Do you ever wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and just want to crawl back in bed because of the way your hair looks? We all have bad hair days, but if your bad hair days are turning into bad hair weeks or months, then you might need some help.
Many people look to celebrities to find a new hair style---spending tons of money on all kinds of magazines only to frantically tear thru the pages in search of the perfect hair style.
Then you go to your salon and get that fantastic celebrity hair style only to discover (usually after the first shampoo) that you need to spend about an hour to get it to look the same way.
There are 5 important questions you should ask yourself if you want to get the most flattering hair style that will work for you.
1. How much time you are willing to spend every day fixing your hair? Include hair drying, hair straightening, hair curling, special conditioning, styling, etc. Be realistic about your lifestyle and hair grooming habits. If you don't have the time, don't get a high maintenance hair style.
2. Is your hair in good condition? Don't plan on doing any sort of perms, hair straightening, extensions, bleaching if your hair is damaged or brittle.
3. Do you know what your face shape is? Your face shape is very important for selecting any hair style. What will look great on a square face shape might not look good at all on a round face. See HairResources.com for suggested hair styles for each face shape.
4. Are you generally happy with your hair stylist? Does your hair stylist give you instructions about how to style your hair at home? Do they address all of your concerns about your hair or hair style?
The hair stylist plays a vital role in the way your hair style will look from day to day. Sometimes you can leave the salon looking great--for a day or two. Then it's all downhill after that. You need to get a hair style that YOU can make look great on your own. This can require special instructions from the hair stylist along with specific hair care products.
5. Do you know what hair styles you like and why you like them? If you explain to your stylist what you like about certain features of a hair style--i.e. long side-swept bangs or long layers in the back---the stylist may be able to add some of these features to your hair style even though the entire hair style may not be suited for your hair.
For additional information on hair styles, including celebrity hair style photos, samples of the most popular short, medium, long, updo, bridal, prom and mens hair styles, check out the galleries at HairResources.com
Perriann Rodriguez is the founder of Hair Resources, the place to find hair styles, beauty salons + stylists, hair extensions info, hair loss info and more WORLDWIDE. Browse hair styles at http://www.hairresources.com FOR BETTER HAIR DAYS.
Is your hair dry and brittle? Is it greasy and flat? Puffy, stringy, frizzy, the list goes on and on. There are so many things that can go wrong with our hair. So here are the basics thing to keep your hair healthy and in beautiful condition.
Scrub-a-dub-dub! Everyone knows that you have to shampoo your hair, otherwise you have tons of gross buildup and it just won't cooperate. Conditioner is just as important otherwise you won't even be able to comb your hair, much less style it. It's very important to pick a quality shampoo and conditioner fit for your hair type. Say you have color-treated hair; you get color-protective shampoo and conditioner. Makes sense right? Right. Now, its pretty much just lather, rinse, (only repeat for VERY dirty oily hair) condition, and rinse again. But there are some helpful tricks to it. When you shampoo, don't be too rough with your hair or you'll damage the cuticle. Always be sure the shampoo is completely rinsed. When conditioning, focus on the ends of your hair as they are most prone to breakage and therefore tangles. The water should be cold when you do the last rinse out with your conditioner. It helps seal the cuticle (basically, hair strand), making it so your hair appears shinier.
Once your hair is clean and fresh, you'll probably want to use a shine serum or detangling solution on it. Gently pat your hair dry as much as possible with your towel and squeeze a small amount of product into your hand. I like Biosilk Silk Therapy Treatment. Massage the product into your hair gently, again focusing mostly on the ends. Avoid the roots, as they can look greasy with shine serum on them. Now it's time for blow-drying. If you have curly hair, you'll want to use a diffuser so you don't frizz your curls. Otherwise, you shouldn't need any attachments. Pointing the nozzle down, blow-dry your hair from five inches away. Make sure not to hold it in one spot, or it'll get fried. Once hair is semi-dry, lift hair in sections with your fingers and blow-dry a section at a time. This will keep your hair from being flat when it's done being blow-dried.
Flipped-out or curled under? Spiraled, waved? Now you have to decide what you want to day with you hair unless you like it just blow-dried. Check out iVillage's Virtual Hairstylist below for some great ideas. They even tell you how to do it! Is that not the coolest thing ever?!?
Written By: Katie Weaver & Debbie Frantzen http://www.glitznspritz.com
Keeping your holiday hair style under control isn't just about keeping your expensive up-do from falling down while you're dancing. It's about healthy-looking hair during those wet, hot, and sticky months of summer, whether at home or on vacation.
Those who live in areas where the sun and humidity get downright unbearable during the summer know how difficult it is to keep their hair looking good. But if you aren't familiar with the potentially damaging effects of humidity, salt water, sand, chlorine, wind and dry air, you might not know how to properly care for your holiday hair.
It's easy to breathe new life into it by following a few simple summertime tips.
Hair that's full of split ends looks bad so the first thing you should do even before the summer months set in is give your hair a good trim to remove those damaged ends or try a new hair style. Hair looks instantly better after it's been cut.
If you plan to color your hair, remember that chemically treated hair is more vulnerable to environmental conditions such as sun, water and humidity. Plan your hair coloring three weeks before your trip so your hair has time to regain its natural balance and is more resistance to damage.
Another thing you can do is ask your stylist for a deep conditioning treatment prior to your vacation. This will help to smooth the hair, repair damage and make the whole hair structure stronger.
Depending on your destination climate, you might also need to bring a surface conditioner with moisturizing qualities for hot, dry weather or frizz control cream for a humid climate. Unlike deep conditioners, these products coat your hair with a protective layer while adding gloss and making your style more manageable.
It just wouldn't be a summer vacation without time in the water. Although swimming and other water activities are a lot of fun, they can wreak havoc on your holiday hair. Whether you're swimming in the sea or at the hotel pool, always rinse the sea salt and chlorine out of your hair with plenty of fresh water.
Chlorine dries out the hair, making it brittle. It also fades the color and with some hair colors, can turn hair an unsightly shade of green. It's not the chlorine that turns your hair green but the presence of heavy metals like copper. The chlorine initiates the process by damaging the hair cuticle, which allows these metals to enter the inner structure of hair.
It also wouldn't be a summer vacation without spending as much time as possible in the sun. We know how damaging the sun's UV rays are to our skin, but these rays also damage the hair's structure. They break down the keratin which results in dry hair that breaks easily. So look for hair care products that contain UV protection and use them as directed to help your holiday hair style look as healthy as your holiday tan.
Lots of people with fine hair apply too much anti-frizz serum to their scalp and hair, which makes it look greasy and weighed down. Instead, apply a light conditioner beginning at the middle of the hair strand and continuing down to the ends. Then finish your hair style with anti-frizz serum applied only to the ends to seal off the tips so water can't enter the hair shaft.
When you're packing your suitcase, be sure you include a mild shampoo, a mild conditioner, an anti-frizz serum (especially if you have naturally curly hair), and hair spray for those times when your holiday hair needs extra hold. And check to make sure all these products contain UV protection. Just remember: using UV products doesn't mean you can stay out in the sun indefinitely. Your hair and scalp can be damaged if exposed to too much sun so don't forget to bring a sun hat.
Nancy Faizabadi is a professional hair stylist and the founder of http://www.short-hair-style.com where you can find free tips on short hair style and color ideas, hair color trends, hair products and much more. Whether your hair is fine, thick, curly, straight, processed, colored or in need of a new style, short-hair-style.com has a section for you.