Style Your Hair in 30 Minutes

Styles that can be done in 30 minutes or less...

Coat damp hair with a straightening cream. Blow dry and quickly flat iron. Take a pomade and work through the top layer to make this straight style a little more rock and roll.

Get long, cascading curls with high shine. First wash and deep condition so you get a healthy, glossy shine. Dry hair with a round brush. Then use a large curling iron and alternating two inch sections, roll hair around the barrel in one direction and then again in the other direction to create a ripple effect. Once your done spray everything with aerosol shine spray.

Use a small curling iron (holding it parallel to your head) and wrap small sections (about an inch)around the barrel for a glam 40's look. Do your entire head curling all the way up on one side of the part. Vary how much curl you get on the other side so you leave a bit of super smooth roots on one side. Spray your whole head with a setting spray and a bit of shine spray when you're done.

For a modern looking bob keep hair well moisturized and massage your scalp gently even when you don't wash your hair. Place small sections into large rollers. Remove the rollers and blow dry on a very low heat. Flat iron your bangs for a finishing touch.

Wash hair with a shine boosting shampoo and conditioner to get a little extra gloss in the shower. Spray a volumizer all over and then blow dry hair with a round brush. Set two sections of hair with large velcro rollers, allowing them to sit for at least 20 minutes. Remove rollers and mist entire head with hair spray.

Run a styling cream through hair before blow drying. If your hair is super straight veering towards flat, dry hair without a brush and then smooth with a styling cream when everything's dry. Flip hair over and mist with extra shine spray for extra gleam.

Benefits to Buying Locally

Fix Salon Studio is participating in the green contest that is taking place throughout the city. The last blog was done on soy candles that are made and sold locally. Below are the top 12 benefits of shopping locally...

1. Money Spent Here Stays Here

2. Jobs and Wages

3. Stronger Tax Base

4. Local Business Owners Invest in Our Community

5. Better Variety

6. Convenience equals Savings

7. Green Friendly- Shopping locally reduces your gas consumption and pollution. Also local stores help to sustain vibrant, walkable communities, reducing sprawl and the need for automobiles.

8. Keeping local dollars in the economy

9. Local Character and Prosperity

10. Friends and neighbors

11. Non-profits receive greater support

12. Community Well-being

Breathe Soy Candles

Breathe Candles are earth friendly, 100% natural soy wax and are hand poured here locally in Charleston.

Benefits of Soy...

-non-toxic, clean burning and 100% biodegradable

-cleans up with soap and water

-burns 30-50% longer

-longer lasting scent

-derived from all natural vegetables

-purchases support American farmers

-simply better for you, your loved ones and the environment

-100% essential oils used for scents

A Few of the Scents...

-Bamboo Teak- wonderful contemporary fragrance of citrus notes and ripe olives for a natural spa scent

-Tranquility- hint of wonderful spring flowers such as sweet jasmine and honeysuckle. Smells just like the south in the springtime

-Lemongrass Vanilla- a crisp, fresh lemongrass with a hint of vanilla; a light and relaxing spa scent

-Tuscan Sun- a sweet, pure scent of violent, chamomile, jasmine and orchid blended together in a floral base.

-Harvest Moon- This scent has the smell of fresh pumpkin pie with brown sugar, butter and all of the good spices of fall.

The candles come in various sizes. There are several places in the Charleston area that carry the Breath soy candles; Fix Salon Studio being one of them. For more information check out the Breathe website http://www.breathesoycandles.com/.

How to Apply Eyeshadow

Applying eyeshadow can be pretty tricky. We don't want uneven or eyeshadow that is not blended well. Here are some tips that will help all of us with our next eyeshadow applications:

#1. Blending is key

The best way to blend is to start light then go darker. Brush the base color from the eye all the way up to the brow bone (this is the lightest color), apply the lid color (medium color) and then apply the highlighter (darkest color). Be careful not to be to heavy-handed.

#2. Choose shadows that make the color of your eyes pop

Matching the color of your eye with a shadow actually brings the color of your eyes out. At the same time contrasting colors make your eyes pop too. (i.e. gorgeous golds with blue eyes)

#3. Never apply deep color to your brow bone- unless you are doing a cover shoot for Vogue

Apply shadow up to the brow bone but, not on the bone.

#4. Highlighter can make or break your look

When applying dark shadow to the crease of your eye, be careful to blend only the outside edge. Get to close to the eye and you will cause your eyes to look teeny and beady.

#5. Set shadow with a great base

The secret to keeping shadow in place for hours is a shadow base or primer.

#6. Shimmer is hot but, plays up wrinkles

Shimmer makes eyes really pop but it also highlights heavy lids, lines and wrinkles. If you don't have wrinkled eyelids try this great look for shimmer: create a nude lid but apply a bit of gold shimmer to the brow bone.

#7. Smokey is great but keep it to the lid

Keep color to the lid and just under the lower lash line. Don't extend color above the crease.

#8. How to pair shadow with red lips

Remember the beauty rule "Thou shalt not play up the lips and the mouth." If you are going for dramatic red lips, cover unsightly blue lines on lids with a concealer or shadow primer and then keep eyeshadow light.

#9. Make eyes brighter with white

A dot of white eyeshadow or pencil on the inside of the eye near the tear duct will make eyes look brighter. You won't believe how eye opening this is.

#10. Go for color

Taupe and lavender look great on all eye colors. Also consider mixing shades.

Eyebrows are the frame to your face!

Eyebrows are the frame to your face!

How to brow:

brow stencils- perfectly shape the brows

brow powder- fill in sparse areas

spoolie brush- tame unruly brows

brow wax- keep hairs in place

tweezers- get rid of strays

highlighter- enhance arch of the brow

angled brow brush- perfect for applying brow powder

Five Brow Fixes...

No Arch: Create the illusion of a perfect arch with this simple trick- brush brows up and angle out with the spoolie brush, then apply brow highlighter under the outer half of brow. Also, be careful to never overtweeze the tail ends of the brows; without them you can't create an arch!

Gaps: If your hair doesn't grow in certain spots (or you overplucked an area) fill it in with brow powder using the brow brush. Be sure your brows are dry and free of moisturizer for an even brow powder application.

Wrong Color: Temporarily change the shade of your brows with brow powder. If they are to fair try brown if they are to dark try blonde or taupe. Don't push down to hard on the brush. Color the hair not your skin.

Too thin: Put down the tweezers for at least a month and with a brow pencil draw short, feathery strokes throughout your brow in the same direction of the hair growth.

Too busy: Use tweezers and a brow stencil to clean up the shape of your brows by removing hairs that fall outside of the area defined by the stencil. Be sure to pick the right stencil for your brow shape and position it correctly.

What Causes Gray Hair?

What Causes Gray Hair?

Most of us get those dreaded gray hairs occasionally even if we are still in our 20's; at least I know I have tons of them. I think the causes of gray hair are very interesting. Some of these I have never thought of.

A little science lesson:

Our hair follicles consist of cells known as melanocytes which, produces pigments called melanin. It is the melanin that determines the color of our skin and hair. The more the production of melanin the darker the skin and hair and when the production decreases the hair becomes transparent. What appears as gray hair is actually transparent. It appears gray because of the surrounding dark hair. As people get older the production decreases and this causes gray hair however, there are other causes of gray hair.

Causes of gray hair:

Heredity- Heredity is considered to be the main cause of gray hair. People whose parents or grandparents have had gray hair early are most likely to gray early as well.

Medical or health problems- Another cause is poor health. Gray hair is usually seen in people with vitamin B-12 deficiency, anemia and a thyroid imbalance.

Smoking- People who continuously smoking don't produce as much melanin therefore, they began to gray.

Emotional Stress or Shock- It is believed that emotional stress or shock can cause gray hair.

Other Causes- Environment, Pollution, Exposure to UV rays and chemicals.

Many people with gray hair use color to cover it up however, others use their gray hair as a style statement.

Paul Mitchell/Matter of Trust

Who knew that while getting their haircut they would be helping cleanup the oil spill in the Gulf Coast? That is what an organization called Matter of Trust, based in California is doing. The organization is collecting hair from salons across the country and creating booms which are pantyhose filled with hair and hair mats. The booms and mats are then used to soak up the oil.

Paul Mitchell salons and schools continue sending hair clippings, funds and support to help with the Gulf Coast oil spill and of course the other oil spills that occur each year. Paul Mitchell became involved in the effort to cleanup oil spills when Phillip McCrory, from a Paul Mitchell focus salon in Alabama called John Paul DeJoria, CEO and Cofounder of John Paul Mitchell systems after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. McCrory discovered that hair could help after seeing that the fur on the Alaskan otters was soaked with oil. That is when Paul Mitchell became involved with Matter of Trust.

Paul Mitchell and Vanguard College of Cosmetology, a Paul Mitchell partner school has teamed up and set up a distribution center where the salons across the country can send the collected hair. Hair donations are received daily but they desperately need nylon pantyhose.

The girls are Fix Salon Studio are collecting clean used pantyhose to help in this clean-up effort.

(The picture above is of hair booms made by Vanguard College of Cosmetology.)

2010 Men's Hairstyles

2010 Men's Hairstyles

I am sure there are a lot of men out there who would love to have a new hairstyle although, most would not be willing to admit it. Below are some of the hottest men's hairstyles for 2010. For guys who need a clean-cut style for work or just want a classic look there are three hairstyles shown below. Also, for the trendy guy who really wants something different there are also three styles shown. One of these styles is sure to fit any guy's lifestyle and personality.

Classic Styles

Classic Cut

The classic haircut is really popular for 2010. One of the styles that you see a lot of is the slick back look or the wet look which is inspired by the 1950s. This is definitely a timeless look. Also, another classic look is a precise side part. Try parting the hair from left to right. This cut is very easy to replicate and very straightforward when it comes to styling this cut.

Naturally Distinguished

This look is all about being yourself and not stressing too much over your hair. Of course, it doesn't mean that you should just let yourself go and not do anything with your appearance. Although, it does mean that if you have salt and pepper hair you can leave it that way. As long as the cut is neat and clean cut then hair color really doesn't matter. This look is perfect for the person who doesn't want to deal with hair color, but keep in mind the cut needs to be maintained.

Buzz Cut

The buzz cut is another timeless style that is prominent for 2010. In order to maintain this look your hair should be kept as short as possible and it definitely needs to be the same length all over. Men who have receding hair lines will benefit from this cut. Also, the cut is very low maintenance for that fast pace lifestyle.

Trendy Styles

Textured fronts

The textured fronts style is best for younger men. This style has bangs and is brushed forward and textured. The front of the hair should be about brow length. The back and sides of the hair should remain shorter. To create texture apply wax or pomade to the front of the hair.

Messy Top

Messy tops suggest a lively personality. This is a great way to give a man a short cropped cut but, at the same time leave some length on top. This style is layered and works best on hair with a natural wave. Also, hair mousse should be used on this style. This style is suited for a man in the creative field not so much the strict business world.

Long on top

This cut is ideal for men who like a little length and who have straight hair. This cut starts out longer on top and then tapers into a much shorter length overall. You can pull the long front pieces back with some gel or just part the hair down the middle. This style requires a good bit of maintenance.

Styling a bob hairstyle

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-style-bob-hair-cut-247689/

The bob is a hair cut that will never go out of style. The link above is to a video showing just how to perfectly style a bob hair cut. To begin creating the style the hair is teased on both sides and the back. A boar bristle brush is used to smooth the hair after teasing. A product is used in the top rear section of the hair. This style can go from day to night. It is a simple yet sophisticated style. Below are pictures of various bob styles...

Victoria Beckham's style is definitely not the traditional bob. This is a way to add some funkiness to a bob. She has some really short layers and some extremely long pieces in the front.

Bangs are sure to spice up any hairstyle but they especially make this bob style.

This bob is very simple and easy to style.