Experiment 1: Box Blonde VS Professional Blonde

As a professional Hair stylist, people constantly ask me what the difference between box color and professional color is... and the answer? There is no ONE difference. There are several things that affect how hair color turns out when done with a box or when done professionally. Thus, I decided to do some experiments.

This is my friend Miss Suzie-Kins. She lets me do whatever I want to her hair. Including these crazy experiments. She came to me with a picture of how she wanted her hair.... (and I also talked her into a trim)

 Alright! Suzie-Kins is going for a big change! She wants to be blonde. So, here are some things that I, as a professional, consider before I even mix up color

-Has her hair been colored before? No
-Does she have any gray hair? I think I saw one...
-Is her hair resistant to color? Yes.... it's real hair but doesn't color quite as easily
-Will that shade of blonde work for her skin tone? Yes
-Does she want dimension or just one color? She wants subtle dimension
-What does she see when she looks at the picture? Everything is blonde
-What do I see when I look at the picture? I see a golden base color with a lot of beige highlights
-What is the texture of her hair? Thin, yet coarse and frizzy

From a box's point of view, here are some things that are considered


.......

....................

....................................Blonde.



Basically, the point that I want to get to is that there are so many factors to consider before changing the color of your hair and to put it bluntly, boxes just can't think for themselves. Now, on to the experiment...

Our left side is what I'm doing with my professional product and the right side is with the box color. The hair in between is to be left unchanged for comparison. Keep in mind that I put on the box color first to give it more time to develop. I followed the instructions and it gave me a max time of 35 minutes so I left it on the max time.

As I was doing this experiment, I thought, "how funny would this be if the box blonde actually turned out?" However, I didn't have to worry about that for long cause it didn't seem to be doing any changing as I let it sit. I took a close up picture so that you guys could actually see that I really did put on the color... and I drenched the hair in it. 

And my side :) You can see that it is already changing

And the results? Honestly, I was pretty shocked.... I labeled Suzie's forehead for your convenience:). P for professional and B for box

Say what!? Did the box color even do anything to the hair??? Ha! No surprise there, really. I tried to take some close up pictures because actually, the box side was tinted just a little bit. But even for my trained eye, it was hard to see.

Honestly though, it really doesn't look any different. If that was me, I would be kinda bugged that it didn't lighten my hair like it was supposed to. I even noticed on the box that it had pictures of how the hair would turn out, and it was supposed to be blonde but just a darker blonde than is indicated on the main picture.  Luckily though, it didn't turn out some funky green color.

Yay! Just what Miss Suzie-Kins wanted! I gave her a light golden base with even lighter beige highlights, but how natural does that look? Needless to say, I think she was much happier with the "P" side than she was the "B" side. And look how shiny it is. Plus, if you could touch her hair, it feels like a dream. I didn't put any product in her hair so that you could all see it with just the color.

And my baby was just a little fascinated with the head that I had sitting on the carpet so I had to take a picture. I just love that little chunk!

Next to come.... I'm thinking I'll play around with red cause I LOVE red hair. Will it work? Stay tuned!

I'm obsessed with melts and if it's done right, you don't need to curl it everyday

I have to say that I love the Ombre/Melt technique that we are finding more and more. Especially when clients want to do it different than normal. Here is a dark brown to red melt that I did. I hope you love it as much as I do :) Please ignore my inability to take great pictures... especially when i have spots and scratches on my lens!

I have a confession.... I am obsessed with the show What Not to Wear. I love how Stacy, Clinton, Carmindy and Ted always make the nominees feel so good about themselves and help them see their beauty. We are all different and beautiful and I think it's so important for every woman to know that, which is why I'm announcing..... drum roll please! My version of what not to wear! I want everyone to nominate someone that they think needs a makeover! I can't afford to give anyone a credit card so I will only be doing the hair and makeup version and I'm going to call it "Accentuating Your Beauty." That is as creative as I can get:-) Here is what you need to do....

1. Like my page on facebook

     facebook.com/lisaf.hair

2. Send me a message with Accentuating your beauty in the subject line that includes a picture of the person you are nominating and some reasons why they deserve a makeover. You will also want to make up a nickname for your nomination

3. Tell your friends and family to like my page and comment on my wall with the nickname for your nominations. I will keep a tally everyday. Obviously, the person with the most votes wins!

I will announce the winner on February 14th, 2013. I love valentines day:-) 

I will not be financially responsible for any expenses for the nominees such as travel if they come from far away. My salon is in Provo, Utah so keep that in mind when you nominate someone.

Please, one vote per person. More than one vote from the same person will not be counted.

Thank you and I can't wait!

Simple up-do how to :)

When doing a style, preparation is key. I prepped this young lady's hair with Kevin Murphy hair products: Body Builder, Anti-Gravity, and Damage Manager. I put it in wet, but you can also put it all in dry to get a stronger hold.

How to:
1. Prep the hair and blow dry upside down for added volume
2. Tease the hair in sections (back, side and side) according to how much added volume you want
3. Smooth the teased sections
4. Braid both sides of hair. You can either do a french braid or just regular braids and pin them back. I used          Easy Rider to keep the ends in and smooth out the braids.
5. Connect the braids in the back by twisting them together. This gives it extra hold and a cuter style than just tying it with a hair band.
6. Insert the bobby-pins in a horizontal/diagonal way so they cannot be seen. It is really easy to hide them in the braid, if needed.
7. After I did all this I gave her hair a little curl with my flat iron. You can also do it with a curling iron.

I hope you love it!

Just a preview of another photo shoot that I have done with Lora Grady. You can check out her website at www.loragradyphotography.com. You can also check out the rest of the photos that I have on my facebook page facebook.com/LisaF.Hair

Gerda Spillmann Skin Challenge:Week 2-8

Finding a Balance.

It’s not as easy as it sounds.  If I could find the perfect balance in life, things would be so easy.  Well, easier.  Luckily, finding the balance in my new skin regimen hasn’t been difficult at all. 

First, I apologize for the lack of blogs lately.  I’m not a great blogger, and trying to balance blogging into the rest of my life is more challenging than I thought it would be.

Second, I have to admit that I have added another product to my skin care regimen.  I know, I’m supposed to be simplifying but there’s only so much a moisturizer can do in the dry winter climate of Utah.  I noticed that sometimes my skin needed an extra punch of moisture.  Gerda Spillmann’s Renaissance Active Vitalizing Oil (http://gerdaspillmann.stores.yahoo.net/reacoilrao.html) has been my answer. 

Oil?  Yeah, that’s what I said.  When I saw it I thought that oil was the last thing I needed on my face.  Luckily, I decided to give it a go, and I’m loving it.  It’s like silky sunshine in a bottle with a kiss of orange goodness. 

Adding that product has helped me reach my new Gerda Spillmann skincare balance, and the results are good.  They haven’t been miraculous, but each week I’m seeing little changes in the tone, and texture of my skin.  What’s even better is that my Gerda Spillmann regimen is still a lot easier than my old skin care regimen.  The bulk of it consists of cleansing and moisturizing twice a day.  I use the toner once a day, and then I supplement my moisturizer with the Renaissance oil on an as-needed basis.  At first I used it about three times a week, but now I use it about once a week.

It is now Week 8 and since Week Two my cheeks have become baby-butt smooth, and my huge nasty pores aren’t so huge and nasty.  My troublesome blackheads are still hanging around but there's been some significant change.  I can tell that there’s an improvement with them.  So the question is… can you see a difference yet?

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P.S.  I promise that there is no trickery involved.  The angles aren't perfect because I'm taking the pictures myself with the help of my bathroom mirror.