The Twilight Saga: "New Moon" Red Carpet Glam
Okay, I'm going to admit. I haven't read any of the Twilight books. I have no idea who Kristen Stewart or Nikki Reed is, other than they are in the movie New Moon. I don't have a clue as to whether I am on "team Edward" or not. I do know who Dakota Fanning is, but I was surprised that she is no longer seven years old. At any rate, the eleven year old in my house seems to know all about all of these things (thank goodness) and the majority of my clients, Facebook friends, and fellow twitterbugs are all a flutter over Twilight buzz. Apparently, I don't get it, but I have to admit, these ladies do pull off some fierce red carpet looks!
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Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Cool Contest: Get a Makeover with Kim Kardashian and her Glam Team
How cool would it be to get a celebrity makeover? Check out the Get Your Glam On sweepstakes, sponsored by Sony Ericsson's Equinox Phone and OK Magazine! All you have to do is leave a message on this page and you could be on your way to meet Kim Kardashian and her beauty team in Los Angeles! You'll get a new outfit chosen by Kim's stylist, have a consultation with Kim's hair stylist, and a session with her makeup artist. While I've never understood why Kim Kardashian is famous, I think this is a pretty cool contest. Hurry, the contest ends November 29th!
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Photo by Evan Agostini for IMG/Getty Images
Preparing Your Hair for Your Wedding: 9 Months to Go and Engagement Photos
The count down to your wedding includes many activities, gatherings, and stress-related planning that can all influence how you will wear your hair, the color your hair, or how much hair you may pull out on any given day. As you're likely aware, I'm helping my dear engaged sister, on her journey to the alter next summer. We've discussed her hair goals and selected an approximate color for her hair. At nine months to go, we have found ourselves preparing her lovely locks for her engagement photos.
This brings me to an important point: if you haven't picked your "wedding day hair color" by the time you have your engagement pictures are taken, you might want to consider doing just that. If you change your hair color often, like to go light and dark for different seasons, or if you're one of those people that find yourself making a sudden color change every few months I am especially speaking to you. It may be important to have at least a similar hair color in your engagement photos as you will have in your wedding photos. It may not be important to you as well, but it's something to consider as you plan for your wedding day.
For Jaylene's engagement photo session, she came to the salon for a shampoo, blow-out, style, and makeup application on the day of her engagement pictures. One week before her photos, she came in for a fresh color and deep conditioning treatment.
Bride-to-Be Tip: A fresh color a week or so prior to your engagement photos will give you a great fresh look. If you don't color your hair a deep conditioning or shine treatment the day prior to your photos, or a clairifying treatment the week before your your pictures will help your hair look it's absolute best for your photo session. I always recommend that your hair style be kept on the simple, yet pretty side for engagement pictures. I think it's important to look relaxed, like yourself, and with as little possibility for having to primp and fuss with your hair during your photo session. Always remember: hair tends to photograph better than it looks in person. So, don't stress about a few fly-away hairs or the wind tossing your hair during outdoor photos.
More Preparing Your Hair for Your Wedding Tips
Holiday Hair Appointments
If figuring out when to schedule your holiday hair appointments makes your head spin, check out this article on scheduling your haircuts and colors from Thanksgiving through the New Year and look great all season long!
A Great Lenghts Experiment: Cinderella Hair Extensions
A good friend and colleague of mine at Village Hair Design has recently started offering Cinderella Hair Extensions as a service in our salon. Laurie Stribling traveled to Chicago for training and has been a Cinderella Hair Extension wearer for several years. I didn't think that extensions would really be something I'd ever try, but after growing my hair out for several months now, I've found myself itching for a change. Here I am before having the extensions. You can see how long, or rather how short, my hair was before the process.
So about a week ago, I spoke with Laurie for a consultation. We picked out a color using swatches. I was amazed at the wide variety of colors available. I wear my hair very blond, and we were able to find a color that matched perfectly. Cinderella hair is 100% human hair and of excellent quality, so it can be washed, curled, flat ironed, or blow dried. It can even be colored! You can choose lengths of 12" to over 20". I chose the 12" length. Baby steps.
My appointment was yesterday. I was a little nervous, but the process for bonding the extensions to my natural hair was absolutely painless. The bonds are made from protein and are melted onto the natural hair with a special tool. These bonds stay put for up to four months and grow out as your hair grows out! When it is time to replace your extensions, the bonded hair is easily removed with special tool. Laurie placed three packs of hair in my head, and the process took about two and a half hours. Then Laurie cut my extensions to blend with my natural hair and give me the style I desired.
I am thrilled with the results! I have decided to order a fourth pack of hair to be placed in the back to thicken the back of my hair up a little. Laurie will order that hair and place it in the next week or so.
I'll be sure to keep you posted on maintenance of these extensions, how they wear, how comfortable they are, and if I continue to like having long hair.
More on Long Hair
Photo © Kendra Aarhus
Halloween 2009: Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith
I think I've mentioned before that I absolutely love Halloween. I was thrilled when we were invited to three Halloween costume parties last weekend! I just thought I'd share photos (and apologize for the poor quality of the last photo, we forgot to take pictures and had to snag some from friends).
I was the corpse of Anna Nicole Smith and my boyfriend went as the corpse of Michael Jackson. We both wore wigs, made our faces look dead, and wore homemade coffin contraptions.
Halloween Ideas
Photos © Jessi Mart
Online Hair Appointment Scheduling
Online ordering and scheduling has taken over the world. Gone are the days of making a phone call when you want airline tickets or even a pizza! I'm a big fan of not having to small talk, chit-chat, or even having to be sure that I'm perfectly clear about my desires and expectations. I like that when I order a pizza online I can choose my toppings with the click of a mouse, rather than relying on some kid that hates his job to write down the correct options.
Online scheduling has been available in salons for a while now, but I've noticed an increase in salons offering this service. I recently decided to give my clients this option and chose Schedulicity.com as my provider.
I like Schedulicity because the rates are reasonable ($29.00 per month for a single provider) and they let you give the program a try for 60 days before charging you a thing. The program sends an email reminder to the client before his or her appointment and as a provider, you have the option to control when each client can schedule and how far in advance they have to cancel. You can list your pricing, hours of operation, and services provided. There is also a handy email program that allows you to easily communicate with your clients. Super cute email templates are included and look very professional and can be customized for the season or occasion!
I'm excited to give it a try and am interested in what you think about online scheduling. Would you use it if it were available at your salon? Do you think it's impersonal or convenient?
Organic Hair Color
Preparing Your Hair for Your Wedding: 11 Months to Go
Preparing your hair for the most photographed day of your life is really, lets face it, important. No one wants their heads to be a hot mess on their wedding day. My recently engaged sister, has set her wedding date for the 21st of August. Only the most humid and frizz producing month out of the year (no pressure, right). So, at our first appointment, we discussed products to get her hair in tip top shape and to grow faster and healthier over the next year.
At the eleven months and counting point we had another appointment scheduled to discuss her color. Jaylene has medium to dark brown hair with ashy tones. Her hair has been every color under the sun over the past several years. We decided that her hair looks best in a warm blond with lighter blond highlights. It goes nicely with her skin tone and sets off her eyes beautifully.
Why are we discussing her wedding day color 11 months before her wedding date? We chose to at least be "in the ballpark" so her color can be easily maintained over the next 11 months. With this color technique, we will simply touch up her regrowth every 4 to 6 weeks, rather than change her hair color and subject the mid-shaft and ends of her hair to color or highlighting on a regular basis. This will aid in growing her hair out and keeping her hair healthy for the big day.
After Jaylene's color was completed, we very very lightly trimmed the ends of hair. Her fresh look was perfect for her engagement party that we threw for her this past weekend!
Bride-to-Be Tip: If you color your hair, commit to a color that can easily be maintained in the months leading up to your wedding. This will prevent damage, breakage, and promote healthy growth!
Check Out Bridal Styles
Photo © Kendra Aarhus
Reader Mail: How Can I Make a Change Without Sacrificing Length?
I LOVE getting mail from my readers!
Q: Dear Miss Kendra - If i want some sort of change this fall but don't want to loose too much length - any ideas? I just really want polished look that is not too difficult for me to put together, since i have little to no hair talent!
A: You could completely change your look by changing the way your layers are shaped, especially around your face. Try going a little shorter and wispier with your layers for a more textured look, which is super hot for fall. Another fun trend for fall is to try a full bang! Keep them long enough that if you don't like the full out in front look, you can sweep them to the side and work them into your fringe until they grow out! If a full bang isn't for you, consider changing your bangs up a bit.
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Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images