Beauty, Business, Hair Care, health and wellness, Uncategorized

AG…it’s Canadian eh?

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Looking for professional hair products? Looking for hair care products that contain no salt, no parabens, no paba, no gluten, and are cruelty free? Look no further – AG Hair is your answer. That’s right, their products are free of all salt, parabens, paba, gluten and they love bunnies. They also love empowering women – AG’s Women Leading Change Foundation – builds schools in Africa so women and girls can get an education. AG Hair is a Canadian company and they have been making all their products themselves in Vancouver, Canada since 1989. Many of their products are alcohol free, humidity resistant and offer thermal protection.

Here is a list of the AG products that are well loved in my shop and are in high demand…

fast food – A cream based leave on conditioner. Heavy duty yet light enough for the finest of hair. Smells SOOOOO good.

spray varnish – A shine spray that is oil & alcohol free (seriously…it is). Adds glorious shine without weighing down your style.

foam – A foam to liquid mousse that is terrific for the finest of hair to medium textured hair. Gives maximum volume with minimum weight, increase shine, fights frizz and adds thermal protection.

bigwigg – A root boost. Alcohol free and no flaking.

recoil – One of my fav’s…I know you have read about it before…A lovely curl activating cream that is crunch free and humidity resistant. It smells like the beach.

details – A defining cream that helps get your curls under control. Alcohol free and moisturizing plus adds shine.

spray gel – AG’s answer to  a thermal setting spray. Doesn’t flake and doesn’t leave a sticky residue on your curling iron.

styling jel – This baby can do anything with your hair – slick it back,blow it out, set or sculpt it. Alcohol free, adds shine and doesn’t flake.

hard jel –  An extra firm hold gel. Awesome gel for slicked back looks. Humidity resistant, alcohol free and doesn’t flake.

ultradynamics – An extra-firm hold hairspray. Fast drying, flake free and humidity resistant…headin’ to New Orleans? This baby is your new best friend.

AG offers an awesome array of shampoo’s and conditioner’s for all hair types. All your bases are covered – from volume to moisture to smooth, AG has got you covered. Your hair will look great, feel wonderful and smell awesome. You will be saving bunnies and empowering women…what’s not to love?

 

Beauty, Business, communication, Hair Care, health and wellness, Uncategorized

Tales of truth…part 4

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So, we are havin’ a heat wave…a tropical heat wave….Seriously though, it has been a little warmer than usual and we have a full moon upon us, so I thought I was prepared for what may walk through my shop door. Guess I should have been a boy scout.

I hear the chirp of the door chime and look up to see a woman with desperation in her eyes. “I need extensions!Do you have any?” as her lip trembles. I assume she must have an occasion or special event that she is running late for. I take her back to our selection of Human Hair extensions, let her know they already have the clips attached so all she has to do is style them and clip them in…Voila! She is set. Then I am asked something I have never been asked before. “How sturdy are these extensions?” she asks. I had to take a moment because my mind took the first off ramp to the gutter, then I matured a bit and collected my thoughts and I told her that she should take them out at night so that they don’t get knotted up. To which she responded “No, I need to know if they can be pulled out…I am a “dancer”.” (So I guess she did have an occasion she was late for.). So, I told her “just tell them hands off your hair”. I bet Magic Mike never had these worries.

I was yelled at because I didn’t have “you know..that shampoo that used to be in a white bottle”.

I have a customer I see on a weekly basis. She comes in with the same complaint every week. She “hates her hair” and “it doesn’t do a thing she wants”, “it’s always all over the place” (like her thoughts I can safely assume). The problem you see is this…she will not use any styling products. She doesn’t like the way they feel in her hands. Yep…seriously, doesn’t like how they feel in her hands. I told her “trying to do your hair without product is like icing a cake before you bake it.”. She just looks at me. Good thing she married rich.

The phone rings. My part time girl (my p.t.g.) answers with our happy go to greeting. On the other end she hears a woman who has the nicest voice ask if she could get in for an appointment in the Salon. We check the book and unfortunately all my stylists are fully booked for the next week, not even time for a cut, so my p.t.g. gets back to her and apologizes that we don’t have time this week but the girls have time next week. Her name must have been Sybil because the nice lady went away and we were now listening to a woman yell “I need my F#$!in’ hair done now!!!”. Oh yeah, that’s a great way to get an appointment.

A well dressed woman walked into the shop. I asked her if she needed a hand, to which she said she was “just looking”. I turn to check the invoice of the order that just arrived and I hear “SSSTTTTT”. I turn to see her using a hairspray from the shelf, put the lid back on, and put it back on the shelf. She was about to walk out and I asked her if she was going to buy the hairspray, to which she said “What hairspray?”. Yep, I kid you not. So I say “the hairspray you just used” as I am reaching for the can in question. She looks at me and says “I didn’t use that!”. (are you kidding me?!?! Seriously lady!”). So, I had to say, “Well you did. I saw you and by the way, your hair is still wet from where you sprayed it. You will have to buy it, it was not a tester.”. She actually touched her hair, felt that I was correct, her hair was wet and bought the hairspray.

The temperature is supposed to reach 38 degrees (100.4 F), so I can’t wait to see what comes through the door today.

 

Beauty, Business, communication, health and wellness, Uncategorized

Let me be your shelter

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In my years of customer service and sales, be it selling cars (yep…did it for 4 years) or selling hairspray, one thing I know for certain – people just want to be seen and heard. The last few days we have had a heat wave, so people tend to be a bit cranky. Yesterday, I have to admit, I was a bit on the cranky side myself. I realized after I received a beautiful text from my hubby telling me how great I was that I had to snap out of it. So I went to facebook, updated my status to tell the world to “be kind” and vowed to myself to be kind and aware. I guess I was on the side of providence, for the next 6 tweets I received from others across the country and across the globe were about kindness. Hmmm….maybe I should play the lottery is what went through my mind.

As I was standing there imagining my millions, the chirp of the door chime brought me back to my dollars. My first customer of the day was attending a funeral. My second customer’s son had just had an emergency quadruple bypass. My third customer’s family had been falsely accused of a crime. My fourth customer’s husband had been diagnosed with cancer and had started chemo. (I hugged a lot of people yesterday). Most of my day yesterday wasn’t about selling product, it was about giving my customers an escape from the world that was waiting for them on the other side of my shop’s door, even if just for 5 minutes.

Today’s tale, if you haven’t already guessed, is about being kind. Also, to remind you that when someone is moody or rude or seems a bit off, don’t take it personally – it’s not about you. If you notice someone looks upset, as them if they are alright. If they don’t want to talk about it, so be it. At least they will go on with the rest of their day knowing someone, somewhere saw them and cared.

I know, you are thinking “this is a beauty blog, where is all the beauty advice?”. Well sunshine, I just gave you some. Beauty is inside and out. Beauty can come from hair product, makeup, a hug and a kind word.

Be kind.

Hair Care, health and wellness

For the boys…

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Today I bring you a tale of a delicate nature. Today’s tale is about hair loss. I know I usually come at these tales from a woman’s perspective, not today. Today I represent the men. Ladies – it is time to be kinder to our men, to remember that they like to look good  for themselves too. We always talk about how women hate their hair or hate the way they look…guess what? Men feel the same way too. I have heard too often a woman teasing her boyfriend/husband about his receding hair line or beer gut. That is not nice, plain and simple. Think about it – what would happen if he teased you about your roots or your muffin top? He’d be pushin’ up daisies and you know it.

Men feel they have no where to go or no one to talk to about their hair or lack there of. Well, here I am and I am going to shed some light for y’all. I have one word for you – NIOXIN.

Nioxin is a professional hair care line created to stop hair loss in it’s tracks and in some cases help the hair grow back. (*If there has been no hair growth in a spot for over 6 years – unfortunately no hair will ever grow in that spot again.). Nioxin is a 3 step program – The Cleanser(Shampoo), Scalp Therapy(Conditioner), and the Scalp Treatment(a leave on foam treatment). The key to this system is you have to use all 3 products. The Scalp Treatment is the kicker – it cleanses the hair follicle and rids the scalp of debris such as dead skin, product build up and DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). Big word – I know – look below…

*Testosterone converts into the toxin DHT which resides in the hair follicle

* Stress can cause over production of testosterone – so chill.

There are other regimes to help with hair loss on the market. I speak of Nioxin because I have seen first hand many success stories, both for women and men. It has won awards 10 years running. Redken has a line out for hair loss – IntraForce. It has been on the market for over 1 year now. I have had some clients try it and have yet to see major results, not like what I have seen with Nioxin. Nioxin has formulations for those who don’t chemically treat their hair – #1 for early stages of thinning, #2 for noticeably thinning. For those that do chemically treat their hair – #3 for early stages of thinning, #4 for noticeably thinning. Nioxin offers an array of styling products from pomades to gels to hairspray.

There are many factors that cause hair loss. Stress, diet, genetics, illness, medications, your teenager learning to drive. Next time you see your man frowning in the mirror or refusing to leave the house without a hat – show them my blog, forward it to their phone or their email. Let them know they are not alone and there is an answer. Remember ladies – you teach people how to treat you – so if you are constantly nagging and teasing what do you think you will get in return?

Business

You get what you give

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We all want good customer service. We all like when we get attention. We all want to be reassured that our purchase was a good one and we want to know and understand our newest purchase. I get it. I am a consumer, I have had good and bad customer service. Remember – I am a woman so I am sure you can imagine some of the customer service I have received at a car lot or an appliance store. No one likes to be treated like they are stupid. That being said, sales people do not like being treated like we are stupid. Nor do hair stylists, esthetician’s, sales reps, anyone. No one likes to be treated poorly. Plain and simple.

I know, right now you are thinking “The customer is always right!”. You know what, that is correct – the customer is always right – in their own mind. More times than not, people are given the wrong information, or read the instructions incorrectly because Hooked on Phonics didn’t work for them. (Yeah…I said it). Armed with said information they come strutting into the Salon, telling me what they need. Before I continue with this tale – let me give you a tidbit of information. There are two kinds of salespeople – sales professional and order taker. The sales professional will ask about your needs, your wants, question you ( Politely) about the information you have and help you make the right informed decision. The order taker stands there and does what ever you say, not caring what it is you need or if you understand what it is you are buying. Now, back to the tale….

The customer comes in, guns blazing, telling me what they need. “Get me the Moroccanoil Oil treatment!”. No “Hello”, no “Can you help me”, nothing but their misinformed, the customer is always right information. I am  a sales professional, I take pride in my work and my abilities and my vast product knowledge (again…yeah, I said it). So, as always, when a customer comes to me telling me they need a certain product, I ask them why they are looking for it. I ask to ensure they are getting what they need, not to insult their intelligence or lack there of. My favorite response to my inquiring question is “Uh, well, I READ it was good for my hair, and since you don’t have my hair I doubt you know how to help me..”. Okay, stop right there. First, that just doesn’t make any sense. Second, don’t do that. No matter what kind of day you are having, there is no excuse to be rude.Yes, there are many order takers out there, please do not paint us all with the same brush. Give me a minute and I promise you, you will be dazzled and leaving with the proper product. Which is exactly what happened. After I got her to stop ranting with my go to phrase “I only want to get you the proper product, so you will be happy with your hair” said customer finally told me why she wanted this product. She wanted to control her frizz. Guess what? Moroccanoil Oil treatment is not humidity resistant – hence frizz. Their Frizz control spray and their Hairspray are humidity resistant – hence no frizz.

Customer service goes both ways. Customer’s want to be treated with respect and kindness. Guess what, so do sales people. (I can’t speak for order takers). From time to time you may run into rudeness, or maybe you and the salesperson just don’t jive. Ask (POLITELY) for another sales person. Not happy with your stylist’s work or attitude, try to work it out. If you cannot, get a new stylist. Professional’s in any profession want to know where they can improve, the one’s that don’t want to know, you don’t want to know.

Be kind today. Take a breath before you speak to salesperson. I can only speak for myself – when a customer is being rude, yelling, throwing a flat iron… never mistake my civility for softness.