How-to Quick Beautiful curls!!

Enjoy and make sure to leave comments either here or my twitter! I love hearing what you all think!! :D

Not EVERYBODY does hair WELL...

  Okay So I have been doing hair for nearly 11years and worked in 4 salons. I am so blessed to say I have worked in wonderfully amazing Salons!! I have NEVER worked alongside someone who has ever had or would dream of having these bad habits! But the sad truth is it really happens and none of these things are good or professional in fact its like the guy who cheats on his pregnant girlfriend but walks around calling himself a christian he makes a bad name for other christians just the same girls who walk around calling themselves Stylists and have these bad habits make bad names for the rest of us! Oh man! I just remembered I did work at one salon :/ that happened to have a few girls with these issues! Crazy I totally forgot about that lol maybe thats is like when something traumatic happens to you your mind will block it out of your memory. Okay so now for the painful part.

   I have posted a picture to help those of you who may be visual learners.













 So I hope that just by looking at these pictures you can see a few things wrong even before I explain. First off flip flops in the salon!! Girls its not the beach! Not only is this unprofessional but more then anything unsanitary. I was once told a story back in beauty school... a women had been wearing burkenstocks to work back when those were popular ;) and after a while she had noticed her feet started turning dark brown and became very painful to walk on. She went to the doctor to get her feet checked out and to make a long story very short she found out she had wads of hair packed into the soles of her feet!!!!! That is correct you read that right!! She ended up needing to have her calluses cut open and cleaned out!!! How disgusting is that?!! Hair can actually wiggle its way into your skin just like a splinter!! This is true! Next no makeup and hair in a bun... we are considered professionals in our industry and last time I checked my industry was BEAUTY. I am not promoting caked on make up and fully styled hair at all times. I get that we all have bad days but really your a beauty professional... you really cant come up with something a bit more creative? Please. If its that bad of a day you should be calling in sick, if you cant get yourself put together how are you suppose to get your clients together? Messy stations are not good either... I know personally I can hardly think straight if my station is disorganized. Not only that but this is once again simply unprofessional. When is the last time you walked into a business mans office and he had papers thrown all over the floor and desk? Hats in the salon... we are HAIR stylist need I say more? Shorts and tank tops not only unprofessional but ummm who wants your armpit in their face while you are shampooing their hair? Opening bobby pins with your mouth eww... God gave me TWO hands and they are both capable of opening the end of bobby pins when they work together. Also, dumping your leftover color down the sink... it's against stateboard rules AND bad for our water supply... dump it in the trash! Last but not least not continuing your education! As stylist we are the people our clients go to for beauty advice if you haven't taken a class since 1985 how can you advise someone on whats new and current in hairstyles and the newest techniques? I was once told by a teacher "As soon as you think you know it all it is at that point your stop learning" I know stylist that have been at it for 30 years that still take classes. Things are always changing!

  Look, I know some of this might seem a bit harsh but the reality is none of these things should be going down in the salon it looks bad and it is unprofessional. I take pride in what I do and my clients pay good money to get their hair done in my chair the least I can do is make it worth their hard earned money. So if I could end with this... I was once asked at a kids birthday party "oh what do you do?" I responded "I am a Hairstylist." the women continued.... "Oh everybody does hair" :-O thinking back on this conversation it has always bothered me. Yes I do know a lot of Hairstylist and have heard of lots of old friends who have gone through beauty school but consumers beware!!! While it may be true that everybody does hair, not EVERYBODY does hair WELL!

  Oh that brings up another bad habit sorry...

Sexy Beach Waves Do-it-Yourself How-to

 Hey you guys! I am so excited to share my video Youtube debut with you!! I had so much fun filming this and even more fun editing and figuring out iMovie on my MacBook!! I hope to inspire you all to take your at home styling a step further. I think one of the best things about this style is only ONE tool... a blowdryer!!! If you use the right products and practice enough you too can add this look to your at home styles :) Hope you enjoy and as always!!! If you have ANY question feel free to comment or email me!!! I'd LOVE to help!!

Beauty Basket Giveaway!! Part 2

 Okay Ladies the moment you have all been waiting for!! Lol or maybe not ;). I had the joy of shopping for the giveaway this afternoon and let me tell you I had too much fun!! I am going to have to do things like this more often. I headed out to shop for all my favs and my first stop of course was the Professional Beauty Supply. Then I headed to the mall to stop off at the Carlton and MAC stores. I had a blast and cant wait for the drawing! Although I can say I am a little bummed that I cant just give you all a basket :( thing is I am pretty sure my husband would have a bit of a fit hee hee! So here goes... in the basket I have put my absolute favorite hairspray Bb Does it all (let me emphasis FAVORITE) I have never found a more workable hairspray it adds control, shine, hold and best of all protects from hot tools!! It literally DOES IT ALL :D no joke!(Sold @ Carlton for $26.00) Next there is Schwarzkopf Moisture Kick Shampoo adds back all that moisture you lose during the windy season and of course if you are color treated helps restore moisture loss from that!($18.00 value) Then there is Schwarzkopf Color Save conditioner the best part about this one is even if you do not have color treated hair its still a great product for your hair add moisture has rebuilding properties and adds protection from all the elements that might damage your hair win,d heat, sun, chemicals and so on!($20.00 value) Now here are a few things I wont go into detailed explanations but just know I love all of these things because I have not only used them myself but also on my many clients and have had great results... (1) Monroe Ceramic brush with mixed boar bristles (a $35.00 value), O.P.I Green Tea scrub (I have this in my shower and use daily... the pedicure ladies are always amazed at how baby smooth my feet are! a $15.00 value), AvoJuice skin quenchers in grapefruit juicie sent  ($6.00 value) OMG! Almost forgot Schwarzkopf sealed ends!! You wont know how you lived without this for so long! add a dime size to your ends before the blowdry protects from the heat and smooths down your ends leaving your hair feeling as fresh as the day you got a trim! ($18.00 value) O.P.I nail polish in Over the Taupe, Houston we have a Purple, and Linkin Park after Dark (not pictured) all nail polish value about $5.00) Starpro buff shine nail file w/ heart design ( I give myself most of my pedicures only going to the salon for relaxation :) ) a box of Proclips with cute swirl design these are great help when doing your own round brush blow dry, a bag of rubber bands( if you continue to follow my blog I will be doing how to blogs on lots of fun quick styles and you will need these great little accessories!) and you will also need Bobby pins which is why I included a cute tin full in the basket, last but not least I put MAC Lipglass in Nymphette my favorite Lipglass by MAC is C-thru but that shade can be a little pale for some women so I picked Nymphette being thats it has a bit more color to it and can go with all skin tones!(a $14.50 value) I still have a few smaller things to add but have not picked them up! Wishing you all the best of luck and cant wait to see who wins!!

P.S. I do not get any profit for promoting these products I dont even get discounts on the Bb and MAC. I simply love and use all of these things!! If you want to purchase any yourself or have questions I would love to answer! I do not sell any of the things myself but can help you find a reputable salon where you can pick it up! :)

Beauty Basket Giveaway!!

       Do you want to win a Basket FULL of all my favorite beauty items? Here is how you enter... first post a comment on any of my blog posts, second become a follower on my blog, third start following me on twitter @willwork4hair and last but not least tag me in a #FollowFriday tweet to all of your friends and send them here to enter the giveaway themselves!! Its THAT easy!! So one great big basket full of fun beauty products four easy ways to enter to win! I will draw the name of the winner this sunday evening so let the games begin!!

  P.S. Some favorites of mine are O.P.I, Bumble and Bumble, Schwarzkopf, Redken and MAC cosmetics, need I say more!

10 Things Your Hairstylist may have already told you!

     When I have a client sit in my chair there are a few things I like to share with all. So I thought it would be fun to blog them. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions you would like answered (in regards to hair of course) ;)after you have read this feel free to ask, I will do my best to help you. Some of these things are just silly info and some is important for the sake of your hairs health.

    1. Most women know this one but I still need to put it out there... You should NOT be washing your hair everyday. Every other, or every couple of days is good. If you wash everyday you are stripping your hair of all its natural oils which are its BEST conditioner... this one is extra important if you are a "chemical blonde" like me...  you have NO moisture left in your hair! I can go two sometimes three days without washing.

   2. Not washing does not mean you cannot restyle your hair... on my second day after washing I will refresh my hair with Bumble and Bumble Tonic it is a water based product with vitamins and tea tree oil. I lightly mist my hair with it and focus more on my scalp the tea tree oil in this product helps to refresh the smell if any in my hair the vitamins help repair damage caused by the elements (this product is great for post workout) and the moisture in the product softens my hair just enough without soaking it down that I can actually restyle my blow dry, take out all the wrinkles and any funky bumps I might have from sleeping on it the night before. Watch out to not over use this product though being that it has tea tree oil in it if you use too much it will make your hair feel almost like you left your conditioner in.

  3. Have you ever wondered where the name "Toe Head" came from? Well I never thought twice about it until one day I was at a Vidal Sassoon class in Santa Monica we were on our lunch break and a man came up to my friend and I and he asked us that exact question. I then of course came home and googled it! :) What kind of Hairstylist does not know where this name came from? lol. So, now I know, and I can share with you! Toe in definition actually means lack of pigment. Before we knew all we know about color people assumed that blonde was not a color but rather lack of color! So instead of being called blonde you were referred to as "toe head"! I thought that was so cool when I learned that! :D I know I am such a hair nerd!!

  4. Wash your scalp! Condition your ends! Thats right... Wash your SCALP! Focus all your shampoo time on your scalp, think about it... when your hair is oily where is it the most oily? Your scalp, this is because it is NOT your hair producing the oil it happens to be your scalp. So why are your washing your hair? Condition your ends! If your scalp is full of oil and you just washed it to get rid of the oil tell me then why you would dump the oil right back on your scalp? The only part of your hair that needs conditioner is the part too far away from your scalp that the natural oils cannot reach. About 3 inches away from your scalp and down to those nasty things we call split ends!

   5. When applying product the most common mistake made is to DUMP it in your hand! If you are using professional product it is super concentrated medium length hair should start out with about a dime size of product in your hand and add more as needed. I have bottles of product that last me years and I use it on clients daily. The second most common mistake is to take all that product and starting in the front slide your fingers through your hair to the back. This will deposit the majority of the product in your bangs where you do not need it. Instead you want to rub it in your hands like lotion and starting at your ends in the back where you have the most hair apply the product and as you run out of product on your hands work your way into the areas of your hair where you have the least amount you temples and fringe aka bang. This will distribute the right amount of product evenly throughout the hair which will also help the product to do its job correctly!

   6. Maybe I should have said this before number five. Ever wonder why your Blow Dry never comes out the way it did in the salon? There is only one factor missing! PRODUCT! Ladies we do not use product just for the fun of it! Product works... this is why when you go home and don't have it your blow dry never feels the same! Everyone should use at very least two styling products...first some sort of root boost whether it be moose, gel or my personal fav styling lotion by Bumble and Bumble leaves no build up but does it's job and lasts forever! Even if you are only doing a flatiron style and not looking for volume a root boosting product will help counteract any oil producing your scalp does which in turn will help your style last a few days without shampoo! The second product every women should use is a silicone or "frizz control" product for your ends. Now these go a long way! I use Bumble and Bumble defrizz or for my flat iron style I use Bumble and Bumble straight both are silicone products meant to do two things, first it protects your precious fragile ends (you know the ones you try so desperately to hang on to) and two it controls frizz leaving hair looking smooth controlled and shining. All of which make it look and feel healthy!

   7. Brushing your hair 1000 strokes a day will NOT help it to grow longer. This myth came about because what is actually happening when you brush your hair is that you are stimulating blood flow to your scalp and if you did not know it your hair follicles are nourished by your blood which in turn helps them to produce "hair". Brushing too much and too often can actually do more damage then good to your hair. The trick is scalp stimulation, so go get a massage and ask them to also massage your scalp or if you are grossed out by the thought of someone rubbing your head then do it yourself it just wont be as relaxing. But do not brush your hair 1000 strokes a day you will be causing major split ends!

   8. Which brings me to my next point. Prenatal vitamins do not help your hair to grow either! If anything it can help strengthen your hair by adding vitamins into your body which in turn your blood will feed to your follicles and help strengthen but not speed up the growing process! Women who are pregnant have a lot of extra everything going on! This is why some women experience extra hair growth during pregnancy. It is not because they started to take a vitamin.

   9. Professional products are better then store bought! Not only are the ingredients of higher quality but like I stated earlier if you are using a professional product it is more concentrated which means you use a lot less of it to get the job done. So reality is yeah you spend an few extra dollars and in some cases usually when the case involves Bumble and Bumble more then a few extra dollars you are getting your money worth because this bottle of product will last you much longer then the 5 dollar bottle of cha cha net (aka AquaNet) you bought at Stater Bros. If you do not believe me then have your daughter do a science experiment!! Which lasts longer Bb Does it all or Stater Bros. AquaNet? ;)

   10. Box Color or dare I say it going to Sally's and having the cashier aka beauty school drop out formulate a color for you will not and never will be the same as going to the salon! AND In some cases when the box lies to you or the cashier really had no clue what she was talking about... this option can cost you more then just going straight to the salon. Why? you ask well here is the deal... First a box cannot look at your hair and say oh yes I see you have coarse textured hair or oh right your hair is less dense then most, "thinner" , a box color is formulated for the "average" women HELLO have you EVER met an average women? NO because there isn't one!!!!! We are all unique, all beautiful and special in our own way all the way down to our hair!! So when you buy a box that says if you are an average women and you put this product on your hair it will turn this color... you will soon find out like all other women that you are NOT an average women and your hair is not average either! Most box color has a 20 volume developer and with out getting into detail this is the product responsible for "lightening" your hair or breaking up the natural melanin. If you are a dark blonde or darker you have a lot of natural melanin 20 volume is not strong enough to break it all up this is why you turn red or orange when using box color! I am not sure I need to explain in any further detail why asking the clerk at sally's is a bad idea other then most are beauty school drop outs and once again do not have any clue how to look at you hair texture, density. natural pigment, amount of grey, and knowing your target color be able to give you a map on how to get there. So in the end this will cost you more because when you walk in to the salon with blue red or orange hair wanting to be blonde you have just turned a 2 hour color and highlight in to a 6 to 8 hour color correction and trust you me it will cost you! the only other option is to go buy a box color dark brown or black and cover the mess up! But remember this when you choose that option covering it up does not make it go away it only makes the problem even worse when you want to be light again!!

    LOL! Sorry if it felt like I got on a little bit of a tangent on that last one but oh man do I get fired up when it comes to comparing Professional to anything else! Don't get me wrong I know women who have found luck in the sally's and box situations department but let me stress to you this is NOT a normal occurrence! All too often I get calls or texts from friends asking why it all went so wrong! I hope that this was helpful and I hope you can take at least one new tidbit from this blog! Thanks for reading! :)

Tattoo's and Tiara's

      So I did it! I experienced my FIRST live Beauty Pageant! I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe it would be like a wedding on steroids. Boy was I soooo right! I arrived at the Hilton in Ontario just in time to meet my client in the lobby. We said our hello's and off to the dressing room we went. Little did I know I was walking right into the fire.

    As I began to set up shop and get to work on my client I could not help but notice all the things being said and going on around me. First off the girl straight ahead of us was our "rival" which I was soon informed of, her stylist was chatting about some pilot she had been working on last week. Behind me and around the corner was the stylist who had been hired by the pageant to be there. She was talking about how this was nothing for her she could style at least 15 girls on her own anything more she just brings along an assistant. I then realized I was in the middle of a little competition myself. Which I am never in the mood for so I tried my best to blow off and ignore all I heard and just keep at my days work.

    I had such a great time with my client and her mom. If you have ever seen Toddlers and Tiaras then you have seen how crazy pageant people can be. I am happy to say that my clients are no where near that. They are sweet light hearted people who love to get dolled up and maybe win a crown for it here and there.

   I was about 2/3 done with my clients hair and something happened in front of me I just could not ignore! Our "rival" had noticed us and began to shoot my client some very nasty looks. This is when things got super nasty. Her stylist finished up and summoned the mother over to take a look. I was in shock! The mother flipped! She told the stylist what she DIDN'T like about the hair and after a few minutes and a bit of a tif the stylist was on her way. After the stylist was gone the mom did not stop she finished with "She will NEVER do your hair again" let me mention that in front of her daughter the prim and proper beauty pageant princess she did not hold back a few choice words. I was floored I could not believe the attitude that came from the little girl. Bows were flying!

   The show started and I must say I was having the time of my life! I was flattered to be asked twice by spectators if I was going to be in the pageant *blush*. I was yelled at by the video guy (LITERALLY!!)for taking pictures. But HELLO I never saw a sign that say no pictures. Then I was told they get judged on hair! So of course I was anxious to see if I won ;). I didn't :(. I was told that my daughter was so cute! Hee hee! Okay so I got a little crazy following my client around to make sure her hair was cute at all times, which of course she didn't mind! Her mom and I had a good laugh together. She asked me if I was going to get Alisa into pageants now. Hahaha! That is funny! I told her if I even mentioned it to my husband he would kill me and burry me in the backyard. LOL. We had a costume and hair change in between and when we arrived back at the dressing room the stylist that was hired by the pageant was going off about her on again off again boyfriend. How he wouldn't commit. How he always called her when he was drunk! I could not believe  it around all these young ladies she was being so tacky. At the end of it all I was so proud. My client (aka adopted pageant daughter) ;) had won!!! She received the Sweetheart Crown! She also won Best Pageant Attire, Best me and my pet photo, and Most Photogenic! I had a blast and feel like the experience was enlightening to say the least. I look forward to my next and the best part of all was at the end when my clients mom whispered in her ear "You should go over and say congratulations to her!" speaking of our "rival"! Such a wonderful example to her daughter I was so proud to be a part of their "team"!