is nothing like being in the presences of passionate people that truly love what they do each and every day! And when you come across a family owned and operated salon that invites you in with huge hearts making you feel at home is one of those many things I am grateful for and say I Love my job! I recently had the pleasure to teach in Chicago and one of my visits was the Taylor Stevens Salon-Spa. Andrea Swanson who opened her salon in 2000 and has become a part of Aveda’s Prestige’s purfessional (educational) hair color team in 2008 invited me back to inspire her team. I first met Andrea in 2005 when I got a request to come to her salon and teach her staff Aveda hair color we instantly connected and I fell in love with her and the staff, Steve her husband and partner in crime and a beautiful little girl who gave me a hand massage at age nine Taylor. Seven years later that beautiful little girl has become a stunning, intelligent sixteen year old beauty who is the next generation in the family business, she already knows what customer service is all about and working part time in the salon as an assistant, shampooing and doing makeup finishes for their clients and doing it full-hearted with a smile I was impressed.

Andrea and Steve's passion is to teach and help salon owners with their business focusing on hair color as well as colorists to be successful for the long term but above all to ensure in their daughter Taylor that hard work, core values and a giving heart is success and together they can create a legacy of making a difference each and every day. The Taylor Stevens Salon-Spa group are not only doing it right behind their chairs they also give back to their community with several fundraising causes. Hats off to both Andrea and Steve for inspiring and teaching the next generation of a home grown Star.

 

2005

Salon: Taylor Stevens Salon-Spa Algonquin Illinois

The Pink Hair Color Wave

Pink hair color is oh so here! With an increase in popularity we haven’t seen since 2000 when we first saw Pink sing. And whether someone is 10yrs or 60 everyone seems to be asking for some form of Pink hair color, how cool is this? In fact if I think of soft pastels first color that pops into my head is cloud-pink.
One of the exciting approaches for this spring I am encouraging some of my blonde clients to do is to add a little blush of soft pink even if it is on a small strand of hair hiding underneath. There are many variations of pinks to choose from now with Aveda's thrilling new  Pure Pigments the costomization is endless. Something I like to do is to pair pink up with  a hint of  soft violet, these two tones on blonde hair looks stunning and gets better as they fade.
I feel that there is a place today in our markets to do exciting and sometimes eye-popping hair colors and what I am hearing and seeing are the requests are coming in from all sorts of backgrounds, everyday people like business women, mothers, students etc. I so often hear from hairdressers that they are bored of doing highlights after highlights or tints and I always say "plant that seed of change" not only for your clients but for you as well, you would be surprised how many of your own clients would love a burst of change here is an opportunity.

Shaggy Chic Hair

The shag haircut is resurfacing once again for spring/summer 2012 and I love it! And it seems that the inspirations are coming from “the women of Rock & Roll of decades past” even Rihanna is currently sporting a shaggy blonde look. The newer shapes have longer layers at any length with either short, long, wispy fringes (bangs) with an allover chic unfinished look. And with today’s shaggy hair styles they are more universally flattering for almost any face shape or hair texture looking like it occurred by accident unlike the 70’s Jane Fonda’s shag in Klute which was slightly coiffed. The best Shags have fullness without weight and with hair color the best part is almost anything goes! It’s also a great way to grow out short haircuts, as it grows periodically getting a little snip shagging it out ( scissors or razor) creating beautiful styles with movement and texture and helping with the Ugly growing out stages. Shaggy hair is a freer style for those who want no real fuss hair with just the right products and fewer steps and still look styling and yes chic.

Here are some inspirations

Aveda’s New reVision Color!

By now I hope all of you are as excited as I have been with the new goodies we have from Aveda to our world of hair color. Since 1993/94 when I was bestowed the honor of being a part of something new and risk taking Aveda’s first ever hair color line Shades of Enlightenment, too launching Full Spectrum Permanent Hair Color to Now! My beliefs then and now remain that there is no better hair color product out there then Aveda Hair Coloring Systems.

Aveda has sure come a long way, the evaluation has been incredible and thrilling for me as a hair colorist, educator and I remember the days when a few of us would present at events like HCUSA (Hair Color USA) and everyone would be wondering “Aveda has Hair Color, don’t they make shampoo?” Until everybody realized after many awards and great presentations that we were most certainly contenders in the industry’s hair color market, and I can truly say we have arrived.

I cannot be more proud to continue to be a part of the best tribe, professionals there is in our industry and work with a product made for Hair Color Artistry, Thank you Aveda for my new palettes and for continuing to deliver beyond excellence.

Smokey Platinum Blonde

I often say ‘if it wasn’t for blondes and grey hair I wouldn’t have a job’, thank god I do! And for some time now we haven’t really seen any spotlight on “Blonde” per say nor a trend on bleach blonde hair until now. The new platinum blonde generation that will start emerging this next season is stunning and sassy; the look is an arid more dusty-powdery slate smokiness undertone to it which I call Angel Blonde. To me there are a couple of technical twists I do or add to ensure that my Bleach and Tone is going to be the desired end result we want. And in my experience I have noticed that hairdressers are far too hasty in the process of removing the product off the head fear perhaps. Trick 1; just when you are absolutely sure the bleaching process is done literally give it another 5 to 10 minutes longer, remembering that the product is white and tricks our eye and most important nothing debilitating will happen to the hair with a little extra time.

The other observation is that there is a tendency to just think that the toner chosen is going to do the job with the BRASS, logic is as well in Art if there is any yellow left it will oxidize muddy, lifeless, hence why a double process client comes back in looking a little Blah. Trick 2; less is best, try to tone hair with Color Conditioners, Universal Gloss with pigment or simply in most cases when that double process is perfect and even into an ivory tone (no Yellow) you do absolutely nothing to the hair accept conditioner. The natural oxidization of the environment, particles in the air, water etc. will grey it out naturally however they always go home with a color conditioner Aveda Blue Malva or Black Malva. After a week the client comes in to see you and at this point is when a Universal Gloss plus pigment all-over toner is applied. This way whatever the hair has picked up any deposits, residues the toner (gloss) will take care of it as well as deposit a strong or whisper of whatever undertone both you and client choose.

Platinum Blonde is a classic when done right and history has proven through decades that it still draws the attention this spring let’s Angel up some hair  

Pastel Hair Colors

In the past if I said blue green, purple, pink hair almost everyone would think punk rock this is not the case any longer. 2012 looks like a year for statement made hair color! And still leading the way as we saw last year are the likes of Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Rihanna with their bold and striking hair colors that have blazed a path for others to follow. This year we are adding grey and softer pastels to the mix as we are seeing off the runways and celebs showcasing new hair trends, Kate Moss added grey highlights, Kelly Osbourne looks like she used a Roux Fanci- Full hair rinse to achieve her very cool greyish/purple locks and Kate Bosworth with dip dyed green. For me to see pastel hair pulled off with such sophistication is oh so inspiring and exciting, I am not sure how long this trend will last but for now it’s fantastic. So whether you are adding colorful extensions, all over funk or just adding a few pieces pastels are smoking hot.

Aveda Invati Hair Thinning System

It’s finally here and it’s going to change many people who have been struggling with hair loss, thinning, and breakage or simply need fullness Aveda’s Invati™ system. 97% naturally derived with unique blends of herbs known for their use in Ayurveda healing from a 5,000 year-old tradition from India. It has been clinically proven and having the opportunity to literally see the results with my own salon testing of this product I can honestly say ‘unbelievable ‘results. Clogging up pores whether it be face, or scalp is the cause of many side effects like, breakouts on skin, loss of hair or small pimples on the scalp. And there are numerous products out there claiming their product will stop hair loss, thickening shampoos and conditioners and in my experience none of which have ever worked.

Reducing hair loss is an enormous breakthrough for research and development at Aveda through there award winning Botanical Lab “Natural-Holistic” science not pharmaceutically manufactured products. Ancient wisdom fused with modern technology gives us Invati which means “invigorate” in Sanskrit, an absolute gem added into Aveda’s hair care system.  

Email; Thank You

Getting into the hairdressing industry was in me from a child I think, a fun thing to do!!Taking my mother’s nail polishes and painting my Barbie dolls hair at age 7 “as mom reminds me” it was so cool!!! And it still is with more rewards then I could have ever thought. Going from a high school dropout straight into washing hair in a foreign country too more foreign cities, being amidst and part of the decade trends, and a career filled with acclaims from press and peers, it has been and remains a true blessing to say I Love what I do. And the passion I have for all beauty whether its  fashion, design, nature, arts of any kind keep me inspired my learning and experiences have helped to elevate me to where I am today 30 ode years later. Yet nothing inspires and feeds my heart more than making people look and feel great starting from the inside out and really doing it with a pure servant’s heart. We sometimes forget why we do what we do and then comes a gift unexpected, Please read the email I received.

Hello Ana. My name is Ted and I wanted to write you a line about the stunning high lighting you did with Sara a few days ago. She is the love of my life and her hair supports my contention that she is the most beautiful woman I could ever have imagined. Her blond tresses accentuate her charms and focus on her radiance. Sara is fortunate to have you, Ana, to assist her in helping her to glow! Well done! Ted

Sara a 65 year old client of mine married to Ted for 40 years! I have never met him as of yet, Sara beat cancer a year ago. Saturday Sara was my 10:00am appointment, it was for me a heartfelt joy that she was healthy and we could color her hair in over a year. My main goal was to make her look beautiful like never before and make her laugh and smile leaving the studio happy 'a great experience'. When we finished she started to cry from pure joy she loved her hair color and I could see in her eyes the smile from inside, I knew I had done my job!!! Thank You Ted for reminding me why I love what I do with a servants heart.

Daring New Hair Colors

Now that we have entered a new year it’s time to step out of your usual hair color and try something different, it’s amazing how changing hair colors can do wonders for confidence and your own individual style. In this modern day world we live in we have elevated the bar as far as style goes and uniqueness is highly praised, no one wants to look boring and hair color is one of the easiest ways and fastest growing service to guarantee that individuality is the way to go for 2012.

There are countless of gorgeous hair color hues out there to choose from but that doesn't make them suitable for everyone, skin tones as well as personality play an influential role in finding the perfect hair color. When it comes to new hair color think outside of the box, blonde and soft pastel tones, brunettes with higher contrast, redheads with intense tones are all so beautiful. And regardless of the intensity of the color or colors there’s an assortment of hair coloring techniques available and my coloring ideas for 2012 include bolder mixes of different multi-colors, dip dyes, emo hair colors and two toned colors. Keep in mind any change we do is a good thing even if it's one single panal of a little something something going on. So change up that single process or highlight/lowlight applications for a more daring look, could be the best thing you ever did for your own personal satisfaction.

Here are some inspirations too make you think