Fill Out Your Style with Clip-in Hair Extensions
Mar 17th
Just as your natural hair varies in texture and quality from your friends’, so do clip-in hair extensions. The quality of the hair used in the extensions you buy is a sure way to tell how they will look in your hair. This will also determine how long you may expect your hair extensions to last.
Colouring
More often than not, hair extensions are made from hair that was originally darker in colour. If you seek a lighter colour, the hair may be stripped of colour, and then re-tinted to the colour you are seeking. Platinum blond extensions that started out as naturally darker hair have gone through the stripping processes and chemical colouring, to get it to that shade. A disadvantage with this type of extension is that it is difficult to colour the hair once again, since it has already been coloured so drastically. Any colour you add to extensions like this may not stay. So it is important to be aware of this before you purchase extensions.
Quality
Small curtains of hair, or wefts, may be hand-made or machine-made. They are held together at the top, where you’ll find the clip, and allowed to flow freely at the bottom. Clip-in human hair extensions should be of the finest quality that you can afford. This will ensure that your extensions will look the best and last the longest. Virgin hair or raw hair may be harder to find, but they are usually worth the extra expense, if you can locate them.
The crown of your own hair will cover the clips of the extensions, which allows them to blend in easily with your natural hair. The number of extensions you’ll need depends on how thin or long your own hair is, and how much thicker and longer you want it to be.
Maintenance
Washing and conditioning human hair extensions is done in the same manner as you wash your own hair. This will keep them clean and natural-looking. Above all, it is important that you moisturize your hair extensions because they don’t have a source of natural oils any longer. If you look after your hair extensions, and take care of them properly, they will give you months of longer and fuller hair.
Women’s Spring Hairstyles 2010
Feb 24th
Two years ago, I was flipping through the latest issue of NYLON and came across a spread with a model whose hair was so bleached it was silver and was cut into a choppy, spiky mullet. Yes my friends, this is the very picture I brought to my hairdresser and asked her to re-create on my head. “This model is wearing a wig, you know,” was her somewhat incredulous answer to my request. Wig or no wig, I was ready to make the drastic change. After a couple of seasons of having my hair as my “thing”, (and getting called Garth, yes, from Wayne’s World) I got extensions and took my mullet to a whole new level. Almost a year later and immense amounts of regret for putting my hair through irreparable damage, I have learned the art of the updo and will continue to pile my hair on top of my head until its long enough to look normal again. (This will take years, according to my hairdresser. She’s too nice to say, “I told you so,” even though she was apprehensive to bleach, tone, and bleach again to achieve that non-colour I so desperately sought after). Luckily for me, as a product junkie, I have a whole lot of new reasons to slather, massage, wrap, heat and slick on the slew of miracle creams and masks for damaged and splitting hair. Hopefully, after a few more weeks of using Redken’s Heavy Cream and Ojon’s deep conditioning masks (which are AH-MAZING!), my hair will be long enough to attempt to recreate the stylish and chic hairdos that dominated the spring runway.
PLAITS, PLEASE
A major reoccurring trend in the hair department that was seen on the runway from the likes of Rochas, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander Want, and my personal favourite, Giambattista Valli, the school-girl braid has been taken to a whole new level. Popular styles varied greatly in design and the braid can be really be worn any way this season and still hit the trend bullseye. Spotted on the runway: simple, loose, and on the side; a more complicated, twisted updo version, milkmaid style, and inspiration from Heidi to Pippi Longstocking was evident. At Giambattista Valli, the models’ hair was pulled into a big, voluminous ponytail before being teased some more and braided or fishtailed. A style so easy we were doing it in elementary school. Guess I’ll have to come up with another excuse for being late!
POLISHED & PRETTY
The slick look has also been a reoccurring trend for a few seasons running now, but this spring, the hair can either be parted (centre or side; it’s your call) or pulled back off the face. Let the rest frame your face or pull back into a ponytail; both were seen on the catwalks this season. Previous seasons looked hard and shellacked while this spring, the style looked like it was created with a few mists of water and shine serum as opposed to a tub of super-hold gel.
SHE’S COME UNDONE
Last week, part of my intern duties included transcribing an interview with one of the hairstylists from the set of the Sex And The City 2 film. After rewinding and listening to the interview about 700 times to catch every. single. word., the “ undone styled style” is the only thing I could think of for days. After catching a glimpse of this look at Gucci, Chloé, Giles and Tommy Hilfiger, I finally understood the stylist’s obsession. Loose, big waves with lots of movement and texture fall right in the very centre of the spectrum of prom queen curls and bedhead. Hair should look styled, but not like you looked like you spent hours styling it. Tips on how to achieve the look: use a texturizing product, (my personal favourite is Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine) and a few different wide barrel curling irons, switching directions and never clamping the hair but instead wrapping it around the outside of the iron. Shake it out (upside down for added body), mist with light hold hairspray and don’t get mad when people stare.
OMBRÉ
Long since a trend from everything from cardigans to cocktail dresses, it was Prada’s sequin ombré clutch I was after last season. This season? The trend has migrated north and is allowing me to stretch out the salon visits to 12 weeks instead of 6. (Both my wallet and my damaged hair are thanking me). Letting your true colours show has been a huge hit on and off the runway. Trendsetting fashionistas from Rachel Bilson to Cameron Diaz to Alexa Chung have been sporting major roots, but fear not, the look gives off a laid-back cool vibe and totally looks on purpose and not like you missed your salon appointment. The trick is to ensure your roots are a maximum of 2 shades darker or lighter than your ends, any more and it quickly goes from trendy to tacky. Any trend that is encouraging me to show my true colours while saving cash? I’ll take it!
Aimee Brothman
Style.ca Writer
Men’s Long Hairstyles: Finding the Right Style
Dec 4th
Long gone are the days where men with long hair styles are considered down and out hippies. Older folks find it absolutely amazing these days that men’s long hair styles have made an appearance in the workplace and are rapidly rising in popularity in the corporate world. This could be part of the reason for the amazing 13 per cent growth rate that the male hair care industry has recorded since 2002. In fact, this is the most rapid growth ever recorded in history.
This dramatic and welcomed trend does not mean that everybody has thrown caution to the wind. Most parents still get pretty alarmed if they see their son with long hair. Still, it seems that the idea of long hair for men is one whose time has come and will not be stopped just yet.
So why have men suddenly taken a liking for much longer hair styles?
Most men that enthusiastically go for longer hair styles say that they find them stylish and flashy. Not to mention the fact that it makes them feel liberated and open about their approach to life. In many instances, this is a breath of fresh air because it is going against the boring and conventional shorter hair styles that men have worn for centuries. The truth is that you can dramatically change the way you look simply by sporting a long hair style. Older men can also look much younger with the right type of long hair. Speaking of flaws that men like to hide; the right men’s long hair style can also make you look taller than you actually are or even several pounds lighter to the eyes than on the scale.
To look good with long hair, it is important to look for style tips that will help you arrive at the most flattering hair style for you. Apart from the head, the most important feature that will help you determine the right hair style is the shape of your face. Generally, an oval shaped face looks good with just about any longer hair style. However, a heart shaped face is a different story. If this is the shape of your face you should note that there are just a few men’s long hair styles that will really look good on you.
It is not only the shape of the face that should be taken into consideration when looking for the right men’s long hair style. The size of the face also matters a lot. For instance, if you have a long face then sporting long straight hair will have the effect of “dragging your face down even further” which is something that you want to avoid.
One solution to this is to use computer software that is available these days that can help you see exactly how you look with different men’s long hair styles. You can then decide on the style for you before you have made a commitment in any direction.
