My December Endeavors

It has been such a crazy month for me in the hair world and I have loved EVERY single minute of it.  I have rekindled my love with formal styling.  Doing hair for proms and special events was the reason why I started doing hair.  I realized I had a talent with hair and loved seeing how I made people feel about how they look.  I lost the sight of that when I moved to St. George, UT and had a couple of bad experiences with "Bridzillas" so I stopped doing them completely and just told myself over and over that I was just not good at it.  Thanks to all of my family and friends that had faith in me and knew I could do things that I didn't believe I could.  So here is a sneak peek of my past couple weeks.

Boho Bride

Photo:  Sami Jo Photography

Hair:  The OmbreD

Floral : Flower Afternoon

Make-up : Celise Artistry

Cozy Bride

Photo:  Sami Jo Photography

Hair:  The OmbreD

Floral : Flower Afternoon

Make-up : Celise Artistry

Romantic Bride

Photo:  Sami Jo Photography

Hair:  The OmbreD

Floral : Flower Afternoon

Make-up : Celise Artistry

I was able to do hair and makeup for Haley Kohfeld, one of my favorite people!  She and her family are the sweetest people you will ever meet and I just adore them.  She looked amazing on her wedding day.  Kristin Wilkerson did the photography and I have to say she did an amazing job. 

Photo:  Kristin Wilkerson

Hair and Makeup:  TheOmbreD

12.12.12

So this was my photography....as you can tell I should just stick with the hair, but I wanted everyone to see the detail on the back.  

Editorial Photo Shoot

I just had my first editorial photo shoot!  Ahhh!  It was so much fun.  I loved seeing all the creativity from each person who was involved.  All of these women were amazing and if you are looking for businesses to work with for your wedding, all of these ladies would be spectacular to work with.

                                                   styling & photography : sami jo photography

floral : flower afternoon

make-up : celise artistry

hair: the ombre d

I will have a post soon of some of the photos that showcase my work, but for now here is a link to Sami Jo Photography, who by the way, is AMAZING at what she does.  ENJOY!  http://www.samijophoto.com/

Choosing The Right Hair Color For Your Skin Tone

We have all been there where we feel like our face looks blah or drab.  Have you ever wondered that your hair color can be a contributor to that?  Well it is true!  There are some hair colors that just don't look good on certain skin tones which can make people look really yellow, red or blue.  Well have no fear ladies, I am here to help you all understand your skin undertones and what hair color compliments to make you look and feel your best!

So, why should this be important to you?
Well, your skin will look radiant, your eyes will appear brighter and clearer and people will give you compliments "You look great!"

If you have the incorrect colors your hair will just enhance the undertone in your skin, your skin will look tired and even your hair will look drab and boring.  You will hear comments like "You look tired, are you ok?"  Well no one likes this comment, especially if you are not tired and you spent a lot of time to get ready! Am I right?!  Lets move on......

What is an undertone?  Skin undertones are the colors that lie beneath the skin.  Undertones are the color that are cast like a shadow beneath your skin color.  The shadow has a distinct color that never changes.  While the tone of your skin color can change very easily, your undertone never changes.

There are a few types of skin undertones but I am going to just categorize them into four groups.
1.  Yellow/golden. WARM
2.  Pink/blue/.  COOL
3.  Neutral with hints of some or one of these undertones.  NEUTRAL

A tip to see which type of undertone you have.  Look at the veins on the inside of your elbow.  If they look green you have warm undertones.  If they look blue you have cool undertones.  This also helps you decide on what type of foundation you can choose for your skin tone.

WARM

Try deep, rich golden tones for the base and a chestnut, red, cinnamon or copper highlight.  FYI I got some of this info from a video that I posted on my facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/theOmbreD/posts/168496716607779?notif_t=like

COOL

Use intense shades of brown, red or blonde for your base color and then highlight with honey, taupe or ash colors to contrast the base.  

!!!! Ruddy complexions beware!!! Ruddy is noticeable red colors on the skin. Stay away from reds and platinum blonde. Red will bring the red in your skin to the forefront and platinum will just look harsh. Slight red tones can be corrected with a make-up primer or concealer with a green tint.

NEUTRAL
If you are a neutral consider your self lucky!  You can pull off the majority of hair colors.  You will usually have a warm or cool undertone but not enough to contrast with hair color.

Longer Lasting Color

I have had a few questions about how to get hair color to last longer than a couple weeks.  There are a few things that go into play that can make or break your color longevity.

1.  If you have porous hair, meaning really damaged, dry feeling, it makes it tough for your hair to keep color  underneath the cuticle because the cuticle is raised up, and therefore, it cannot retain color as long as we would like.

So what do we need to do to take your hair from a porous state to a healthy state?  You need to invest in a good shampoo, sulfate free, and conditioner.  Also, you need to make sure you are deep conditioning once a week.  This is extremely important for porous hair.  Make sure you are not washing your hair everyday and do every other instead.  If you are worried about stinky, greasy hair, then get a dry shampoo to help with the in between days.  And lastly, try not to use heat every day either.  Using heat is a HUGE contributor to porous hair.


Porous Hair                                                         Healthy Hair
  

2.  Trim your ends consistently.  If you are waiting every 6 months "guilty as charged!"  to get your hair trimmed you will have porous hair.  Hair ages and the ends need to be trimmed to keep them looking healthy and new!

3.  Before you go in to get your hair colored put on a deep conditioner and rinse out the night before.  This will help the hair retain moisture which will also help your hair pull in the color deeper toward the cortex which means longer lasting color.

4.  Use a color shampoo.  They have blondes, brunettes and reds shampoos that you can use a couple times a week to refresh your color keeping its depth.  One thing for blondes is you can clarify your hair once a month and that will take out a lot of chemicals and products that are dulling the color of your blonds.

5.  For those of you that have red hair and you have a hard time with keeping your color on your hair there are a few things you can try.  One thing is you could ask your stylist to "double dip"  which means when you go to get your color done they will color your hair normally wait the amount of time required and rinse it out. Then at the wash bowl they can add another layer of red onto your hair "make sure it is a demi-permanent" and concentrate more on the midshaft and ends.   Let it sit on your hair for about 5 to 10 minutes and rinse, shampoo and style.  This kind of gives a second coat.  If you think about it, when we polish our nails we almost never just have one coat.  We always add two.  Some clients will need this if their hair is porous and not holding the reds, coppers, browns.  You can also do this double dip with someone that went from a blonde to a brunette.  That will help their color stay longer as well.

A trick with reds also is you can buy a red color from a place like Sally's Beauty Supply and put a little bit of that color in your shampoo.  Make sure you mix it.  If it looks like it didn't help, put a little bit more in until you get the desired reds you want to stay refreshed.

6.  There are all kinds of products out there that help protect your color.  My favorite line is Pureology.

7.  If you color your hair often there are a few tips to keep your hair healthy.  Only use permanent color if you are covering gray.  That means exactly that, covering gray.  If you are redoing your roots use the permanent color on your roots and a demi permanent color on your midshaft and ends.  A demi permanent color is conditioning and permanent is a little harsh on the hair.  So ask your stylist if they could just use permanent on the areas they are covering gray and refresh the midshaft and ends with a demi permanent color.

These are just a few ideas I had for giving your hair some longevity.  If anyone else has comments on what works for them please do!

Fall Hair Color 2012

The leaves are turning, the air is chilling, it is time for Fall!  One of my favorite seasons of the year!  Which means blondes it is time to change from sunny golden blondes to beige/creamy highlights!  For brunettes, tone down the blonde highlights and make them warmlights or lowlights.  Red hair is also more subtle this fall...but I still love the vibrant red so I added a picture of that.  Ombre is especially in this fall but not as bold.  A more subtle transition is in this fall.  To help you get a visual of what I mean, I have added some pictures of summer hair color and fall hair color for 2012.
Summer:






Fall:
     

The best hairstyles for your face shape.

What ever your face shape, round, square, long or heart shaped there are certain hairstyles that will look best on your face shape and those that will not look great on your face shape (except oval who can look good in any hairstyle) so I am going to separate them in categories and show you which ones look best for which face shapes.
*Please note that if you need help with your face shape, read the bottom of this post.

  1. ROUND
Styles to avoid.  You don't want to have a rounded bob that shapes around your face and have lots of curls.  All that will do is make your face look more round.  Best advice for round faces is avoid short hair cuts.  If you really enjoy a bob haircut and you still really want that style you can have it, but, it needs to be a few inches below your chin and still not styles rounded on the edges.  Here is a good example of a round face with a longer bob.  You can tell just by looking at this picture that Kirsten Dunst looks better with longer hair because long hair on round faces elongate her face shape giving the illusion of a more oval face shape (which is what we want to achieve)


Hairstyles that look well on a round face are below.  Soft waves and straight long hair are great for round faces.



Shoulder length hair works really well with round face shapes.






Here is a short haircut that actually looks good on a round face.  The reason why is because she has a lot of layers in the cut.  The longer side swept bangs also help give her face shape the illusion of angles.



If you want bangs with a round face shape you need to keep a couple things in mind.  Long side-swept bangs will look best on you.  If you want blunt bangs you can have them, just make sure they sweep the brow and you have longer hair.  If you have shoulder length or shorter with blunt bangs, you have just accentuated your roundness even more.

2.  SQUARE
If you have a square face, it is important to downplay your strong angular jaw.  So you want to achieve that with texture from either curls or choppy ends.  Hairstyles that work for you?  Long, long, long!


Should-length hairstyles look good on any face shape so you are always safe in this category!



Bobs are wonderful on a square face as long as they are soft and layered.  Avoid a sharp, blunt bob.


Pixie cuts look really good as well.  In Good Housekeeping magazine, New York City hairstylist Sean James Decuers says the pixie cut is the most flattering on a square face shape.


It is extremely important with square faces to not have blunt angular haircuts.  You need to make sure you have soft layers to avoid any type of angles that would accentuate your face.  Example of a blunt cut on square faces.


3.  LONG
This is where my face shape fits in.  So obviously what is the one thing a long face shape should avoid?  Long hair......BOOOO!  I love long hair and I know I am going against every rule for my face to have it.  Things you can add to your long hair to make it look better on your face shape is layers that hit your jawline and cheekbone.  It will create a look of a short face shape.
1. If you have straight hair, you can create more width with bangs. Bangs make your face appear shorter because they cover up a particularly large forehead. You can wear anything from blunt bangs to long, side-swept bangs.

2. Chin-length bobs and cuts are also ideal for you because they create the illusion of width.

3. Long, straight hair is typically a no-no on a long face shape because it drags the face down. However, you can break this "no long hair" rule if you have waves or curls. A lot of body adds width to the sides of the face.

4. Consider the uber-trendy long bob (as seen here on actress Adrianne Palicki), which is very flattering on a long face. The length is perfect, as is her soft waves. Ask your stylist for an "A-line Long Bob" where the back is about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the front.

5. If you like short hair, avoid short layers that add volume on top.

Hairstyles that look good on a long face:

.

4.  HEART SHAPE

A heart-shaped face usually means a wider forehead and a pointy chin.  Long side-swept bangs look amazing on this face shape!  Also, long hair is great on this face shape.  You want more attention toward your eyes and cheekbones.  Here are some great haircuts for this face shape:

  If you notice, most styles for a heart shaped face have bangs with them.  

5.  OVAL

I wish I had this face shape because I could pull off any hairstyle or cut I want.  Consider yourself lucky ladies if you fit in this category!  They tend to look good in everything, but their faces can appear long with short layers that add height on top of the head. Also, if your hair is thick or curly, avoid a blunt cut. You'll look like a pyramid.  Here are some pictures of great cuts for an oval face.  

This is a gorgeous style for an older woman.  I just love this!

So you get to try long, bobs, shoulder lengths, bangs, no bangs, edgy and curly!  

If any of you out there don't know what your face shape is and want to find out, just subscribe to my blog, send me a message and send me a picture of you with your hair pulled away from your face (including bangs) and I would love to help you with what face shape you are and what style best suits your face shape.