Alterna Hair Care

Winter obviously means its own set of hair issues, and we need to be prepared. To be ready, I got some advice from Michael Shaun Corby, Global Creative Director for Alterna Hair Care.

Michael says the best way to have gorgeous hair this winter is to prepare in advance. Get your hair in perfect shape before the winter months hit, so hair is healthy and able to withstand harsh temperatures and dry weather.

Here are some of his tips:

· Dry, damaged hair is always the worst at the ends, so get a trim. Healthy ends means less split ends, and split ends are made worse by dry, cold weather.

· Don’t leave the house with wet hair. Wet hair is more susceptible to damage and breakage, especially in cold temperatures.

· Static can become a problem in cold dry weather. To combat static, spray your hair brush with a light hair spray, then brush through the hair. This should eliminate any static. A hair serum is also great at reducing static, and it fights frizz. A serum can make the roughest, thickest hair feel smooth and silky and is the perfect static-fighter.

· Condition hair daily. Just like it’s crucial to moisturize your face during the winter months, hair needs a daily moisturizer too. Whether you need a deep, repairing conditioner, or light volumizing formula, conditioning daily will hydrate and replenish the hair.

· Use a deep conditioner once a week. Slather on a rich hair masque or deep conditioner weekly and leave it on the hair for at least 10 minutes (the longer the better) to allow it to penetrate the hair shaft. Alterna’s Caviar Hair Masque is a deep conditioning treatment masque that uses pure Caviar Extract to increase the strength and elasticity of the hair- exactly what you need during the cold winter months.

· Most people take a little more time and effort to style their hair during the holidays. That usually means more styling products and more buildup on the hair. Use a clarifying shampoo once a week to remove this buildup, which will add shine to dull hair.

· Treat hair before you use heat styling tools. Using heat styling tools directly on unprotected hair can cause a lot of damage, so use a thermal protectant that also has hydrating benefits. A great option is Alterna’s Hemp with Organics Spray Leave-In Conditioner; a light leave-in conditioning spray that protects hair from heat styling and color fade.

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Weighty Winter Hair Woes

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“Bangs can be a great way to frame the face and actually add volume to the face,” says stylist Atuozo Neihule.

Why is this? Well, you have probably noticed that as we get older, a lot of us tend to notice lines draw our face downward. Bangs can actually offset long lines, by framing the face and brining attention to the eyes.

What else is great at “cutting” time?

A short cut can often open the face and brighten the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Yvonne Neihule states, “Shorter tends to look better on older women, but short with style a little edge.”

In addition to cut, style can have a reflection on one’s age. One great option is feathering, that’s creating soft curls and cutting back on the heavy and stiff.

Feathering adds softness to a style that complements the face and does not focus or highlight harsh lines or shades in the face. Softer is better in many cases.

So, cheer up! You are as young as your hair style!

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Bang Back the Years

A lot of us deal with circumstances like this in day-to-day life, whether it’s workout to work, office to happy hour, or storage room quickie to meeting room pow wow.

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Wendy Iles, a couture celebrity hairstylist based in Paris and New York, says one great way to recoup is to let your hair re-condition itself while you take care of the rest of your body.

Take a workout, for example. By working in a deep conditioner or heavy masque through your hair during your workout, your body heat will help activate the conditioner’s nourishing ingredients. Wendy says to generously apply a masque to damp hair and then pull hair off the face into a topknot or tight chignon. A head band will keep shorter bangs off the face.

After your work out, shampoo condition with a moisturizing product and then dry hair upside down. This will give added volume to the roots. A soft styling mousse can be added but not too much, its important the hair stay soft and silky for the best results. You can leave a little moisture in the hair if time is of the essence and you are dashing to your meeting.

Finally, to create those waves pull all the hair together as if creating a medium high ponytail. When securing with an elastic, on the second turn of elastic do not pull all the tail through, stop half way creating a small loop like chignon and anchor the ends by turning them around the attached chignon then anchor with a bobby pin. No need for any hairspray!

Why this rocks: Not only does this give a great chic chignon for the office, keeping hair clean and off the face, but after a few hours you can let down your freshly washed hair and what you will then see is a marvelous tumble of soft, textured hair with a natural wave!

We love you, Wendy!

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Post Workout Work Waves

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In general, I do this anyway – when you have curly hair, blowing it out can be tiresome and time-consuming. But when I’m away, and often do not have my tried-and-true styling tools around, this becomes ever-the-more my inclination.

But what I have discovered, over time, is that many of us are not washing our hair correctly, and in fact, washing our hair the right way is the key way to having the most successful life-span post blowout.

Question: Do you know what’s more important, scrubbing your scalp or your ends?

According to my friend Sandy Taylor-Furst, the best way to wash your hair is to scrub ONLY your scalp hair never your ends!

The strongest hair is the first two inches of hair that grow out from the scalp. If your hair from roots to ends is six inches long, the ends are a year old. Just think if your hair is 24 inches long that hair is then 3 years old.

That’s why I say only MASSAGE shampoo through your ends. The ends of your hair can be weakened from environmental stresses and hair chemicals, so the nicer we are to them the more vibrant they will be!

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How To Wash Your Hair

OK, so one of my events while in Macau this week will be a formal dinner – and while I have my favorite LBD and heels ready, my favorite hair guru will be thousands of miles away.

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So, what do I do? I go prepared with a how-to, armed and ready.

According to my friends Celebrity Hairstylists Eugene Toye, Ryan Cunningham and Eddie Ngai from the Rita Hazan Salon, the perfect look for my party-ready look is none other than the chignon – but in a very messy, modern take.

Here’s how to do it at home (or in my hotel room):

* To give hair just the right amount of movement and keep it from being too close to the head, use a volumizing cream and apply to freshly washed and well-towel-dried hair.
* Comb product through hair and put a deep side part in hair.
* Blow dry hair with a medium round brush for added body.
* Then, brush hair back into a low ponytail and fasten just above the nape of the neck.
* Begin winding the hair around the base of the ponytail, securing it underneath and on top with bobby pins as you go. Leaving the ends out.
* It’s more modern to have pieces out for a look that’s slightly undone. Use gold or colored bobby pins to spice it up!

Pictures of my attempt to come!

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It’s a Messy Classic: The Chignon

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What’s even worse is the season itself is terrible for our hair: Just one experience with hat hair will show you that.

But there’s always solutions. For instance, Ellin Lavar, a hot celebrity hair stylist, suggests we sew a satin sleep bonnet into our favorite wool hat. This will help maintain your hairstyle and protect your hair from the drying affects of the wool!

How awesome an idea is that??? Some other great tips from Ellin:
* Keep your hair well conditioned during the winter months. This will help to keep your hair from becoming dry and brittle.
* When going out to your holiday party, loosely cover your hair if it is windy and if it is raining, do not wear a plastic rain scarf. Loosely drape a rain scarf over your festive colored scarf that way the plastic won’t hold your body heat and cause your hairstyle to absorb moisture, which would ruin your look.

Share below! What’s your favorite winter style tips?

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Combating Winter Hair Blahs

The problem is, I hate my curls. I don’t hate all curls, though, and in fact, sometimes I straighten my hair…and then curl it!

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One of my favorite styles is finger waves, they have a great retro-class appeal to it. If you want to embrace your ’40’s starlet, I consulted celebrity hairstylists Eugene Toye, Ryan Cunningham and Eddie Ngai from the Rita Hazan Salon, who say this style works best on naturally wavy hair although these waves can be re-created on any hairstyle.

To make this work for you, you may want to seasonally glam it up with a sexy jeweled headband. Then, get started! Here’s their how-to:
* In order to achieve this look you will need some gel, hairpins and some curlers.
* Once hair is curled under, you will want to pin the curls in place at the nape of the neck.
* Long straight pins are the key to securing your locks and holding this updo in place. Make sure to insert pins in opposite direction!

Sexy! Now get on your favorite flirty dress and heels, and go find yourself a mistletoe…and a man to stand under it! After all, isn’t that the only part of this season worth enjoying?

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Create Hot Finger Waves

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“We carry a round brush with us 24/7. OUR HEADS,” points out the awesome Sandy Taylor-Furst, Stylist and Owner of stylelikeapro.com.

By brushing our hair from back to front using the curve of our head, with a paddle brush, we create curve under effect for our hair. Thus limiting the need for round brushes!

How awesome would it be to only have to carry one brush around, and have it be able to facilitate various styles and needs???

I’m currently on a cruise – trying to pack “light” – NOT so easy when you have like six activities a day – and every little bit does help. Options like one less brush, that allows for…an extra bikini! Plus, it’s just so easy and works so well! This makes me happy – unlike said bikini. Alas.

It’s the small things, my friends.

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Use Your Head

But women dye their hair for all sorts of reason: Sex appeal, spicing up their look…and maybe looking a little bit younger.

This seems kind of obvious – your gray hair comes out, you cover them up! Insta-young again, everything is taken care of.

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Well, not so much. As we start to see those gray hairs peek out, we may think the best course of action is to dye our hair back to our original natural shade. But that’s not necessarily true, and if we are obvious about it – i.e. choosing a color that is too bold or dramatic – we may actually end up looking even older!

According to Yvonne Neihule, owner of Neihule salon, there’s a reason for this. Yvonne says that while dark colors may work against our age, and highlight the wrinkles we most want to go away, “Going a few shades lighter, or adding highlights versus low lights can soften the face and diminish the look of pronounced lines around the eyes.”

Interesting! So, perhaps blonds have more fun…at every age!

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A Touch of Color: Go Lighter!

Clairol

I vaguely see the resemblance, but nevertheless, this has given me a certain degree of kinship to her, and so I was excited to find out she’s involved in a new Clairol Nice ‘n Easy campaign.

In the campaign, Angela plays the role of Gigi or the “Guardian Girlfriend” – a trusted friend who always tells it like it is! The campaign’s mission is to help women get over their fears of at home hair coloring by providing helpful tips and tricks.

As someone who is in constant need of guidance, I’m all over it. And totally not because she may possibly look like me.

My favorite part: Check out the shade palette on Clairol’s Web site where Angela can help you choose your perfect shade! How adorable is that?

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No-Fear Hair Care