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Hair Question:

Question by Bonnie:

I’d desperately love your advice on something. I have really really thin hair, and really really less hair. My hair is constantly flat and limp, so basically it just looks like a thin layer of black on top of my head. I’ve done everything I could to give my poor locks a little bit of oomph, and nothing seems to work. I was wondering if you thought a body wave could maybe give some volume to my hair. I’m a little weary of chemical treatments though because I’m afraid it may cause me to lose more hair, and really, every strand is precious to me. My hair right now just about skims my shoulders because I’ve been growing it out. I usually go with short cuts to give my hair some volume, but i thought maybe this time I’d try a body wave. Are those usually successful on Asian hair? how long do the last? Is this a good idea at all?

Answer by Jules:

After taking a look at your photo to help determine the thinness of your hair, One of the first things I would try for your hair is to have a good layered haircut,( if you haven’t already) medium length layers so that it gives it as much body as possible, it would help even more if you had the front part of your hair cut into some kind of longer sweepy look, this would help to define the hairstyle so it doesn’t feel like its just hanging. Next I would try 2 very good products for fine hair, both are made by Prive – (you may have already done this step but I have to add it) Weightless Amplifier being one, applied to wet hair and blow dried in to give body, and secondly their Texture Spray, fantastic for giving body to fine hair and most of our clients cannot live without this one. Not sticky like a hairspray, just enough to make it stand away from your roots. If these step have already been tried and your still thinking about a perm then here are some considerations for you:

  • Do you mind changing the texture of your hair? From straight to slight movement?
  • Do you mind losing some shine in your hair? Not becos of the perm but becos once hair has movement in it, the light diffuses it in a different way, I wrote about this in one of my blog posts
  • Do you want a slightly messier look for a change? Becos it will automatically look messier because of movement.
  • Are you ready to treat the hair in a different way? As in no combing or brushing it while it is dry as it will make it fluff or frizz, you must leave the hair to dry naturally or use a diffuser. Unless your really good with your blowdrys then the hair can be left abit fluffy and frizzy looking if your trying to blow dry it straight.


If you think you can handle all of the above changes then yes, a perm (soft one) can work well especially if you want a different look. Perms can look great if done well. Asian hair takes fast and well despite people thinking the opposite. My advice if you want to try one is to find a good trendy Asian stylist who does perms all the time, obviously if you went to Asia they would be easier to find but I would definitely stick to someone who has done lots of perms before, then they will know what rollers to use and how long to leave it to achieve the look you want. You could even get them to leave the top straighter and get the body from half way down or take large sections with large rollers. Look for pictures of movements and wave that you like and take them with you. Just remember the looser the wave the less time it will last. If you normally have short hair anyway I know your not too attached to long hair, I think its a nice change, but try to do it when your hair is a little longer due to shrinkage and don’t forget perms drop after the first week, so the first week should be abit firmer.

And last but not least, Perms don’t normally cause hair loss, but they can cause hair breakage if left on too long or if the solution is too strong.

Here’s an example I came across that I think is sweet:

Light perm

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Finding Your Fringe….. (or Bangs)

Fringes – which I prefer to call them (have you heard ‘bangs’ said with an English accent? Bad) can change your hairstyle drastically even if you have basic long hair. They can give dramatic effects to your overall look, from framing your eyes/face, hiding wrinkles, shortening a long face, adding more funkiness and interest. They can say alot about a person, ranging from “’look at me, I’m sexy, to hey, I’m fun, or even I’m very conservative and so on and so on, you get the drift!

Hey but what should you ask for? Without the obvious reasons to consider, like complimenting face shapes and working with hair textures and swirls and twirls, you should be asking yourself…. what image do I want to portray? Is it fun, sexy, convenience and out of the eyes, funky and young….

Alot of people find it difficult to take the plunge to cut the fringe off and of course this is a very reasonable excuse as it does take years to grow back, if you feel very doubtful, maybe its a good idea to try one of those clip on fringes to see if you like it? Not exactly true to your hair texture but does give you an idea of the look on your face shape.

Here I want to introduce my version/names of afew samples of fringes so you can get to know the differences between them.

Blunt heavy: need to careful how wide/narrow to take a blunt fringe as it can open or close the face too much.

Classic: can be left heavy or soft, but length is most classic.

Soft wispy: variation of classic but with more softness. Just remember if the fringe is a tad too short and tad too wispy, the look goes more into a young girl of 12 look, so be careful how short you ask for.

Long sideswept: a good start to trying out fringes if your abit nervous but know it can fall into the face alot and can be aggravating because of this.

Short choppy: can vary alot in lengths but are more chunky rather than soft round the edges, abit more funkier looking than the soft fringes above.

Monster fringes: I call them monster fringes becos they are taken very short, giving a stronger, funkier look.

Here’s ones to avoid – Mall fringes: I used to call them Taiwanese fringes because alot of girls wore their hair like this in Taiwan. The length on the right is what I was talking about when it is a tad too short and a tad too wispy – 11 year old!

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Stella’s Work

Just wanted to show you all some work done by a friend in Hawaii, Stella Nakamura. I asked her what inspired her and why she decided to do it.

In Stella’s words:

‘My nephew Kory had asked me a few weeks ago if I could do stars for him cause its his high school spirit week. nothing specific but he really wanted the stars. so my husband helped me find star shapes to cut out but when we got to the house he found the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling that we ended up using (hard plastic ones not the stickers) I took the stars & randomly put them around & decided to do the big one in the back. I held the star down & used cholestrol conditioning cream to section off the outline of the star around the head. then I used bleach & 30 vol. & processed it for 45 min. then toned with P10 richesse from loreal. beforehand I had buzzed his hair with a #1 guard thing. so he was pretty much my inspiration & once I saw everything it all came together nicely.’

Nice Job Stella, Thanks alot for letting me post it.

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Make the most of your Hair Consultations…

Nearly ALL good salons will start your service with a consultation. If not I would either try somewhere else or if you are already there, insist on talking to your stylist first. The consultation is one of the most important part of the service especially when you are new to the salon.
This should be done while the hair is dry, which enables the stylist to see what the texture is like, how the client normally likes to wears her hair and also to check for other conditions such as swirls, cowlicks or even head lice (which we will talk about it another post)
During this 5 – 10 consultation (it should not take longer than 10mins because you want to give the stylist as much time as possible to spend on the actual haircut part) You should make the most of this time to get your point across as well as come to an agreement with your stylist on a hairstyle/color. Here are some points to remember to make the most of your time:
1. Your stylist is not a psychic, if this is your first time seeing this stylist do not hold any information back when they are asking you questions.
2. Even if you want them to give you suggestions, becos it is your first time, you must give clues to your lifestyles and desires.
3. Tell them how much time you are willing to put into your hair and whether you are high/low maintenance with it.
4. If you use words like short, funky, trendy, hip or words similar, please define them more clearly, everyone’s idea of these words vary so much. A young hipsters idea of funky may not be the same as yours!
5. If its your first time with someone, it is not a good idea to go in saying ‘Do what you like’ unless you REALLY don’t care!!
6. Do some homework before you go and have at least some idea of what you like and dislike.
7. Do take pictures with you as guide, (even though some stylists don’t like this, personally I think it saves time) this will help eliminate any differences in thoughts, but please be realistic and only use them as a guide to a specific shape and not expect your hair to be exactly the same as the picture, as all hair is different in textures and thicknesses as well as face shapes too.
8. When the stylist asks you questions, please answer truthfully, i.e. if you have had old color or any other product on your hair, please say so, as this can ultimately affect the end result if the stylist is kept in the dark about it.
9. Your stylist should be up front and honest with you as to what is possible or suitable and what is not.. be open to advice.
10. Try not to repeatedly praise your old hairstylist, (no matter how much you loved them)as this will make your new stylist feel that they cannot please you even before they have even tried.
11. Finally – remember that your stylist can only work with what is in front of them – meaning they cannot weave a silk rung from straw!!


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My Pick ~ Bowl

My Pick 4New Model Tao Okamoto is the latest ‘It’ model and has the newest ‘It’ hairstyle – ‘the bowl’ so of course I had to have it as one of my picks!!

She is designer Phillip Lim’s muse and he was so taken by her look that for his Fall 2009 show he made all his models wear ‘bowl’ wigs.

Personally I don’t there is enough of these strong short looks on women therefore I think it fantastic that this ‘bowl’ look is in and looking fab and sexy, proving women can have short hair and be sexy at the same time – Not a look for everyone tho’!

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Thinning Scissors…

thinning scissors

Thinning scissors are widely used on Asian hair around the world. As seen above they can vary on how much hair (weight) is taken out, depending on the spaces on the blade. One side has the teeth at varying widths while the other is a normal blade. The result of these scissors would look similar to this with varying widths:

thinned hair

Personally I don’t like to use thinning scissors for a few different reasons:

1. It gives such a uniformal look (above) that it becomes TOO thinned out.

2. You have no control over how much hair is taken out (unlike using razors or scissors) therefore in areas that are already thin, it becomes flat and flyaway.

3. Hair becomes too lifeless as too much of the body is taken away not leaving enough fullness and lift in the hair.

4. Although I do think they are good for use with cutting dog hair : )

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Bob – Hip or Mumsy?

What makes a Bob look hip and cool and what makes it look mumsy?

This one has always been a tough one for me, the number of times a client comes in asking for a Katie Holmes or a Nicole Ritchie and expect to look like them is beyond me. Women want bobs but most don’t want to look mumsy,(or like a soccer mum) so what can be done about it?

After alot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that if the client really wants to try it anyway, it really depends on a couple of factors and afew are dependant on whether the clients understands she needs to make some effort:

1. Whether the haircut has been done in a flattering but funky way,i.e., to suit the face shape with good angles, and whether its been cut to give movement throughout the ends.This does not necessarily mean lots of choppy layers either. Helps big time if your hairstylist understands the difference too.

2. Whether the clients facial features can carry it off without making them too old and stuffy, which bobs can tend to do. This is a tricky area but if a client tends to look abit older then the bob WILL look a little mumsier. Make up will help… as seen on Katie Holmes when she debuted her bob with the dark smokey eyes.

3. How the client dresses can affect the way the bob is perceived. If they are running going around in sweats all the time, then yes, the bobs going to look mumsier.

4. And lastly, how it is dried and worn, If the bob is stiff with no movement then that’s how it will come across,whereas funkier layers and movement can be accentuated with products or a flat iron.

We’ve all seen bobs we’ve liked and ones we don’t like ,so I pulled afew examples of ones that I feel would show the differences in what I am trying to say, hopefully this will give you all an idea to see for yourselves.

From the above pictures you can see even without me pointing out, that one of the things missing in the 2nd row is movement, all the hair is stiff (with or without layers), whereas the top row has movement, fun and even with a one length bob, it can look hipper!

Hey but with all that said, its only hair and it grows back if you don’t like it, so if you haven’t had short hair and want to try it, go ahead.. Eva Longoria did!

Evas bob

You tell me what row you would put her in?

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Men’s sideburns…..

Sideburns are a very important part of a haircut. Some guys may not put enough thought into this, but the length, thickness, and shape all help develop an image that defines an individual. We all know that unfortunately with Asian hair, most guys sideburns don’t really grow through much, but for those lucky ones who’s burns do grow then alot of fun and expression can be had.I would like to go through afew basic choices in shapes and give you my thoughts and opinions on them.

Lets start with NO sideburns: This image (below) is usually sported by the military. Hair is shaven so close that there is no stop or start to the hairline. On the right person, this look can be converted from stiff and formal to a trendy hip look, i.e. Beckham

Beckham

But be warned, on the wrong person, this could happen:

Asian Shaven

Then there’s what I call the Forest Gump, where the hairline is taken high on the sides, usually the guideline to where a sideburn should start is by following the corner of the eye, it should not go higher unless you want the Gump look, not too hot I might add:

Forest Gump Nic Cage

Basic Men’s Length: This is what I call the business mans length, safe and normal with just the right thickness.

david Archuleta

From there we have the slightly longer lengths, which I think make a normal haircut look slightly trendier:

Asian with basic Basic Asian basic

Onto slightly different funkier sides, I chose to keep this quite basic as I could’ve very easily found some CRAZY looks but didn’t want to go there, so from ultra thin and long to ultra thick like Elvis’s (very renowned for his sideburns):

And finally, for those of you who’s sideburns may grow and grow, here’s some fancy dancy looks of Ludacris:

Ludicrus 1 Ludicrus 2

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Definition….Davines

Davines – Defining Invisible Paste:

This product is one of my favorites right now and I constantly go back to it because of its reliability to give me a messier chunky texture in short to medium length hair. This is a soft creamy paste that is very easy to distribute throughout the hair, although I tend to put it more towards the ends of the hair and I leave out the roots (as it may make it look greasy) My method of application is to rub it into both hands and with the hair hanging forward or sideways away form the scalp, I grab a clump of hair and roll it into the ends.

Once the product is evenly distributed, I dry it with a dryer, either with or without a diffuser and slightly squeeze the hair to give the hair a messier look.

DSC05767

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Pregnancy Hair….

Wanted to write a short article explaining what happens to hair during and after having a baby. (as witnessed by me over the years)

I would to make myself clear in saying that I am speaking ‘in general’ as these things do not happen to all women and sometimes nothing happens at all. You just cant explain what hormones will or will not do to a person ……

You’ve heard about how a woman ‘blossoms’ during her pregnancy, and this is partly due to her healthy hair and skin. Usually during pregnancy the hair becomes thick, fast growing and shiny.

After the baby is born, with some women this is when the hair starts to thin and hair loss happens around the front hairline… but most of the time this doesn’t happen until after breast feeding is finished, during this period the hair around the hairline can fall out causing a slightly thinner looking hairline,especially around the temples. And no your hairdresser did not cut it off!! (I’ve also heard this accusation too) It does eventually grow back, but not before you have that tough period of trying to hide or slick down those short stray hairs, In extreme cases the whole front hairline can end up falling out, I have seen such cases and it is always advisable after it has grown back out abit, to cut some kind of cute fringe in, so that it looks like it ‘meant to be’!

Here is Mina, who’s baby is now 18months old, she came to me with her hair all thin and wispy, the front area had started coming back but was still in its wispy stage.

We decided to cut her hair shorter so we could make it look thicker, and to bring the sides and front area much shorter to make it look more of a definite shape. We also brought out the waves more by drying it with a diffuser using a curl activating product.