Waves Without Tools

Author: Angie Williams

If your hair is medium to long (between shoulders and longer) you probably get tired of your day-to-day style. This style will be perfect for the busy stylish female. The products you will need are light to medium hold gel or mousse, three small rubber bands and three hairpins.

1. Shampoo hair and towel dry your hair.

2. Once you have the majority of the water out of your hair, you will apply a dime to nickel size amount of gel or mousse. (The size depends on how much hair you have, fine hair-dime; thick hair-nickel).

3. Divide hair into three sections and braid each section and put rubber band at the ends.

4. Take each braid and wrap it around into a bun, using one hairpin per braid, and insert at the base of the braid.

5. Go about your day until you are ready for your evening to begin. Then you can take out the braids and spray with a mist of hairspray for a hold that will last all night.

Holiday Styles

Author: Angie Williams

Are you trying to get your holiday style without finding time to get to a salon? You are not alone. We have picked a couple of our favorite styles perfect for the holidays. Be sure to keep in mind what you are going to wear when choosing a style. Both of these styles will work well with any occasion or attire.

"Princess" 1/2 pony

1. Using a 1/2 barrel curling iron take about one inch sections (or bigger if you want more wave instead of curl) curling only half way up each section. You don't want it to be too curly. Adding a side part will add flair to your style.

2. Pull up your sides only and pin with two bobby pins (the color of you hair). You can glam up your style by adding a rhinestone clip place at the back of the head, like you had a 1/2 pony.

3. Spray with a light to medium hairspray to finish your style.

Side Tail

1. Follow step one from the "Princess" 1/2 pony.

2. Gather most hair on the side letting a few curls fall out, you can use a rhinestone ponytail holder to dress it up.

3. Follow step three from "Princess" 1/2 pony.

Celebrate safe and have a happy holiday!

Flatironing 101

Author: Angie Williams

One of the hot recurring trends is ultra sleek straight hair. Whether you ironed your hair with a clothes iron, or you blow dry with a flat paddle brush or you use a flat iron to get the smooth finish, everyone knows what I mean when I say it takes work to look this good.

The most important part to this and every style are the products you use to prepare the hair, meaning get it ready for the finished style. When using a heated tool (flat iron, rollers, curling iron blow dryer) you want to prep you hair with a heat protectant so that you will cause the least amount of damage to the hair. Heat protectants should contain little to no alcohol, because the alcohol is very drying to the hair. A few products that work well are:

~Schwarzkopf's Osis Flatliner: A flatiron spray serum.
~Schwarzkopf's Slick: A flattening serum.
~Matrix Sleek Look: A sealing serum.

Once you have prepared the hair, now it's time to begin blow drying your hair. If your hair is naturally curly or wavy it's best to use a flat paddle brush to help smooth out the undesired texture. With the drying stage completed, it's time to work a dime size amount or less of heat protectant, depending on the amount of hair you have. Using too much product with an oil base may cause your hair to look "greasy". If you find that this is the case you may want to use less next time.

Now you are ready to start flat ironing your hair.

Many people find it easier to flat iron hair when it has been sectioned off. To do this you can put your hair into a high ponytail and take 1/2 inch sections and flat iron them one 1/2 inch at a time. Please be sure to only go over the section once or twice at the most. If you are going over the section repeatedly with the flat iron, you may be damaging the hair. As you are flat ironing the hair, you want to use a moderate tension and move slowly down with the hair shaft. Using the tension with slow motion you are allowing the hair to flatten more easily.

When every section is done you may want to spray it once more with the spray serum for a sleek finished look.