Archive for June 23rd, 2006
By Kathryn D’Imperio
Before digging out the spongy pink curlers or running to your stylist for a hasty perm, check out these effective alternatives for an evening of uncustomary curls!
Curling Iron:
Inexpensive, relatively user-friendly and quick for minor touch-ups, this device can give you a glam look with a few minutes’ investment. If you’re donning only a partial head of curly locks, a curling iron could be just the tool you need for an immediate response to your need of a few well-placed curls.
Glamorize your up-do with a curling iron by emphasizing your style with a few loose spiral curls around your face or one or two seductively sweeping along the back of your neck. Creating these curls can be a quick and easy process, but don’t forget to spritz them with a little hairspray, or else they may not last the entire evening!
Another common use for a curling iron is tending to your hair’s ends. Tuck them under or flip them out a bit wildly, but you won’t get the same results with a set of hot rollers! A curling iron is versatile enough to curl precisely the strands that you want curled, in whichever manner you wish to achieve. Even if you wish to curl more than a few small sections of hair, a curling iron is capable of curling your entire head as well.
Time Involved: Curling Iron use may take anywhere from 5 minutes or less to 45 minutes or more, depending on style’s involvement.
Hot Rollers:
Just a touch more expensive than the curling iron, hot rollers can achieve a full head of flawless curls, typically in under an hour. Hot rollers generally have a small amount of wax inside that is heated when the set is plugged into an electrical outlet. When the curlers are ready for use, the color may change color so that you know to begin applying them.
Forget about fighting with the curling iron and trying to decide which way you want the curl to spiral. Instead, enjoy the remarkably easy process with hot rollers-once you have fastened the curlers in your hair, your hair will all curl simultaneously!
It is still a good idea to use some styling products such as a non-sticky hairspray or gel to retain the shape of the curls. (Curls formed by hot rollers tend to last considerably longer for me than those I create with a curling iron, as my hair is typically resistant to curling in general.)
Tip for Hot Rollers: Try to wash your hair the night before you want to employ the hot rollers. Sometimes very clean, sleek hair tends to resist curling.
Time Involved: Hot Rollers may take about 10 minutes to warm up and anywhere from 10-20 minutes to apply, and about 15 minutes to set. (Color of curler will revert back to original color to indicate that the curl has set.) Add additional time as necessary for styling your locks if you intend to use barrettes, bobby pins or other adornments and styling products.
Curling Iron Versus Hot Rollers:
• Both beauty appliances require time to heat up, but hot rollers may require a few extra minutes.
• Hot rollers are very easy to use when styling the whole head or a section, but don’t count on them to curl your ends out or under. Leave that to the curling iron!
• Color of hot rollers indicates when they are ready to use and when your curls have set.
• Curling iron gives great flexibility for choosing between loose spirals and tight ringlets, but you can always brush out your curls formed by hot rollers to achieve the style you desire.
• Curling irons are much easier to transport when traveling and staying in a hotel or other location away from home.
• Hot rollers save more time if going for a full head of curls. Success rate for curls enduring the entire evening may also be better.
• Both devices are useful in and of themselves-the best advice for you is to try them both and see which you like the best!
June 23rd, 2006
By Lisa Lach
There are ways you can help stop the grease from appearing but you have to work at it.
Do not wash everyday.
The cleaner your hair is the more it can seep into your glands and harder it is to get rid of. When you do wash make sure you are washing with a cleaning shampoo and scrubbing the build up off. Take in mind that you also have to have a ph-balanced mild shampoo and lite scrubbing is recommended. Try to avoid conditioner at the roots, apply in the middle or on the ends.
Try to avoid oil in your daily food intake. And do eat more vegetables. You could visit your doctor but only after you check and consider your diet, drugs, alcohol, and your fatty food intake. Let’s face it we see what McDonalds can do to your heart in a month, can you image your hair. You would be dripping everywhere.
Maybe it’s time to change your shampoo. Ask your stylist what she or he would recommend. Avoid using shine products at all costs. Keep away from two-in-one shampoos and conditioners and any frizz serums.
To fix at the moment, rub a little Talcum Powder on your dried hair at the roots. Just make sure you wash it out. I wish they would event that magic product, but this will help until they do.
June 23rd, 2006
By Lisa Lach
You know the bangs that when you walk out of your hairstylists they are perfect, but when you get your chance to do them - you can’t.
They are side-angled, straight-layered, and maybe even long; but can you ever get them the same. Do you have a cowlick in the middle that never straightens out?
Here is what you can do for your bangs.
• Blow-dry your bangs towards the front of your face. If you are using a round brush the hair with the blow-dryer on it from root to end. If you then blow-dry your sides towards the same direction when you lift your head and part towards the side or near center, your bump in the front is gone. Use a straightener for even straighter lasting results.
• After blow-drying your hair put a Velcro roller in the front with another one behind it. Spray with a light hairspray and leave in while you apply your make up. Take out brush to your desired style and get the bangs you like.
• If these two have your patience wearing thin, purchase a straightener and get your finished look. Just remember straighteners’ cause a lot of damage so use conditioner every time you wash it while using a straighter for a finished bang.
Apply a lite wax or shine, to keep your hair in place all day long. Lightly finish with a lite hair spray.
Back
June 23rd, 2006
By Beverly Smith
Highlights consist of selecting small or thick strands of hair that are then lightened at least 2 shades lighter than the rest of your hair.
Highlights should compliment your natural or artificial color.
You should never go more than 3 shades lighter then the rest of your hair color. The object of highlighting is to give you a sun-kissed look and to bring depth and light to your overall color.
So if you want to achieve salon perfect results at home when you highlight your hair, here’s what the pros say:
• Use a clarifying shampoo on your hair at least two days before coloring.
• Never shampoo the day you color.
• Check the expiration date on the package. And once you mix the color, use it right away!
• Toss out the brush that comes in the box and buy flat 1/2 and 1/4 inch acrylic brushes. These brushes, used by artists, are available at art supply stores (they’ll give you better control and more natural-looking results)
• Make sure you have on hand a pair of good, tight-fitting latex gloves (the ones that come in the package don’t always fit well).
• Start from the back of your head and work forward. By working from back to front, you won’t smear the pieces in front by having to reach over them to do the back.
• Apply the highlights only to the top layers of your hair. By leaving the hair underneath alone, you’ll create depth and a sun-kissed look that looks completely natural!
June 23rd, 2006
Learn a few easy how you fix dry, frizzy and curly hair into a smooth, silky and very straight hairdo that is easy to manage.
Curly or frizzy hair can often be very hard to manage. Harder still is trying
to turn your frizzy, curly hair into a smooth, straight and silky looking hairdo. One way of turning curly hair straight, is to get it professionally straightened; however this is fairly drastic option and not one for everybody. The easiest way to achieve straight and silky hair is to blow dry it this way yourself at home. It may take you a little longer than you would usually spend doing your hair and it may take a little practice before you get the results you desire, but the outcome will be well worth the effort.
To blow dry your hair straight yourself, start with wet clean hair. It is a good idea to use a good conditioning treatment or conditioning spray prior to straightening your hair. This will help assure the hair is in its best possible condition. Towel dry hair and apply a small amount of mouse or gel, working it through the hair and concentrating it on the ends of the hair. Blow dry your hair until it is almost dry and just slightly damp. This will not only save time during the straightening process, but also is better for the hair as it places less tension on the hair itself.
Start by sectioning off your hair and pinning back the top bits. Always start with the underneath hair first and then work your way through the hair to the top and front sections. Each section of hair should be a manageable amount for you to handle straightening. This will depend on the thickness of your hair and what you can manage. It is best to start with a small amount and increase the size of the sections, as you become more experienced with the process.
Gather the hair in the section and using a large round brush, roll the hair round the brush and then pull it back out, holding the brush at the ends of the hair. Blow-dry the hair down towards the brush on low heat, while continuing to pull the brush through the hair. Once that section is dry and at the straightness you desire, continue the same process section by section with the rest of your hair, leaving the front bits around your face until last. As more and more hair gets straightened out, you may need to go back over a few sections to help them sit nicely in with the rest of the hair, but this shouldn’t take long. Pay special attention to the front sections of hair and style them the desired way you would like them, so that the hair fall to the side you want it to etc.
Once all the sections of hair are straightened out, get some kind of finishing wax or hair polish and rub it between your hands and then lightly rub your hands over your hair. You have to be careful not to apply too much as this could make you newly straight hair look greasy. Then brush, comb, or style your hair in the style you want and you’re ready to go with your new, very straight and non-frizzy hair!
Another way to straighten hair is to use the above process but instead of blow drying and using the round brush to straighten out the sections, you could use a straightening iron. Straightening irons work well, but on most occasions you will still need to blow-dry the hair at the end to achieve your desired style. Straighten irons can also be very harsh on the hair, so it is a good idea not to do it too often.
You could also use very large Velcro rollers and roll each section of hair up in them and then let it dry naturally. This method works well and is probably the least harsh to the hair but it takes longer. The rollers will also tend to curl up then ends of the hair slightly, but if that is not the look you desire you could use the round brush and blow dry them straight out. Once again finish off with a hair wax or polish to protect the hair and make it look shiny.
June 23rd, 2006