Blondies and How To Tease!

Both of these gorgeous girls, Karrie and Kim, have really fabulous hair. When they come in, they are very laid back and let me do whatever I want. A hairstylist's dream!

I love doing blonde highlights. These girls both have cool blonde and pale golden highlights, and Kim has a few dark blonde lowlights as well. I like to keep their hair long, but with face framing layers so they can wear their hair wavy or naturally straight.

Also, both of these girls have very silky, fine hair, and I love to tease their hair to give it a little extra oomph!

How to tease your hair:

You need a fine tooth tail comb (see a few posts previous) and hairspray. Take a clip and section off your hair from the temples around. Spray the roots with hairspray. Take vertical sections and backcomb, starting close to the roots, and building up like a ladder. Continue all the way around, then let down the top section. Spray roots again and repeat the backcombing in vertical sections. This way, you get volume on the sides as well as the lift at your crown! Don't forget to check the back to make sure you don't have any wierd holes or backcombing showing... hey, us girls can't give away ALL our secrets, right?!

Easy Party Hair and a cute bob!

My friend Marcy had me fix her hair for her work Christmas party today. She wanted something a little more special than every day hair... so we did this messy side knot. To do yourself:

Tease hair all over, focusing on the crown. Curl all of your hair with a flat iron or 1" curling iron, taking horizontal sections and curling away from your face.

Grab hair on the side you want the messy knot to be. Shake loosely and let some pieces fall around the fringe area. (Careful... you don't want "tendrils"!) Twist hair into a half bun with the ends very loose. Start adding in bobby pins at the base of the knot. Once it is secure, pile up the rest of the curled ends and pin them in randomly. Voila! You can add a brooch or feather clip for an added touch!

The gorgeous bob haircut was done by my friend Sean at Dead Swanky. He is an amazing precision cutter and can cut in a neckline like no other! I had to post this fabulous do. She loved it, of course!

Fabulous Em...

My sweet friend Emily has the best hair. She has had it super long and super short... she can do any hairstyle! We just cut it into this sexy, messy shag on Wednesday. She likes to air dry and wanted something easy, with volume on the sides. If she wants, this hairstyle can be blow-dried into a smooth, sleek, layered look. It is really cute loosely pulled back as well. Thank you, Em, for letting me do whatever I want... a hairdresser's dream!

On another note, I am going to be a guest blogger on At Home In Arkansas' website the week of December 14th. My friend Paulette is a writer for the magazine and she chose me to do a blog about holiday hairstyles. I am so honored and excited! I think it is going to be great. So be looking for me on the At Home In Arkansas blog very soon!!

Hardcore Hair

Stumbled onto these funny pictures online and had to share. Can you imagine if your hairstylist pulled THIS gun on you? I think it may not go over so well... Serious business!

As far as that neon sign goes, I LOVE it! I wish I had one at my house, although it may actually be for something a little more complicated than hair. Taylor said there used to be a topless hair salon in Hot Springs. Now, this is so wrong for so many reasons... I mean, IMAGINE getting a shampoo. Apparently State Board didn't agree that men needed a salon like that and shut it down... that may be an urban legend, but i'll have to look into it!

my hair twin?

My client Erika is a lot of fun... she lets me do anything to her hair. A while back, we decided to grow it out from a bleach blonde pixie to long waves. She came in a few days ago and as she was leaving, everyone was commenting on how our hair looked so similar! I guess when I like a hairstyle or color, I want to share it. Long layers and caramel highlights are great for low-maintenance hair. Roots are in, but white hair and dark roots is a little tacky (Jessica Simpson roots, anyone?) So the shaggy layers and fine caramel pieces that get a little lighter towards the end keep your color bright without being "neon" blonde. (Shout out to you, M!)

The Essentials!

Chi Nano hairdryer. My favorite, but Boy Taylor (hubby) prefers a Solano. The Chi is a lot hotter and lighter weight, which is why I like it!

Volumactiv mousse gives a great blowout! It can be mixed with anything to control the volume level or hold.

My favorite product. It can even make course, dry hair feel silky soft and smooth

Ahh, the Chi Turbo. Much debated about, but for me, the only flat iron to use. It gets so hot, and the velvet on the outside allows me to curl with it (it smoothes the hair and you can touch the outside without giving yourself blisters!) I use this every day, all the time. Best thing ever!

1" and 1 1/4" curling irons are a must. I like to wrap the hair around the outside of the iron instead of clamping it in for a more natural curl.

This Shu Uemura brush is amazing. It is like a Mason Pearson brush, but with more surface space, and it is cheaper! It will still cost you around $75, but it is so worth it. They are limited edition, but we still have a few left at Dead Swanky, I believe.

Chi 2" round brush. Love it!

The best teasing comb, in my opinion!

Dry shampoo for prolonging your blowout a day or two (I am always doing this) and for times you need a little extra lift. I know that for you brunettes and redheads, this works but Bumble & Bumble makes dry shampoos in colors.

Hair elastics... love the clear elastics for braids across the front. For runway-smooth ponytails, bungee cords are the best!

Alicia's wedding in Eureka

A few weeks ago, one of my clients, Alicia, got married at Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs. The bridal party all got ready at the Crescent Hotel, where we had a suite in the spa to get ready in. I did all the bridesmaid's hair, and of course, the bride's lovely hair! She wanted something pretty and simple. She was a beautiful bride! I will try to get some of the professional pictures to post. I loved getting to drive to Eureka and spending the day with such a sweet group of girls! Congratulations to Dave and Alicia!

Some new styles...

From one length to layered with fringe... a dramatic change for Curry!

We cut nearly 10 inches off! So exciting!

Strut For A Mutt 2009

Dead Swanky girls!

Samantha, Lisa, Misty, me, and Claire

our hair inspirations!

Studio 8 girls

model Tara

sweet little model from Miami

action shots

Above, me and Samantha

Below, other Samantha (Ronson)!

Strut For A Mutt was last Friday at Savor. Several hairstylists from Dead Swanky and Studio 8 created some fabulous looks for the runway models. We did the "Zoe" which was a low messy bun with beachy waves and fishtail braids. Everyone looked incredible and the evening was a HUGE success! Samantha Ronson was the DJ at the after party. Find me on Facebook to look at my party pics from that night!

Hair Extensions!

My friend Stephanie is getting married in the spring. She has fine hair naturally, and we wanted to do a fuller look for her wedding. We thought we might as well go ahead and get the extensions now so she could enjoy them for all of the pre-event festivities. We matched her color and ordered the extensions, which are human hair. Sounds creepy, but they are the best. You can cut, color, curl, straighten, shampoo and blowdry these extensions. I recommend the clip in kind, because bonded in extensions can sometimes break your hair. If you don't mind the maintenance, bonded in extensions are great. For a more low maintenance extension look, the clip ins are the way to go, since you don't have to deal with them every day. The clip ins are a lot more affordable as well! These extensions turned out great after we cut and curled them a bit! They are a great way to change up your look with very little commitment!