Beauty Of Spirit

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Everyone, including myself, was so wrapped up on how much romance that the day would hold for them. Would he give you flowers? Would she finally accept that date? and so on and so forth. Only concerned about our own feelings of being special.

Then today, something wonderful happens, and it makes me realize how trivial all those kind of things are.
I mean, imagine for a minute, that you have been diagnosed with the horrible disease that is cancer.

Yesterday, I doubt that you would have been worried if you got a box of chocolates or not. You would probably be concerned about other things. Like wondering if you would even be ALIVE to celebrate the holiday the next year.

You all know that I do out call hair/skin/nail services. It was time to go and visit one of my clients to cut and color her hair. She has a grown daughter that had been diagnosed with cancer and had been fighting it for quite a while.

Now, when you go through radiation and chemo, it takes a HUGE toll on one's body. But it also weakens the spirit. For a lot of patients, especially women, losing their hair is a soul crushing blow.

I have always known that, and to this day, I will always volunteer my services for any kind of cancer charity.

But the thing with my client, was that even though she was so ill and was losing all of her hair, she remained in high spirits for the most part. She even took the initiative and empowered herself by having me shave her hair when it started to fall.

She was always lighthearted and even playful about it, sometimes even wearing one of those caps with the fake highlighted spiked up hair.

So anyway, I went over to their house and her hair had actually grown out some. I was amazed at how well she looked. Her hair was kinda like a fuzzy blocky mess from having grown out after the chemo.

Then, she told me the great news...She is no longer a Cancer patient, but a Cancer Survivor! She beat the Big C!

I can not explain the feeling that came over me as I felt the tears of happiness well up in my eyes.

Not having all that much hair to work with, I gave her a cute pixie type cut. I left it soft and fringed around the edges to give it a more feminine look instead of a grown out mans cut.

She was so happy and you can see from the pix that she loves it. She hugged me and kept telling me "Thank you"

But ya know what? I thank HER, for putting things back into perspective for me. To be concerned with real things, and forget the petty stuff. And to always live life to the fullest, cause you never know what tomorrow may or may not bring your way.

Back In Black

I decided to color my hair dark again. It has finally reached a manageable stage to let it grow out. Being that I want to grow it long again, I know that it would be best to lay off of the lighteners. I do want it to be long, but I want it to be nice and healthy as well. I will post photos on the progress of growing it out from time to time. This will help motivate me into not having a "moment" and cutting it off. :)

Here is a photo from a shoot that I did on Wednesday with www.DavidCraigHarris.com
I also posted it to show my Hairstylist/MUA work.




He wanted to shoot Pin Up, as it was a new style for him and I must say, he didn't miss a beat.



This has also inspired me to start doing tutorial Hair and Make Up videos, so stay tuned for that in the near future. Feel free to let me know what type/style that you would like to see!

XOXO

Ditch The Itch!

Wintertime has us in it's grip. For many of us, that means dry skin...and scalp.

First off, let me point out the difference between dry scalp and dandruff.

Dandruff is thick, oily and sometimes yellow in consistency. This is what you need to be using a special shampoo on, such as one with coal tar or tea tree oil.

Dry scalp is flaky, itchy, and white in color.

Just like your hands, feet, and other areas of skin on your body, your scalp can become dry.

There are many causes of dry scalp. Dehydration of the body, hair products with alcohol, chemical treatments, etc.

If you have dry scalp and are tired of the itching and flaking, try these tips to help.

*Get plenty of water

*Look for shampoos and styling products with no or low amounts of alcohol. You can tell by looking at the listed ingredients. They are listed in the order of the amount of content. (The farther down the list, the less alcohol is in it)

*Try not to over wash your hair. You should try not to wash it more frequently than every other day. This gives the natural oil glands a chance to moisturize your scalp, as well as your hair.

*Perform a Dry Scalp Brushing treatment once a week. **See Below




If you take these simple steps, you should get rid of the itch in no time!






**DRY SCALP BRUSHING TECHNIQUE:

For this treatment you will need a few hair clips, a tint brush (a brush used to apply color. You can find them at your local beauty supply store that is open to the public)and a good moisturizing deep conditioner (watch out for the alcohol content!)



Starting with clean hair, part your hair into quadrants (4 sections)
Fist part hair done the middle, then part hair across the top of the head from behind one ear to another


Now you are going to work in one section at a time. Let the section loose from the clip and start at the top of the section. Take partings that are 1/4 inch wide and brush the exposed scalp a few times with side to side motion. Continue working in 1/4 inch sections until you make it to the bottom of that section. Put hair back into clip and move to the next section. Repeat on all sections.

Put some of the deep conditioner into a bowl. Using the same tint brush, begin sectioning like before, but this time put the deep conditioner on the brush and apply to the exposed scalp.

After the conditioner is applied to all of the scalp, take your fingers and massage the scalp in circular motions for 3 minutes.

Rinse your hair and scalp.

The Holidays Are Here!

So I thought that I would post some tips that can help you look fabulous even when you are in a pinch for time.

A glittery hair flower in red or white is a very festive touch. Just pin one in the your hair, and you have instant Christmas spirit.



A flower isn't your thing? Well how about a ponytail? To get this look, slick the top of your hair back. Leave a one inch section out of the bottom before putting all of your hair into a ponytail. Secure and then smooth out any bumps. Take the section that you left out and wrap around the ponytail elastic. Pin the ends of that strand under the ponytail where they wont show. To get the fullness in the ponytail, backcomb the hair starting at the top of the tail try to work only on the hair in the center of the tail and work your way down. Lightly brush the stands to smooth them out and spray!



And if you have short hair, you can always do a simple twist. The photo below is braided, but you can achieve the same feel with alot more easy by twisting the hair and then pinning.



Lastly, nothing says the Holidays like glitter. So feel free to sprinkle or spray hair glitter on any of your looks.

What Has Been Happening In My World

I haven't posted in a while, and for that, I do apologize. I have been so crazy busy with work and life.
The Halloween holiday kept me very busy with everything from up dos to makeup applications and photo shoots.

Victorian Vampire Hair:


"Convict" Curls and Make up:



And here is a photo that was taken at the Jean Dry Lake Beds. The weather was really cold and windy there, and due to the wind, it was very dusty.
Even thought our model was freezing, she did a great job at holding it together and landing some great shots.

Model: Raquel Carpio
Hair & Makeup: Cassie Briggs
Photo: Alberto Oscarelli

I have worked non stop for the past 16 days. Today was the first day that I took the whole day off to rest. I am thinking about putting some blonde into my hair and my daughter wants a cut and color. But, as hard as it was, I had to tell myself...not today.

XOXO

The Eyes Are The Windows To Your Soul

Or so they say...
Want to have a quick pick me up to your look? Well an easy way to do that is to polish up your brows. They frame your entire face and can actually make you look as if you had a mini lift :)
The proper way to shape your brow is as follows :

They should begin at point A, following the inner corner of your eye, and end at point C, following the outer corner of your eye.The highest point of your arch should be at point B.
You only want to remove the hair that is under the brow, not on top of the brow. Doing so may cause them to become too thin or to lose the peak of the arch.
Remove hair slowly and step back from the mirror and look at your face after every few hairs.
Another tip to remember is to comb all of the hair upwards. If there are any long hairs that stick up above the main body of the brow, use scissors to trim them. This will make them lay nicer.
Then to finish them off use a clear eyebrow gel to hold them in place.
If you have done excessive tweezing and your brows are too thin, or have bald spots, you can use an eyebrow pencil to fill them in.
Don't worry if they do not mirror image each other.
It brings to mind the saying that I have heard "Your eyebrows can be sisters and not twins"

From Blonde To Brunette

I actually went from Platinum Blonde to a beautiful Mocha Brown. After I did, I realized that there are a lot of gals out there that are thinking of doing the same. They are attracted to the fact that would not have to touch up their roots as often, but are worried about the color fading.

{My Blonde}


Well, here is the deal. The reason that you should see a professional when you are thinking of any drastic change, is the fact that we know what needs to be done in order to make your color look fabulous and be long lasting!

If you have a dark color on you hair and you want to go lighter, it involves pre-lighting.
And if you are going darker from a very light, porous or damaged hair, you need to first be back filled.

What that means, is that your stylist needs to determine what pigments are currently lacking in your hair, and they must first add them back. So they are filling back in the missing pigment (back filling, get it? :) )

Back filling is done with a demi permanent color and processed before your hair is rinsed and dried.

Afterwards, the permanent color is applied as usual.
Your color will hold better and not have blonde spots popping through after the first wash ;)

Again, I stress seeing a professional because for instance, my mocha brown was not back filled with a demi permanent brown, it was actually filled a red copper based demi permanent color.



{After Being Back Filled}


Also, keep in mind that this is considered a double process service, so be prepared to pay more than the cost of a regular color service. But trust me, you will be so much more satisfied than a do it yourself job. And if you botch that, be willing to pay BIG $$ for corrective color!




{Beautiful rich Mocha Brown}