Here’s a little video I made recently. I’m not a pro with videos but I’ve been practicing and getting better. This one is for my latest product Renovo which launched a month ago and has been doing really well. These ‘before and after’ pictures of my clients are not photoshopped, I took them myself and they have been put together over a period of 3 – 4 months, these results are all real. Check it out!
My Pick ~ My Fave Bob
One of all time favorite bob shapes, Bob with graduation, great color and texture, and a blunt fringe, Winning combination all round. Wish I could give credit to the stylist’s who did this but can find a thing on it.
Eyelash Perms..
I have been a long time fan of eyelash perms ever since I went to live in Hong Kong back in the early 90’s. For those of you who have never heard of this treatment, it’s where we (especially those of us with poker straight lashes that hang downwards) lay down for 30-40mins while a rod is used to wrap our lashes around, and permed!
Before perm:
How is it done?
First your lashes are cleaned and dried. Make sure the correct rod is chosen, they come in various sizes depending on lash length and amount of curl wanted. The rod is placed above the lash line, it has a stickiness to it which keeps it in place. Temporary eyelash glue is applied to the rod, then the lashes are flipped around the rod following the curve of the rod. Each hair is individually placed and separated into place using a pointed tool.
Once all the lashes are in place, the perm solution is applied, this is in gel form so it doesn’t run into the eyes. It’s then covered and left on about 8 – 10mins.
The lashes r then rinsed by squeezing water on them, then dried slightly before the neutralizer is applied. Again this is left for 10mins before rinsing again.
The rods are then taken off and the eyes cleaned.
Choice of rods:
The end result (if done well) is a Wide eyed open look that lasts about 3 months and you don’t need to bother with eyelash curlers etc. Just apply mascara and go.
After perm – with and without mascara
Words of warning – I’ve had enough of these to advise against having another perm too soon, this is like perming on top of a perm on hair, it will frizz and hook! I have found at least 3months is a good enough time to leave it.
Don’t have too small a rod as too curly can be too un-natural as it curls back on itself.
Make sure you get a recommendation to a technician, as I once had one that snapped off some of my lashes on one eye. To be honest I have found that because this treatment is done in Asia so much, I have found that the Asian technicians have more experience with this.
Side note – if an area is too curly, a good technician will be able to loosen up that area.
Technorati Tags: Eyelash Perm,JujuChan
My Pick ~ Samurai
Whether they are wigs or fantastic perms and haircuts, the visuals is still stunning.. Very Samurai influenced!
Are you still fighting frizz?
Maybe its time to stop! For years we’ve been fighting frizz in our hair, we try our best and use all sorts of products, attempt to blow dry it smooth and resort to Brazilian Blowouts and Japanese Straight Perms.
Now we look around on catwalks and magazine spreads to find frizz everywhere! Does this mean frizz is now acceptable and ok to sport? Is it finally in fashion?
Looks from Top Shop:
We all know styles go round in circles, frizz is not a new look its just gone around again and now the young ones want to give it a try, it’s a far cry from the golden girl’s over processed perms or Phil Spector’s crazy mop. Or, it could just be the fact that we’ve had ultra straight hair for quite some time now that we’re just bored and rebelling against super neat hair.
Curly hair happens because the follicle is bent and curved, the more curved it is, the tighter the curl, so therefore as the hair grows through with bends in the hair create waves as it gets longer.
Unlike straight hair the natural oils from the roots don’t travel down the hair shaft as easily because of the curl formation hence the hair will be dryer and frizzier looking.
Therefore what’s important to get good looking frizz is for you to get as much product to moisturize the hair, all the way down to the hair lengths. Once applied, the hair should be dried without much disturbance. Once dry the hair can then be shattered to create healthier shiny frizz. For a more extreme frizzy looks like the ones shown here, the ends can be backcombed and a dryer product applied to the ends.
I personally wish I did have the curly hair so I can frizz it out, and enjoy having a lions mane!
Catwalk looks:
Technorati Tags: Frizz,Curly Hair,Top Shop,Juju Chan
MyHairdressers.com ~ Digital Perms
Very recently I wrote my 3rd article for UK based Educational Website MyHairdressers.com
For this one I interviewed Same from Zippy’s Hair Studio in San Francisco about her techniques and tips on doing Digital Perms (Hot Perm) Huge Thanks to my business partner Jodi Ninomiya for letting me document her while she tried out the perm ; )
Follow this link to read what Same had to say.. Digital Perm Article
Dekko’s Daily Grind – Jodi
As you all know Jodi is one of my Dekko partners and when she decided recently to cut all her hair off, we got pretty excited about it! She had grown her hair out completely and we did a cute updo for her wedding, anyway, we got soo excited that we took pictures of everything but the ‘Before’ picture, Duh! I was convinced this wouldn’t be a problem cos we could sift through our old photos to find one of her… anyway no such luck, Jodi did not have one evidence that she even grew her hair that long. Anyway, I decided to take things into my own hands and show you what the before looked like. I took a Sharpie pen and drew it for you : )
Cute huh? Anyway here are pics of how much we cut off and just for the hell of it, here’s a pic of her wedding do from the back..
Oh I forgot to tell you that I have not done a perm for maybe about 20years, so Jodi decided that I was gonna do hers! This was gonna be real fun. Once I got my mind around the idea, the perm was actually quite fun to do, I had not forgot how to wind. Using huge rods and leaving the top and front straight we wound the rods in different directions using huge sectioning..
Anyway, 20mins development time later we have a fabulous perm, if I may I say so myself..
So then we started cutting it all off, first by giving her a bowl shape and then layering it all through until there was plenty of movement and we thinned it out and textured it thoroughly.
With the front area we made the outline stronger and heavier looking and then blended it back into the sides, as you can see the perm was just enough to create the kicks and movement on the sides so it gave the shape abit of a scruffier look, not a bad perm for an amateur eh? Could’ve been very bad news!
And here’s a nice fancy picture of the finished result to show you.. Thanks Jodi : )
Brazilian Blowout Shampoo and Conditioner..
Acai Anti-Frizz Shampoo and Conditioner
Everyone who’s had a Brazilian Blowout treatment in the past should know about this shampoo and conditioner combo, usually recommended for use after one because of its properties that make the treatment last longer and gives the hair softness. I’m usually one of these people who use any type of shampoo/conditioner so don’t normally think much to using the ‘so called right’ ones, but I had a client who was using normal shampoo and conditioner after her Brazilian Blowout and found it was dry, and difficult to manage, she then used this combo above and said it was 100% better on her hair, so there you have it!
In their own words:
Acai Anti-Frizz Shampoo – Sulfate free formula that thoroughly cleanses the hair while maintaining vital moisture for increased strength and radiant shine. An exclusive Brazilian Super Nutrient Complex infuses the hair with a rich source of amino acids to help strengthen while locking in moisture and locking out humidity! The end result is smooth frizz free radiant hair.
Acai Anti-Frizz Conditioner – is a deep moisturizing conditioner that infuses the hair in the vital moisture and nutrients needed to maintain the optimal strength and health of the hair. An exclusive Brazilian Super Nutrient Complex fortifies and repairs the hair while locking in moisture and locking out humidity. The end result is healthy frizz free radiant hair.
Only sold at professional Beauty Salons, and not tested on animals.
Hit or Miss..
Sorry, but all I can say to this is.. WTF????
Hair Question..(sorry its so long!)
Question by Kimberly:
Hi! I love your blog and I just had a question about perms. Basically, I’ve been wanting a perm since I was fourteen (I’m twenty now), but was always too scared to get one because other people† knew got it and it turned out horrible!! (though, I never told them). My best friend in highschool got one and her perm turned out to be little ringlets and her hair was super super dry. Two of my other friends also got perms and their hair was super dry. Although, I think a few months later, I’m sure after many deep-conditions and reconstructing treatments, their hair wasn’t so dry anymore. Anyway, so I was wondering: should I do it?? I am just soooo bored of my hair! I have asian hair. Dark, very very thick, A LOT A LOT of hair and it’s pretty long, past my bra strap now…But I also have pretty short layers. My shortest layers are around my ears, so I think I’d have to grow those out to make my perm look good. Or maybe not? I want like, wavy-curly hair. Wavy roots to mid-length and a slight curl at the ends. Think Victoria Secret model’s hair. I also had some other questions about the perm: would i need to use my hairdryer? Right now, I ONLY air-dry my hair, using the blowdryer makes me hair look dull and flat. But not using the dry, my hair is super healthy and shiny and I love it this way but would I have to start using the hair dryer with a perm? What about styling products? Would I need those? I hate using many products in my hair. Right now, I am only using hair serums to make is glossy and tame some flyaways. But nothing else, really… So yeah. Also, last question: I’m a student and perms are expensive. So with my haircuts, I actually go on craigslist and I go to students who need hair models and I look for them at high end salons and I’m usually very happy with my haircuts considering they’re free. So I also saw some perm model ads on craigslist, do you think I should risk it and go get a perm? It’s like forty dollars… Anyway, I’d appreciate if you answered me back! Love yor blog!
Answer by JuJu:
OK, Wow, alot of questions to ask all at once, but I’ll try to cover each of your concerns.
Yes, perms, always been abit scary cos there is so much to think about. You have to remember tho that perms have changed quite abit since the time that your friends had them in high school, the solutions are so much softer and kinder to the hair. Most of the time, perms were over processed and too small a roller used on Asian hair. Hairdressers tend to think hair is very coarse so it needs the strongest solution, the longest processing time and smaller rollers, and thats why so many people ended up with their hair fried!!
Boredom is a good reason to have one! But…. your layers sound too short, so they’ll end up shrinking up too much, so they would need to grow out first, secondly, you say you have very thick hair, a perm is going to make it even thicker looking, is this something you want? The length is good as this will weigh the whole look down abit. Victoria Secrets models hair are VERY soft curls, BIG curls in fact, and most have been curled with irons to get the looser look, A perm will always end up being tighter/curlier to start with and after it settles it will then look more like the soft wave.
Perms are best either air-dried or with a diffuser. If you use a normal dryer to dry a perm it will make it frizzy, (check out my post on frizzy/curly hair) You mentioned that the dryer makes your hair dull and flat, a word of warning… perms make your hair dull looking too. (check out my post on why curly hair doesnt look shiny) this is normal. Straight hair has shine because it all lays flat and the light hits it evenly giving it a shine, not the case with curls. If you had †soft perm, you might be able to get away without using products but if you dont want your hair to frizz then its best to use some curl cream or anti frizz cream. And you MUST not play/mess around with the hair WHILE its drying, otherwise, this will also make the hair frizzy.
Your last question regarding student perms.I’m not sure whether I would risk a perm by students only because, perms are dodgy to begin with and not many salons do them anymore. Like I said in my blog, It would be better for you to find an Asian salon that does perms ALL the time, not only are they VERY experienced but they are much cheaper too. I would definately take pictures with you of the type of curls you like though, very important! You didnt mention where you actually live?? If you live in a big city then you might have more choice of cheaper perms.
So, after all this the risk is still yours to choose, but at least now you know the pros and cons. Personally, I think your only young once and if your not TOO attached to your hair, I’m a believer that you should always try things at least once when your young (esp. with your hair) BUT… if your the type that is very attached to hair then dont do it. If you have a perm you have to know things are going to change… ie. your hair texture, your shine, your routine, your looks. I have seen alot of cute perms lately and it can definitely give someone a trendier updated look, but is this what your going for? Hope this helps in your choice : )
