Get Inspired

 

It’s impossible” said pride “It’s risky” said experience “It’s pointless” said reason “Give it a try” whispered heart....Follow your dreams and use your imagination and create…

 

 

From architectural designs both historic and modern to nature’s abundance of colors, textures, like intricate weaves of bamboo and wood to patterns which offer unique placement ideas (techniques) using curvature or linear lines, to art, make-up, photography etc.etc. Are all inspirational to me and always have been, remembering that pretty much everything including hair use the same fundamental design principles one being (The Color Wheel) which cannot be recreated. And taking ideas and color combination from any form of art can have a magical outcome on your creative senses and can help us out of our “boxes” so to speak. Let’s look at children’s hair with all the splendid natural touches of colors and how nature does not use strategic strokes when sun-kissing their hair, think about that. And just as an architect, fashion designers, graphic illustrators, photographers, make-up artists, hairdressers work in shapes they all use color to bring their work to life.

 

Mello Yellow Hair Color

For years I have been trying to achieve a soft lemon yellow hair color and until this past year I can honestly say “FINALLY” got it!! Thank you Aveda for Pure Pigment Yellow. It’s a versatile, compatible tone that I pretty much add it to a lot of my formulas, from browns to soft buttery blondes to yes lemon. We all tend to make blondes darker and instead of going darker this winter perhaps we can try keeping them slightly brighter, perkier yet soft. Adding yellow as one of the tones in tri-coloring (3 colors of highlights) is also a beautiful look on brunettes as well let’s not forget the redheads which is ultimately the best array of harmony in colors yet I feel blondes and brunettes can rock the yellow too.

Tip: add Y pigment to any Level as well with BV, LVB it delivers the warmth without the orange/red when you only want a slight touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse Ombre

 

 

You probably already adore the Ombre fad, or as a hairdresser sick of it, in either case it’s still a high requested service by clients. And being inspired from the runways this fall-winter like Prada and Jean Paul Gaultie with daring interpretation on the reversed ombre hair colors it got me thinking ‘what if’ I start suggesting this to my clients. I love the look!! and the best part it’s a great way to grow out black or dark solid (tint) colors “Why-Not!  I have always liked darker hair color coming from the nape and whatever the face shape or body size is having a silhouette appear darker from the bottom or underneath creates leaner linear lines. It does not have to be as bold as some of these inspirations, if a client wants to move away from dark hair and go a couple of levels (shades) lighter this can be a great option, keep in mind that after suggestion a reserve ombre eventually the hair at some point will need to be cut so make sure clients are told this. And whatever the technique that is used to achieve the ombre with the reserve ombre always starts out soft.

 

 

 

Plum and more Plum Color

It's all about the Plum tone and if you have one item that say's plum this fall/winter then your in the spotlight, whether its hair color, a scarf, boots, hat, lips, nails you name it adding plum
is a great way to add some pop of rich color. Plum is a magical and most often thought of as sensual so try something new even if its a few panels/highlights of plum tones too your burnette hair color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HCC Tip; Plum tones are blue based so when you want to achive intense plums and violets the hair must be at almost a platinum (no yellow). Think Color Wheel, yellow and purple cancel each other out.... 

 

Salon Stress Relieve

Doing it Right

When you ask anyone what is their favorite part when visiting an Aveda salon the answer is The Stress Relieving Treatment and The Shampoo.  I get a lot of opportunities in visiting many Aveda salons all over the globe and other then that oh so familiar smell (the products) the one constant is the SRT. I am always interested in finding out how each individual salon approaches it, and most recently having visited a great salon in Montreal ‘Au Premier’ I was impressed in how they serviced their SRT. Within the back part of the salon there with all its glory was a VAULT yes a magnificent old bank vault (the space was once a bank) which they kept and turned it into a private area where the SRT’s are done on clients ‘Brilliant’, each station has curtains for complete privacy with no noise due to the original 3 foot solid walls.  From there the clients are then directed to the shampoo basins for what seemed to be an incredible relaxing shampoo, NO ONE TALKING, and watching the clients I could sense they truly enjoy this part of the process so much that one of the clients told me she would pay just to get the Stress Relieving Treatment and shampoo. What great service and we should all think about this before we talk to or over a client’s head when shampooing or doing a Stress Relieving Service. Way to go Team Au Premier!!

 

Salon: Au Premier

5487 Avenue de Monkland

Montreal, QC H4A 1C6

Get directions

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(514) 489-8872

Bold Hair Colors

                                              
                                                                 Hello Again 
                                                         

Aveda Hair Color let's you paint with ultimate creative freedom using a customized artists palette !!. Go Bold with new pure pigments or old classics.                            

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