Parting Ways

Are you looking for a way to change your hair without going to extremes? Simply swtiching your part can give you a whole new look. Here are some tips to help you find your most flattering part:

IF YOUR FACE IS:

*Long Go for a deep side part, which will make your face appear wider than it really is.


*Round A center part will make your face seem narrower and thin out your cheeks.


IF YOUR HAIR IS:

*Flat Switch your part from it's normal side to the opposite side. This gives the roots a natural lift so your hair temporarily appears fuller.


*Curly Weave your fingers (or the tail of a comb) through the hair on top of your head to create a zigzag part, which helps to evenly distribute the curls around your head.


There are many ways to be creative and change up your hair without expensive salon visits. Look for more great tips to come! And don't forget to e-mail me your hair questions @JenMc26@gmail.com

Straight Talk

Even for those of us with naturally straight hair, it takes work to get our hair beautifully straight. For those with curly hair getting your hair sleek and straight can be even more of a challange. In this Redken hair files video Redken expert Rodney Cutler shows you step by step how to achieve this look.



I've said it before that Redken is my favorite product line, but there are many other products out there that you can use to get this same look. The most important thing to remember when using a blow dryer or any kind of iron is to use a heat proteting product. Heat breaks down the hydrogen bonds in the hair which causes it to lose moisture and can cause the hair to look dry and frizzy. A product like Chi 44 Iron Guard has ingredients to help protect your hair.

Another great heat protection product that I recommend is Soya Want Flat Hair flat iron spray by Sexy Hair. This product helps protect against heat-styling damage. Deposits strengthening proteins into each strand during flat ironing. Delivers extraordinary shine and firm, all-day hold. Key ingredients in this product are: Soy Protein, Wheat Protein


I also recommend using a high quality flat iron like my CHI ceramic flat iron.

All flat irons will cause some damage to your hair, however, ceramic flat irons cause considerably less damage. The ceramic plates on this flat iron create silky shiny hair instantly. For added shine lightly mist hair with Vinyl Glam 02 Mega Shine Spray.

Shear Genius 3- I'm Borderline Pissed Off About That Hair

I'm Borderline Pissed Off About That Hair
February 24, 2010

Although I am loving every minute of the new season I am not so "in love" with the new host Camila Alves. From what I've seen on other Shear Genius blogs as well as the Shear Genius Facebook page I'm not alone. Her english can be hard to understand at times and her monotone voice can almost put you to sleep. She is a model, not a hairstylist and I feel she doesn't have the knowledge to be a host on a hair competition. Not to mention her favorite line "Remember, hair is important" I mean who came up with that? If there is a Shear Genius season 4 my vote is to bring back Jaclyn Smith.

Now back to the competition. In the short cut challenge this week the stylists are each given different flowers to incorporate into their hairstyle. This weeks guest judge is editorial stylist Harry Josh whos list of celebrity clients includes Giselle. He warns the stylists to "think smart or this can go cheesy very quickly." Adee lands himself in the bottom two along with Jon. Adee's poor choice of flowers is his downfall maybe because he admits that the only time he uses flowers is when he's "cheated on his Mrs" and then he sends his assistant to get them. Maybe Adee's assistant should be in this competition. Jon's use of purple flowers was wierd and Harry felt that there were too many elements going on and did not like the purple on the model's skin tone. In the top two this week are April and Brian. April's color choice worked really well with her model's eyes and Harry was impressed that she paid such close attention to detail, but Brian's creative use of mud mask to give his model's hair such great texture gave him the overall win. The advantage that Brian will receive in the emlimination challenge will be to pair up each stylist with thier model.

During the elimination round, the stylists leave the comfort of the salon to attend a real Indian wedding. When the ceremony ends, they are charged with the task of styling the bridesmaids’ hair before the wedding reception begins while over four hundred guests await their grand entrance. If that isn't nerve wrecking enough they will be judged by Tabatha Coffey, star of Bravo’s Tabatha’s Salon Takeover and former Shear Genius contestant. Also the woman I look up to as a hairstylist.

Since Adee is one of Brian's favorite people in the competition, as he's choosing models for the stylists he looks to Adee for a signal of which model he wants. To Adee's dismay his model is so uncooperative refusing to let him do really anything to her hair. she doesn't want it up, she doesn't want it curled and Adee feels she really doesn't even want to be here at all. The model Brian picks for himself wants a Kim Kardashian look which he feels is perfect and a look he can easily acheive in the hour and a half given to them.

During judging April and Matthew were safe, but their work was not Shear Genius. Adee and Brig, who also had a very stubborn model, fell into the bottom two. Adee made his usual excuses about why he fell short of the judges expectations and renowned hairstylist (also Shear Genius judge) Jonathan Antin told him that "I'm borderline pissed off about that hair." He felt that instead of making the excuse that his model didn't want anything he should have shown his model some options. Adee admits that he panicked and had no excuses. Brig on the other hand never gave up and defended herself to Tabatha. This may be why the other stylists don't like Brig, but I personally like her spunk!


In the end, the judges were impressed with Jon, Janine and Brian, but felt that Brian's work was a cut above the rest and he walks away with his second win. Brian will also have immunity in next week's elimination challenge. Amy falls into the bottom three again along with Brig and Adee, but she is once again safe. I am happy to say that this was Adee's final cut meaning that Brig will be around for another week. Way to keep the girls in the competition! Adee reveals that his elimination "was probably the single most relieving moment in his life." Just for kicks check out these memorable moments with Adee

Good-bye Adee, you are a character that will be missed! Check out these Show Shots to see some of the stylists work and see all the hairstyles in the Bravo Photo Gallery. Tune in next week to see who will be cut and who's work is Shear Genius. With only 7 stylists left the competition is on!

Shear Genuis 3- The Spiral of My Emotion

The Spiral of My Emotion
February 17, 2010

In this weeks shortcut challenge the stylists have to use extensions to give men sexier longer looks. Ken Paves creator of HairDo Clip-in Hair Extensions was the guest judge for this week's challenges. With Adee gone, due to food poisening, there is one less contender for this challenge. Faatemah and Amy end up in the bottom two which is where Amy seems to find herself in almost every challenge. Due to her client's dissatisfaction with his "1980's trailer trash" look and Faatemah's poor attempt at a sexy Johnny Depp ponytail that ends up looking more George Washington. Matthew pulls out another win, making his models blonde curls fuller and sexier and making his model look younger and even better. As a result of this win Matthew will have an advantage in the elimination challenge.

For this week's elimination the stylists will team up to create sexy looks for a romance novel photo shoot. Matthew has the advantage of pairing up the teams and choosing thier models. He pairs himself with Janine, also in the top 2 for the short cut challenge, who refers to Matthew as her 'gusband" (gay-husband). Since there are only 9 stylists left Brig is flying solo and will receive an extra 15 min to style her models.

Most of the stylists seemed to work well together with the exception of Adee and Faatemah who can't seem to communicate. On set the judges feel that Faatemha's model looks like she has two cinabons stuck on the top of her head. Matthew and Janine worked very well together both in planning their looks to on set touch ups. Overall the judges were pleased with their final look which put them in the top three. To everyone else's surprise along with her own Brig also made it into the top. In the end Matthew ended up with yet another win. Adee and Faatemah found themselves in the bottom two and while I feel that Adee and his never ending excuses and poor attitude should have sent him home weeks ago, Faatemah is the one to get cut. The judges felt that her model's hair was overstyled and did not fit the theme of romance hair. In her exit interview Faatemah reveals that she is surprised yet relieved to be going home.

All of the looks from this week's challenges can be seen here Bravo Photo Gallery. Don't forget to check out next week's episode to see who get's cut!

Back-2-School

I recently decided that I wanted to take my career as a hairstylist to a new level. I love working with clients in the salon, but the schedule of a hairstylist has been difficult for me while I am raising my 2 children. I never knew when my schedule would change and it made arranging child care difficult. Because I have such a passion for the industry, teaching was something that was always in the back of my mind. As a teacher I would have a set schedule and many other benefits that a lot of salons do not offer while still working doing something I love.

Only a few weeks ago I made a phone call to Marinello Schools of Beauty that would be the first step to this exciting journey. After meeting with the school's admissions advisor she explained the teacher training program to me and went over all the details. She asked me if there were any obsticles I could see holding me back from enrolling in the program and the only thing I could think of was $! She explained to me that I could qualify for financial aid which would make this program affordable. I was shocked to find out just how much of my tuition would be covered. After talking it over with my husband we agreed that it was something we could do.

The next step was to take my entrance exams. This consisted of a reading and math test. Reading and math? But, I want to be a cosmetology teacher, not a math teacher! I was worried going in because math is not one of my strong subjects. After about 45 minutes I finished both exams and waited to recieve my scores. 100% on the reading and 88% on the math (which she said was the highest score she has seen so far!)With that behind me I was even more excited to get started.

I am very happy to say that today I officially enrolled in the teacher training program which will consist of 20 hours a week for a total of 600 hours. My estimated graduation date is October 13, 2010. It seems like a long time away now and will be a huge sacrifice with a schedule of 5:30pm-10:30 pm, so that the kids can stay home with daddy while I'm at school, but it will all pay off in the end. As I go along on this journey I will post updates so check back to see my progress!

Shear Genius 3- I'm Totally Stealing Your Model

Before any challenges can even begin this week, someone is already saying good-bye. 43 year old Giacomo decides to "gracefully bow out" of the competition after only one week of being on the show. His reason for leaving, he says, is that he has "3 beautiful babies at home that he's having a hard time without them." The rest of the stylists aren't buying his excuse for quitting, nor am I.

In this week's shortcut challenge the stylist's were faced with highly over processed blondes with their goal being to give them a more natural look. The real challenge was to restore the hair's condition and make it look healthy. Adee, who gets first pick of his model, already knows he's in "deep water" when he finds out it's a color challenge. To make matters worse, he picks the model with probably the most hair. While one model in particular stands out to Brig as the one she would never pick, she uses reverse psycology on Matthew who has the next to last choice. Watch in this video to see her plan.


Brig's plan seems to work when Matthew picks "her model" but Brig soon finds out that her plan actually backfires when Matthew takes the win in the shorcut challenge. Brig admits to having underestimated Matthew's color skills.

For the elimination challenge the sylists have to create a style inspired by a menu of Chef Jason Johnston. Executive Chef of Dakota Restaurant in LA. The dishes range from the Dakota burger to beet salad to tiramisu. Some of the stylist's who really impressed the judges, including guest judge Warren Tricomi, were Matthew with his yellow tail inspired style, Brian who redeemed himself from the shortcut challenge with his chocolate mousse dessert creation and Jon who was the overall winner with his beautifully crafted barrel curl scallops.

In the bottom 3 this week were Arzo with an "old lady updo" style inspired by a spicy tuna dish, Brig whose tiramisu inspired style resembled an "inter-ratial snowman" and Amy once again with her burger inspired style which Kim Vo said "looked like you stapled bologna to her head and threw her into a pirana tank." Ouch! You can see all the looks that the stylist's created in the Bravo Photo Gallery.

With all men in the top 3 and all women in the bottom 3 I hope the ladies step it up next week. In the end Arzo was cut, or "dissed" as she calls it. Disapointed because she felt she did some "kick ass" work and shouldn't have been eliminated second.

Although Amy has been in the bottom 3 the last 2 weeks there is just something about her that I really like and she remains one of my top favorties. My guess is that Brig will soon follow Arzo, but you'll have to tune in next week to find out whose style gets cut and who is Shear Genuis.

Video Credit:BravoTV.com

Salon Products: Really Worth the Extra Money?

A very important part of my job as a hairstylist is to recommend products for my clients. Educating and giving them the proper tools helps them to maintain their hair at home. One question clients frequently ask me is: "Are professional products really worth the extra money?" As a hairstylist my answer is yes, however, as a consumer I understand the hesitation. Are you really getting what you are paying for?

While all shampoos have the same basic ingredients, salon brands use the highest quality ingredients which are also the gentlest. Many of the ingredients used in drug store products will actually strip the natural oils in your hair which are needed to maintain moisture. These same ingredients will also strip your hair color causing it to fade.

Another advantage of using salon quality products is that they are very concentrated, meaning a little goes a long way. It may seem as though you are spending more money on the same amount of product, but with salon products you are actually getting more. Since you only need to use a very small amount of product, salon products will last you longer than drugstore products.

Salon products also come with more than just a pretty bottle of shampoo. You get your stylist's recommendation based on their professional assesment of your hair. Since different types of hair require different products you will know that you are getting the product that will give you the best results. The best part of purchasing salon products is that the salon where your stylist works will most likely let you return or exchange your products if for some reason you are not happy with them.

Remember that just because you are buying a professional product, it is not guaranteed unless you buy it in a salon. Product diversion is when salon exclusive products are sold by non-authorized dealers (such as Target, Walgreens, etc...) Many people think that they are getting a great deal by saving a few dollars buying products they've seen in salons at one of those retailers. The truth is that many of those products are old, counterfeit or tampered with. You can't be sure that you are really getting the product you think you are buying. Many manufactures such as Paul Mitchell and Redken actually state on their products that they do not guarantee the product unless it is sold in a salon. That is enough reason for me to beware.

So when it comes to the truth about salon products vs drugstore brand products, remember that you are getting what you pay for. For all the money that you spend in the salon to get that gorgeous hair, it only makes sence to spend a little extra to maintain it! Don't forget to e-mail me at JenMc26@gmail.com with your hair questions.