Hair

Show Your Stylist Some Love

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Finding a stylist you love and trust is a lot like finding a partner.  There’s a vibe. There’s chemistry. Face it… it’s a relationship. So when you find your person, how can you ever repay them for all the happiness and satisfaction they bring you? 

1) Referrals, reviews, recommendations.  Stop. Before you read any further, if you love your stylist you should be following them on ALL social media platforms. And if you really love their work, feel free to re-post. The power of social media is everything!!! Facebook, Instagram, Yelp… even going to the stylists web-page and writing a review is an amazing way to share your personal thoughts, experiences and feelings. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful referring tools. If you love your stylist, please share us!  We won’t get too busy and forget about you! Too many times I have heard clients say, “I’m keeping you my secret,” for fear that their stylist will become too busy. Please remember this is our livelihood and your personal recommendation means EVERYTHING to us. Many salons even offer referral programs to express their gratitude. So please take the time to write about your experiences and share your thoughts! 

2) Stop buying products outside of the salon. Many clients aren’t aware that we, as stylists, are always learning.  We need continuing education hours (CE hours) to keep our license current and us legal. What does this have to do with buying products? Well, for instance, at Legal Hair we carry Redken, Pureology, and Eminencé product lines. 

 

When you purchase these PROFESSIONAL ONLY products directly from the salon, you help us to accrue points which enables us to receive the best and most current training from the top educators.  I am proud to say that I am able to get FREE education, because our companies value us that much.

However, when we take the time to tell you about a product, or show you what we would recommend for your best outcome, and you buy it online or from a chain store (or worse, from a drugstore that isn’t legally allowed to retail the products but they do anyway) you are hurting your stylist/salon that you love so much. Now I know some department stores offer discounts and point systems, but please don’t let that sway you. Remember that your stylist knows you and has the latest information about the products. And again, we appreciate it more than you’ll ever know when you choose to support us! 

3) Pre-booking.  It may not always be easy with scheduling, but it is so amazing to know we get to see you again! It helps ensure you have an appointment when you want and need it, and it is such a confidence booster to your stylist. It’s an amazing feeling to know my guest believes in me so much that they want the be sure to get back into my chair every 4, 6, 8 weeks because they trust me to make them look their best. 

4) Tell the truth.  Telling a white lie to save someone’s feelings has never helped anyone. If we, as your stylists, do something unfavorable, please communicate! If we offend you, don’t perform to your standards, or if we aren’t communicating well, please speak up. Remember this is a relationship! When your partner is messing up, you call them out, right? Well, we are no different. It does you, nor your stylist, any justice to be dissatisfied with something and not speak up! We are all human and sometimes we can become just plain unmotivated.  Sometimes you speaking up can help us take a good hard look and fix ourselves. Trust me, we all need a reality check sometime!

I really hope you take the time to consider each of these ways to reach a new level of connection with your stylist. Communication is key. You helping us is a priceless way to say thank you and show your support! 

Honor Thy Stylist

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By now most, if not all, of us have seen the funny memes, Facebook or YouTube videos showing “the worst clients” or “stylist pet peeves”. Honestly, they’re funny and I’d be lying (and so would every other stylist) if we didn’t admit we watch and think omg I’ve been there, I’ve had that person in my chair. 

After 11 years of doing hair there isn’t too much that can rattle me. You can be nasty, rude, indecisive, picky and I can shake that right off. The biggest gripe I have is that for the “no call/no show” guest. 

I could go on and on sharing personal experiences about the worst clients I’ve ever encountered or seen other stylist deal with but it’s much bigger than singling out those individuals. I have come to realize that people truly don’t understand what happens when you don’t show up.  And please believe this is something that is bigger than someone not showing up for their hair appointment.  It’s about being inconsiderate and not valuing someone else’s time. It’s about being selfish. 

To shed some light onto this I’d like to explain what happens when you make an appointment and simply don’t show up.  For this example I’m going to widen my scenario by not only using COMMISSION based stylists, but also, tattoo artists, makeup artists, photographers, free lance graphic designers or personal trainers (just to name a few commission based professions). These jobs, and many others, require the individual to make appointments (most of the time without deposits) with their prospective client in order to provide a service for which they will be paid for.  So when you make an appointment and don’t show up, we don’t get paid.  

What makes this worse for me personally is I always have a tendency to go straight to the worst case scenario. I immediately worry that they’ve gotten into an accident or are sick or something medically has gone wrong and I just don’t know about it.  Unfortunately all of these things have happened to me personally. In these instances there’s never a reason to be upset because it’s life–it happens!! I just want to make sure you are okay! Especially for stylists, when we see our guest every 4,6,8 weeks and you don’t show up we know it’s unlike you and that’s alarming. 

But then there’s the other side… when someone consistently no show/no call, or calls 5 minutes before and cancels. Please understand that this leaves us with NO TIME to fill your appointment. It leaves us wondering what has happened.  And then it puts us into a position where we may have to resort to some measures that may cause some friction. What do i mean by friction? I mean you may be stopped from booking appointments with your stylist or the salon in general. You may be required to pay a deposit to book future appointments. 

I also understand a lot of people don’t realize there are still 100% commission based jobs out there. Meaning, no work, no pay.  I’m here to tell you these jobs exist.  I don’t know many stylists who actually get paid hourly. So please consider this when you are thinking about blowing off your 2pm blowout because it’s nice and you want to go outside. 

The moral of the story here, please be considerate. If you are sick, call! No one will be upset that you’re cancelling. We will want you to rest up and get better. We will also be very happy you wanted to keep your germs to yourself haha.  If you don’t have it in your budget, please call! No one needs to know that’s why. A simple call to cancel with no explanation is just fine.  When asked if you want to reschedule just say you’ll call at a later date. If it’s a beautiful day and you just don’t want to sit inside, CALL!  (On the flip side to this scenario, don’t be upset if you cancel last minute to enjoy the beautiful weather and you cannot be rescheduled for several weeks.)   

Toning Shampoos: A Personal Testimony

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If you haven’t heard about “purple shampoo” or “color depositing shampoo” by now you may be living under a rock. While color depositing shampoos have been around for decades, it is gaining a whole new respect.

Previously, the purple/silver/blue products were used on those with white or very grey hair to keep the unwanted yellow tones out of their hair from environmental pollutants. There were also commonly shampoos for red deposit and dark tones for brunettes.  More recently, it has been reinvented with the surge of interested in “over-toned” hair that is silver, fashion colors, or an extreme cooled blonde as well as the addition for all natural hair color.

For the past several weeks my wife (who is blonde) and myself have been experimenting with several different brands and tones to see what brands we prefer and the effect these different lines have.  It has been especially interesting to try on myself due to the fact that my hair is light but “red.” I prefer the gold, copper, and orange tones so it was really visible in my hair to see the effect of the shampoos.

This wasn’t my first rodeo with the color depositing shampoos. I have used some in previous years when I actually had blonde hair. They have come a long way in just a few short years. It seems like almost every major line has some type of “blonde shampoo” or a specific “color correcting” shampoo. The tonal deposit ranges from nearly nothing to extreme. So extreme that, if you have light enough hair and you want to experiment with a true temporary color (i.e. pink, blue, etc.) you can with just a simple shampoo.

The lightest tonal deposits came from brands like Pureology, Redken, Goldwell, and Sexy Hair. Not that I don’t like these, they just did nothing to my hair. My hair was too warm to see any difference with the minimal tonal deposit contained in these shampoos/conditioners. Now, on someone with lighter hair, it was evident that there was some cooling effect on hair with only minimal yellow tones to cancel (which  make sense seeing that purple does not correct orange/brassy tones).

What I consider to be the mid-range in tonal deposit were the Matrix,  Framar “color lover” shampoo, TIGI, Pravana, and Clairol “shimmer lights.” These had a softening effect on my color and made a huge difference on my wife’s hair. With prolonged exposure (repeated washing or longer deposit duration) her hair was noticeably brighter, or even silver-toned.

The most tonal deposit came from the Celeb Luxury lines: VIRAL and Gem Lites.  I will also add that with the Framar “color lover” and the Matrix “so silver” and “brass off,”  if these shampoos were left on in excess of 2 minutes their toning power became much more potent. Back to the Celeb Luxury… These shampoos are crazy! They have two sub-lines. One is designed for the fashion colors such as green, pink, red, purple, yellow, just to name a few. The Gem Lites sub-line was more suited for natural colors. It was nice to see that you were able to deposit for all shades of blonde (warm and cool) as well as brunette, and red. They left the hair very shiny. I personally really liked the ginger/orange red depositing shampoo. It was marketed for strawberry blonde tones and it was right on target. I did personally try two VIRAL shampoos as well. I used the light pink in my hair to try to replicate a “rose gold” color. It worked. And it worked well. Crystal tried the lavender, purple and silver. All of which made her hair those colors. Within two washes all the tone was gone.

So what’s the catch? Well, here’s my opinion. All of these shampoos have something in common. They are depositing a superficial pigment into your hair. This means there is a layer of substance sitting on the outside of your hair’s cuticle layer. In my, and my wife’s experiences we weren’t in love with the way out hair felt after using these shampoos. Some were so minimal it was barely noticeable (Matrix, Pureology, Redken, Goldwell). While other were apparent (clairol “shimmer lights”,  Color lover, Celeb Luxury “VIRAL” and “Gem Lites”). It was nice to play with color but I did not like how my hair had an obvious feeling of residue. It doesn’t bother most people but I am a person who doesn’t like ANY product feel to my hair, so I am especially sensitive to it. I have talked with many other people and some of the more extreme shampoos don’t even bother them.

Conclusion, I think these shampoos are an amazing way to maintain the color of your hair or to play with a fashion color without to full commitment. I think that a color depositing shampoo should be in every blondes shower. I’m going to say that again. I THINK A TONING PRODUCT SHOULD BE IN EVERY BLONDES SHOWER. They are worth it when it comes to maintaining the vibrancy, tone, gloss, pigment, brightness, whatever you want to call it of a blondes hair. They don’t need to be used every single day, but can be, and they help rid your hair of unwanted yellow or brassy tones. To me that’s a win!

5 Steps to Healthier, Longer Hair

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1. Be nice to your scalp.

A healthy scalp = healthy hair. When you do shampoo your hair make sure you really scrub your scalp. Be mindful to get all excess skin and product off! Many product companies have specific products for “scalp detox” or even “scalp exfoliants”. If you help to create a healthy base environment, you ensure your hair can grow freely and strong. 

2. Brush your hair.

I mean really get in there! Brush your scalp! Use a soft tip bristle brush to remove loose skin residue, product, debris from your scalp. Brush your hair multiple times a week to remove all the hair you are shedding (you lose approx 100 hairs per day) so that new hair has room to grow in!

3. Treatments galore!

You already know I’m a treatment junkie, but there are specific treatments for long hair.  Length primers, split end mending, end bonding (whatever you want to call it) are specialized products that seal the oldest and weakest lengths of the hair so that they can hold on and stay long! 

4. Just a “dusting.”

Just because you have long hair does not, I repeat, DOES NOT, mean you shouldn’t have some type of cut maintenance routine.  This doesn’t mean you have to cut the end length of your hair BUT have your stylist make sure the split ends are removed from your hair. 

If you don’t cut off your split ends your hair WILL continue to split up itself. Even if this means you need to just “dust” the ends from time to time. I promise you will be happier with thick, full long hair over “witchy,” scraggly ends. 

5. Less ponies, more braids.

Goodbye pony tail! Ever notice all the breakage around your ponytail line? That’s because we have a tendency to consistently pull our hair up at the same spot causing breakage! So here are some solutions:  try a gentle loose braid, a soft bun (break out those 90s scrunchies) or even a claw clip.  The harsh tension of an elastic can you sabotaging your length.

Unicorn Hair: EXPECTATION vs REALITY

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Unicorn hair, mermaid hair, holographic hair, whatever you want to call it is a trend that just can’t quit! BUT there are some things we have to talk about before you dive into this investment.  Yep, that’s right INVESTMENT. 

The color options are endless.

The patterns are only limited by your imagination.

Every color company has a “vivid” color line to quell your desires.

So what’s the hang up? Well, here may be several. I feel like we have reached a point in this trend where it’s very important to share some critical information about vivid, neon, pastel hair color.

1)  IT IS NOT PERMANENT.  It’s not even semi-permanent. It will not last forever.  In most cases it’s not going to even last a month. These colors are made by using “direct dyes”. These are large specialty pigment molecules that deposit a tone (color) onto the hair. This means it is very superficial. So many times I feel that my guests are let down because they love their color but after a few washes the colors have faded so much that it’s barely noticeable. This is a reality that you will have to accept if you want to go on this journey. You can extend the life of this color by washing less frequently, using the BEST quality products, and using less heat on your hair. 

2)  IT IS AN INVESTMENT.  You will be spending some money on your hair.  In some cases I have spend 6 hours lightening a guests hair multiple times to achieve the needed level of lift to allow their hair to become he canvas I need to deposit these colors.  This means an investment of your time and money. It also means investing in product!

3)  BATHROOM CLEANUP.  If you love your white towels don’t use them!  Your bathroom/shower, bed clothes, towels, and sometimes your clothing can become a casualty!  When you turn your hair magenta and then decide to get a sweat session on, your sweat then becomes pink. No lie, it’s happened to me.  My head was so sweaty the hair color left on my head/hair ran down my face and neck and the collar of my t-shirt was a nice purple color.  When you wash your hair some pigment will come out, and if you aren’t taking time and proper care to rinse your shower out, you may be left with a nice ring of whatever color your hair is.  And those poor towels… sigh…. time to get some dark colored towels haha. 

4)  MAINTENANCE.  What you are left with when all those colors fade is going to be some varied shade of blonde.  It’s not always pretty.  So you need to be mindful of this as well.  If you’ve made your whole head fire engine red, when it fades is probably going to be a nasty orange-yellow color. You may need need to pre-book weekly or even bi-weekly appointments to have your hair color refreshed in order to keep it looking nice. 

I personally have had every bright color imaginable.  I have put my hair through the ringer. I LOVE all of these hair color trends.  There’s nothing better than expressing your individuality with a custom vivid color. And I am by no means trying to talk anyone out of these colors. 

I have two clients in particular who only color their hair with these fun colors.  Their hair always looks amazing and fresh… but only because they play by the rules. It can and does work under the right circumstances.

So let’s sum this up. If you want to have the latest trend in vivid hair color then you must be willing to do your research, invest your time, invest your money, and play by the rules! Don’t be afraid to schedule consultations. In fact, I highly recommend, and in some situations insist, on having a sit down, face-to-face consultation.  I hope this doesn’t discourage anyone, but offers a more detailed breakdown as to what to expect!

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Pureology Product Review

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Why pureology? 

Anti-fade complex 

Bottles made of 50% recycled materials 

No sulfates in shampoos or conditioners 

Naturally derived plant extracts 

70+ shampoos per bottle (standard size) 

Okay enough of that… if you don’t already know, Pureology is the #1 color care specific product line.  It is a luxury hair care line and worth it! I’m going to be making this a series of reviews as I have now used all the Pureology lines carried at Legal Hair! 

Today I’m going to talk today specifically about the NEW hydrate “sheer” moisture shampoo, conditioner and air dry cream! 

The big difference between the hydrate and the hydrate sheer is the silicon free formula. What does this mean to you? It’s lighter weight and has a better feel. I personally prefer it to the regular hydrate. Although I have thick, boarder line coarse hair, I commonly find that products weigh my hair down too much. 

The hydrate sheer product line smells amazing!!! Although it has the same scent notes as the original hydrate I felt like it smelled lighter and more fresh. 

The slip of the product was so much better. It has a much more silkie feeling. The conditioner is much thinner than the original hydrate. I did notice it had better detangling qualities as I was able to finger comb my biggest problem areas with ease. 

The crown jewel of the product line (in my opinion) is the Air Dry Cream.   The genius behind this product is that is controls frizz, hydrates, and soothes dry hair without the need of blow dry or heat application. It left my hair SO INCREDIBLY SOFT. My wave/curl was left lightly yet perfectly contoured. My hair was not weighed down at all. The only “issue” I had was that my hair was almost too soft. Is that even such a thing? Even days after my hair maintained this softness. 

I have to give it up to this line. It is in the top 5 of my favorite shampoos and conditioners. And it’s 1 of the 2 favorites I have in the Pureology line.  

Why does my hair have so much static?

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Scientific explanation:  The atoms in your hair are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. When the electrons in your hair begin “jumping” from one atom to another, they become electrically charged.

Okay, so what does this actually mean for your hair? It means you can take some steps to help prevent this! Whew, good news right? There is always the chance that your hair will become static charged, however, during the winter months this is especially true due to the drying mature of colder weather. So, now that you know your hair is dried out what can you do?  Add some moisture and protein! Invest in a good at home or in salon conditioning treatment!  And use a wide tooth comb instead of a brush.  Here are some of my personal favorites and suggestions to help you narrow down your options.

Redken “Heatcure” treatment – This is an in salon treatment that takes about 15 minutes to apply and rinse. It gives your hair a dose of both protein and moisture so you will be feeling the results for about 10 (+/-) washes! (Special note on this treatment. ITS AMAZING!!! My personal favorite and there’s a take home version)

heatcure

The pH Bonder system – Also new from Redken, this treatment in done in salon and can be added to your color, lightener or done by itself to chemically rebuild the bonds of the hair.

Olaplex – This was the pioneer product in a new line of treatments for hair.  This also rebuilds the chemical bonds of the hair. This too can be applied directly to the hair or mixed in with your color or lightener for added protection.

If someone at home is more your flavor, try these:

  • Diamond Oil mask (especially dull and damaged hair. Oil protection)
  • Extreme CAT Protein treatment (protein treatment that gives strength without weighing hair down)
  • Extreme Primer (can be used as a leave in or rinse out treatment with biotin! This one is one of my personal favorites that I use every wash)
  • All Soft Heavy Treatment Mask (soften and control frizz)
  • Blonde Idol Mask (special formulation with blonde hair in mind)
  • Pureology Hydrate Hydracure ( intense hydration therapy)
  • Pureology Perfect For Platinum Masque (special formulation with blonde hair in mind. Also another masque that deposits cool tone)

Maybe you aren’t a person who will take the time to do a mask/masque? Here are some leave- in conditioners that work wonders. I can’t say that you will see the relief from your static as fast as you would like but doing something is better than nothing!  If you know me, you know I LOVE my leave-in conditioners! I use the Pureology Color Fanatic “21 spray” every wash! Most noted for its recognizable purple bottle and delicious smell, this product does 21 different things that all benefit your hair. Adding moisture just happens to be one of them. Redken also makes a very similar product called “One United”. This leave-in boasts 25 benefits, moisturizing your hair is just one of them.

Every hair care line has their version of a deep conditioning treatment.  I’m not here to say this is better than that but I am just sharing with you my personal favorites and what I am familiar with. I would encourage anyone having questions to feel free to stop into the salon and talk with any of the stylist or receptionists at Legal Hair. Happy conditioning!