Carrie and I went to Los Angeles this weekend to attend the American Board of Certified Haircolorists‘ annual Energizing Summit.  We go every year.

I taught two sessions of the same class on branding and marketing for salon owners.  Carrie and I both assisted at two sessions of Correcting Haircolor Disasters with our buddy Jessee (kadusguy) Skittrall.

When we weren’t busy with teaching, we grabbed some classes on motivation, creativity and coloring dark & textured hair.

Carrie also participated in the speed foiling contest.  She did not win any prize money, but her mannequin got high marks, and she will be giving it another try next year.  Last year’s winner was competing and she didn’t place this year.  The competition is stiff, I tell ya!

Getting back from LA was a little grueling. You know the drill: delayed flights, crammed full of passengers, getting home in the middle of the night and rolling into work pretending to be awake in the morning!

We are glad to be home, energized and ready to try new things to make your salon experience even better. See you soon!

I became a hairdresser in the late 1980s.  It was the era of the spiral perm.  As a new hairdresser, I had no clients, therefore I had plenty of time to spend four hours perming long hair.  I was good at it.  I was creative and thorough.  (These happen to be the same things that make me a good colorist.)

So the nineties came and brought with them the flat iron.  It’s a lovely tool.  But enough, already!  Step away from your flat iron!  You think a perm is damaging?  I have seem hair beat to hell by flat iron abuse!

Every once in a while I will mention that I have a perm client on the books and people look at me like I have grown an additional head and say ” People still get perms?”

Yes, Virginia.  People still get perms.  Some people have such crappy hair that it needs the boost a perm can give it.  Some people just like not looking like Morticia Adams.

Here is this week’s before and after.

The president’s daughter got married. It was an outdoor wedding. OK, so by definition, it is already less formal. Fine. But she is wearing a dress with a train. That’s formal to me.

Do you think her hair looks formal?

Oh, I hear you talking back to me, “I would totally wear this hair to my wedding. I’m not really a formal girl.” Whatever. It is still your wedding day. It is the most dressed up most women will ever be. And there are pictures. Boy howdy are there pictures, and you will look at them for the rest of your life.

Is messy hair really the image you want to remember forever? And do you really not want to look more special on your wedding day than you do in your everyday life?

There are reasons women get “updos.” One of them is the actual art of the hair dressing. Hair that has been dressed can be both a work of art and a feat of architecture. One big reason is that an up style stays put for hours. It will do a better job of withstanding weather than down hair. And let’s not forget that an up style looks more “finished” than a down style.

There is only one time I think that “half up - half down” makes sense. If your hair is down to your waist, it is logical to not try to put it all up. (Unless you are hoping to look taller!)

For the rest of us, we have icons we can turn to to see what is considered timeless, classic and beautiful.

This is the wedding style by which all others are measured. Just say the name Grace Kelly and people instantly imagine beauty, style and glamour.

Audrey Hepburn is another icon of style and glamour.

“But, Aura, these women were from a different time. I want to look fresh and up to date. ” Fine. Here’s a couple of modern day glamour girls.

Sloppy hair, I am afraid, is a symptom of our casual society. We Americans rarely get dressed up the way our parents or grandparents did. People wear shorts to church and jeans to fancy restaurants.

Don’t get me wrong. I love casual. I wear jeans to work and sweats around town on the weekends. But if I were going to the Oscars, you can be damn sure I would dress up to the nines!

This year’s Oscars were the most casual I remember.

I can’t even begin to guess what the hell Cameron and her hairdresser were thinking. This is an adorable hair style for going to the beach, but an abomination for the Oscars (our American Royal Ball.)

Cate looks like she drove to the Oscars in a convertible and pinned it back on her way down the red carpet. (Maybe she had bobby pins hiding in that necklace.)

People Magazine raved about this hair style. It looks to me like she checked the clock and had five minutes before she had to leave and shoved a clip in the back. Again, it would be adorable anywhere else. It is not formal.

Kristin Chenowith had essentially the same style, but somehow it looks better than Jennifer’s. Must be the jeweled clip.

So, what’s the bottom line here? Are we just so casual a society that we can’t be bothered with getting all dolled up? Is it too much work? I would love to hear your thoughts.

In case you were wondering if I practice what I preach, this is how I wore my hair for my wedding in 2003.

I am the one in the dress.

And if you want a hairdresser to style your hair messy-casual for your wedding, don’t call me.

When you are in the salon, you may feel like you are in a different country where a different language is spoken. Hairdressers speak a language of color that may be unfamiliar to you if you have had no art training.

I found this amazing, in-depth article at Colour Lovers that explains the color wheel (the basis of all the work we do with hair color.)

Not only will this help you understand what we mean when we talk about your hair, it will help the next time you need to pick paint of fabric for your decorating needs.

The first color wheel has been attributed to Sir Isaac Newton, who in 1706 arranged red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet into a natural progression on a rotating disk. As the disk spins, the colors blur together so rapidly that the human eye sees white. From there the organization of color has taken many forms, from tables and charts, to triangles and and wheels the history.

Read the rest of the article here.

I am tired of clients asking me what is new and trendy in haircolor and then dismissing my answer when I give it.

The trend in haircolor is toward the incorporation of colors that don’t naturally occur in human hair.

What ever.  Don’t listen to me.  What do I know?

How about the North American Hairdressing Awards?  Is that a reputable enough source for you?

You may recall that I assisted at a photo shoot for a friend who entered this competition.

I am sorry to say that his beautiful work did not make the finals.  And as I look at the finalists, I can see why.  His work was in a more traditional palette.  No blue.  No green.  No pink.

Click over here to see what the judges found appealing for 2008.

There are 5 finalists.  Clicking on their name will show you their entries.  There are six photos for each entrant.  These are three sets of before and afters.  (If you can’t tell which is the before and which is the after, I will have to smack you.)

If you would like to see the finalists in the other categories (like Student and Master Stylist) click around on the row above the bold HAIRCOLOR heading.

Now, when ever you are ready, we can book an appointment for you to get some of these trendy colors.  And yes, you can just dip your foot in the pool, you don’t have to dive in head first!

Our good friend Kris found this online and thought we would enjoy it. It is a quiz on iVillage UK.

Kris and I got the same results. Surprise!

Pop over and see what yours is, then comment and let us know your results.

You may recognize this client (although I do try to get just people’s hair and not their faces for blog publication!) from a previous post.

When we first met her, she was recovering from an abruptly ended relationship and was ready to be re-invented.  We cut some hair and introduced her to Elumen and she hasn’t looked back since.

I have been pondering her transformation as a chicken and egg quandary.  Has she become confident and self assured because of her great hair, or was she always that way and that’s why she wants great hair?

If people continually comment on how great your hair is, I would think it would have to help with the self-esteem.

Either way, she’s fabulous and life is good.

Ah, hair shows.

Much more fun (and much more work!) for the people who put on the show than for the people who attend.

The audience gets to sit for hours and (with any luck) be educated and entertained (I think they call that “infotainment.”) while the staff runs about in controlled chaos making the magic happen. It is a long, exhausting process.

It started Sunday afternoon in Seattle for the model call (that’s where the models come to be screened and consulted so that we can build the show around them.) These were all volunteer models that come from a craigslist post. In stark contrast to many platform artists I have seen over the years, my group will go out of their way to please the models. We want no crying here!

Sunday is also setup day. Pack in all the color and other supplies we will need and take over a hotel guest room to use as the salon.

Monday morning (bright and freaking early) we set the conference room with all the literature, AV equipment, and plastic for the floor of the stage area. Between the guest room and the stage, we use two rolls of plastic sheeting to protect all the floors and furniture. (Getting haircolor on the hotel property means we have to pay to replace it. Yikes!)

Show starts at 10:00 AM. We were setting up at 8:00 AM. We vacated the hotel at 7:00 PM. (And then we went up the road to have a drink and a wrap-up meeting!)

Since I was working the back room at this event, I was able to take pictures of the process. I have posted them (including a number of before and after shots of models) on Flickr (which is completely new to me and I am giving it a try, so I haven’t yet figured it all out).

You can see them here.

I wore myself out just telling you about it! I think I need a nap.

If you haven’t seen Split Ends, you need to catch it on the Style Network (watch some clips here).

The premise? Take two hairdressers from wildly different salons and make them swap for a few days. Sample comments? “There’s no assistant? Does that mean I have to do my own shampoos? But I’ll get my rings dirty!” I watched all of the first season and came away with an interesting observation. Unlike other “fish out of water” shows (The Simple Life, etc.) what makes this interesting is that hairdressers are often “pleasers” by nature. If you throw them in a strange environment, they might piss and moan for a bit, but they will more than likely do their best to adjust and fit in.

This is the only salon-based reality show on which our salon would be willing to appear. Yesterday we were trying to convince Jonathan to audition. If you are interested in spending a week working in a salon that differs greatly from yours, click on over here to get the info on how to audition.

Pull your hot rollers out from under the sink and go watch another great How To video on StyleBell.  (The same place that brought you “how to curl your hair with a flat iron.”)

We have been seeing lots more curl and movement in finished hair lately.  Really.  You don’t need to flatten your hair anymore to be hip and cool.  Sexy glamor is back.  Think Brigitte Bardot.  And think about using a heat protecting product while you are at it.  Just your luck, we happen to sell such a thing in the salon!  Ask your hairdresser for a demo.

I just read a story (with pictures) written by a young woman about her devastating salon visit and her oath to never visit a male hairdressser again.  Objectively I can say that a.) she is percieveing her end result differenly than most of us would and b.) the gender of the hairdresser had nothing to do with what happened.

I want you to read it because it will help you understand that what you see and what the client sees are often different.

This client states that she only wants a maximum of 2″ cut from the bottom.  She also makes it a point during the cut to chat about past cuts that had gone awry where she ended up too short.  When you have a client in your chair that is giving you these signals, please heed them!  Hairdressers have a reputation for being scissor happy and for wanting to chop off long hair.  Please do your best to listen to the client and when they give specific requests, please grant them.  If you think the client needs more length removed, explain what you think and why and then let them make an informed choice.  My favorite technique is to turn them around and use a hand mirror to view the back of their hair.  I show them where the cape can be seen through the hair and suggest that the hair might look thicker if we trimmed it up to that point.  It is often effective.  (I know that to us their is no difference between a “cut” and a “trim” but to many clients there is.  Try to pick up on their cues.)

When they say 2″, I grab my old-school plastic comb from the back of the drawer (you know, the one you used in beauty school that has the inch markings on it) and I show them 2″.  Then, using the comb as a guide, I cut 2″ off the bottom and show them the hair I removed.  Next I ask them if that is OK.  Now we can proceed with the rest of the haircut and the client can relax.

When you meet a client who has already had bad salon experiences, handle them gently.  Talk them through the process so that they feel that they are being heard.

Anyone disagree?

These photos are from America’s Top Model.

In my two decades of doing hair, I have been to many a hair show. I have attended, assisted and presented. In these capacities, I have been a witness to many crying models. This morning I read a post from someone who’s experience as a hair model did not meet her expectations. Depending on your perspective, you will find it either sad or funny. You can read it here.

If you are a civilian (not a professional paid model that has been hired for the show) here are some things you need to know:

Prepare to be bored. Bring a book or a video game. There is a ton of down time during show prep.

For example, here’s the time line for the even I am doing on Sunday (and it is a tiny event!)

11:00 Model Call
4:00 - 6:30 Stage Presentation

7 1/2 hours is a long time to sit and have nothing to do. The hairdressers will be busy and can’t entertain you. Plan wisely.

You must be open to anything. Yes, you heard me. Anything. Don’t walk in and say “You can do anything as long as you leave the length.” or “I just want my highlights touched up!” The person doing your hair is there to demonstrate a specific technique for the audience. What you want is of little importance. A kind Guest Artist will consult with you first and if you aren’t open to what they have in mind, they will ask you to leave. Not all are so kind. And that is why some models end up in tears. You might spend the next two months getting your hair back to the way you like it, but the Artist has moved on and forgotten you even exist.

I know this sounds harsh. But better you listen to me now than end up crying in the model room later.

The comment section is open for any heart-wrenching (or hilarious) stories you would like to share.

(You can pick up this children’s science book at Amazon.)

Many of us spend the early years of our lives wishing we had someone else’s hair. Mine was straight and fine and stringy. In third grade my mother grew tired of listening to me whine that it hurt when she combed it (Me: It hurts! Mother: Oh, it does not. Stop whining or I’ll give you something to cry about.) and cut it off and I got my first perm of many.

One of my co-workers had curly hair in the hippy-like B.P. era (Before Product). She has many frightening pictures of this time.

In the salon, we have come to believe that it takes most women some serious time to make peace with their hair. Into their thirties, usually. I find it so sad that we waste those years (when we are the cutest we will ever be!) bemoaning our imperfections rather than embracing our beauty.

My female child seems to have a fine opinion of her hair (wearing it curly some days and straightening it on others) and seems not to care what other people’s opinions are about her personal style. I think that’s pretty good for a teenager, and may or may not have anything to do with having a hairdresser for a mother and unlimited access to hair product and tools.

I read a touching post this morning from a woman who was learning to make peace with her hair (and her Self.) Check it out.

A friend of mine (you may recognize him from my post on skin tone) has been putting up a selection of haircolor technique videos on YouTube. Click on over and subscribe to his feed, then you can get notified by email when a new one goes up!

Here is the newest one.

Today is Valentine’s Day and, coincidentally, the salon’s 17th anniversary. We always celebrate with champagne and chocolates. (Did you know you can live on champagne and chocolate for a day?) Today we also had a little corrective color drama.

Corrective color is the most difficult thing a professional haircolorist does. It requires a combination of skill, knowledge, critical thinking and sometimes luck. I like to think that my success in this arena is due more to my critical thinking than to any other aspect. Sometimes you have to spend a few minutes thinking through your options before jumping into the project.

Here was the problem:

Read the rest of this entry »

Click on over to the StyleBell blog for an easy to understand demo of how to use your flat iron to make curls.

This adorable woman devised an experiment using a dating website to test whether she got more attention with straight or curly hair.

Click on over and check it out!

People are always asking me what is new in hair. They may not want to participate in a trend, but they want to know what it is.

The Posh Bob is the most recent nationwide trend that has enamored Average Jane.

The last one was the Rachel Shag.

Now, I want you to go out on a limb and guess why. Read the rest of this entry »

As a haircolorist (if you want to put the most flattering color on your clients) it is important to be able to determine skin tone. I thought I’d give you an illustration of the difference between warm and cool. Feel free to vote: Who is pink, Jessee (left) or Aura (right)?

Now, I am not saying that you must always put cool colors on cool skinned clients, but if you want to give them a warm color, you might want to incorporate some cool tones around the face to make it look like the color belongs on the client, and not like they are in costume.

And always remember what the Ziploc® people have taught us: yellow and blue make green!

(While I do occasionally have clients who want green hair, no one wants green skin!)

Someone ended up on this blog when they searched for “what salon clients want”.

I doubt they found what they were looking for, but I thought it was a great opportunity for you all to pipe up and tell the salon owners of the world what it is that you want and need from a salon.

If I get enough good responses, I’ll send it off to my friends in the salon industry press so they can pass it along to a wider audience.

Feel free to pass along the good, the bad and the ugly!  We can take it. Besides, you can be anonymous!