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!!!!!!!!!

A New Year, A New You...

I'm very excited about what 2014 has in store. My first full calendar year of business is behind me and the second has a bright, bright outlook. I've spent the last year working hard and cultivating ideas with the intention of making sure you guys all know just how much I appreciate you.

One of few ideas is the Indigo Elite Membership program. A few of you asked when I first opened if I would be creating something of the sort and here it is!!!

This program is not only designed to create savings for each and every one of you, it has rewards built into it that honor things you already do. The next time you're in, make sure you ask me about what it means to be a member and how you can go about being among the first to take advantage of a program that's designed just for you.

How do I earn Elite Rewards?
· Prebook (1 point)
· Purchase product (1 point)
· Book an add on service (1 point)
· Refer a new client (5 points)
**each point is worth $1 and can be used toward any regular priced product purchase**

Can I earn Elite Reward points if I am not an Indigo Elite Member?
YES!!!
 

Shear Over Comb

For many of us, beauty school does not teach us much about the different ways to cut men's hair. I believe I got maybe a day or two of basic men's design and then spent the rest of my time PRAYING that I did not get one of our very few male clients in my chair. My prayers were not answered and I sweated through maybe 2 men's haircuts before I was sent into the real world to make Tacoma's hair dreams come true.

Turns out, I'm quite a natural when it comes to men's design. I'm a wiz with the clipper/trimmer combo and learned very quickly that men's haircuts aren't as scary as beauty school would have you believe.

This is James. In the time that I've been cutting his hair, he has kept it on the longer side in a shaggy, almost surfer kind of cut and every variation of the sort. Today, he sat down and said "short" and I immediately went into visual identification mode. We looked through pictures, decided on a length and this is what we came up with. I took his sides up first by cutting most of the bulk and the went in to clean and shape it up with the "shear over comb" method, texturized with my razor and styled him with Davines' Wonder Wax in the Defining line. With James' hair being the texture that it is, I chose to use my shears to avoid the effect that clippers can have textures like his.

After declaring me a "Master" of what I do, James let me snap a few pics and then left with a very big smile on his face.

Thank you for the adventure James!!! This + listening to Earth, Wind and Fire radio on Spotify had made my day!!

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!!

Cool Stuff....

I have had the true blessing of being able to be a part of some really cool creative stuff in Tacoma via working with local photographers and friends who have projects that need hair and makeup etc. Doing hair for this photo shoot will be one of the most memorable, simple and exciting styles I've had the pleasure of doing thus far.

Pictured is Elizabeth, Alaska native and author of Delightfully Tacky. Besides writing a blog and being absolutely gorgeous she has the most amazing natural curl I've had the pleasure of working with. After talking to the photographer, Willow of Willow's Photography, and consulting with Elizabeth we settled on rocking her natural curl while adding a little edge.

By taking a triangle shaped section and cornrowing it up and back, I was able to give her a "faux undercut" while giving it texture with a fat braid. To get her curl to be as GIANT as possible. I applied Davines' Volume Mousse along with Oi (because duh...) to give moisture and internal volume and diffused. I relied on Volume Mousse to plump everything up and give me a solid foundation to then take things up a notch with NO. 14 Sea Salt Primer. When her hair was mostly dry, I sprayed No. 14 Sea Salt Primer very generously throughout her hair and diffused until completely dry. I believe this is also when I asked her to stand up and flip her hair over so I could get volume in the crown area (aka the funnest way to add volume to your hair EVAR!!!) To add a little more "guts" to it all, I sprayed another generous amount of No. 14 Sea Salt Primer and diffused.... and then did it again.... and maybe again!! Ha!!!

Layering textured product on top of itself is one of my favorite ways to give hair volume and that 2nd day hair feeling without having to wait for that second day. No. 14 Sea Salt Primer is one of the more matte products that I like to do this with and probably the best smelling of them all as well.

Please, take a second or 500 to check out Elizabeth's blog and Willow's as well and if you come across either of these lovely ladies in your goings on in Tacoma, make sure you tell them hi for me!!!

Thank you and have a good night!!!! **drops mic like a rock star, bows, walks off stage**

Mermaid Hair and Smurf Bangs

Meet April. She's one of my younger clients, who like most kids, likes fun hair but can't do it during the school year because of the silly dress codes schools have now a days. When I got text from her mom that April wanted "fun color", I was super excited.

Despite poplar belief, I do more "normal hair" than I do "punky hair" so when I get a chance to do it, I giggle and dance and get super excited!!! It's not so much that "punky color" is more creative, it's just a different creative outlet.

For April, her mom sent me a picture of a blue to teal 'Ombre and I leaped with joy!! How fun!!!

This is probably the most fun I've had doing an 'Ombre EVAR!!! I opened up the cuticle with a quick bleach wash to ensure longevity and also because April's naturally about a level 8 or 9. I chose the back combing method because the colors she wanted are so vibrant and needed to be solid instead of blended like I've done in the past with the Flamboyage strips.

After applying, combing out and rinsing, the expression on April's face once we blow dried and cut her bangs was PRICELESS. Her over all reaction was amazing!! She danced around Indigo picking up every mirror and checking herself out in every reflective surface!! While I was shampooing her mom's hair, I caught her moon walking across the salon floor while dancing and singing!! I sent April's mom a text the next day to see how April was doing and it was reported that she was still dancing, singing and checking her self out every chance that she could!!! Best client reaction EVAR!!!! Hehe!!!

Rock on April!!!