Selecting The Right Hair Color

Changing your hair color can be a renewing confidence booster- or a complete disaster! Here are a few tips to ensure that you get a color you love:

• Think about how much time and money you want to invest in hair color maintenance. How often will the roots need touched up? Will my hair require extra conditioning treatments? Can the addition of highlights or lowlights make this color more manageable? The answers will vary depending on the color, technique, and how extreme the color change. Remember, you won’t love your hair if it feels like a hassle!
• Choose a color that is right for your skin tone. Warm tones bring out pink, so if you have redness to your skin, cool shades (like ash brown or champagne) may work best. For olive toned or ashy skin, warm golden tones or reds work well.
• If you do decide on red, choose coppery reds instead of bluish reds- they yield a more natural look. Be aware that red is the most susceptible to fading and most difficult color to maintain.
• Once you pick a color, bring pictures! Don’t depend on word descriptions to get your stylist on the same page. No one wants an Espresso that’s too black, or a Cinnamon that’s more “fire engine”.

An Uplifting Experience

Lift up lifeless hair with TRESemme Volume Big Boost Root Lift Spray ($4.75). This weighless styling mist uses a mix of thickening and volumizing ingredients to boost hair from the roots, for long lasting fullness. Spray lightly on damp hair, focusing on the roots. Blow dry hair with head flipped upside down, to encourage greater lift and volume. This is a great product for your day-to-day work and school styles, but also helps keep updos from falling flat!

Refreshingly Gentle Hair Removal From Nads

Sensitive skin can also be smooth and hair-free with Nad’s Natural Hair Removal Gel in Kiwi & Mint ($19.99). This no-heat required wax nourishes and cools skin as it quickly removes unwanted hair from the roots, with results lasting as long as six weeks. The backing strips are washable and reusable for future treatments. Use this low-mess treatment devoid of harsh chemicals for areas of the body such as legs, bikini line and underarms. The kit contains hair removal gel, a spatula, four cleansing wipes (to prep skin), five backing strips and instructions.

Style and Re-style!

Get flexible, lasting hold for your style with Garnier Fructis Style Fiber Gum Putty ($3.23). This non-sticky gel containing fruit micro-waxes makes hair more manageable, so you can restyle more easily. It’s a great product to apply in the morning before work or school to keep hair looking great through all the day’s activities- including working out! Apply to dry hair at the roots (or the center section for thicker, longer hair) and comb through for added fullness and manageability.

A Bouquet For Your Hair

When you just can’t wash, give hair a lift with Stila Hair Refresher in Creme Bouquet ($28.00). This oil-absorbing powder helps hair to look and feel cleaner and more voluminous. Hair is scented with the warm, creamy blend of vanilla, pink lilac and lily of the valley. Apply a few “squirts” of powder from the squeezeable bottle as needed, especially at the roots, to give hair more body and a matte, not greasy, appearance.

The Silky Hair Serum

Give your hair an extra boost of silky softness with Kiehl’s Silk Groom Serum ($17.50). The ultra-light formula includes Sesame seed oil and Vitamin E to moisturize hair to eliminate frizz and flyaways. A blend of other natural oils, included Sunflower and Soybean, protect hair from humidity and add shine and control, without making hair feel greasy or dirty. Smooth through damp hair from roots to ends for a sleek, glossy finish.

Give Curls a Natural Boost

Enhance your hair’s natural texture with The Body Shop Cottonseed Curl Boost ($12.00). This heat-activated formula defines and gives life to wavy and curly hair. Rich in fatty acids, cottonseed oil de-frizzes hair for smooth definition. A polymer derived from maize uses ‘curl memory’ to give your hair more bounce and vitality. Beyond a styling product, Curl Boost also conditions hair with wheat protein, community trade organic honey and panthenol.

Apply a small amount to damp hair, and shape curls or waves with your fingers. Then, blow dry or use a curling iron to activate the ingredients and maximize results. For more volume, apply heat to the roots of the hair, with your head flipped upside down.

Make A Little Go A Long Way

Trying to get the most out of that expensive conditioner that you finally splurged on? Or, are you saving the tiniest bit of your now discontinued favorite product? Make conditioner go farther by trying these tips:

• Before applying conditioner, squeeze out as much excess water from hair as possible. Otherwise, the conditioner will be diluted, and may drip off of hair rather than being absorbed.
• Apply conditioner only to your “trouble spots”- for example, your ends- rather than all over your hair. Unless your hair is very dry, the midsection of hair will probably not need much conditioning. And if you have oily hair, conditioner applied to the roots might actually be making your hair more flat. Experiment with applying conditioner to certain sections of hair and observe the difference.

• Have a great scented conditioner that just gets covered up by other styling products? Use it to replace anti-frizz or shine serums to get amazing smelling (and looking) hair. Rub a small amount between your palms and smooth over hair. Use a small travel shampoo bottle like these to take it wherever you go for a scent and style touch-up!

Luxurious Volume

Build fullness right from the roots with John Frieda Luxurious Volume Full Splendor Shampoo & Conditioner ($5.99 each). Each strand is noticeably thickened and repaired from the inside out, to improve overall volume. Hair is lifted at the root, so it doesn’t look puffy- just naturally exuberant! The conditioner adds softness, shine and manageability, without knocking hair flat. You have to admire this pair’s bold claims: 110% more fullness, 50% more thickness and 90% more lift compared to normal shampoo and conditioner!

The Ultimate Styling Cocktail!

Improve the function of other styling products with MOP® Glisten Shine Drops ($16.00). This formula modifies the texture of other styling products while maximizing shine to your hair. Gain reflective shine and a smooth, healthy finish while reaping the benefits of your other favorite styling products. As an added bonus, Glisten Shine Drops can be used on their own. Squeeze just a few drops into your hand and disperse evenly throughout ends and midsection of hair, avoiding roots.

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