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

What does this do?

October 27, 2013 That Girl in the Red Coat 3 Comments

A woman comes into the shop, picks up a can or a tube, looks at it puzzled, then asks “What does this do?” – a phrase I hear everyday. There are many styling products out there that look similar but are quite different. The packaging and the color of the pomade you just picked up may look like the paste your stylist just used but it is quite different. The can of hairspray may be the same shape and color of the thermal setting spray your bff uses, again, it is quite different. Being me, I have compiled a list, a “what it does” list if you will, with some examples, so you have somewhere to begin. * Almost all Professional Salon hair care lines will offer each of these products.

Mousse – A great product for all over volume and hold. Some mousse will foam up like whipped cream when dispensed (metal can), – Joico JoiWhip. Others, Liquid mousse for instance, will have a more watery consistency and pool in your hand (plastic bottle) – RUSK Plumping Mousse, a great option for baby fine hair. *Best results on towel dried hair, followed with blow drying

Root Boost – To be applied directly at the root to add volume – gives lift at the root alone. Root Boosts are in spray format, some foam – BIG SEXY Root Pump, some liquid, NIOXIN Root Boost. Both work well, it comes down to personal preference of a foam or a spray. *Best results on towel dried hair, followed with blow drying.

Gels – A very versatile product. Great result on damp or dry hair – depending on the style/look you are after. Gels can be used on towel dried hair for volume and control while blow drying, or on dry hair for a more slicked back look or for control for a more funky style. Gels can be an awesome tool for roller sets as well. Usually available in medium – JoiGel Medium and firm hold – AG Hard Gel, and some to offer a shine factor. *If you have darker hair, look for the product to say non flaking, like KMS HAIRSTAY Styling Gel & QUANTUM FixGel.

Shaping/Styling Sprays – A hairspray that comes in aerosol and pump format that comes in 3 hold factors, (Aerosol) soft – AG Aerodynamic, medium – Sebastian Shaper, and firm hold- Goldwell Magic Finish. (Pump – Joico JoiFix Medium). A workable spray = able to brush and restyle your ‘do as needed without giving yourself a beehive or a breakdown. * A firmer hold can get too sticky if too much is applied, so if you like to brush your hair throughout the day, stick to a soft to medium hold.

Finishing Sprays – A hairspray that is exactly that – a hairspray to be used to finish off your style. A firm hold – Joico JoiMist, or an Ultra Firm Hold – BIG SEXY Spray and Play Intense. These sprays are not as workable and can tend to get sticky when too much is reapplied. Available in aerosol format (see above) or pump – Joico JoiFix Firm or Matrix Finishing Spritz. ** Joico’s newest addition – Joico POWERHOLD is a very versatile hairspray – it is a finishing spray with a hard hold factor that can be brushed through and the hair restyled without a sticky residue or matted mess, and offers 72 hour humidity resistance. ***Some offer a shine factor such as KMS HAIRSTAY Maximum Hold.

Wax – A great styling agent for sculpting certain styles. Waxes can offer great texture and definition. Some waxes offer a matte finish – American Crew Matte Wax, some offer shine – AG WAXX- the label will always state the hold factor and shine factor. Most waxes will appear hard in the container (not liquidity – is liquidity a word? …sounds good to me).

Styling Glue – Exactly that. A styling glue for the hard to hold style, think Mohawk circa 1982. Joico Ice Spiker is the best I have come across-holds up in a hurricane.

Clay – A medium hold styling product. Offers a matte finish – Sebastian Craft Clay. A product that looks and feels like, well, clay. Quite workable and best for shorter styles. * Hair Paste is very similar to Hair Clay, has a firmer hold factor and matte finish – KMS HAIRPLAY Molding Paste.

Pomade – A pliable/workable styling product. Usually a watery consistency – d:fi d:tails Pomade. Great for separation and slicked back looks. Most pomades have a high shine factor, so a little goes a long way. Use too much and you could end up looking like Danny Zuko.

* Pomades/Clays/Waxes – all mimic each other – it really comes down to the hold factor/shine factor you are looking for and how you feel about products in your hands. Pomade/Wax tend to be a little more sticky, Clay tends to be more dry.

Thermal Sprays – A spray that offers thermal protection while using a blow dryer or flat iron. Available is aerosol – bain de terre Magnolia Spray, and pump bottles – Redken #11 IronShape, GOLDWELL Sleek Perfection & Quantum Heat Shield. Some thermal sprays offer a shine factor and offer little to no hold factor.

Thermal Setting Sprays – A spray that is to be used to help set a style, such as curls or an updo – Matrix Biolage Thermal Setting Spray. Most thermal setting sprays will offer a medium to firm hold factor. An awesome tool to use with hot rollers or a curling iron to keep the curls all day. * Not recommended to be used with a flat iron.

Shine Spray – a great addition to any vanity. Shine sprays will add shine to your ‘do. Shine spray do not have a hold factor, their job is to add shine. Some shine sprays will offer thermal protection – SOMA Prism & bain de terre Glossing Spray.

Cuticle Sealer – A serum to be applied to towel dried hair (for best results) to tame frizz and flyaways and lock out humidity. Offers a low shine factor and thermal protection – SOMA Solace.

Beauty, Business, communication, Hair Care, health and wellness, That girl in the red coat, Uncategorized

Step away from the scissors and listen for a minute

October 17, 2013 That Girl in the Red Coat Leave a comment

“This is not what we discussed. Look at my hair! What am I going to do? I can’t go to work looking like this!”. – you are picturing a woman right now, aren’t you? Yes, most people picture a woman uttering these phrases when she has received a bad hair cut…and that is the first problem. Women are not the only ones that suffer from bad hair days and bad hair cuts. Our lovely gents do as well. Actually, in my experience, men seem to be the victim of bad a hair cut/style more often than women. For some reason, many stylists seem to think for their male clientele. A gentleman comes in looking for a new style and ends up walking out with the same cut his father gave him sitting in the kitchen with the #1 guide…when he was 4 years old.

As you know, I manage a retail shop/salon. I have many men come into the shop for their hair products, from KMS HAIRPLAY Molding Paste to d:fi molding cream. Some of my lovely gents like to spike up their hair with Joico Ice Spiker and some like to slick it back with American Crew Firm Gel. Some gents like a bit of shine – SOMA Prism spray is a great choice -no hold, just lovely shine, and some like a matte finish – AG STUCCO is great and a big seller. What all my lovely gents have in common is they want to look good. They want to look professional and creditable in their profession – from Welder to Physician. What they don’t want is the “Charlie Brown” head, or as mentioned above, the cut they had from dear old Dad.

Many times, unfortunately, men come into the shop asking me “Do you sell clippers?” – they ask this because they feel their only option is to shave their head because they just cannot face another bad cut, or having another stylist not listen to them when they tell them what they don’t want their hair to look like. I know, believe me, I know that clients/customers do not always explain themselves very well. It is our job, as managers, owners and stylists to take the time to be sure we understand what it is our clients/customers want. When the gentleman in your chair says he wants it short – ask him how short. Place your fingers on his head as a point of reference if need be – every stylist has had a client that when they said take a few inches off, they really meant half an inch. What the client pictures as short may not be what you, as the stylist, pictures as short. You need to clarify. You need to be clear. You need to stop thinking for your client. If you are not sure of how to cut men’s hair, or you only know 3 cuts for our gents – pick up a copy of Canadian Hairdresser, or Salon magazine or hop on Google and go to http://www.behindthechair.com and check out the images and tutorials.

Think about this for a minute, I mean really think about it – what would happen if a woman sat in your chair with shoulder length hair and said she wanted something shorter and you gave her a pixie cut, because that’s what you thought she wanted and you thought that would be best…what would happen? A meltdown of Nuclear proportions, that’s what. When a woman is sitting in your chair looking for a change or something shorter, as a stylist, you may spend up to 20 minutes on a consultation, to be sure you know exactly what it is she wants, how she styles her hair at home, what products she likes to use on her hair and what she has done with her hair in the past. I believe our Gents are worth the time as well. Men are a key component to a successful Salon and retail business – they deserve our attention.

In my 20 years of customer service and in my 10 plus years in our beloved biz of Beauty, I know one thing with absolute certainty. Women may give you a second chance. Men will not, and honestly, when they aren’t being listened to…who can blame them?

Beauty, Business, communication, Fashion, Hair Care, health and wellness, Uncategorized, Women, writing

How do you look?

April 21, 2013 That Girl in the Red Coat Leave a comment

So it has been over a week since my last tale. I could come up with every excuse in the book, the truth is I didn’t make myself a priority. As you know, I am a wife to a wonderful man and a mother to a glorious 16 year old young woman. Calm down ladies…I know I am not the only “career” mother out there…this is not a competition nor an episode of “The real housewives”…it is just a tale for today. Now, back to the tale at hand. As you also know I am the manager of a salon/retail shop. Everyday I make sure my hair is coiffed just so and my makeup applied and my pants pressed, and I look good. Yeah, I said it. What I came to realize this past week is I may have looked good on the outside…but my inside left a little to be desired.Not to sound all “Oprah”, I had given away my power. As last week progressed I could see that I wasn’t the only one.

I had a few customers that were, let say, interesting. One woman was being quite abrupt with her answers to my questions about what kind of hold she wanted from her hairspray. So, being me, I asked her if there was something I had done to upset her. She stared in silence. After about 10 seconds she said “I am sorry, I just got this new cut that I didn’t want. My stylist said I was to old for a bob and that I needed a short style.”. (I get severely pissed when I hear this, and I hear this often. Yo Stylists! Who are you to tell people that they are too old for a cut? Seriously…get a grip and become a professional). So, I assured her the cut was cute (which it was) and sold her some KMS Hair Play Molding Paste for some funky styling and she likes her hair to look shiny so we added some SOMA Prism shine spray to the mix…and I also gave her our Salon price list.

I had a customer this week that introduced herself as “stupid and useless”. I shit you not, that is what she answered when I asked “How ya doin’ today”. You see, she was trying to grow out her hair for her daughter’s wedding in the fall and gave up because she listened to the wrong people – the people who told her that a flat iron was “too complicated” for her. (Who the hell are these people?!?). I took her over to our flat iron demo display and told her to pick one up as I picked one up. We both were in the mirror’s reflection, so I told her to copy what I was doing. After about 30 seconds a smile crept across her face and she said “I can grow out my hair!”. I looked her straight in the eye and told her to stop listening to the “Can’t” people in her life and listen for the “Can” people…they are out there. They are a little harder to hear over the annoying antics of the “can’t” court jesters.

A woman has lost some weight. She has lost 22 pounds over the course of 8 months. She began to exercise. She began to eat a healthy diet in support of her husband’s health issues. She didn’t lose the weight to “show off” or “rekindle her twenties” or “to keep her marriage alive” or because she was having a “cougar crisis”. The weight loss was a positive perk of embracing a healthier lifestyle, for her family and herself. That woman is me, and yes, the above comments have been directed at me. 10 years ago, I would have listened to the nasty comments and gone and ate a cake…or two. Guess what buttercup…not anymore. I have come to realize that those who are negative, nasty or assholes – take your pick, are empty inside…plain and simple. They are so miserable that they have to pull you down to their level so no one will see how crappy their lives are. Funny thing is, they cannot even fathom the idea that no one really gives a shit, except them and others like them.

I know I say it all the time, but I was raised on Little House on the Prairie and Happy Days so get used to it. BE KIND. Raise others up, do not push them down. Your BFF gets a new cut and loves it? Love it with her. A friend is struggling with her hatred of her thighs? Go to the gym with her – don’t agree and tell her she “really needs to work on that”. A friend loses weight? Applaud her efforts and ask her how she did it. Do not mock her and ask her “cutting out the calories trying to be a cougar?”.

“If you don’t look good, we don’t look good”. – Mr. Vidal Sassoon

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

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

April 9, 2012 That Girl in the Red Coat 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;

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

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

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.