Do Blondes Really Have More Fun?!?

I honestly don't know the answer to that question but what I do know is that the path of discovery Mirela and I took to create this beautiful color has been a fun adventure for the both of us.

Mirela came to me a few years ago with box colored hair proclaiming that she wanted to be lighter.... and eventually blonde!! Yeah... I know!!!! Fast forward to our most recent appointment and you can see that we not only got her lighter but we've stuck with it. As time has passed, she has been differing shades of blonde but this is by far our favorite.

Mirela is naturally a level 6 with a heavy amount of yellow pigment. I lift her with Mask Bleach and 20 volume in a full foil. Once she's processed, I use the newly concocted Mask 10,12 with 40 volume and a processing time of about 15 minutes to break her base and also tone her blonde and lift out a little bit more of her natural pigment.

I styled her with Oi All In One Milk and More Inside's Curl Building Serum blowdrying with a smaller, vented round brush to give a loose curled texture to her style. She told me as I was pre-drying that she was going to go grocery shopping and then head home to crash after a long day of work. I assured her that she'd have the best hair at Fred Meyers!!! Hehe!!

Sometimes, it's not about the color we've done on your hair in the past, it's about the journey we've taken to get to the best color you've ever had. I love taking that journey with my clients and love even more when "the best color you've ever had" happens more than once.

BEST.COLOR.CORRECTION.EVAR!!!!!!!!!!!

So... Let's just gaze at this picture for a minute and bask in its amazingness....

Ok... Let me know when you're done.

Well... I guess the amazingness deserves a little explanation in that this is far from the color it used to be.

This is my friend Rachel, a natural level 7. I have been coloring her hair black for a number of years and before I got my hands on her, it was colored by someone else (but we won't talk about that....) A few months back she told me that she wanted to go lighter and closer to her natural but wanted to be a different tone. When she told me she wanted to be copper, I freaked!!! I got so excited I did an internal happy dance. The prospect of giving her a new look excited us both and we talked about the process and when we should do it. We decided that staying a raven haired goddess through her wedding was the best idea and eventually came to the agreement that we would take the plunge after the New Year.

Leading up to the day we sent texts back and forth and discussed all of our options. The conclusion we came to was that it would probably be the most awesome thing ever but if it wasn't, we could always go back to black. The day came, she showed up and we got right down to business.

The process was long but completely worth it. After lifting her hair to a banded level 7, we decided that we would do two tones of copper since we really couldn't decide on which we liked better. I parted out a block to go in her perimeter and applied Mask 7,43 rood to ends knowing that the color in that tube was dense enough to give her even coverage. I had to get a little sciencey with the top section and take into consideration the copper that was already happening in her previously colored but lightened lengths. Since the desired end result for this section was Mask 7,34, I applied a straight formulation of that on her root, reformulated for her very copper mid lengths using what remained in the bowl (about 15g of color) and mixing in straight 7,3, applied and in her ends mixed and new formulation of 7,34 because her ends were more shallow than the mid section.

Did your brain explode?!? If you are a colorist, you totally get me. If you are not... well think of unicorns and rainbows and that should make your brain feel better.

What you see pictured above is the end result. After rounds of lifting to get her previous color out so we could put her new color in, this is what we got. What amazes me the most is that it is remarkably even, shiney and still a very strong strand of hair.

Due to the magic of Davines' Mask Color, I was able to make this awesomeness happen for Rachel. We were both so pleased with the end result that our faces hurt from intense smiling. Seriously.... my face is still sore from the over use of my smile muscles!! Ha!! I gave her a fat stack of my cards and people have liked it so much she's already had to ask for more. The greatest thing to come out of this experience is knowing that I was able to give Rachel EXACTLY what she wanted, she LOVES it and it's a wearable color that will allow her the freedom to play with copper tones or grow out her natural if she so chooses with less hassle than staying dark.

BEST.COLOR.CORRECTION.EVAR!!!!!!!!!

An Ombre Is Forever and So Is Good Hair

This is Dawn. If you are an Instagram-er and follow me, first I must high five you then must mention that this is the second time she has popped up on "The Grams". Months ago, Dawn decided that she wanted the look of her hair to be lighter but didn't want the upkeep of a retouch every 6 weeks. What better way to accomplish that than with an AWESOME Ombre?

Since then, we've taken up a bit of the length, freshened up her layers and have been just retouching her color in the root. Beautiful right?!?

After her last appointment, I sent Dawn home with a few products and when she came back in yesterday I noticed a significant different in her hair. It was softer, easier to work with and a cinch to blow dry. At the shampoo bowl I kept saying, "Your hair feels good!! So much healthier!!" I couldn't get over it!! Ha!!

She cleanses and conditions her hair 2-3 times a week alternating between Energizing Shampoo and Nourishing Shampoo and conditioning with Nourishing Vegetarian Miracle. After I finished blowdrying her with Oi and Melu Shield Spray, she looked in the mirror and said "My hair is shiny!! I've never had shiny hair!!" Spectacular right?!?

It's amazing what using good product can do and the blessing of being able to work with Davines has changed the hair and lives of my clients... It's changed my life too!! The fact that I can stand in front/behind my client and know that the product I'm using it going to do what it says it does without compromising the integrity of the hair is so fulfilling as a stylist!! It makes me happy, my clients are ecstatic and everyone's hair is a better strand for it.

Thank you Davines!! You're helping hair that has never had shine be the best strand of hair it can possibly be!!

How I ReUse My Essentials Bottles

As I spend my days gabbing with clients and educating in other salons, one of the facts about Davines I like to speak on is the fact that as a company, Davines is very Earth conscious. I get a bit giddy when I get to tell people about Davines' association with Lifegate and how specifically the Essentials bottles are recyclable and reusable. I purposefully buy Essentials for myself in different sizes so I can use them around my home and here at Indigo. I know right?!?

Alright!! It's nerd out time!!!

Essential Hair Care is Davines' basic cleansing and conditioning line. These are the "essentials" you utilize on a daily basis to give your hair the foundation it needs to be healthy and able to be beautifully styled. The bottles themselves are transparent, what you see is what you get. If you need moisture, you would pick up Momo shampoo and/or conditioner for the day. If your hair is curly or you would like it to be straight, that hair needs the love that only Love Curl Enhancing or Love Smoothing can provide.... I could go on. You will notice that the names of the are short and sweet, like nicknames. That's because that's exactly what they are. Each product is given a nickname in accordance with what it does (Momo = moisture). Essentials is the first line within Davines to be completely zero impact, the second being Su, with the hopes that soon all of Davines will be as well. The bottles are made of PE/PET plastic (the same plastic that water bottles are made of) which is a food grade and safe plastic to recycle and reuse.

OK... So how would you go about reusing these bottles?!? The possibilities are ENDLESS!!! Seriously, when I find a new way to use them, I freak out and immediately to an "I'm so proud of myself" happy dance for at least 30-45 seconds..... SERIOUSLY!!!

What I have pictured below are just a few ways I use my Essentials bottles at home and at Indigo:

1. GARLIC!!!- I use A LOT of garlic when I cook so it's easier for me to peal a bunch at once and store it in the fridge. This, by far, has been my favorite way to store the stinky stuff in the fridge cause the screw on top allows for an airtight seal meaning no funky smell AND my garlic stays fresh for quite some time.

2. Lotion- I am very particular about the lotion I use on my skin due to skin sensitivities and what not. This means I can't just pick up any good smelling lotion and throw it in my purse for travel and daily/obsessive applications to hands and other "ashy" areas. When I finally found a lotion that worked well with my skin, it did not come in a travel size option so..... Essentials to the rescue!!!! After emptying a purposefully bought travel size Essentials bottle, I quickly washed it out and filled it with my fav, non irritating body lotion for purse convenience and travel. This is also how I travel efficiently with other products that do not come in FAA regulated travel sizes yet.








3. Vinegar- I am a klutz when it comes to pouring stuff out of big bottles. So, instead of risking the possibility of a spill I transfer the contents of my large bottles of things like vinegar and laundry detergent to liter size Essentials bottles. This makes for easier and less spilly pouring and is awesome for easy storage in the various places I use vinegar (laundry, all purpose cleaning, 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar mixture for pet accidents etc.).






4. Waxing Space- To save space at my "waxing station" located next to the shampoo bowl, I utilize a Momo Conditioner container to house the waxing sticks, q-tips (to dry wet ears after shampoo), trimming shears and tweezers. I pre-cut my own wax strips to the size I like and they live in an Authentic Replenishing Butter jar (not Essentials but totally reusable). I really enjoy how decorative it makes the space look and how each container brings its own sense of charm to the space.




Now that you've seen what I do with my Essentials bottles, I hope this gives you ideas on how to use your empty bottles in the future.

Oh!!!! I forgot to mention!!! I also store leftovers in a variety of containers, put bobby pins and hairpins in an emptied Momo Fluid bottle and made myself a little after derby anti-stink/germ kit out of a Dede Mist bottle, Momo Conditioner container and Solu Shampoo bottle... Like I said, happy dances and excitement all around when I figure out new ways to use these awesome containers!!

Cheers and happy reusing!!!

More photos taken after the original post:

I use a Momo Fluid bottle to hold hairpins and bobby pins in my "hair stuff" drawer at home.

This a homemade dog shampoo I made and now store in a Melu Shampoo liter.