Texture: Salons Set Themselves Apart with Curls
by Michelle Breyer on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
High-profile salons like New York City’s Ouidad, Miss Jessie’s and Devachan have proven that salons can successfully focus on the curly niche. Their chairs are filled with wavy-, curly- and kinky-haired clients who flock to them from around the world for their stylists’ expertise in working with texture.
But this trend isn’t limited to the Big Apple. Salons from Toronto to Tucson also have proven that texture can be a powerful way to set themselves apart at a time when everyone is looking for ways to get the edge in a challenging economy. With a large population of people with wavy, curly and kinky hair — people willing to spend a lot of money to make their hair look its best — this trend is only likely to increase. And with more women embracing their texture than ever before, the salons that know how to work with it are likely to reap the benefits.
“There’s a salon on every street, but if you specialize, you set yourself apart,” Kim Wicks of Frontenac Salon. “Our salon chose to specialize in naturally curly hair. It’s been huge. It’s really helped us through this recession.”
Here’s a look at some standout curly salons—from a one-chair stylist to a salon that recently opened a second location to accommodate the demand form curly clients.
Curltopia, Smyrna, Ga.
Curltopia opened in Smyrna, Ga. in May 2008 as a salon where “it’s all about making peace with your hair.”
“We know how difficult it can be to find a stylist who can work with curly hair,” says Curltopia Flavia Medina who opened the salon with fellow curly Tricia Joyner.
Inititally, they envisioned a small salon with one chair. But demand grew quickly, and today they have seven stylists. All stylists must be licensed and experienced and must assist a senior stylist for six months before working on their own. During this training period, they learn what types of products and cuts work for different textures.
Curltopia sends clients home with a prescription of what products they should use and how they should use them—education that is especially important to curly clients. They like to see their clients two weeks later for a follow up.
“We want to make sure we’re teaching them about product use,” Medina says.
Curltopia, like many curly salons, attracts a diverse clientele, who travel to the salon from as far as North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.
“There is nothing that walks in that door that we can’t handle,” Medina says. “We’re not a black salon or a white salon. We’re a hair salon.”
The salon’s decor mirrors this philosophy, with its black and white stripes.
Spirals, Tucscon, Ariz.
“It started small,” says Tonja Chagris, who opened the salon six years ago with two other people.
Chagris, who has curly hair herself, worked as a hairdresser for 17 years.
“I wanted to address curly and textured hair,” she says. “It was an immediate success, We had an article in the newspaper, and we were not prepared for the crowds. We couldn’t even let the people in. It was scary.”
Today, the Paul Mitchell salon has seven stylists, all trained in how to work with curly and textured hair. Although the salon does have curly clients, 90 percent of its clientele has textured hair.
Chagris believes the curly niche has helped the salon survive and thrive, despite tough economic times.
“It really has kept us afloat,” she says. “We consistently get new curly hair people, and they are willing to travel. It enables us to draw from a larger area.”
But the curly world does have some challenges, she says. The curly client tends to be gun shy, usually having had many a bad haircut in her past.
“Most people with texture have had bad experiences,” she says. “We focus on slowing down and making sure each time they’re there.”
The Curl Ambassadors, Toronto, Ont.
Curly tops Caroline Muir and Betty Di Salvo were frustrated by the difficulty they had finding stylists who knew how to work with their hair. They heard similar frustrations from other curly friends and family.
“We realized it was time to provide a place that specialized in naturally curly hair,” says Muir.
In October 2006, the duo opened their first location in downtown Toronto. They openend a second salon in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan in November 2009. The Curl Ambassadors’ clientele travel from as far away as Vancouver and Chicago,
“Our clients’ motto seem to be ‘Have curls, will travel,’” Di Salvo says.
For other salons considering focusing on texture as a niche, Muir suggests locating in a cosmopolitan, multicultural area.
“Are there a lot of people with curls?” she says.
One of the most important things, says Muir, is to recruit the right stylists for the salon. It’s not enough to be well-trained.
“We’re looking for those that will want to really care for curly hair with all their heart,” Muir says.
Hello Curls, San Diego, Calif.
Beverly Neeland learned how to do a wet set when she was 3 years old, playing with her stylist grandmother’s tools to create styles. She began cutting hair when she was still in grade school. She intuitively knew how to work with curls, perfecting her technique on her mother’s hair.
“My mother would come home from the hairdresser and her wavy hair, and I would fix her bad cuts,” says Neeland. “I had a knack for hairdressing.”
Although Neeland always wanted to be a hairdresser, her father convinced her to get a college degree. She gravitated toward the world of theater, working as a stylist, costume designer and wigmaker for professional theater companies for 15 years. While working on wigs, she would style them dry, cutting them based on what they need rather than any particular formula.
She never lost her desire to be a professional hairstylist. So when she had the chance, she got her cosmetology license.
At beauty school, she began externing at a salon and naturally gravitated toward curly clients.
Neeland said she initially hated salons because of her own traumatic experiences with stylists who would roll their eyes when she would sit in their chair with her thick curls.
“I started thinking, what if I opened a salon and just worked on curly people,” she says. “Having my own understanding of what it’s like, I thought I could make my clients more comfortable.”
She rented space at salons in Sacramento, specializing in naturally curly hair. Earlier this year, she opened a studio salon in San Diego and has teamed up with another stylist who specializes in curls.
Neeland says focusing on this niche has been a definite selling point for her
“When they find out I only work on curly hair—I don’t even have a round brush in my salon—they relax,” she says. “It’s a deciding factor for them. They feel comfortable before they come in. They know I talk the talk.”
She gets most of her clients through word of mouth, an especially powerful tool in the curly world. She recalled one of her clients who was stopped by a curly woman who wanted to know who did her hair. Suddenly, she found herself with 10 new clients who traveled more than two hours to get their hair cut by her.
But working with curly clients also has a downside, she says. They tend to go longer between cuts—an average of every 12 to 14 weeks rather than every six to eight weeks. Some of her clients only come in once every two to three years, she says.
“I feel like I have to have more clients than the average hairdressers so my book stays full,” she says.
Texture: Not Your Mother’s Perm
by Michelle Breyer on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
According to Darby Shields, associate artistic director for ISO, are two 4-letter words in hairdressing: bangs and perms.
When it comes to perms “We now say ‘body’ or ‘movement’ or ‘texture’,” says Shields.
Whatever you choose to call them—texturizers, waves or perms—the technology has come a long way. Unlike the poodle perms of the past, today’s perms have the ability to deliver sexy, fashion-forward texture without sacrificing the health of your hair. They are definitely not our mothers’ perms.
Demand is on the rise as texture—from beachy waves to curls—has become increasingly fashionable.
The whole process has changed dramatically from the day of strong chemicals, perm rods and end papers.
In 1938, Arnold F. Willatt invented the cold wave, the precursor to the modern perm. It used no machines and no heat. The hair was wrapped on rods and a reduction lotion containing ammonium thioglycolate was applied. This chemical breaks open the disulfide linkages between the polypeptide bonds in the keratin (the protein structure) in the hair. The disulfide bonds give hair its elasticity, and can be reformed with chemicals. Next, an oxidation lotion was applied, (hydrogen peroxide), to close the disulfide bridges again and the hair was reformed to the shape of the rod. The entire process took 6–8 hours at room temperature. These treatments evolved into perms using ammonium thioglycolate, and then sodium thioglycolate, which cut processing time.
The new generation of perms are much gentler, with lower pH and low ammonia, giving the stylist more control over the outcome. ISO’s Option Wave, for example, is an award-winning professional perm system completely free of thio, the activator found in many traditional perms. It uses ISOamine, an exclusive technology that allows for deeper and more even penetration into the hair’s cortex with minimal swelling of the cuticle. Minimal swelling means hair’s internal and external structures and condition are maintained.
And the application also has changed dramatically from the day of perm rods and end papers. Today’s tools are flexible and soft, or no tools at all are used.
“You can make pin curls and process that, if you want,” Sheilds says. “You can do just about anything you want.”
Steve Goddard was working at Redken in 1994—“the day perms died.” He recalls working with chemists to come up with a new type of permanent rave. While talking to a focus group of 12 young stylists, he asked them for feedback on names and positioning.
“I started the presentation and notice that they’re all looking at me like I stepped off the moon,” says Goddard, president and founder of Pravana Naturceuticals.
“They all said ‘We don’t do perms,’”Goddard recalled.
Goddard asked, “None of you do perms?”
“None of us do perms,” they replied.
“Absolutely none?” he asked.
“We don’t do them and we don’t want to do them,” the stylists replied.
For the next 14 years, stick straight hair was the trend. But two years ago, he started to notice celebrities wearing soft waves. Goddard started looking and listening, and realized this trend was different than the perm trend that had caught fire in the 1980s. These waves were longer and less defined—beachier.
Goddard decided to create a product that could give women this beachy look—the Pravana Beach Wave. With that mission in mind, he realized he would have to create a formula different than the alkaline waves, which create a firmer, crisper curl than he wanted for this look An acid wave would provide the softness, but wouldn’t be firm enough for longer hair.
“We would lose the wave because of the weight,” he says. “We realized we needed to come up with a hybrid in terms of a wave solution. We developed a wave that uses amino acid technology to replace thio, giving the firmness of a wave without the crispness and definition.”
In addition to the actual solution, Goddard wanted to create an easy-to-use way to wrap the hair that wouldn’t leave marks The answer was to use wave blocks. Rather than the 70 to 80 rods used for a traditional perm, a stylist can use as few as 18 wave blocks to wrap up the head in a matter of 10 minutes.
“There is so much variety now, and that carries over to the textural spectrum,” Goddard says. “It’s not just about different cuts today. It’s about different textures. It’s our job to find out what people are doing and what they want, and then come up with a way for them to do it easily.”
In 1938, Arnold F. Willatt invented the cold wave, the precursor to the modern perm. It used no machines and no heat. The hair was wrapped on rods and a reduction lotion containing ammonium thioglycolate was applied. This chemical breaks open the disulfide linkages between the polypeptide bonds in the keratin (the protein structure) in the hair. The disulfide bonds give hair its elasticity, and can be reformed with chemicals. Next, an oxidation lotion was applied, (hydrogen peroxide), to close the disulfide bridges again and the hair was reformed to the shape of the rod. The entire process took 6–8 hours at room temperature. These evolved into perms using ammonium thioglycolate, and then sodium thioglycolate.
But stylists still have some image hurdles to overcome to get the word out about this new generation of perms.
“People do come in for perms, but they don’t want to say it,” Shields says. “They may bring in a picture of Taylor Swift or Kate Hudson, and I tell them I can make their hair look like that chemically.”
Shields also having some examples by your chair of the results that can be achieved with texturizers. She suggests wrapping hair pieces with different tools and have them hanging around your station to show the different types of waves and curls you can create.
“It’s a huge opportunity,”says Shields. “Judging from the way people are asking for texture on both coasts, I’m sure it will permeate the rest of the country in short order. To be on the leading edge of that can be a huge advantage. You can really build your business if you become known for this new generation of retexturizers.”
The chemicals being used also are much different, with less ammonia and lower pHs. ISO’s Option Wave, for example, This award-winning professional perm system completely free of thio, the activator found in many traditional perms, and also Damage-free, low ammonia formulation. It uses ISOamine™, an exclusive technology that allows for deeper and more even penetration into the hair’s cortex with minimal swelling of the cuticle. Minimal swelling means hair’s internal and external structures and condition are maintained.
And the application also has changed dramatically from the day of perm rods and end papers. Today’s tools are flexible and soft or no tools.
“You can make pin curls and process that, if you want,” Sheilds says. “You can do just about anything you want.”
A Perm Primer
Root Perm
A savior for those with short, flat hair—the root perm helps add volume at the root of the hair to give lots of body. It’s also perfect for already permed hair that’s looking for a little pick-me-up. Because only the roots are treated, it saves the rest of the lady’s locks from another treatment.
Body Wave Perm
Creating big, bouncy curls as opposed to tight, spring curls – the body wave perm is for curl-lovers who want a more modern curly look. The goal is to inject body and a little curl without adding a ton of ‘poof’ to the hair. Because this perm uses larger perm rods than traditional perms, the length of your client’s hair will determine how curly it will be: the shorter, the curlier.
Weave Perm
Because you’re curling only partial sections of the hair, the weave perm will give your client a fabulous, fusion look with both textured and straight pieces in her hair. She’ll be treated with great versatility by choosing how much of her hair is treated for this modern look.
Stack Perm
Finally a solution for women without layers, the stack perm is made for women who have a one-length cut. The treatment creates soft, layered curls for a natural look and is achieved by the use of differently sized rollers to the middle and bottom sections of the hair. The top is typically left flat to create a more a more natural look.
Acid Perm
While it sounds harsh, the acid perm is actually gentler than the traditional alkaline perm as it has a lower pH level. It is specifically made for those with sensitive, fragile, or damaged hair. This perm will still create beautiful curls without as much damage to the hair follicle.
Exothermic Perm
Referring to the gentle, internal heat that is characteristic of this treatment, the exothermic perm helps speed up the processing time. The heat helps to allow the lotion to absorb quickly into the hair, conditioning and strengthening the cuticle from the inside. Your client will walk out with beautiful, bouncy curls from this innovative treatment.
Texture: Commitment-Free Retexturizing
by Michelle Breyer on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
There was a time when the only option for temporarily changing curly hair to straight or straight hair to curly—or to go from long to short and back—was a wig or a chemical treatment.
These days, there are numerous ways that stylists and consumers can temporarily change the look of hair, without chemicals. They range from innovative new styling products to natural-looking extensions.
Product Innovations
Toronto stylist Jonathan Torch, creator of the Curly Hair Solutions line of products, wanted to create a product that could temporarily loosen curls without chemicals. He spent years trying to find the ideal ingredient that could smooth the curls and keep the hair shiny and soft.
Before
The answer, he says, was lecithin.
“It as a complete aha moment,” Torch says. “It’s in all of my conditioners; it’s thick as tar and it makes the hair shiny.”
Curly Hair Solutions is launching Extenzz this fall, which pushes water into the hair and uses the weight of the wet hair to straighten or loosen curl by using the product in conjunction with different brushing techniques.
While Curly Hair Solutions discovered a creative way to relax curls by using eggs (which contain lecithin), many of the most exciting advances have come in the laboratory, where chemists have concocted new formulations of polymers and silicones that help straighten and defrizz hair.
Living Proof, which has stormed onto the beauty scene, developed a new technology called polyfluoroEster—a smaller molecule than the traditional materials used for frizz control. Due to its chemical nature, the formulation adheres tightly to the hair, which allows for long-lasting moisture resistance and rebalancing of the hair fiber’s interaction with the atmosphere, even after extreme humidity.
After
“It helps prevent friction that causes hair to frizz,” says Eric Spengler, senior vice president of research and development for Living Proof, a line sold in both professional and consumer outlets. The Living Proof No Frizz Straight Styling line is designed to make it easier to and faster to blow out hair, while the Wave collection helps define curls.
“These products provide an alternative to silicone and more permanent chemical treatments,” Spengler says.
Stay tuned for several new products in the coming months that will be able to give people a straighter, smoother look for several days without using chemicals.
Hair Extensions
With hair extensions, a client can go from curly to straight, straight to curly and from long to short. The client can even get bangs, without the long-term commitment. Extensions are available in clip-ons, which can be put on for a quick change, to strand-by-strand extensions that can last several months.
“Extensions are a great option to chemicals, whether it be texture or color,” says Kimberly Castagna, public relations assistant at SO.CAP USA Hair Extensions, a leader in the world market of producing natural and synthetic hair.
“With our extensions, people have found they can create texture that feels better and looks more natural than their own hair,” she says
Curly hair can get a smooth, elegant by pulling the hair back and adding straight extensions. Wavy and curly extensions can be added to straighter hair for a completely different look. You can also add volume without length by putting in strand-by-strand extensions, Castagna says. Extensions are being used in place of wigs by some women who have undergone chemotherapy.
“It gives them the option of looking like its their own hair,” she says.
Texture: Giving Clients the Texture They Want
by Michelle Breyer on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
What if there was a product that allowed you to give clients exactly what they want? It could be used to straighten, loosen or defrizz waves and curls without damaging hair or creating an awkward grow-out period. What if this product could be used on any hair type to make the hair softer and shinier? And what if it boosted profits for salons and stylists by creating an entirely new market?
That product, say some stylists, now exists. Keratin treatments have exploded onto the scene, generating buzz among consumers and stylists alike.
A Cure for Frizz?
Three years ago, a handful of keratin companies existed—pioneers like Brazilian Keratin Treatment by Marcia Teixeira, Keratin Complex by Coppola and Global Keratin. At July’s 2010 Cosmoprof North America show in Las Vegas, there were more than 40 companies offering keratin treatment products, from large hair-care companies to small start ups.
“To have a product like a keratin straightener is a breakthrough,” says Stephanie Kocielski, a John Paul Mitchell.
Not so long ago, the only option to remove texture in the hair was to use a product containing sodium hydroxide—lye. Next came relaxers containing ammonium thioglycolate (nicknamed “thio relaxer”), a gentler service.
Most recently, those opting for a straighter look flocked to Japanese thermal reconditioning, a chemical process that permanently alters the internal structure of the hair shaft, rendering it totally straight. Thermal reconditioning (TR) was an all-or-nothing proposition, and many women with texture weren’t willing to commit to it.
But keratin treatments have not been without their share of controversy, either. When they first came on the scene, the formulas contained formaldehyde—sometimes in high concentrations. Formaldehyde is listed as a carcinogen by a number of health and safety agencies. Now many of the treatments are lower or free of formaldehyde and aldehydes, a family of compounds that straighten the hair. Many of the aldehydes are naturally derived and less toxic than formaldehyde. Additionally, some stylists and clients may wear masks to protect themselves from any irritants.
A World of Options
Today’s new wave of relaxers, silkeners and smoothers give clients and stylists more choices than ever.
“It’s all about making your texture—whatever it is—better,” says Sasha Polit, marketing manager for Global Keratin Smoothing System. “If you want to change the texture, we offer that option, but if you want to work with your natural texture, we also offer that option.”
Global Keratin offers Light Wave, for those who want to keep their natural texture; Curly, for those who want more straightening capability; and Resistant, for the straightest look.
Methods vary, but the most commonly-used keratin treatment involves the stylist washing a client’s hair with a clarifying shampoo, applying the keratin treatment and then using a flat iron to straighten the hair and “seal” the treatment.
Before
“In the past, there weren’t a lot of options,” says Darby Shields, associate artistic director for ISO, which developed the Maintamer, a semi permanent retexturizer that softens and smooths naturally curly or previously permed hair. “You either had floppy hair, curly hair or straw hair. There wasn’t a lot in between. It was a big decision for people to do something so permanent with their hair. Maintamer is reversible the next day.”
After
With variety of new options comes an increased need for communication between stylist and client.
“When they start asking about a treatment, you have to dig deep into what they really want,” says Amanda Jenkins, master stylist and education director at Arrojo Studio. “Can they achieve it without a chemical treatment? I ask my clients to bring in pictures so we’re both very clear about what they’re expecting. It’s all about the consultation.”
Sleek Service
Some clients may want their hair completely straight. In that case, Kocielski says she may suggest The Relaxer by JPMS, a sodium hydroxide relaxer that eliminates curl. “Some people think they’ll be able to wash their hair and it will dry straight, but that’s probably not the case with a keratin treatment,” she says. “Keratin treatments can condition and soften the hair, but they don’t always straighten it.”
Price is also an important consideration. Keratin treatments and other types of chemical relaxers cost several hundred dollars, and may need to be redone every three to five months.
For the stylist, keratin treatments have provided a way to make their clients happy and boost their profit margin at the same time. One 32-ounce bottle of the KeraFusion System from De Fabulous can generate $4,000 for the stylist, says Rebecca Letizia, marketing director of De Fabulous.
In addition to the in-salon treatments, companies like Keratin Complex, Global Keratin and Marcia Teixeira Brazilian Keratin Treatment offer maintenance products designed to extend the life of the service and enhance the results. These products can also boost retail sales for the salon.
“These clients will come back every three to five months,” Polit says. “The more they use the product, the shinier, softer and more manageable their hair will be. You’re building
a client for life.”
The PhytoSpecific PhytoRelaxer relaxes or texturizes all hair types with a non-chemical formula. It comes in two levels: one for fine, delicate hair and one for coarse, resistant hair.
Smooth Operators
Here are a few of the keratin treatments available on the market today:
Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy by Coppola: Keratin Complex Smoothing Therapy was founded by stylist and salon owner Peter Coppola. The therapy eliminates up to 95 percent of frizz and curl and instantly adds shine and condition to the hair.
Marcia Teixeira Brazilian Keratin Treatment: This treatment is for all kinds of hair to leave it soft, shiny and frizz-free for up to four months. It can be used safely on just about any type of hair—dry, frizzy, overprocessed, color treated, ethnic unprocessed virgin hair.
Pravana Kerafusion Keratin Treatment: This salon service permanently transforms coarse, curly, unruly hair to smooth, straight and shiny. Or, it makes fine, limp hair voluminous. It contains no thio, no sodium hydroxide, no formaldehyde, no aldehydes. As part of the Keratin Fusion service, Pravana’s Thermal Insulator protects the hair during the texture control.
Brazilian Blowout: Through the use of a Brazilian Super Nutrient Complex and a proprietary polymer system, the Brazilian Blowout improves the condition of the hair by creating a protective protein layer around the hair shaft to eliminate frizz and smooth the cuticle. Results last up to 12 weeks.
Global Keratin: The Juvexin Hair Taming System incorporates a keratin formulation which protects the hair and prevents damage to hair surface. The system is an organic, active complex component, delivered to the hair in its raw, natural state. Amino acids and proteins remain whole to condition hair and protect it from damage caused by environmental factors.
ISO Maintamer: ISO Maintamer Straightening System is a two-step straightening system that smoothes coarse hair, taming unruly curls and waves, un-perming ends and controlling frizzy hair. Maintamer uses a damage-free, thio-free, lye-free Isoamine technology that processes primarily within the cortex of the hair, to minimize damage to the cuticle while altering the pattern of naturally curly or previously permed hair to soften and smooth.
La Brasiliana: Intense treatment that softens, smoothes and relaxes all hair types. Available in Original, Apple and Mocha varieties.
PhytoSpecific PhytoRelaxer: This non-chemical relaxer relaxes or texturizes all hair types. Formulated with molecules from egg and soya, it is odorless and does not contain lye. It’s available in two levels: for fine, delicate hair and one for coarse, resistant hair.
Texture: Cool Tools
by Michelle Breyer on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
For decades, stylists and consumers have relied on the tried-and-true tools to create textured styles. Diffusers help coax the natural curl out of the hair. Flat irons straighten and smooth. Curling irons add ringlets or waves. While these tools are still useful in the salon setting and at home, technology is changing—advancing the way stylists texturize hair—and evolving the way salons do business.
CHI Orbit:
Why it’s cool: CHI Orbits are available in multiple sizes to mimic diverse natural curl patterns. When used on curly hair, the Orbit tames frizz and reroutes curls. Orbit tools use CHI 44 technology to penetrate the hair shaft giving each curl long-lasting results with elasticity. A non-stick heating surface lets hair be wrapped around without tangles or pulling and alleviating wrist strain.
White Sands Curling Iron
Why it’s cool: This curling iron fuses together the spring iron and Marcel methods into one tool. Utilize the professionalism and wave technique of a Marcel iron to create waves or switch to the direct control and ease of a spring load without the need for multiple irons. Check it out!
Joico K-PAK ReconstRx Vapor Iron
Why it’s cool: K-PAK ReconstRx Vapor Iron infuses hair with K-PAK Quadramine Complex, which reconstructs and nourishes hair, working from the inside out to improve hair’s health and condition. The iron’s vented ceramic/silicon hybrid plates and Vapor Fuel steam produce shiny, vibrant hair. Check it out!
Belson Triple-Barrel Waver
Why it’s cool: The intuitive controls allow the user to choose heat settings according to hair type, including synthetic extensions and wigs. Select the “hair type” button and the iron automatically adjusts to the precise temperature setting needed. Nano ceramic coated triple barrels radiate gentle farinfrared heat, locking in moisture in the hair shaft and sealing the cuticle from damage; leaving hair frizz-free, shiny and silky. Check it out!
Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium 1″ U Styler
Why it’s cool: Sol-Gel technology reduces friction for a strong, smooth glide, while the curved side heating plates create curls in one smooth flip. Straighten, add body, wave and curls. It includes a ceramic heater for consistent heat and recovery, up to 450°F. Plus stay-cool Ryton housing, a rubberized thumb rest, and a cool tip for comfort. Chaeck it out!
Curlformers
Why it’s cool: Fun and easy to apply, Curlformers can be used to create glossy curls and loose sexy waves, or to add texture and body without subjecting hair to heat or damage. Check it out!
DevaConcepts DevaSun Dryer
Why it’s cool: Designed specifically for curly tresses, the DevaSun Dryer uses ion-generating technology and features three custom temperature settings for curly and wavy hair. The hand-shaped DevaFuser utilizes a 360-degree airflow to gently dry curls from the inside out. Check it out!
Tool Time
Ceramic, ionic and tourmaline made hot tools sizzle. Understand the technology behind the trends in tools with our quick guide.
Ceramic: Creates even heat distribution and snag-free gliding.
Far-infrared Heat: When absorbed, it dries hair from the inside out to work faster and minimize cuticle damage.
Ionic: Negative ions split or electrolyze water molecules, causing them to penetrate deeply but evaporate faster. When negative ions are attracted to positive ones, they neutralize them, causing the cuticle to close. Results: smoother, shinier hair.
Tourmaline: When heated, this gemstone produces more negative ions than any other substance, plus far-infrared heat. The claims: Even heat distribution, faster drying times, less damage, increased shine.
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Categories: Retexturizing, Styling
Tags: babyliss, blow dryers, blowdryers, curlformer, curling, curling irons, Deva, devafuser, diffusers, flat iron, flatiron, smoothing, straightening,
Link: http://www.curlstylist.com/articles/styling/texture-cool-tools
NAHA Awards Showcase Creativity, Innovation
by Michelle Breyer on Thursday, July 1st, 2010
The winners for this year were announced. Check them out here.
When Mahisha Dellinger of CURLS signed on as a sponsor this year for the 2010 North American Hairstyling Awards, it was a no-brainer.
Silas Tsang
“NAHA is truly the pulse of American stylist’s artistry at its best,” says Dellinger.
CURLS joins some of the biggest names in the business—RUSK, Modern Salon, KMS California, Aquage, Joico, Pureology, to name a few—in supporting the annual competition, which has become a true pinnacle of career achievement for stylists. Many consider it the Academy Awards of the beauty industry.
This year’s NAHA awards will be presented at 6:30 p.m. July 18 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev.
NAHAs are given in 13 categories, including Master Stylist, Hairstylist of the Year, Editorial Stylist, Student Hairstylist, Avant-Garde, Contemporary Classic, Fashion Foward, Haircolor, Salon Team, Salon Design, Texture and Makeup Artist.
Dimitrios Tsioumas
A favorite category for Dellinger, and many stylists who focus on waves, curls and kinks, is the Texture category, which draws some of the most creative and innovative entries. “Those contestants are going to receive extra CURLS love,” says Dellinger.
This year, the NAHAs will also salute two professionals who have had a significant impact on the industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Beth Minardi, an internationally renowned haircolor specialist, educator and salon owner. Freferic Holzberger, an entrepreneur, educator and philanthropist, will be inducted into the NAHA Hall of Leaders.
Chad Seale
This year’s NAHAs boasted a record-setting number of entries. More than 700 beauty professionals entered—up 18 percent from 2009 and a 35 percent increase from 2008. This is a testament to the growing prestige of the NAHAs, and the impact they can have on a stylists’ career.
This year’s NAHA judges include industry leaders such as Tabatha Coffey, Ruth Roche, Nick Arrojo, Mary Brunetti, Sally Hershberger and Sam Brocato.
Click here for more information about the event.
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Categories: Coloring, Curly Care Basics, Cutting, Retexturizing, Styling
Tags: cosmoprof, CURLS, joico, KMS, modern salon, NAHA, North American Hairstyling Awards, pureology, redken, rusk, sebastian, texture, wella,
Link: http://www.curlstylist.com/articles/cutting/naha-awards-showcase-creativity-innovation
Braziliante by Cadiveu Smooths Locks Without Damage
by Michelle Breyer on Monday, May 24th, 2010
With the rising humidity of summer comes frizz for many people with wavy and curly hair.
Braziliante by Cadiveu offers a solution for those seeking smoother hair without damage.
The product, imported from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is used by top salons and stylists around the country.
The formaldehyde-free treatment—from beginning to end— takes about 90 minutes, with no down or processing time between steps. It is designed to work well on on all hair types.
It improves the condition of the hair by creating a protein layer on the hair cuticle to smooth and prevent frizz.
“Once a client has this treatment they can go to Miami on the most humid day of the summer and their hair will not frizz, rather will stay smooth, silky and shiny just as it does when they walk out of the salon,” says Braziliante by Cadiveu founder Christine Medrick.
First the hair is washed with an anti-residue shampoo to open the hair cuticle. Then the solution is applied thoroughly and evenly to the hair. It is blow dried and flat-ironed in 1-inch sections six to eight times with a 450-degree iron to lock in the treatment. Finally, a masque is applied for a few minutes before the hair is rinsed.
In addition to reducing frizz, smoothing the hair and adding shine, another major benefit of the treatment is that it cuts drying time down to one third. If it usually takes 45 minutes, it will only take 15 post-treatment because the hair has less porosity.
After the treatment, Braziliante by Cadiveu sells a line of products to keep the hair looking its best. The Anti Frizz Shampoo and Anti Frizz Conditioner are extremely moisturizing and contain ingredients such as keratin to prolong the results of the treatment. The Leave-in Anti-Frizz contains solar protection and leaves the hair smooth and shiny.
The Art of the Cocktail
by Michelle Breyer on Monday, May 17th, 2010
Portland stylist Amie Zimmerman recalled a curly client who showed her what she used to tame her hair.
“She came in with Dep Gel, hand lotion and coconut oil, and swore it was the only thing that would work,” Zimmerman says.
Any curly girl or stylist who regularly works with texture will tell you they have become makeshift chemists, creating their own mixtures of products in their search for the perfect solution for curls and kinks. These might include any possible combination of conditioners, gels, mousses, serums, creams and pomades. A product from one company often is mixed with products from others.
Why do we depend on so many products to get the right look?
“The benefit of using more than one product in curly hair is that you can fine tune the texture and resilience of the curl and the shape of the style,” says New York-based stylist Giovanni Giuntoli, artistic director at Tearsheet Editorial Styling Classes and a Redken session stylist. “Sometimes one product doesn’t give you all the benefits of two or three. It’s similar to giving your hair a multivitamin, compared to just a Vitamin C tablet. It helps out more.”
Diedre Boone, owner of The Root of You Salon and Day Spa in Houston, which specializes in ethnic skin and hair care, says African-American and multi-ethnic women have a wide variety of hair types and one product rarely does the trick.
“The fact that their hair textures vary so dramatically, we find it necessarily to mix together different products on different people,” Boone says.
Depending on how thick, porous and kinky the hair is, she uses different concentrations of different products.
Zimmerman says she likes to keep her product combinations simple to prevent the ingredients from canceling each other out. She might mix a curl enhancer with a leave-in conditioner to provide a softer hold, or a little styling gel with a straightening balm for loose, defined waves.
“Sometimes product cocktails may defy logic, Zimmerman admits.
“I’m always saying ‘Oh no, they’re using silicone-based, petroleum-based products with water-based products and they’ll never bond to the hair or distribute through their hair the way they want them to,” she says. “I imagine these fist fights between the water and petroleum, with the silicone waiting to wrap up the whole mess at the end. I’m a total geek!”
Many companies have caught on to this trend, and have created products meant to be used together.
While using a variety of products can be a great way to customize products, some caution stylists against complicated cocktailing. Luis Alvarez, co-founder of Aquage, believes stylists do their clients a disservice if they created complicated cocktails that are difficult to replicate at home. For example, the company advocates stylists cocktail Aquage’s Defining Gel with its new SeaExtend Silkening Oil on waves and curls because the combo can’t be botched.
“Be careful with cocktailing because it can go south very quickly,” Alvarez says. “Some of the things we do behind the chair might not be something you want to pass on to a client who may not have the technical expertise to replicate it at home. The more straightforward the information, the greater the odds the client will succeed.”
Hot Career: Hair Stylist
by Michelle Breyer on Monday, May 3rd, 2010
At Avenue Five Institute, an Austin-based cosmetology school, enrollment has doubled over the past year, said Brandon Martin, president of the school.
Avenue Five isn’t alone. Beauty schools around the country are seeing a surge in enrollment as a growing number of people are being drawn to careers in cosmetology.
This interest is coming from a wide range of people—from young people out of high school to displaced workers from other industries. Also fueling the growth is the record availability of financial aid.
The number of professional salon employees, 1.7 million, greatly outnumbers the number of lawyers across the United States.
“We’re seeing a lot of older students (30 years old and older) who are finding the need to retrain or pursue a long held dream that they have wanted to accomplish for years and never did until now,” says Jill Kohler, president and founder of Kohler Academy, a cosmetology school in North Scottsdale, Arizona, who has seen a growing number of people enrolling from the banking and real estate industries.
Martin believes the economy has provided people with the opportunity to pursue a career they may always have been interested in.
“Beauty school is not a Plan B anymore.” Martin says. ” For a lot of people, they may have wanted to do it for a long time by their parents told them they had to go to college or they were told it wasn’t a good career. But they realize now that it can be great career that they can be very happy with.”
Many are drawn to the fact that they can have a daily impact on people’s lives. The increased exposure of celebrity stylists through reality shows has contributed to the glamour and allure of the profession.
In a recent British job satisfaction survey, hairstylist ranked No. 1.
“It’s a feel-good industry,” says Walt Hunter, an educator and owner of Salon Professional Academy in North Fort Myers, told the News-Press in April.
At Salon Professional Academy, enrollment has doubled from this time last year.
“We’ve definitely seen growth in enrollments over the past year,” said Jim Cox, executive director of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools.
Cox says he’s talked to a number of schools with record enrollments, with many schools expanding and building larger facilities to accommodate the surge in students.
While the economic downturn may be driving some of this growth, Cox and others in the industry believe perceptions about the industry are changing. Some of this can attributed to the popularity of celebrity stylists like Nick Arrojo and Ted Gibson on “What Not To Wear” and shows like “Tabitha’s Salon Takeover” and “Shear Genius.”
“In the past, we’ve been the red-headed step-child,” says Cox, citing such images as Grease’s “Beauty School Dropout.” “The momentum has really shifted. Now it’s is more accurately portrayed as a cool career.”
To pursue a career in hairstyling, opt for a hairstyling course from a reputed, accredited institution. You can find a detailed director at Beauty School Advisor.
Take a look at the curriculum. Find out if the course provide both theoretical and practical knowledge. Does it cover the techniques and skills required to style hair using appropriate materials and equipment?
Ideally, a hairstyling course begins with teaching the basic fundamentals of hair science, styling and cutting. A step-by-step approach helps in creating a firm foundation and mastering the art of hairstyling. The importance of shape, bone structure and suitability of hairstyles in accordance with one’s personality and preference should be necessarily covered. The program should provide due emphasis on classic cuts and sharpen hairstyling techniques.
After completing a basic hairstyling course, you should be well prepared to work as an entry-level hairstylist.
To hone skills in particular areas, including working with texture and color, stylists often pursue continuing education. Some stylists choose to work as assistants for experienced stylists to sharpen their skills.
And with financial options more abundant than ever, now is an ideal time to pursue a career in beauty school.
Much of the government financial aid has become available to cosmetology students at accredited cosmetology schools, and it is no longer necessary to be enrolled in a traditional four-year university. Also, most accredited cosmetology schools offer financial aid, ranging from grants and scholarships to loans and payment plans. There are even some non-accredited schools that offer grants and scholarships to qualified students.
Some financial aid options for beauty school may include the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Work-Study and the Federal Perkins Loan.
“It’s a good time all the way around,” Martin says. “There’s more financial aid then ever to help people enroll in cosmetology school.”
For those who choose a career as a stylist, the benefits can be many.
While other careers may be sensitive to economic ups and downs, the $60 billion cosmetology industry tends to show more economic stability.
One of the benefits of the career is that cosmetologist can easily move into any number of jobs such as esthetician, movie stylist and product sales representative. Even better, cosmetologists can easily set up their own professional salon business out of their homes or elsewhere.
“I’d say the biggest benefit is freedom, hands down,” Kohler says. “You have the freedom to be creative, the freedom to work when you want, the freedom to make as little or as much as you want, the freedom to travel and the freedom to be the best version of yourself.”
Conference for Salon Owners Coming to Austin
by Michelle Breyer on Monday, April 26th, 2010
Salon and spa owners in May in the Live Music Capital of the World for an innovative new event designed to help them grow their businesses.
SalonSpa Vision, being held May 16-17 at the Hilton Hotel Downtown in Austin, TX, will feature some of the leading educators and speakers in the professional beauty business, including Geno Stampora, Mary Beth Janssen, David Stanko and NaturallyCurly/CurlStylist’s own Michelle Breyer.
The conference is designed to provide tools and techniques to generate new business as well as retain existing clients, as well as information on how to manage costs - a must during challenging economic times.
“I am honored to be a keynote speaker for the SalonSpa Vision Conference,” says Geno Stampora, a driving force in the professional beauty industry who was inducted last year into NAHA’s Hall of Leaders. “The beauty industry is searching for solutions to their challenges, and this event brings the best minds together to solve them.
The two-day program will focus on the following topics: raising capital to finance growth, sustainability, marketing and branding, leadership and using technology to grow your business. Attendees will be able to gather information in a relaxed setting.
Registration for the two-day conference is $295, and includes lunch and refreshments on both days as well as 26 sessions and two keynote speeches.
SalonSpa Vision 2010 is produced by The Propoganda House, an independent event production company based in Austin. Executive director Steve Farrer is the owner and producer of the Texas Beauty Show.
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