Empowered Traditionalist

Here are two prominent formal (yet not so formal) looks that Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt featured in the past few weeks.
Relaxed, beautiful and easy enough to do yourself.

HOW TO: Emily Blunt

1. First, apply “no frizz” cream to wet hair to prevent it from frizzing.

2. Create pin curls by taking half inch pieces of hair and wrapping each piece around her finger and then pinning them to the top of your head. Alternating the twisting monition both clockwise and counter clockwise to add dimension.

3. Let hair dry naturally.

4. After the hair was completely dry,  use both a medium curling iron and small barrel curling iron to accentuate the curl.

5. To add a bit of sophistication to the look, she used a flat iron on each curl, straightening the bottom inch of the hair.

For Rachel’s Boho Braid-

Which do you prefer? Like one, hate the other?

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What precautions should you take when doing at-home highlights?
Always wear an old button-up shirt. This way you don’t risk highlighting your clothes or ruining your highlights as you pull a tee over your head. And don’t forget to set a timer. It’s easy to get distracted with phone calls, emails, texts, television, reading, etc. Also, after each highlight wipe your gloves off on a towel—this keeps excess product from wandering to hair pieces you don’t want to highlight.

Any highlight application tips you won’t find on the back of the box?
Add one teaspoon of olive oil to the highlight bleach of your choice. I do this in the salon; it won’t affect the performance of the product but it will give it a smoother consistency which yields even prettier highlights.

Hair Glazes are more popular than ever. How can you recreate a salon-like glaze at home?
First, choose hair color the same shade as yours—if you have dark auburn hair, choose dark auburn hair color. Next, shampoo your hair, towel-blot, and detangle. Take the developer bottle and pour out half of the developer, adding water in its place; this allows the color to become a standard deposit-only gloss. Mix the color and distribute through your hair. Leave the mixture on for three minutes then rinse, shampoo, and condition for a gorgeous, shiny finish.

What are your hair color trend forecasts for the new year?
Sun Kissed highlights are always in, but I think platinum one-process hair color has made a comeback and will continue to do so. We’ll also be seeing more cyber ’80s dos with touches of wild pinks, blues, greens, and black in unexpected places as well as luxe all-over color—think richer reds, deeper browns, and glistening blacks.

Source:

Elle Mag

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I want to equip you with some info that might save you some dinero without sacrificing your creativity.

Celebrity hair pro Lorri Goddard-Clark is colorist to Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon. She is also the author of The Hair Color Mix Book: More Than 150 Recipes for Salon-Perfect Color At Home. Here, her must-see tips for DIY hair coloring.

How do you pick the most flattering hair color for your skin tone and eyes?
If you look into your eyes you will see little flecks. If they are golden or yellow, a natural match would be warmer hair colors. If they are bluer or deep bluish black then a natural match would be neutral or cooler tones. To enhance your skin tone, never go more than two shades lighter or darker—this guarantees that you won’t fade or wash away your natural beauty.

When is it okay to do at-home highlights and when should you go to the salon?
When you’re going for a look close to your natural color—for example, you have naturally light brown hair and want some pale honey highlights—DIY kits are fine. But if you want highlights more than two or three shades lighter than your natural color you should see a professional.

At Home Highlight Precautions- coming up!

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Sources: Elle Mag

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Long hair is definitely the trend…you’ll notice all these trends have long or at least shoulder length hair as their base. This is a great beach look, or relaxed weekend wear- but I wouldn’t style my hair like this for any dressier events.

Do: 

-Let hair air dry, or blow dry depending on the silkiness desired.

-Spritz with hair volumizing spray, or thermal hair spray.

-divide hair into small section and use curling iron to curl only the middle of each hair section, leaving the bottom and top curl free.

- Spritz with hair spray for stay-power.

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Christian Dior started this 1940s Hairstyle Revival, and I love every retro inch of it. They key to this look is starting with soft smooth hair as your base- the rest is a cinch.

Do: 

1. Freshly wash hair and blow dry. If you have wild hair, like mine, apply smoothing cream before blow dry.

2. Part your hair on the far left or right (whichever you prefer) This hairstyle is meant to have a severe side part like, plus side parts make the nose look more delicate.

3. Begin by heating your curling iron and creating barrel sized curls that roll sideways on the head. Clip each roll with a duck bill clip or bobby pins.  (Like giant hotdogs with  the ends facing the mirror in front of you. )

4. Spray with hairspray and let set for about ten minutes.

5. Remove clips or bobby pins and brush out curls gently.

6. Apply a bit of shine creme to your hair with your fingertips.

Note: the Trick to that glam side swept wave at the top of the forehead, is to really get a solid curl pinned up. When it relaxes it creates that rich roll.

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One of the prominent trends on the runway this Spring was this soft, boho French braid. It’s feminine,can be worn on a variety of hair textures/curls and…it’s super easy.

How To: 

 1.  Loosely spray your hair with hair spray for volume and stay-power.

2. Finger part at the far side of the head.

3. Gather your (unbrushed) hair at the nape of your neck, and pull hair to the front

4. Divide hair into 3 uneven sections. Braid and secure with small elastic.

Do: 

-keep the braid swept to the side. The side sweep keeps the look modern and relaxed.

-Pair  the braid with modern or menswear inspired pieces. To avoid looking like Laura Ingalls Wilder, choose an outfit that has a contemporary cut. Blazers, shrunken jackets, wide leg trousers, suspenders, vests and the like.

- Have fun with a Fedora. this braid will look great with a variety of hats.

Don’t: 

-make the braid too perfect. It’s messy, and supposed to be that way.

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I love when girls own their curls- here’s a simple “how to” to manage those locks.

You don’t see a lot of natural curls on the red carpet, which is a shame since Ruah proves it’s a beautiful look. Use a curl defining cream (like Hair Phat Curl Defining and Thickening Cream, $28) to keep them looking soft and not crunchy and touch up your curls with a curling iron (or use an iron on your whole head if you have straight hair naturally) for more definition.

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This is one of my “tried and trues”. Dressed up or down it’s ready in minutes and you gives a feminine yet relaxed vibe. I would wear it to the beach or the opera.

Get the look: Follow Duff’s lead by adding a basic braid on both sides of your head (starting just behind your temples) before twisting hair into a low, loose chignon.

Optional: To dress it up, add some bling. Clip in a stunning brooch by hooking a bobby-pin through the pin closer and securing snuggly into the chignon.

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Sources:

Totalbeauty.com, Getty Images

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Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Ready in a snap and works well for dressy or casual. The key to this look is blow-drying your hair.

Get the look: Apply a texturizing product and roughly blow dry your hair to add texture to it. Tease the crown of your head then secure hair into a mid-height ponytail. Tease hair in the ponytail for added texture. Pull out face-framing sections of hair and use a flatiron to straighten them, creating a slight bend at the ends.

Time saver: Let your hair partially air-dry, it will save time with the blow-dryer.

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Sources, Totalbeauty.com, Getty images

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Get the look: To get a full pony like the one above, throw in some hot rollers to dry hair, and let sit while you finish your makeup. Release rollers, dust with hair spray and brush lightly to loosen curls and create silky fullness. Take a large section of hair, wrap it around your hair elastic to cover it and pin in place. Voila.

Time saver: If you’re in a pinch, pick up a hair extension and clip in as instructed (make sure color matches your hair). Cover elastic as before. Curl ends of ponytail with curling iron to match the hair piece.

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Sources: Totalbeauty.com, Getty images

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