Archive for the ‘Haircare’ Category

Celebrity Beauty Blind Item: Which Starlet Showed Up to the Red Carpet with Bad Mall Hair?

This celebrity, famous for her cat-shaped eyes, past marriage to royalty, and contract with an international cosmetics powerhouse showed up to premiere of her new comedy that stars two of the biggest comedians in the business in a stunning dress, sultry smoked eyes and really bad ombre mall hair.  I’m sorry but if you can get the ombre look in a box at your local drug store, the look is officially over, at the least for celebrities.  Aside from the awful color, her hair looked dull and lifeless, as though she had been using hotel shampoo conditioner and nothing else for the past month. And she had this strange part down the middle which seemed to accentuate the thinness of her hair and made the style ever more offensive. Her hairstylist needs to be shot or at least demoted to reality TV starlets.

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NYFW Fall 2013: The Top Beauty Trends and How to Recreate Them

I know you’re going to think I’m going soft. You’re expecting my fangs to dig into the various looks I saw strut down the Fall 2013 New York Fashion Week runways. What can I say? It was actually the opposite — a huge love fest. I worshipped almost every look I saw, and the standout beauty trends were beautiful and wearable by everyday Janes like you and me.  (I mean I’m not saying you should show up to work in an electric blue smoky eye and oxblood lips, but perhaps wear one trend at a time for a night out). Of course some shows had a case of the uglies -the mullets at Marc Jacobs were a joke and the hair at Jeremy Scott looked like the stylist stole the wigs from Marc Jacobs and threw them in the washing machine and shellacked them with hairspray.  But forget about the uglies and let’s start with the beauties…

Eye Makeup Trend: Bright Blues and Purples

You know I’m a whore for a jewel toned eye so you can imagine my elation seeing these beauties gracing the runways. Whether it was the ethereal purple smoky eye at Jason Wu,  dramatic navy blues accented with gold glitter at Thakoon, or just baby blue liner on the lower lash line at Badgley Mischka – this stood out as my favorite trend that worked on eyes and skin tones of all colors.

(Left – Right): Jason Wu, Thakoon, Badgley Mischka

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Celebrity Beauty Blind Item: Who is Taking Her Hair to Dangerous 80s Heights?

It’s time to be bitchy and figure out my Celebrity Beauty Blind Item! Guess which diva-slash-actress went on a morning show this week looking like she was promoting a remake of Working Girl?  We’re talking bangs at least 4 inches high and sprayed to the bejesus.  This diva is usually flawless in the beauty department so you can imagine how shocked I was when I saw this incriminating photo.  Aside from the sprayed to the sky bangs, her ends look like they’ve taken a beating from all the highlights and hot tools, making her hair appear dry and brittle.

What should she do? First of all, she needs to fire her hairstylist who could be stabbed in certain circles for trying to bring back the Staten Island 80s trend.  Judging by this pic of him (it’s a him, right?), he’s trying to recreate his own rockin’ coif on our Diva.  Second, our Diva needs to get herself a deep conditioning treatment at a salon. Third, she needs to follow up with a weekly mask like Phytocitrus Restructuring Mask for Color-Treated Hair ($38), which is perfect for treating overly-abused tresses.  I mean come on… you would think a woman who demands everything in a hotel be white before she steps foot would expect a bit more from her beauty team.

Interview with a Miracle Worker – No Not Mother Teresa, Nicole Giannini of Siren Salon!

We all know how picky (and perhaps a bit high-maintenance) I am when it comes to finding the right hair stylist, aesthetician, makeup artist, etc.  It’s tough to impress me, especially when it comes to haircuts. I’ve always stuck to the simple curly girl cuts, refusing to take any gambles with any looks that would dare stray from the norm.  Nicole Giannini, owner of Siren Salon in San Anselmo, CA, managed to break me down after several months (she also colors my hair) of begging me to let her scissors take some weight off my head of endless curls.  The result? A truly miracle haircut that gives me the flexibility to dry my hair naturally or with a diffuser, and allows me to recycle my hair with a few spritzes of water for 1-2 days.   It’s time you learned her genius ways:

BB (Beauty Binge): You trained at the famous Vidal Sassoon academy in London. What was that experience like?

What stands out the most to me is that the British saw changing their hair like changing an accessory – they were adventurous which allowed me to play with tons of styles.  Obviously being schooled at Vidal Sassoon meant I was able to learn the geometric foundations of all the different shapes. What Sassoon did in the 60s was revolutionary and no one has overwritten his basics since.  I got really into his sense of foundation and structure. It really clicked for me.

 
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Christmas in July (Yes I know it’s August): July GLOSSYBOX Review

Now I know this is going to come as a shock to all of you, but I’ve tried almost every beauty product sampling subscription program out there from the quarterly New Beauty TestTube (the costliest at $29.95 a month, but includes mostly full-size product) to the extremely underwhelming Sample Society ($15 a month for tiny, crappy never-to-be-used samples).  I find that I’m generally disappointed with most of these programs since I end up using probably 10% of the products, and that the 10% usually includes products I’ve already been using for years.

When GLOSSYBOX contacted me and asked if I would like to receive their July box gratis, obviously I obliged but I was clear that A) I wouldn’t guarantee coverage and B) I couldn’t guarantee positive coverage.  They took their chances and sent me their July GLOSSYBOX with the theme “Summer Nights” this past week.

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Summer Hair Care: How to Protect and Style Your Tresses During the Long, Hot Summer!

Ahhh… The summer means long days at the beach or lazing out on the deck. Sure, you remembered to put SPF on your face and body, but what about your hair? Think about how much you spend on your hair. If you’re like me you’re investing in regular cuts, colors, deep conditioning treatments, occasional blowouts (weather permitting, of course) and a cabinet full of products. (Okay, so I’m not the norm.) Even if you don’t take your hair care to an alarming level like me, you’re investing something whether it’s money, time, energy or all of the above.  So why not protect your investment??
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Hair How To: Add a Little Candy Color to that Summer Braid

I know what you’re thinking… This summer’s hot color-streaking trend is for tweens and Halloween.  Au contraire!  From Nicole Richie (30) riding the pink ombre trend  to Joan Rivers (78) rocking subtle bright highlights  (I’ve seen her with pink highlights and most recently with yellow streaks), everyone seems to be dipping into the rainbow for some summery inspiration.  The one downfall of this trend is it seems to have a “no brunettes” rule, unless you’re willing to make a huge commitment by bleaching chunks of your hair to show off the color (which my sister has been doing for years, integrating purples and blues into her dark curly hair).

I personally am not ready for that kind of commitment so instead I’m living vicariously through my blond friend Kelsey (photo).   I would like to highlight  that Kelsey gets the award for “best sport ever” since she is so not a girly-girl and allowed me to experiment with her golden locks (after we worked out, mind you, and she’s not wearing a stitch of makeup).  Now, I know that hair chalking is one of the most popular methods of achieving this look, but the chalk dust gets really messy and if you don’t follow the rules precisely you can end up with Bad Halloween (which can also be hard to wash out).

Nicole at Siren Salon Gives Me a 4-Alarm Fiery Red!

When I first moved to the Bay Area I frantically started researching colorists, terrified my first grey root would rear its ugly head before I had secured a solution.  Even though I started by researching in Marin (where I live), I was sure I would end up having to schlep to the city (it’s actually a beautiful 20 minute drive, I’m just lazy) every 5-6 weeks.   I quickly clicked through Yelp, eliminating all the boring local salons that obviously catered to a shall we say, “more mature clientele.”  When I got to Siren Salon’s page, I was immediately attracted to the mid-century modern design and comments from reviewers who said they came from the city to get their hair cut or colored at Siren.  I did a bit more research and found that Siren carries Oribe Luxury Hair Care Products  exclusively.  Bingo.  I always judge salons and spas by the product lines they carry, and any salon using or Shu Uemura Art of Hair  deserves a look.

I immediately called the salon and spoke to the adorable and helpful Amber who scheduled me with the owner Nicole Giannini for a color. When I entered the salon I immediately fell in love with the decor — a mix of Hollywood Regency and mid-century modern Danish design.  I sat down with Nicole (who studied at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in London) and we talked through my hair — I gave her background on what I had been doing with Meghan Baldwin in NYC and told her since I was writing now full-time I was ready to get more dramatic with the reds and violets.  Nicole suggested we do a few more foils to pick up the drama and then she went to work covering my greys, adding foils, and saturating my hair with toner.  Voila! Three hours later… drama I wanted and drama I got!

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Nicole designed the salon herself, including original artwork and mid-century modern furnishings mixed in with a little Hollywood Regency, giving the salon a gallery-like feel.

InStyle’s “Best Beauty Buys” List: Get Out Your Credit Cards, Ladies!

When InStyle comes out with their “Best Beauty Buys” list I get that energy running through my veins, fingers twitching, looking around the room for the location of my wallet so I can covertly grab it without my husband taking notice.  Lucky for our credit card bills I’ve already tried many of the 150 items that made the list.  The majority of the products are incumbents, having won in their categories several years in a row.   This doesn’t mean the editorial staff got lazy and just decided to recycle previous years’ lists.  Like most beauty addicts, the editors probably have their favorite products and are sticking to what they love.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all old news — there are some choice newcomers and surprises like the Bliss Pore-Fector Gadget and the Ibiza Boar Bristle Brush (both of which I intend to buy).

 
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Farewell to an Icon: Vidal Sassoon Dies at 84

Vidal Sassoon, the original celebrity hairstylist, died today in Los Angeles at 84.  Sassoon revolutionized women’s hair in the 1960s when “hair styling” usually meant hours of hot rollers, teasing, tons of hairspray, and sitting under a dryer.  ”My idea was to cut shape into the hair, to use it like fabric and take away everything that was superfluous,” Sassoon said in 1993 in the Los Angeles Times. “Women were going back to work, they were assuming their own power. They didn’t have time to sit under the dryer anymore.”

Every bobbed hair look you see on celebs like Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham stems from Sassoon’s original work and vision.

Some of Sassoon’s most famous creations:

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Sassoon cutting Mia Farro's long, straight locks into a pixie, unveiled in one of my favorite movies of all time, the 1976 horror film "Rosemary's Baby."

Sassoon sculpting sixties icon Mary Quant's hair.

Sassoon chopping off Twiggy's locks was the best thing that ever happened to her career. It took her from model to icon.

Even though Sassoon was famous for getting haircuts right, he admitted in a 2011 interview with the New York Times that sometimes his experiments would go terrible wrong and he would assuage his clients with a catch phrase: “It’ll grow, darling. Come back and be my guest.”