How to: Fish Tail Braid

The fish tail braid is a quick and easy braid to learn. Its my favorite braid, because it looks so cool!
Step 1: Start of with a low ponytail. Use a cheap plastic ponytail holder, because your going to cut it off after you finish the braid..

                                                     Step 2: Separate the ponytail in two. Side A and side B.

Step 3: Take a small piece from the underside of side A and bring it over to the top of side B.

Step 4: Continue on the other side. Take a small piece from side B and lay it on top of side A.

Step5: Continue all the way down, and then secure the end with a ponytail holder.

Step 6: Cut off the first ponytail holder you put in.

Step 7:  If you want the loose look, pull either side of  the braid lightly, kind of like your pulling it apart. Let the layers that might pop out go, it adds to the messy look!

If you want a more polished look, put some styling paste or gel on the hair before it begins. Then hair spray it when finished.

You can do some fun stuff with this braid, I took the bottom and simply tucked it under the base of the braid. (in the nape of the neck)  Then secured it with bobby pins and hair spray.

side view:

In the picture below, I took the fishtail braid and wrapped it around the base to make it a "fishtail bun"! Then secured with bobby pins and hairspray.

Have fun with this look! Braid in ribbon of your favorite colors or team's colors. If you have hair feathers, this will look really cool!!! If you don't, get some!  

                                                                          

Your using your flat iron all wrong, stop that.

There are so many people out there that are using your stying tools all wrong. But its not your fault, it can all be very confusing and time consuming. My job is to give you tips to use these tools to your benefit and get as much usage and life out of them as you can.
    The most commonly miss used tool is the flat iron. Most of you ladies (and gentlemen, if your on jersey shore or emo) use the flat iron everyday and don't realize you can get your hair smoother!
Step 1: Take about a 1/2 in. to 1 inch section of hair, depending on the texture and thickness.

                                                                                                                         
Step 2: Run your comb thrown the section and then run your flat iron through it.

                                                                            
Step 3: give it one more comb and move on to the next section.

If you do this simple trick you will notice your hair will be so much straighter, because you are combing out the hair of all the bubbles and tangles in it before you iron it. This is really going to iron in the frizzys. It will take you alot less time to flat iron and it wil only take you one to two strikes of the iron to flatten each section, so its less damaging too! It also prevents you from burning your fingers on your hair. Think of your comb as an extension of your hands. I suggest you are useing a heat protectant and a anti-frizz sirum, if you have curly hair. The more you practice it, you will get used to it and it will change your life.

                                                                    

Fall Color

 Fall time is upon us! The weather is cooler, you can actually go outside for more than 5 minutes without braking a sweat!) School starts back up,the Halloween costumes and turkey day decor come out! It feels great to start a new season, and with the changing of the seasons, means changing your hair! I know your getting bored with your same old look, bleach blond  ponytail, locked in the house all summer with the kids. Now that they are out of the house, its time to take some time to yourself and update your look! One of my favorite things about fall time in the autumn hair colors. Copper reds, chocolate brunettes, cool blondes, and splashes of color! Demention is key this season, like the multi- colors in fall leaves. Like Jessica's color:

 

She has a golden blonde highlight that complements her dark hair and  rich red lowlights that add the perfect amount of warmth for a great fall look. And the feathers, that are so hot right now, are great enhancements for her dimensional look!

For all the blondes out there (including myself), just because It's getting closer to winter doesn't mean you have to go dark! Alot of you think you need to go heavy on the dark lowlights, but this season I've been seeing alot of icy blond highlights and shadowy,ashy lowlights. You can bring some dimension back to your hair after a summer of being ultra light, without going dark!

Another way to spice up your blonde, is to add a intense, bright color to your hair! Like my peek-a-boo pink:

If you don't want to commit to color, then get clip-in hair extensions. You can get them from your hairdresser (me ;) in any crazy color!

 I suggest natural brunettes go for a rich, shiny, dark brown this time of year. During the summer your brown color can get kind of drab and damaged looking by the sun. Go for something a tad bit darker to deepen it. If you don't color your hair and feel that it isn't very shiny, you can get a shine treatment done to it to bring out your own natural brilliance.

                       With Jamie's color (above) we do a chocolate brown to give her shine and

and warmth.

Now you have some ideas for your new fall color, now get out there and start looking fabulous!

HAPPY FALL!!!!!!

 

How To: The Messy Bun

When you want to pull your hair back and want to do something besides the same old ponytail, do this easy, cute messy bun that takes just a few minutes.

Step 1: Brush your hair back into a low ponytail. (Tease the crown for some extra volume)
Step 2: Separate the hair in two.

Step 3: Twist the two sections together.

Step 4- hold onto the end your your twisted hair and simply wrap the hair around the ponytail holder. Like I did in the picture below- (I'm holding the center, right at the ponytail, to keep it secure and stable)

Step 5- Bobby pin the ends in, then pin the other parts of the bun where needed. After you pin it securely, spray it with some hairspray.

So your finished product is this fun bun! This can be dressy and classic or casual. If you want to wear it messier, just pull out some of the loose ends, or fan out the bun part to give it a care free look. You can do this high or low or even to the side!

Product Junkie

Welcome to Hair Chicks first issue of Product Junkie! Everyone of my stylist friends and people that are close to me know I am  a Wella addict. I have used their color for years and recently they have revamped their products! Which means, I'm in product heaven and dept. They have new packaging and the products smell great! (I swear Wella should be paying me big bucks for all the free advertising I do for them! ;)  The product I'm really into right now is Wella Brilliance Enrich. Its a really great leave- in conditioner that doesn't way down the hair, but leaves it soft and light.  If your using something light, like the enrich, then you can use all your other normal products for volume or heat protection or whatever it is you use, without it making your hair feel nasty.

I use this on my hair EVERYDAY! I suggest everyone be using some kind of leave-in conditioner. It keeps your hair moisturized and protected. If your a fake blond, like myself ;) , this is essential! You need to be using a leave-in all the time, not just when your sunbathing. This will help stop breakage (and don't act like you don't have any) and strengthen your hair. Even if you are a natural or your hair is in good shape, when you spend time in the sun, you need a leave-in protector or cover your head with a hat or scarf! If you are trying to grow your hair out, you need to be getting regular trims, every 6 to 8 weeks, and you need to be using good products with either moister or protein, consult with your stylist about that.
Until next time, be kind to your hair!!!

Fashion Week!!!

 This is a very special blog this week because, New York's Spring/Summer 2012 Fashion Week is upon us! YEAH!!! I love the fashion world and its always so exciting to see whats new in fashion and hair! In my dream world, I would be at fashion week. But until then I can only scan through all the pictures online pretending that I'm not sitting on my couch in Texas, but sitting runway side rubbing shoulders with Lindsey Lohan and Tim Gunn, watching a Jason Wu show or watching Betsey Johnson's new line right before my eyes. Hey, we all have dreams :) So as a good hairdresser would I criticized each hair style that sashays down the runway. Here are my favorites and my not so favorites.

   I wasn't a fan of all the plastered down hair looks but, this BCBG Max Azria model looks so stunning with her sleek hair.(above) A lot of the models that were styled like this,with their hair down or in a tight pony tail. This style is very chic with her hair down and the sides back very tight.

This is Carmen Marc Valvo (above) and I absolutely LOVE this! I love seeing the part down the center

and hope this retro look catches on. I know a lot of you cringe when you hear a center part is in, I know you are married to the side part, but I have noticed this trend lately on TV and movies, too. Just because you center part it doesn't mean you have to look like you did when you were 12. You can wear it really sleek and straight or with lots of movement and bounce. Like this Luca Luca model:

Even though I love Alexander Wang, I am not diggin' the hair :

This center part look is not what I suggest.

Now, talk about sexy! This is my favorite style of them all!!! And it comes from my favorite designer, Betsey Johnson:

This brings a new twist on wavy hair! Wavy/curly on one side and slicked back on the other. This look is soft and edgy at the same time. And the all over bleach blonde is beautiful! Next time you blow your hair out with a round brush, try styling it like this! Blow dry it with a round brush, give the ends a little curl with the iron if you want. Then, just side part it and brush back the side with the help of some light hold gel, bobby pins and a little hairspray! All you need is the leopard print bra and your a Betsey Johnson girl!

This Diane Von Furstenberg updo is so soft and volumus! Very classic. It may be a little big for a regular day, but I saw a lot of hair pulled up in messy updos.

Jason Wu knocked it out of the park with his line, as usual! This messy updo look (below) is great, not sure about the twigs sticking out the back, but I would rock it!

This orange dress and pink platforms are killer! From Jill Stuart's line. But what I really love are these "side bangs" Try this with your bangs by braiding or twisting them into the side of your hair, if you don't have bangs, do what they did with this model and easily sweep the front over to the side.

 Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. is always a fav, but this skinny beehive do is not my fav. The cat eye makeup is HOT! And the black and white geometric patterns shown in this picture are so sharp! Love Gwen!! 

Even though I'm not crazy about the high bun, on L.A.M.B.'s models, I am really liking this fun side ponytail/ bun thing going on, from Jen Kao's show! And I love these colorful shorts and flowing kimono like jacket!

And last but not least, this avant garde head piece!

This is also from Jen Kao's line. I'm sure we will be seeing Lady Gaga sporting this sometime soon! I don't know about you, but I love it. I will be the most fabulous one at Mardi Gras with this mask!

            So that's it for my New York Fashion Week review! Its been fun, but now I have to go read every other blogs and magazines on this topic! If you want to look at more from Fashion Week check out Elle.com

                                   

The Snooki Bump!!!

For your first HOW TO is one of the most asked questions from my clients is "How do I get that bump in my hair?" Or what I call The Snooki Bump! Ok, maybe not that extreme! It is a really cute and easy style to do. I like to do "the bump" when I'm having a bad hair day or just want my bangs out of my face. And none of those plastic Bump Its things are aloud!! You can create it naturally like this:

   Step 1: TEASE IT!!  You will need a flat brush and a comb. This teasing technique is also great for  creating massive volume in the crown area for some big sexy hair!!! Pick up the entire area of hair you want to bump, you are going to tease this area section by section, starting from the back and working your way to the front. So your first section will be in the back of the area , like in the picture above . Pull it forward, like I did in the picture above. Then take your comb and start back combing (teasing!) Start at the middle of the section and push downward, do this 2 or 3 strokes. Be gentle you don't have to tear at it! Then let go of that section and continue to move forward and do the same with the next section until you get to the front. When your finished it will look like a big matted mess! But thats ok! Take your flat brush and VERY LIGHTLY use the brush to smooth the top down to hide your tease underneath.  Like this:

Don't use your comb to smooth, because it will just pull out the cushion you just created.

 Step 2:BUMP IT!! Take the teased section and slightley push it forward and then pinch where you want the bobby pins like this:

Then slide the bobby pins in, right where my fingers are. Cross them over each other like an X. You can use regular bobby pins but I really like the small ones so you can't see them as well. They also make them the color of your hair: blonde, light brown and dark brown. You can get them at Sallys. If you wanna get fancey, you can take a strand of hair, right next to the bump you just created, and place it over your bobby pins to cover them. Then weave the end of the starnd into the bobby pins.

Step 3: PONYTAIL IT!! Use your flat brush to sleek back your hair into a pony tail. If you want to make it super cute, leave out a small strand of hair out of your ponytail and wrap it around your ponytail holder and then bobby pin the end into your hair, right behind the ponytail holder. You can alson BRAID the strand of hair before you wrap it around your holder! Like I did on the beautiful Miss Ashley:

Step 4: LEAVE IT DOWN!!: I do this look when I want my bangs out of my face, but want to keep my hair down for the night. For a formal look, give your ends a little curl! I like Jessica Alba's look because its not a super high bump!

And Finale! Step 5: SPRAY IT!! Use some hair spary on the front and the bobby pins. If you wrapped your hair around the pony tail holder, spray that too, just to keep it extra secure. If you curled the ends, add some light hold spray so they are still movable, but stay all night. I really like Bed Head's Hard Head if you like a really firm hold or Sebastian's Shaper Zero Gravity for a light brushable hold.

Now you know how to:  tease properly, place a bump anywhere in your hair, create a cute ponytail! So have fun and play with it try it! Let me know how it goes or doesn't go. And remember,

 NO MORE BUMP ITS!!!