Beauty, Hair Care

Sulfates, Alcohol and Parabens ….Oh my!

Leave a comment

Three little words. On their own, not so scary. Put them all together and place them in a bottle and your trembling hand reaches up to your freshly colored tresses. For some, all three together causes sneezes, itchy scalp or sends some people running out to hug the nearest tree.  SOMA Hair Care. Use these products and save yourself from running out of tissue, scratching your scalp raw or being the front page photo of your local newspaper with the caption “Crazed woman apologizes to a tree”.

SOMA Hair Care is a Sulfate free, Alcohol free, Paraben free, Formaldehyde free, 100% Biodegradable, Hypo allergenic hair care line. All their products are color safe, and the majority of their styling products offer thermal protection. The product line offers more than 20 products. Here are a few of their hidden gems.

SOMA Solace – A cuticle sealer. AWESOME! Adds shine without hold, stops frizz in it’s tracks.

SOMA Prism – A shine spray. Puts an end to nasty static flyaways, non greasy and humidity resistant

SOMA Gravity – A smoothing product – great for thick/coarse hair. Eliminates frizz and is humidity resistant.

SOMA Blonde Silver Shampoo – A MUST for blondes! One of the only purple shampoo’s on the market that add moisture and strength while eliminating those nasty brassy tones.

SOMA Clarifying Shampoo – Color safe. Gentle to hair yet strong enough to remove chlorine stains from the hair. Smells like childhood memories (the good ones).

SOMA Concrete Gel – STRONG hold without the flakes. Humidity resistant

SOMA Leave in – an awesome leave in conditioner – can be used on all hair types – even the finest of hair. Great detangler – no more screams from the children when they see you with a comb.

Check out their website – somaorganics.com.

This SOMA may not help you achieve hangover free holidays like in George Orwell’s 1984 – but your hair is going to look great no matter how you feel.

Beauty

Seeking treatment

Leave a comment

In need of psycho analysis? This isn’t your kind of blog. Your hair is brittle and resembles that of the friendly scare crow in the Wizard of Oz? Read on my friends, read on. Treatments are important, for the health of your hair and the vibrancy of your hair color. Also, to keep silent the screams of the neighbourhood children every time you leave your house.

Treatments. You have your conditioning treatments, your oil treatments, your protein treatments, weekly treatments and so on. Before you go and start rocking back and forth wailing, get a hold of yourself. It is not that complicated. The purpose for each treatment is written on the packaging. No description? Put it down and walk away. All conditioning treatments are not the same, nor are they for all hair types. Just because the word “treatment” appears on the bottle doesn’t mean it is one. (come on…we have all heard of and been victim to “one size fits all”).

The following are treatments that are cream based treatments that can be used once to twice a week. (* all hair types = fine,thick, curly etc..)

JOICO – Kpak RevitaLuxe – the newest addition to the Kpak family. This award winning treatment is in a word, miraculous. It corrects damage that has been done and prevents further damage. Each time you use it your hair becomes stronger, softer and more moisturized. This gem can be used on all hair types. * Awesome for blondes

UANS Crema – great for dry hair and split ends – all hair types * great detangler and for maintaining wigs & extensions

REDKEN All Soft Heavy Cream – for dry brittle hair – rebuilds surface protection – all hair types

MIXED CHICKS Deep Conditioner – reconstructs damaged areas, makes curls manageable and a great detangler – for curly,unruly hair, thick or fine

GOLDWELL Rich Repair 60 Second Treatment – adds softness and moisture to dried out hair – for all hair types * can be a bit heavy for fine hair

SOMA Reconstruct – Rebuilds your hair cuticle back to a healthy state – for all hair types *Vegan and Cruelty free (loves bunnies)

A treatment takes 2 – 15 minutes. If you have time to sing in the shower or ponder how to remove the ring around your tub while you lather your tushie – do it with a treatment on your hair – you are there anyway.

 

Beauty, Hair Care, health and wellness, That girl in the red coat, Women

You should hear sizzle at the stove….not at the vanity

2 Comments

STOP!!!!! Back away from the oil and the flat iron. Put them down. Think about what you are about to do. Does it make sense to add oil to dry hair then proceed to place a 400 degree flat iron on top of it? Picture a frying pan, picture it heating up to 400 degrees, picture oil being placed in the pan – what happens? What sound would you hear? EXACTLY – it would sizzle. Someone, somewhere started an ugly rumor that you can use oil and flat irons together. If you are trying to get your hair to the texture of wet cotton, you are well on your way.

All professional product lines have a product meant to be used with a flat iron. Thermal Protection Spray. They come in an aerosol format or your old school enviro friendly pump bottle. Whenever you use a flat iron it is highly recommended to use a Thermal Spray. It creates a barrier between the heat of the flat iron and your hair. It also helps to prevent breakage and damage that can be caused by flat irons (or curling irons for that matter). Here are a few gems;

20150723_100758

SOMA – Prism Shine Spray – adds shine and thermal protection *Almost all SOMA products aide in thermal protection

 

Joico Iron Clad

JOICO – Ironclad – a humidity resistant fast drying , non sticky formula that offers protection up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (Aerosol)

 

20150723_100810 (1)

JOICO – SmoothCure Thermal Styling Protectant – a humidity resistant formula that offers up to 3 days of frizz free performance. Formulated for curly, coarse hair. *also protects that hair against the heat of a blow dryer.

 

20150723_100721

GOLDWELL – Sleek Perfection – a humidity resistant formula that offers frizz free, sleek results for up to 24 hours.

 

20150723_100650

BAIN de TERRE – Magnolia Thermal Iron Protector – Humidity resistant and adds shine – (Aerosol)

Some other FAB! flat Iron sprays;

KMS – Free Shape Hot Flex Spray (formally Flat Out)  – Humidity resistant

 

PAUL MITCHELL – Hot off the press – helps to strengthen the hair and reduce frizz – (Aerosol)

AG – Firewall – the newest addition to the AG family – (Aerosol)

Your hair is not made of  Teflon, protect it, nurture it, it’ll make you feel beautiful, I promise you.

Beauty

Pump up the Volume

Leave a comment

I know, now you have that song stuck in your head. ( MARRS was awesome in the 80’s) Let that be our anthem. Let us bring back life to the lifeless strands upon our heads. There are many products that will offer volume and will have you walking down the street like you are on the catwalk’s in Paris, you may even find yourself speaking with a hint of an accent, you will be that fabulous.

Now, all volumizing products are not the same nor do they have the same applications. A good volumizing shampoo and conditioner offer a great starting point, a base if you will. All the professional product lines offer such products. Here are a few that are well loved by the masses;

– REDKEN Body Full – formulated specifically for fine hair, baby fine hair.

– JOICO Body Luxe – Women have come back to hug me after trying it

– Sebastian Volupt – smells wonderful

– KMS Add Volume – the bottles are pretty enough for the ladies – cool enough for the men

The key to a great mass of hair on your head is styling product (extensions don’t hurt but that is another tale for another time). Root Boost. This product is meant to be sprayed directly at the root then rubbed in. It will offer volume at the root of your hair. Looking for all over fullness? Mousse is the answer. Mousse is applied all over the hair and scalp. Both these products are meant to be used on towel dried hair, put ’em on dry hair and you have transported yourself back to 1987. Here is another little list for you all;

– ROOT BOOSTS –

KMS  – Add Volume Root and Body Lift

BIG & SEXY – Root Pump and Root Pump Plus

REDKEN – Body Full Weightlifter

– MOUSSE –

JOICO – JoiWhip – awesome volume – Alcohol free

REDKEN – Body Full Instant Bodifier – a liquid mousse, not foamy

ALTERNA BAMBOO – Abundant Volume Weightless Whipped Mousse – Paraben free, Organic, Vegan.

OSIS – Grip – Cool can for the gents

There are so many exciting ways to have a great hair day everyday! Today was a sampling of what is to come. Ladies and gents, go forth and find your product and strut your stuff.

Beauty

A little respect

Leave a comment

Respect. Easy to spell out in song- thank you Aretha, easy to pronounce. From what I am seeing as of late not so easy to give.  We all have been there, dreaming of  walking out of the salon looking like Dorothy Hamill, Farah Fawcett, Cindy Crawford or Posh Spice (choose your decade), and when we leave we look more like Sinead O’Conner. The thing to remember is the next stylist you see DID NOT DO THAT TO YOU!

Everyday I am witness to a stylist being persecuted for something she did not do. I understand that the perm of ’87 ruined your chances at prom queen. I understand that sitting in the chair of a stylist with a two foot mohawk and telling him to do what ever he thinks is best wasn’t your best moment.  These encounters that have scarred you for life do not give you any reason to disrespect a new stylist. I understand your apprehension of trying out a new stylist – I once had a stylist spray static guard in my hair before using a curling iron, yep, it really happened. I looked like the flying nun for a week.

Believe it or not, there are actually many stylists out there that love what they do. They want you to look good and feel great – you are their advertising! When looking for a new stylist never be afraid to ask them about their work. Here are some examples;

– where did you receive your education?

– how long have you been doing hair?

– are you familiar with any new color techniques?

– if you have curly hair ask if they are familiar with cutting curly hair

Any professional stylist should not be offended by such questions. If they are, move on to the next. If you have a friend who’s hair always looks great – ask who she goes to. Many stylists will offer a free consultation and then you both can discuss what look you are after and hold hands as you recollect the horrors of hair you have survived.

Again, I cannot stress enough, show respect. Not just for the stylist and the general public but for yourself. If you are over the age of two, sorry to tell you, stomping and shouting are no longer allowed.

 

 

Beauty

Hasta la vista bad hair

Leave a comment

My mission. To make bad hair a thing of the past. “How will she do it?” you ask. Educating the masses. Plain and simple. I am willing to bet that in the last week many of you have been in front of the mirror, staring in wonderment and disbelief at what you see looking back at you. “The product promised volume.”. “My stylist swears by this line.”. “My friend said it was great for her hair.”. All these statements are true, the thing to remember is……Everyone’s hair is different.

I received some great advice last night. I have decided to let you all dip your bucket into my well of knowledge about hair products. Professional hair products. I may not know much about physics – as you can see I can spell it. All I may remember about high school math is how I liked the smell of the tests fresh from the photo copier (come on…we all did). What I do know is product. How to use it, how to sell it, and how to make sure you will have good hair.

In my brainodex (rolodex in my brain) I have over 50 professional hair care lines waiting for their stories to be told. Got a question? I may have the answer.

Since the weather is getting warmer and humidity is in the air, lets begin with curls. (no worries, all hair types will be covered). The biggest misconception is that if your hair is curly it must be thick. Nope. Not always. If you are blessed with fine and curly hair, I suggest AG Recoil. AWESOME!!! It is a creme based product, can be used with or without a diffuser. If you air dry your hair, it may feel crunchy until you run your fingers or a pick through it and Viola! Bouncy, soft frizz free curls. If you prefer the diffuser, same results! AG Recoil has a humidity resistant formulation so it seals the hair cuticle = no frizz. It smells like the beach, the good beach, like Miami Beach or Hawaii. Not the campground beach.