Hair Care Tips
Dandruff Treatment
Hair loss prevention
Head Lice Treatment
Long Hair Care
Curly Hair Care
Summer Hair Care
Winter Hair Care
Hair Colouring Guide
Hair Styling Guide
Choosing a Hair Colour
Time was when your hair colour choices were blonde, red, brunette, and black, but
those days are long gone! Each basic hair colour comes in a full array of choices from
platinum blonde to jet-black. Moreover, the modern consumer must choose from nontraditional hair colours that range from hot pink to chartreuse. However, the wrong
hair color choice can give you the blues and leave you red in the face!
First Hair Color Choices
The best method in choosing a hair color is first to choose the results you want from
it. Depending on whether you are covering gray, highlighting a natural hair color, or
using hair color to completely change your image, knowing what you want helps you
to narrow down hair coloring choices.
Before you get down to choosing a hair color, first decide on your commitment to hair
coloring. Temporary hair colors wash out in a shampoo or two, semi permanent
products typically last for a couple of months, while permanent dyes may either give
you grow-out pains or necessitate frequent root touch ups.
Choosing a Compatible Hair Color
After you’ve decided on results and made your commitment, it’s time to get out the
color wheel. Beauty experts tell us that we’re either “cool” or “warm” depending on
our skin tone, eye color, and natural hair color.
Cool Category
Warm Category
Eyes
Dark Brown, Black-Brown, Gray Golden brown, Green, Green-Blue,
Blue, Dark Blue, or Hazel with
Turquoise, Hazel with gold or brown
white gray or blue flecks
flecks
Hair
Blue black, Deep brown, Ash
brown, Ash Blond, Platinum
Blond
Deep brown with gold or red highlights,
Red, Strawberry Blond, Gray-Yellow,
Natural Golden Blond
Skin
Very dark brown, True olive,
Medium pale, Medium with
golden undertones, Pale, Bronze
Brown with pink or golden undertones,
Peachy or with peachy undertones, Pale
with gold undertones, Freckled, Ruddy
Although this is good advice, if you’ve just finished a tanning session, if you have
some complexion problems (Rosacea, liver spots, blemishes), or if your hair color is
already not what nature intended (in other words previously tinted or more salt than
pepper), it may be difficult to determine by examining your skin tone and hair color.
Don’t despair! There is a shortcut!
Examine your wardrobe. Cool hues are green, blue, and violet. Warm hues are reds,
oranges, and yellows. Chances are, your wardrobe is a mix with either cool or warm
hues in the majority. Clothing colors that look good on you and make you feel
comfortable probably indicate if you’re in the cool or warm category. For instance, if
olive drab makes you fade into the woodwork, then cool tones like ash blonde (ash
tones contain green) are probably not for you.
In addition, most commercial hair colors have aids on the box, yet if you have a hard
time deciding which group is your group, you may want to seek the advice of a
professional hair stylist.
Hair Color Tips:
1. Highlighting is a great way to add tone to monochromatic hair (jet black, pure
brown).
2. Beware of hair colors that have green, blue, or purple undertones, like “ash”.
If you mix them with warm tones, your hair color will turn out green.
3. The levels (one to twelve) you see on hair coloring boxes are the lightness or
darkness of the color. Level one is black (darkest) and level twelve is light
blond.
4. “Complimentary colors” are opposite each other on the color wheel. Blueorange, violet-yellow, etc. If you want to neutralize unwanted highlights,
choose the complementary color. For instance, red will cancel out an ash
undertone, and an ashen color neutralizes any red highlights in your hair.
5. Be sure to check if your hair color is a “progressive dye”. Progressive dyes
continually add more color with each use. For instance, if you’re coloring
blond hair black, your first use of a progressive hair color may not give the
result you expected. However, continued use will turn your hair jet black.
6. Hair colors, like perms, are chemically based. If you’re pregnant, be sure to
check with your doctor before coloring your hair.
7. Henna hair dyes are organic based hair colors that don’t mix well with
chemicals.
8. Stay out of the pool and the ocean after coloring your hair. Neither sea salt nor
chlorine mixes well with chemical hair colors.
Past hair coloring techniques often made it necessary to camouflage a “dye job” with
a perky cut or a wig. Lightening jet-black hair meant hours of bleaching that left hair
looking more like yellow straw than platinum blond. Towheads, who wanted a darker
shade, were often left with a gothic look before gothic was a trend and those looking
for strawberry blond commonly got fire-engine red. Of course, modern hair coloring
techniques made fire-engine red a fashion trend instead of a hair coloring catastrophe!
Modern hair coloring techniques add true dimension to style right down to the natural
movement of your hair. Highlights, twilights, and lowlights are just a few of the
choices that enhance both your face and your hairstyle. In addition, hair coloring
techniques include veiling and chunking.
Types of Hair Colouring Techniques
Highlights: Probably one of the first innovations in hair colouring, highlights
brighten and add shine. Highlights work best in warm shades of gold, honey, amber,
and reds and can be applied with permanent hair colour or created with over-thecounter hair mascara, such as Christian Dior's Mascara Flash Highlights or Revlon
Professional Luminates, both of which wash out after one shampoo.
Twilighting: When you want a lighter hair colour to show a subtle change,
twilighting is the answer. Twilighting tones down too-bright hair colours by adding a
few darker tones. Twilights are closely related to lowlights.
Lowlights: A hair colouring technique that adds real depth to hair colour. Like
twilights, low lights add darker tones and soften the look of over-lightened hair or add
dimension to hair colour that looks flat. A skilled stylist can weave up to three
different colours into your hair by pulling a few strands here and there through a
weave cap for a subtle look or foiling chunks of your hair for a dramatic, trendy look.
Veiling: Brightens and enhances old flat hair colour by applying a semi-permanent
glaze in a richer tone over a permanent shade.
Chunking: Takes large, random sections of hair and infuses them with new colour.
Chunking is a hair colouring technique that gives dramatic impact to your hairstyle,
often by adding bright, trendy colours to natural hair colour.
Hair Colouring Technique Processes
Weave caps: Used most often in highlighting, twilighting, and low lighting, your
stylist pulls small strands through holes in the weave cap. The effect is usually a
subtle change that enhances your basic hair colour. Highlighting with a weave cap
also helps to camouflage gray or roots growing back after a permanent hair colour
application.
Foiling: Your stylist places sections of hair onto rectangular sheets of foil and applies
colour or lightener, folding the foil to keep the color in place and away from other
sections. Of all highlighting techniques, foiling can be applied closest to the root.
Baliage: A great application for textured, natural curls, or wavy hair. Your stylist
selects specific areas and hand paints them with colour. This dramatic implementation
of a hair colouring technique leaves you with a very “personal” appearance!
It’s important to note that although kits are available for most all hair colouring
techniques, professional stylists have the skill that comes with experience. Especially
for hard to colour shades like gray, platinum, and black hair, it’s wisest to consult a
professional before you try a new hair colour technique at home!
When your bad hair days outnumber your good ones, it may be time for a change of
hair style! Yet, before you go under the knife - scissors, take time out to sharpen up
your style knowledge with a few hair styling tips!
Solving Common Hair Styling Problems
Corralling the Bang Cowlick
Bangs are great for softening a severe cut or style and can add dimension to a too
angular face shape but, when accompanied by a cowlick (Patch of hair that won't
normally lie flat because it grows in a different direction), they can transform a hair
style from chic to hick. To corral bang cowlicks, try drying bangs forward using a
vented dryer or round brush.
Alternatively, you can turn the negative into a positive by basing your hair style on
the natural lift of your cowlick.
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Camouflage your cowlick and add a look of natural lift to your bangs by
parting your hair at your cowlick.
Using your styling brush or vented brush like a hot roller, imitate the lift of
your cowlick in other sections of your bangs.
Pull short layers forward to effectively weigh down the cowlick.
Don’t Flip Out - Flip Under!
When your hair is rubbing you the wrong way, don’t flip out. Use your styling brush
or vented brush to flip hair into a hair styling classic, the pageboy. Dry hair to about ¾
and then apply a working spray to the ends of your hair. Turn your dryer to hot. Then
just as you would with hot rollers, use your styling brush or a vented brush to roll
your hair under. Blow dry for about 15 seconds. Let the curl cool for about 10
seconds; then carefully remove your styling appliance. If you’re lucky enough to have
a lot of volume, you may wish to separate your hair into ‘bottom’ and ‘top’ sections.
Pin up the top section and use the technique on the bottom section first and then the
top.
Grounding Fly-Away Hair
The reason hair doesn’t fly away everyday is because hair follicles naturally attract
and retain moisture. However, it takes moisture to attract moisture; when conditions
are dry, you need to provide your hair with some supplementary help. Although the
better commercial moisturizers contain “humectants” to assist in moisture attraction
and retention, you can find one inexpensive yet effective alternative right in your
kitchen! The safflower oil you use for cooking is one of the beauty industry’s bestkept secrets for treating dryness in hair due to weather, perms, hair colouring, and hair
relaxation techniques... and all it takes is a couple of drops.
Rub a couple of drops of safflower oil between your palms. Your hands will look
shiny in the light. Then scrunch the oil into your dry hair, starting at the ends and
working towards your scalp. Leave this “conditioning” treatment in your hair. You
won’t even notice it, but you will notice that it works wonders in keeping frizzies and
fly-aways in their place – completely out of sight!
To keep ends in better condition, always dry with focus on the hair closest to your
head and not your ends.
Taking the Limp Out of Long Hair
To build volume in thinner hair – while it’s still damp, lean over and let your hair
hang forward. Finish drying starting at the nape of your neck and working towards
your forehead. When you flip it back, you’ll likely see that your “mop” has turned
into a magnificent mane!
Choosing Your Hair Style
Face shape, curl (straight, wavy, curly, kinky), texture (fine, medium, thick) and the
volume of your hair are the deciding elements in choosing your best hair style.
However, with today’s hair styling techniques you can change almost any aspect of
your hair, so the most important consideration is your face shape. Determining Your
Face Shape
Put long hair into a pony tail; wet and slick back short hair. Using a bar of soap, a
water soluble marker, or a crayon, look into a mirror and trace the outline of your
face. Follow your hairline and trace starting with the center of your forehead to
temple, jawbone, chin, jawbone, temple, and back to forehead. Stand to one side and
look at your outline. It should resemble one of seven shapes. Oval, Triangle. Square,
Round, Heart, Oblong, Diamond.
Oval: Sometimes called the “perfect” face shape, the balance of the oval allows you to
wear almost any hair style you choose. However, don’t cramp your style with heavy
bangs or forward directed hair styling that masks your lovely cheekbones or features.
Triangular: If you have a cleft in your chin, your face shape is the exact opposite of
the heart shaped face. Short cuts will help balance your dominant jaw line and you are
a great candidate for today’s wedges, shags, and other styles that feature fullness at
the temples.
Square: Soften the angles with short, wispy bangs and soft tendrils along the sides of
your face. Naturally curly hair is an ideal accent for a square face. If you don’t have it,
consider a perm or body wave. Add extra dimension to your style by layering in extra
height at your crown and wearing an off-set part.
Round: Lengthen you face to get the appearance of an oval by adding some height at
your crown. Keep hair swept back to show your features to their best advantage. Wear
off centered parts to draw attention away from the symmetry of your face. Wear either
short or long hair styles, but stay away from the medium. Keep hair either above or
below your chin line.
Heart: Chin length (or longer) hair styling looks great on the heart-shaped face,
adding fullness and volume where you need it. You’re also a candidate for styles that
feature wispy bangs, layered at the sides to sweep forward, accenting your eyes and
stunning cheekbones.
Rectangular or oblong: Try short to medium length hair styles with extra fullness at
the sides. Use wispy bangs and romantic tendrils to soften the angles. Layers also add
softness and roundness to straight lines. Too long hair, high hair, and centre parts will
serve to lengthen your face. Keep your hair above shoulder length and work to add
volume at the sides of your hair style.
Diamond: Your face is almost an oval, but a bit more angular, which gives you a
dramatic look that allows you to try many different hair styles. Leave weight at the
nape of your neck to add weight to a narrow chin and do keep the hair out of your
face to keep from hiding your great bone structure!
Wash, dry, and comb is the painless, quick, and easy method of hair styling. Yet,
whether your hair is short, medium length, or long, our list of hair styling ideas lets
you quickly and painlessly make hair styling glamour an easy part of your daily
regimen.
1. Fun as well as easy to use, today’s hair styling accessories add allure to hair
styles for every occasion– from morning through night. You’re probably
already familiar with many of them, but some less common accessories may
be just the right thing to perk up your style:
o Alligator Clamps & Jaw Claws may sound like instruments of torture,
but they’re really among the quickest ways to add quick elegance to a
hair style.
o Add just a hint of sparkle with jewel studded bobby pins and their
wider cousins, the hair forks
o Hair sticks - long and short available either as singles or in pairs.
o Medieval circlets - tiara like except that these enchanting “hair
necklaces” circle your head with bright jewels that drape strikingly
over your forehead.
2. If your budget is tight, let your earrings enhance your hair style. Stay
conservative during working hours with earring posts and studs. After hours
put a little swing in even the shortest style with a pair of danglers.
3. Sweep hair back with a wide leather or fabric headband.
4. Fashion a hair band out of a sheer scarf. Instead of knotting a scarf, hold it
together with a favourite brooch or pin.
5. Before unruly hair makes you mad as the March Hare, add an Alice Band to
your hair style. Named after “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, an Alice
Band keeps unruly hair out of your face and puts a finishing touch on either
short or long hair styles. Find Alice Bands gem-studded, fabric wrapped, or in
just plain plastic in several colours and style variants in price ranges to suit
every budget.
6. Change your part. Go from left to right, center to off-center, even from straight
to zigzag! If your style includes short top layers, pull some of that top knot
forward for heavier bangs. If your top is long, consider a shorter part and pull
the rest of your top tresses back into a ponytail, braid, or fasten them with a
barrette or another type of clip.
7. Use your curling iron to curl just the parts of your hair style that emphasize
your best features. Before curling, spritzing your hair with a working spray
helps keep your curl alive and bouncy throughout your day.
8. Get the ultimate “curl for a day” by setting your hair with hot rollers. Again,
spritz your hair with a working spray for long-lasting curl. Divide your hair
into two-inch wide sections and wind each section up vertically. After the
rollers cool, carefully remove them and instead of combing, style your hair by
running your fingers through your curls.
9. When your hair colour makes you feel a bit bleached out, try the reverse on
your hair. Instead of highlights, add lowlights, twilights, or veils to your hair.
o Veils — a semi-permanent method of brightening old colour by
applying a darker glaze over permanent colour.
o Twilights — a first cousin to lowlights, twilights are a subtle addition
of darker tones used to add depth and mystery to hair colour treatments
that have become too bright and brassy.
o Lowlights — When your hair style looks flat, it may be that your hair
colour is fading into the sunset. Low lighting is a hair colouring
technique that pumps up your hair style by creating new dimension and
depth with the introduction of a few darker tones.