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Growing out your Layers or Hair..

We’ve all been there right? Well I hope so, I hope most women have tried short hair at some point in their lives! Anyway, you’ve had the cutest short haircut and now you’ve had it short for so long, your bored.. Now what? What is the best way to grow out your hair?

I wanted to write this post to help those people who never seem to be able to grow it past a certain length before they cant stand it and off it comes again.

Using pictures to help me describe the different points of growth. To put it as simply as I can, there are 2 main ways of growing your hair out from a short pixie. But with both methods one of the most important secrets to easier hair growth is to keep it thinned out and textured, this will stop it from looking like a bowl while growing and you will be dealing with less hair as well as it looking better along the way.

1. You can either choose to carry on growing out the length as well as the layers until its all longer, the disadvantage of this method is that it will always be quite messy looking and highly likely (if you have a low hairline) that you will at some point have a kind of mullety look. This method will end up looking abit like a shag, so is great for trendier people.

 

2. You can grow all the layers out longer first while keeping sides and back shorter and neater, then when it reaches a certain length then the whole of hair will need to grow. At some point you will end up with a kid of bob shape. This one is the ‘neater’ way of growing out hair but for people who hate bobs, this method may not be for you.

 

Then as the hair continues to grow you will hit the worst point where the hair will hit the shoulders and flip! This is unavoidable so depending on how much you hate hair flipping, this can be controlled by how much or how short your layers are at this point. You could grow it down with heavier layers to keep the flipping from happening so much and then add more layers as you get past this stage or you can have quite afew layers and have it looking very  rock chickish.

BUT.. you should be aware that depending on your hair type and thickness, having too many layers at this length could very well result in a ‘Rachel’ from friends which in my eyes is a no no!!

 

 

Once you get about 2inches past the shoulder then you are scott free and well on your way to having long hair!!! Anyway, hope this helps you get past the worst stages : )

Remember texture texture thin out and chop it up, that’s the secret! Oh and of course a good hairstylist helps : /

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Josh Wood ~ King of Color!

I first met Josh Wood back in the 80’s where we worked together in Vidal Sassoon’s in London. Josh was a newbie then but even then  I knew he was destined for greatness. He always seemed to know the right people, get the best opportunities and of course do the best work, all with that cocky, pompous attitude of his, and I mean that in a good way and with the fondest memories Josh.  At that young age getting to hang out with David Bowie and his wife Iman, it meant that  Josh was ‘in’!!

 

It comes as no surprise to me to hear now in 2011 he’s had the most impressive career. After 14 years in Sassoon’s, Josh worked as Wella Professional’s Global Creative Director since Jan 2008 and from his stint there I want to show you some of his work with them. Taken from Marie Claire (May 2011) Josh and Eugene Souleiman (celeb stylist) was inspired by vintage photos and Hitchcock heroines but added a punk twist to them.

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Silver Lining-

This is inspired by Daphne Guinness , asymmetrical and represents opulent, youthful glamour, says Souleiman, who bought the headband for a couple of dollars from Chinatown in Paris. The difference between this and grey is that the highlights are metallic says Wood.

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New Bouffant-

The shade of the ‘wine colored’ highlights is called ‘rosewood’. It’s a take on the purple streaks grunge girls used to do. With a softness that’s purposeful not weak.. says Wood.

And for your information Josh has just opened his Atelier (studio for artists and designers) in London’s Holland Park area, where all his socialite and celebrity clients can congregate and get fabulous color from Josh Wood.

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Dekko’s Daily Grind ~ Michele Lim

Its been a while since I posted a makeover from Dekko, so with this one, its been on the backburner for so long now that Michele has actually had her haircut 3 times since this first picture was taken. I decided to show it all at once because the changes look great on Michele and she’s changed her looks so much since the first time.
 

Michele had not had a haircut in quite a number of years, she decided she grow her hair out and in the meantime, she could donate her hair to one of the hair donation companies such as  Locks of Love.

Here is Michele when she first came in and with my first chop!
 

The style we decided to go for was a bob with graduation, and we decided to cut it with a razor to give the hair some softness through the ends therefore creating some movement in the layers. With hair this coarse,  we felt that if the hair was too blunt on the ends using a club cutting technique, the whole shape would be very heavy and would collapse quicker and easier. The end result as you can see suits Michele’s face really well, and what was great was that the hair fell into place without too much blow drying or too much work.
 

And here’s  a couple more without her gown on : )
 

Anyway, now because it took me so long to post these pictures, we ended up cutting this shape twice before Michele came in again and after a very long consultation,  decided to take the hair even shorter. We went with a style that could be tucked behind the ears to give a sleeker look or when left down, gave an elf-ish, pixie look. Again we razored the whole thing through, even more than the first time, took lots of weight out of it so it had a lot of texture and using some styling cream we dried it with our fingers, manipulating it on the ends so it would stick out and twist in certain areas, the messier the hair went, the better the shape looked, but it was good to know that for meetings Michele was still able to make it look neat and tidy.

Here’s Michele’s latest look:
 

Thanks to Michele for letting my take pictures of her hair, as well as being so patient waiting for me to do my posts : )

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Moroccan Oil

It had to be done, it was only a matter of time before I wrote my own review on the Moroccan Oil. Every Tom Dick and Harry has tried it and talked about it, so I was one of the late comers!
 
To be honest with you, I have never really been into oils for the hair, I have always found them to be heavy, and slick looking! Anyway, we finally decided to carry it in Dekko Salon because everyone in Hollywood has ranted and raved about it and who are we to go against what Hollywood says eh?
 
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But first abit of Moroccan Oil’s history that I found out. The company Moroccan Oil was discovered by Carmen Tal, a hairdresser who first came across it in Israel after having a bad color job, her relative took her to a salon that used Moroccan Oil on her. She absolutely loved and it and set out to bring it across the pond to the US, wanting to share the benefits of this treatment made with Argan Oil. The woman of Morocco have been using Argan Oil for centuries for their hair, skin and nails. Anyway, after bringing Moroccan Oil to the US, Carmen and her hubbie then bought the company and has since developed it into the hugely successful company that it is today. I guess there was definitely a reason why she had to have a bad color job right? Out of every bad comes a good!
 
As I said earlier, I was never a believer of oils on the hair, BUT… the very first time I used this product I tried out the LIGHT formula thinking I shouldn’t go with the original as it might get too greasy and heavy, well, I was soo surprised at the outcome, I have become an instant fan!
 
My client Mindy, has fine blonde hair that tangles so easy, the type that knots up as you are trying to dry it or as soon as you’ve put a comb through it, its tangled again. Anyway, I used 2 pumps on my hand and smoothed it into the hair avoiding the roots at first. I blow dried with the dryer but I was so shocked when I didn’t even need to use a brush on her hair! I continued using my fingers to dry it and it didn’t take long to get the hair looking so smooth and shiny. It had me hooked, I felt like it was some miracle treatment.

 

Anyway, since then I have continued using it on all different types of hair textures and found that…

1. On curly hair, its great to put some through the curls, leave it to dry and it gives curly hair shine (which as we know doesn’t normally happen because of the way the light hits the waves)

2. On frizzier hair textures, you still need to use the brush and smooth it out with the dryer.

3. 9 times out of 10 it works well on the hair leaving it shiny and manageable but there’s still afew heads of hair that it doesn’t seem to work on.

4. Both the original and light formulas do not weigh the hair down.

But all in all, this product is great and I would recommend anyone with frizzies should at least try it, most of you will LOVE it!

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Dip Dyed Hair..

I noticed recently that there seems to be another color trend going around! It looks like its stemmed from the ‘Ombre’ coloring technique but this one being more fun more wild and more punky! I love it!

Bright colors are applied onto the ends of the hair, anything from pink, purple, green multi colored etc. etc. Celebs such as Lady Gaga and Lauren Conrad and of course as always with all trends, Drew Barrymore have been seen with their dip-dyed hair. For a good read and to see how its done, check out Bangstyle where I found this picture below.

 

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Below we have Lady Gaga (photo source) and Lauren Conrad (Photo Source)with their looks..

 

This is best to have it done professionally I would say as it involves bleaching the hair first before applying the brighter colors. Here are some more samples of Dip-dyed hair (thanks to www.buzzfeed.com for the pics)

 

For those of us who are alittle bit intimidated by the bleach and the ruining of the hair and having to look at it for so long, Aussie Hairdresser Kevin Murphy has brought out a temporary color dye to achieve this same look. Called ‘Color.Bug’, it comes in 3 colors – Pink, Orange and Purple.

This product can be applied quickly by using a product such as hairspray beforehand, or something for the product to grip onto, then the color is applied onto the ends. Washes out completely. The only thing I don’t know is whether this products works well on dark hair or only on medium to blonde hair. But fabulous for a different look for the evening!

 

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Thanks to my client Lindsay to the intro to the Color Bug : )

 

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Different Partings for the Hair…

Quite often clients come into the salon and while going through the consultations one important topic comes up and that is where should one wear her parting. (or Part as you say here in the US)

8 times out of 10, a persons parting is already set because the crown part of the hair will usually swirl in one way or another to determine which side your parting would best sit. When I say the crown I am referring to the round swirly shape on top of the head, some people think of this as their ‘bald spot’ which is not the case, it is just because some hair swings so much its leaves that area flat and looking ‘bald’.

You could be one of those lucky people where your hair will sit quite nicely anywhere, but for others, your parting could be either very set to either side or even worse the middle. Then there’s others who have a double crown which could cause quite abit of chaos with the front top of the hair. If you choose to wear your hair against the growth of your parting then height is created.

I will show you different ways of wearing the parting (with the help of some staff at Dekko) for people who do have the opportunity to play around more.

Side Parting – (both normal and low)

The most common parting, this is great for people who want to have more height on top as this will give the illusion of having more lift. Partings can be ultra straight (some done with a comb) or as I prefer to have it slightly messier, the messier parting will make thin hair look slightly thicker, it can also help hide any color roots that may be coming through, It can be done either in a straight line or diagonal.

Middle (Center) Partings –

With center partings I have found that a lot of people cannot get away with this as much as side partings. It can leave the hair looking quite flat, as you will have a line down the middle of the head and the hair on both sides have no where to hang but straight down. For people with irregular face shapes, having a middle parting (especially a strong straight line) can bring out the uneven features more. BUT.. having said all that, I love middle partings, as the look can be much trendier than the sophisticated feminine side part. What I do tend to do is to part the front of the hair down the middle but the crown I will keep more to the side which makes it less definite. Here’s how I wear my center part. (2nd picture)

Zigzag Parting –

With the zigzag partings, this does not mean you literally have to put in a definite zigzag in the top of your hair, but more or less a casual version of a zigzag, this will create a more interesting movement and look, by giving hair more height, hiding overgrown color and giving hairstyles a much messier trendier look.
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Last but not least, we have the NO Parting –

This would be mainly for people who have deep fringes (bangs) where most of the hair comes forward therefore no parting is necessary.

Thanks to all my models: Ryan, Melina, Violet, Jill, Ashley and Liz Marting

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Hit or Miss?

Wonder what most of you think of this one? Cute? Pretty?

For me, this is a definite NO NO, The hairstyle is so wrong for the face shape, it closes the face in and makes it look so narrow! The potential for cuteness is all there, with the anime contacts and the cutesy look, but please, the fringe area needs to open up more for it to work ….

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Davines Oil Non Oil..

Oil Non Oil #1

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Conditioning, Anti-frizz formula. Gives shine and texture to the hair. Distribute evenly on wet hair, increasing quantity to get a wet look.

I have used this product and I find it works quite well, altho I’m not sure why I don’t use it more often? It might be becos of the runny consistency that I find it hard to apply on the hair, not sure, now that I think of it, yes, my hand is very small and to pour a liquid into it and then onto the hair is quite hard without spilling some or it running through my arm. But of the times I have used it, I found that on frizzy thick hair it actually tames the ‘beast’ quite well during the blow dry, the hair does seem to be softer and less frizzy. It reminds me I really should pick it up and use it more often.

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Hair Fact..

Did you know that tying your hair too tight can lead to a gradual hair loss known as Traction Alopecia, I know this to be true as I have seen people’s (men and women) front hairline recede due to wearing tight ponytails…

And we all know that excessive hair drying, curling and straightening can damage hair, this we all know to be true!