Colour Change

Thinking of a big colour change? 

Did you have a sudden impulsive moment and dye your blonde locks brown, envious of the girls with shiny brown hair, but now miss being a blonde. Do not fear it is not irreversible. With quite a few hours in the salon chair you could be leaving the salon with those blonde healthy locks once more. 

We have so many ladies coming into see us that have used a box dye, having so much colour build up on their hair, that now every time they dye their hair there is no knowing what the finished colour will be. 

The first step is to come in for a consultation with our experienced stylists, where we can decide the process that needs to be done, most the time we will choose to strip the hair, we like to use COLOUR B4 £9.99 at Boots. This product safely and gently removes permanent, semi permanent hair colour and build up*, preparing the hair giving us a fresh, blank canvas ready for the new colour process.   This may be an all over colour technique,ombre, or incorporating hi-lights, which can be done immediately after the service. 

It is not recommended to do this yourself, as colour stripping can be unpredictable.
Our luxury in-salon treatments,help with replacing proteins and moisture, which can be lost through excessive colour procedures.
We stock and recommend REDKEN products, available to purchase for home use.

*in most cases/successive applications may be required

An example of a colour change done in the salon. The client had been using supermarket box dyes and wanted to go blonde, after 6 1/2 hours in the chair, she achieved a beautiful blonde colour in just on sitting.  

     Another example of stripping colour, in these images you can see  the      colour initially when stripped of the dark brown colour, and  then the finished                                    results!  

Sleek Straight Hair Dominates The Met Gala 2016

This Years Met Gala there was a flurry of super sleek straight hair styles, shimmering make up and metallic gowns,  And we loved it, finally a hairstyle that is easy to achieve!!! A bit of time and effort and this really is a look that anyone can achieve. 

Products are a must if you want to inject some shine into those locks and a good set of straighteners  to create the sleekness.  

My  must have products for a smooth, sleek, straight blowdry are; 

A paddle brush, I find this is the most easiest hair brush to use as it has a bigger surface area which helps you to control the hair better, this will create a smooth finish paramount for this type of blow dry. 

Ghd Paddle brush £20

Diamond Oil from Redken, adds shine, reduces blowdry time, and the light weight texture means its great in all hair types. £32.50

Sheer Straight, is a lightweight straightening gel thats great for fine hair, adds a weightless shine, and a more manageable straight hair.  £14.75

  

Shine Flash 02. I always like to finish styles with this great shine spray, The fine mist spray lets you add gleaming shine exactly where you need it, and helps with those pesky flyaway hairs at the sametime. £14.75

Iron Shape 11. A thermal protective spray, that coats the hair prior to using straighteners, protecting the hair from damage. £14.75

Steps 

Apply your oil and straightening balms into damp hair, working it into the hair concentrating on the mid to the ends of the hair.

Rough dry the hair to about 70% dry using your fingers to part the hair whilst blow drying. 

Next take a section at a time, around 2 inches in width, try not to take to much hair in the brush, as you want to create tension between the hair and the brush, go over each section until 100% dry. and then repeat the process on the next section of hair. 

Once you have dried all of your hair, now is the time to go over with the straighteners, like when you blow dried it, take a section at a time remembering to use your protective spray for each section. 

Finish with the shine spray slap on some shimmering make up, put on your best Balmain Frock (yeh right like any of us have one) and you are ready for your very own Met Gala!

Flower Crowns

Flower Crowns 

With summer well on its way, it is finally time to put away the dull winter wardrobe, fold away those restricting roll necks and break out the colour. This summer is going to be filled with colour, and your hair and its accessories will be no exception, These flower garlands are easy to create and look amazing. These one of a kind pieces are perfect for that bohemian wedding or an upcoming festival.

To make these simple garlands follow this step by step guide;

Materials needed;

Flexible green garden wire

Florist wire (both items can be bought at DIY stores

Flowers of your choice (you will need foliage to build up the bulk of the garland)

Step 1, Measure the green garden wire around the circumference of your head, secure.

Step 2, Take the foliage and start weaving the foliage around the green wire, building this up with more foliage until you are happy with the depth and thickness of the garland.

Step 3, Choose the flowers that you would like on your garland, trim the stem leaving around 3 inches of stem with the flower, wrap the florist wire around the flower and secure into the garland. Repeat this process as required.

Step 4,   Secure any pieces with florist wire that you feel are not sitting right and WAHLA a beautiful hand made flower garland ready for you to rock! 

If in between working, feeding the children, the dogs, the gold fish, studying, you find that there is not possibly enough time in the day, then check out these beautiful Flower crowns/garlands online that are pretty awesome! 

http://www.bloomingloopy.com/shop/pearl-wave/

Pearl Wave £60

The Arabella Cream Rose Flower Crown £32

http://www.beauxoxo.com/collections/flower-crowns/products/the-arabella-cream-rose-flower-hair-crown-headband

10% off at checkout with the code BLOGXO 

The Olivia White Rose and Baby's Breath Flower Crown £32

http://www.beauxoxo.com/collections/flower-crowns/products/the-olivia-white-rose-and-baby-breath-flower-hair-crown-  

    10% off at checkout with the code BLOGXO   

        
 ASOS Statement Flower Hair Garland

                                            £12.00

http://www.asos.com/asos/asos-statement-flower-hair-garland/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5782931&clr=Red&SearchQuery=flower+garlands&pgesize=9&pge=0&totalstyles=9&gridsize=3&gridrow=1&gridcolumn=2

Go on realise your inner hippy!! 

Break Out The Braids!

Break out the Braids!

Whether we love or loathe them, the Kardashians do know how to start up a trend, and the newest one being Braids. A couple of months ago I would have laughed  at the thought of braiding my hair, like I do for my daughter every day at school to keep the nits at bay. But sometime between then and now, subconsciously seeing the Kardashian's rocking them on every occasion, I have decided that for a day trip or even a night out, this style actually looks amazing.

This is not the easiest look to achieve, and really is, practice makes perfect.

Prepping the hair is very important especially if you have layers, as these can come out of the braid and make it look messy. I have found that the best product to use is Redken Move Ability 05. Take a small amount, warm the cream in your hands and then smooth into the hair. Afterwards brush through to make sure it's evenly distributed.

                                                            Redken Move Ability 05 £10.50

Part the hair into the amount of sections that is required, making sure that the partings are completely straight.  clipping away the hair that is part of the other braid/braids.

We have used the method Dutch plaits to create this particular style, if you watch the video below it will show you how we created this look.

To stop any flyaway hairs spray with a strong hairspray concentrating around the neckline and forhead for those babyhairs.

I also like to finish with a shine spray for added glossiness.

                                                       
                                                                        Redken Control Addict £11.75

                                                                                  Redken Shine Flash 02 £14.75

Hope this has helped, go on and try it, release your gangster self! 

 Location

Location

The 6 Shower Mistakes You're Making That Ruin Your Hair

The 6 Shower  Mistakes You're Making That Ruin Your Hair 

There is nothing better after a long hard day, then jumping in the shower and washing away all the stresses from your day, or waking up jumping in the shower refreshed ready to face your day. Happy that your grime and days dirt is swirling down the drain. But no matter how long you are scrubbing your body and those tresses there may be some simple mistakes that you are making that are throwing  everything off. By Following our simple steps you are giving you locks a better healthier chance in the world.

Mistake #1 Brushing Wet Hair     

 Dont do it, Water actually weakens your hair's bonds, so running a brush through when it's wet and defenceless will leave you with way more breakage and damage then if you waited 15 minutes after your shower for it to dry slightly.

Solution: Use a specially crafted hairbrush with wet hair in mind

Wet Brush £7.19, Amazon

The wet brush endorsed by celebrities is the perfect brush for your wet hair 

The adaptive flexibility of Intelliflex bristles with combined with the gentle SofTips eliminates all tugging, tearing, pulling and ripping. No split ends, not hair loss. It provides healthy brushing and detangling creating the perfect transition from wash to style.

Mistake #2 Using The Wrong Type of Shampoo 

Using a shampoo that is not suited to your hair, is going to be of no benefit to your hair

Solution; A Trip to Your Hairdressers

Speak with your hairdresser, find out exactly what hair type you have, this can make a massive difference in the end result, a good quality shampoo is worth its weight in gold. 

Fine Hair 

Redken Body Full Shampoo, £11.50 

If your hair is fine and gets oily quickly then use a shampoo like Redkens Body Full Redken Body Full Shampoo with Cotton gently cleanses and removes styling product residue while infusing hair with lasting volume and touchable fullness.

• Exclusive Interbond Conditioning System and the amplifying Nonstop Volume Complex plump, 
• Strengthen and support each strand for up to 37% more volume*, 
• Touchable fullness and lightweight shine.

Frizzy hair

New Frizz Dismiss offers their first-ever Frizz Protection Factor (FPF): 4 levels of smoothing and humidity protection for all hair types—from fine to coarse. 
• Heat and humidity protection
• Up to 85% less frizz after one use of Shampoo, Conditioner and FPF 30 Instant Deflate for 24 hours
• Non-stop frizz reduction in high humidity

Also a great choice if you are going abroad to a warm climate. 

Redken Frizz Dismiss Shampoo and Conditioner £27.75

Heat Damaged Hair

This shampoo and conditioner is a must for heat damaged hair, if your battling with a straightener or curling iron every morning. The Extreme range contains the exclusive Interlock Protein Network (IPN) & Fortifying Complex to help deliver targeted care to damaged hair and intense conditioning to leave hair feeling protected, looking healthy and shiny and more resilient to breakage.

Redken Extreme Shampoo and Conditioner £27.75

Mistake #3; Conditioning Your Roots With Unneeded Chemicals

You should be applying your conditioner from the middle of your hair to the tips, while steering clear of roots. (Your scalp makes enough oil naturally to keep the roots moisturised, so adding conditioner on top of it is overkill.)

Solution; Use A Nourishing Conditioner 

MoroccanOil Moisture Repair £16.55

The award winning Moisture Repair conditioner gently detangles and softens hair while restoring elasticity and manageability with reconstructive keratin and fatty acids.

Mistake #4; Using Sulphates for Deeper Cleansing 

Sulphates are added to shampoos and conditioner because of their deep-cleansing lathers, but often these harsh agents aren't needed, and they can even strip your scalp of its natural oils and nutrients (making it overproduce oil to compensate!) Hello greasy hair!!!

Solution: Use a Sulphate-Free Shampoo and Conditioner

Pureology Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner £36.00

For hair thats been subjected to dehydrating chemical treatment, this best-selling moisturising sulphate-free shampoo and conditioner can restore your hair to its former glory. This salt free set preserves your colour with a nourishing mix of coconut, rose, and sandalwood extract, while natural shea butter and peppermint extracts create an aromatherapy blend that is beyond divine. 

Mistake #5 Skipping Weekly Hair Masks 

Even if you think you don't need it, you most probably do; everything from over styling to seasonal changes can damage your hair, so do not forget the all important weekly masks. Inject some love into those locks. 

Solution; Use a Hydrating, Best Selling Hair Mask

Redken all soft heavy cream £21.25

Mistake #6 Using Outdated Heat-Styling Tools 

If you have had the same set of straighteners since year 11 then its probably time that you invested in a new pair.

Solution; Upgrade Your Tools To Avoid Damaging Your Hair 

Below are some pretty amazing tools that we certainly couldn't live without! 

Ghd Platinum Hair Straighteners 

These ground breaking stylers take the guilt out of heat styling. The Innovative ghd platinum styler uses safer-for- hair heat that delivers ultimate styling results with healthier, stronger, and shinier hair. All in just one stroke.

Containing tri-zone technology, ghd platinum works quickly and effectively to straighten curl and style, without compromising the health of your hair.

Intelligent tri-zone technology uses three sensors in each plate, ensuring the optimum temperature for styling hair is consistently maintained across the entire plate from root to tip, reducing hair breakage by over 50% and increasing shine by 20%. ghd platinum is also proven to be kinder to you hair colour

ghd Platinum Straighteners £165.00

ghd Air Hairdryer 

Update your hairdryer to the Rolls Royce of hair dryers 

Get gorgeous hair in half the time with this hair dryer, its powerful professional-strength meter deliver a high pressured air flow for super fast drying, while advanced ionic technology reduces frizz and flyways to create a smooth salon-style finish.

ghd Air £99.00