An Easter basket weaved into her hair...WOW!!!

Oily hair is a drag, but dry hair is no picnic, either. Dry hair is dull hair, and it looks the same after you wash it as it did before. Everyone has bad hair days, but with dry hair you may have those days more often than not. 

These are the primary external factors for those lackluster locks:

• Harsh shampoo
• Shampooing too often
• Hair dye
• Hair perms
• Chlorine in swimming pools and hot tubs
• Overuse of the blow dryer or curling iron
• Too much exposure to sun and wind
• High mineral content in local water supplies

External factors are easy to remedy. You just need to be careful about how you treat your hair, cutting back on activities that cause it to become dry. Switch products. Wear a cap when swimming. Cover your head when you're outside in the sun for prolonged periods. And set up an appointment to get a deep conditioning treatment at the salon. Give me a call to set up your appointment. 446-1313

As the seasons change from dry and cold in the winter to warm and moist during the spring and summer, our hair changes with the climate. Hair often goes from dry and full of static to frizzy and sun bleached by the end of the summer. Preparing for this change of the seasons can help you have a better hair day all year.

Moisture Balance.
One of the hardest things to conquer with hair is proper moisture. Just when you get your hair all moisturized to combat the dry season, it gets wet and humid, and then the sun comes out and wreaks havok on your locks.

As the weather starts to warm up and the humidity in the air increases, its time to change your conditioning habits. It doesn't mean that you need to stop conditioning, just make a few adjustments. If you deep condition once a week in the winter months, change it to every other week. If you use a heavy daily conditioner in the dry season, try changing to a lighter moisture or balancing conditioner.

The rule of thumb with moisture is to listen to your hair. If you notice static, dry ends, a lot of tangles, or if your hair feels rough to the touch you are lacking moisture and need to add a deep conditioning treatment or a moisturizing conditioner to your hair routine. If your hair is limp or oily start cutting back on the moisture.

Healthy Highlights
Balancing moisture can be a whole other issue if you highlight your hair in the summer. Frizzy and dry ends on highlighted hair can be more pronounced in the summer, especially if you lighten your hair more, spend time in the sun, or spend a lot of time in the water. Protein treatments or protein enhanced conditioners can help restore your highlighted hair's strength. Balance the strength with a good conditioning treatment or even a leave-in conditioner on highlighted hair.

Manage the Sun's Effects
Just as the sun causes your skin to age, it also will effect your hair. You may notice that your hair lightens in the summer. As a child, I was always super blond in the summer and more of a dark blond in the winter months.

While the sun's natural lightening doesn't cause significant damage to your hair, over exposure to the sun's rays can cause dryness and unwanted lightening to colored and highlighted hair. To keep the sun's effects at a minimum, try a UV protecting shampoo, conditioner, and styling aids.

Chlorine
If you spend a lot of time in the pool, it won't take long before you realize that the chlorine build up can be a real issue. Chlorine can dry your hair, cause your ends to appear more damaged, and build up on your hair. The build up feels unpleasant and makes hair dull and hard to style.

To prevent chlorine from causing problems, the first step is to wash your hair thoroughly immediately upon exiting the pool every time with a clarifying shampoo and follow with a balancing conditioner.

Although shampooing often and getting into a regular clarifying routine is a great way to start to combat the chlorine problem most of my clients say that it doesn't completely get rid of the chlorine build up in your hair. Many salons can do an in-salon treatment to help remove the chlorine build up in hair. I recommend that my clients with chlorine issues come in for a treatment every 6-10 weeks.


We offer deep conditioning and protein treatments at the salon. We, also, have a large assortment of hair products to choose from. Stop by or schedule an appointment @ 446-1313.

Did you know???

• Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the body, second only to bone marrow.
• 35 meters of hair fibre is produced every day on the average adult scalp.
• The average scalp has 100,000 hairs. Redheads have the least at 80,000; brown and black haired persons have about 100,000; and blondes have the most at 120,000.
• 90% of scalp hairs are growing and 10% are resting.
• It is normal to lose 100 hairs per day from the scalp.
• You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone.
• Many drugs can cause hair loss.
• Thyroid imbalance and iron deficiency are reversible causes for hair loss.
• Over 50% of men by age 50 have male pattern hair loss.
• Forty percent of women by the time they reach menopause will have female pattern (hereditary) hair loss. 

You woke up refreshed and ready to go — until you looked in the mirror and saw that bed head. Breath easy, here are six painless ways to get back on track. 

Try Dry ShampooSo, you're having a bad hair day. We've all been there. First things first: Why are you having a bad hair day? Is it because you didn't get the chance to wash your hair? Never fear! Dry shampoos will rid you of any grease, while giving nice texture and life to flat, slept-on tresses.

The Low, Loose BunGo from gross to gorgeous in a snap with a low, loose chignon. The true key to this look is to keep from trying to make it too perfect. Just pull your hair in a low ponytail, secure with an elastic band, and wrap in a circle while placing a few bobby pins in the base to hold. Voila, chic!

The High BunFor a different take on a bun — and an instant facelift — create a bun at the crown of your head. Gather hair in an elastic at the top of your head, wrap your hair in a circle, and place bobby pins to hold. The Spin Pin by Goody is a great way to keep this bun in place — one Spin Pin does the job of 20 bobby pins!

Add A BarretteWhen in doubt — deflect. Fool your friends and acquaintances into looking at the beautiful accessory in your hair, not your overall bad hair day. A colorful scarf, vintage pin or feather barrette will draw attention away from that crazy mane of yours. I'm telling you, it works every time.

Bring Out The Flat IronIf you wake up looking like a snarled mess and have an extra 5 minutes, don’t discount a quick once-over with a flat iron. The heat of the iron will close the hair cuticle, creating a much shinier appearance while smoothing out any kinks caused by that crazy dream you had about Clive Owen the night before.

Braid it if you have chin-length to long hair, a simple braid will pull your hair off your face and add keep you from the hair blahs. Experts should try a French or fishtail braid, but if you are lazy, like yours truly, simply create a small braid starting around the temple area on each side, pull back and connect with an elastic band. Add a pin or ribbon for the perfect finishing touch.


http://styleunited.com/TipsAndTrends/article/6-Great-Hairdo-Pick-Me-Ups 

The salon is closed until Monday. Have a great weekend.

Hahaha!

We have clip in feathers available at the salon. Lots of colors and lengths to choose from. We can make them to custom fit you with your favorite colors. $8 each. Stop by and check them out. 

Happy Valentines Day!!!

It's happened to everyone: You're running late and you've got T-minus 20 minutes to go from normal to fabulous. I do this virtually everyday. So I've built a professional cheat sheet to assist with instant glamorizing, and hopefully you'll find some easy tips and techniques in here that will help with your routine.

1. Brow ready: Having well-shaped, groomed brows is supremely important for looking impeccable, as your arches frame and define your face. As far as your ideal shape, leave it to a brow specialist if you aren't sure what's right for you. 

In terms of home maintenance, upkeep should be every couple of days with tweezers, preferably after a shower when your pores are more open. (It'll be less painful to pull the hairs.) If you need to fill in your brows, I recommend using a brow pencil, because it will be easiest to control. And use a light stroke. You can use an eyebrow brush or a smudger tip to blend in what you've filled in.

2. Good hair: I've realized that if you just give your hair even five to 10 more minutes of love than usual, it can make a huge difference. I'm a big fan of working with what you've been naturally given —  just add some extra oomph. 
For straight hair, you can maneuver volume by a bit of wet styling with a dryer. Right out of the shower, after only finger combing apply a volumizing mousse. Blow-dry it first, with your head upside down. Next, add a little bit of light, moveable hairspray. Blow-dry again (head straight). Add hairspray for a third time to complete the look. This creates sexy movement and body. 

For curlier hair, I recommend adding natural oil like kendi oil (use sparingly) after you've washed your hair and then scrunching your curls with your hands. I do this with my daughter's natural corkscrews and let them air-dry. For a wetter look add a hair milk/curl cream and wrap the curls around a single finger for definition.

3. Color appeal: There's nothing more youthful and alluring than having a tan. If you're strapped for time, having a bit of color on your skin is a fantastic way to get gorgeous without putting on too much makeup. 

I would recommend getting an airbrush tan or using bronzer. 

4. Great skin: So many times we focus on the details of our makeup when we want to look fabulous, but great beauty is essentially about achieving flawless skin. Now all of us have our blemishes and bad days, of course. But there's not much that can't be helped with some clever foundation and concealer tricks. 

Tip: You can use concealer on top of pimples. Just make sure you wash your face first and add some topical acne-treatment cream to the area first before adding the concealer. 
For serious blemishes, use a cream concealer and a small pointed tip brush to literally paint over the area. With the other areas you can blend and cover with a disposable makeup wedge/sponge.

5. Eyeliner and gloss: When push comes to shove and you've really got to get out the door, I think a smoldering eye is the way to go. 

Use a dark eye pencil, like a black or charcoal gray metallic shade, and line both top and bottom at the water line. Your eyes pop within seconds. Simply add your favorite lip-gloss, and you're good to go! 


http://styleunited.com/TipsAndTrends/article/10-Minutes-to-Fabulous 

Healthy skin is more than just having a great skin care regime. Your nutrition plays an essential role.

We all know fruits and vegetables are an important part of one's diet, but they're also crucial to healthy skin. Fruits and veggies contain important antioxidants that help cleanse your system of pollutants and promote specific anti-aging properties. A recent Chicago Tribune report even linked the eating of berries to staving off cancer and other chronic diseases.

Other important skin conditions, like inflammation and damaged skin, can be corrected by eating (or drinking) the proper nutrients found in green tea, mushrooms, and even mashed potatoes!

It is absolutely true that your skin is a reflection of your overall health and nutrition. Aging, acne and rosacea, for example, are all inflammatory based conditions. As a result, foods that trigger inflammation can exacerbate these issues, and foods that are anti-inflammatory can actually have an extremely beneficial effect on our skin. In general, processed foods with refined carbohydrates (bread, pastry, candy, etc.) are inflammatory triggers. Unrefined foods that are made up of complex carbohydrates are anti-inflammatory.

Foods based on refined carbohydrates break down very quickly into sugar. This, in turn, triggers a rise in insulin levels, increases oxidative cellular stress and activates free radicals. The end result can break down collagen. They may also be a causative factor in acne and rosacea.

Here are some foods that can help:

1. Cottage Cheese

For scalp health, I highly recommend cottage cheese, as it contains essential minerals, such as selenium, that are known fighters against dry skin and dandruff.

2. Green Tea

We know that green tea benefits the skin when applied topically and when ingested. In fact, Green tea powder is used in cosmetics as a preservative because of its antibacterial properties. 
Green tea is not fermented, so it retains its beneficial properties. In fact, CBS News recently reported that green tea can even help to remedy dandruff by naturally exfoliating your scalp. This works by steeping two bags of green tea in hot water, letting cool, and then massaging it until your scalp when in the shower.

But that's not all. There is enough research to suggest that when applied topically, green tea helps improve fine lines and wrinkles, texture and tone of skin.

3. Wild Salmon, Trout, Mackerel or Sardines

Love your weekly sushi date? Keep at it! Foods such as wild salmon and trout are high in omega 3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation, keep skin supple and improve circulation.
4. Yogurt

Aside from being a great snack on the go, yogurt is high in calcium and zinc. It helps create collagen, a structural protein found in skin, bones and tendons.

5. Tomatoes

Lycopene, the element in tomatoes that also protects against prostate cancer, has recently landed in the news as a favorable beauty food! Studies show that consuming more lycopene may keep your skin smooth and protect it from sunburn.

Always remember, beauty is about more than buying the right cosmetics — the skin is a mirror for what is going on inside. Take care of yourself, and nourish yourself from the inside, out. Your skin (and health) will thank you! 


http://styleunited.com/TipsAndTrends/article/5-Complexion-Saving-Foods