Top Five Culprits of Hair Breakage

Hair breakage is not ideal for anyone. We all have experienced it to some extent before, even if it’s just those pesky split ends. Hair breakage is permanent, however you can avoid it, stop it from continuing, and strengthen the hair to be stronger against the causes of hair breakage. Here are the top five causes of hair breakage that we see day in and day out. 

• Lack of Moisture 

This is one of the top issues we see with clients with hair breakage. Washing your hair everyday is the quickest way to dry out your hair, because every time you wash your hair you are stripping your hair of its natural oils. If you are washing your hair every day, your body produces an excess of oils, but if you rely on dry shampoo to extend the time in between washed, your body will naturally regulate to produce the amount of oil that is good for your hair, and not leave it greasy or oily looking. 

• Heat Damage

Another common form of damage is heat damage from a blow dryer, flat iron, curling iron, or thermal brush. We know, achieving that quick, sleek, put together look is GREAT and we want it everyday, but n the long run, this is a huge no no.  Any time you are using heat on your hair, a heat protectant is a must, as well as using the lowest setting on a blow dryer possible. 

• Chemical Damage 

This one is simple; ALWAYS trust a licensed stylist when it comes to chemical treatments. At home chemical treatments are developed as a one size fits all, as opposed to in salon chemical services that are customized to the individual client.  Not any one of us is the same, so our salon experience shouldn’t be either. 

• Frequent Tight Buns or Ponytails  

This is one of our favorites because it is SO simple, but makes the world of difference. Pulling your hair back into a bun or a ponytail at the end of the day is an amazing feeling. We all get hot while we sleep right, so why not pull that hair into a ballet bun to avoid it from making you hot during the night? Because all that pulling and tugging, especially over long periods of time, can cause a world of harm. It not only pulls at your scalp and your hair line, but it also can cause damage to the actual hair shaft from the pony being too tight, or made of a material that should not be by your hair. If you are going for a ponytail or bun look, make sure you are giving your scalp some love and loosen that air tie. 

• Vigorous and Harsh Brushing 

Nothing pains us more than seeing a gorgeous head of hair followed by a huge paddle brush from top to bottom and that “ripping” sound that comes with it. If you see excess hair on the ground or in the brush that probably means you are using the wrong brush and brushing in a less than ideal way for your hair.  Talk to your stylist about the different brushes out there and what would best for your hair type and texture. 

Of course what is best for you and your hair is going to be different from the client in the chair next to you, so make sure you put your trust in your stylist, because we have your back!

Green Shampoo?

If the purple shampoos are the holy grail for the blondes, green shampoos are the new go-to for brunettes. It’s become more and more popular to add this secret weapon, and we want to share with you why it was created and geared towards brunette hair. Adding a green shampoo to your brunette hair will add a lasting freshness to your color, and help increase the longevity of your color. 

Green Shampoo, just like purple shampoo, refers to the color of the product and its neutralizing capabilities, and is essentially an at-home, in-shower toner. It works to offset the pesky red undertones that show through no matter what we do.  These unwelcomed tones can be a result or many things such as heat styling, sun exposure, harsh water exposure, or the most common culprit, natural melanin in your hair that’s well, red. 

Green shampoos work best on tones that lean towards the deeper end of the color spectrum. With light brown hair, it’s better to use a blue shampoo, as it works to reduce brassiness/orange tones. Red undertones exist in deeper brown hair, so green shampoo is most ideal if your hair falls anywhere in the medium to deep shades of brown. 

The world of hair care is ever changing with education and tips on how to properly care for our hair. We love that there are products specifically designed for every hair type and color, and it isn’t a one-size-fits-all world. Green shampoo can do so much for your beautiful brunette hair if used correctly, it is the ideal way to revive your hair and bring life to your color right at home. It doesn’t get better than this now, does it?

Tips to Make Your Silk Press Last

April showers are ahead, but that won’t stop us from serving up Silk Press services. Below are the Top Tips we have to keep your Thermal Silkening silky smooth even in the worst weather conditions.

1. Leave the salon with your hair wrapped if it is raining outside. We are happy to get a plastic cap fitted over your locks to prevent them from getting wet.

2. Wrap your hair overnight to keep your tresses smooth.

3. Use a silk wrap or pillowcase while sleeping to avoid tangles and frizz in the morning.

4. Avoid heavy products or high heat tools that will frizz out your silk press.

5. Keep exposure to moisture to a minimum - this means workout classes and pool days.

All Things Balayage

You see that woman with the most beautiful depth and dimension in her hair and think she must have just got back from her beach vacation to Aruba, right? Well there’s one word for that, and it’s Balayage. 

Balayage is a French word meaning “to sweep” or “to paint.” This technique uses hand painted methods to give your color a gradual transition with no harsh lines or sudden tone change. Balayage uses both tones of light and dark to create dimensions of color, leaving the hair with a blended and natural glow. 

Unlike foil highlights, Balayage is painted directly onto the surface of the hair and essentially does the opposite of the “stripey” highlights that were ever so popular in the 2000’s. Because Balayage is painted by hand, the highlights are less consistent and this results in the softer progression of the color, leaving a beautiful, natural multi-toned color. 

The creative possibilities are endless with Balayage—you just need to decide how big of a change you'd like and how daring you're feeling. Balayage is a more gentle transition into the world of coloring. It is a good idea to look at how you usually style your hair, as this may help you decide whether you opt for Balayage or a traditional foil highlight. For example, Balayage looks beautiful when finished with beachy, flowing waves, while a strong bob haircut or straight hair would show off more drastic color blocking. Either way, we are one phone call away from getting you booked for a consultation with one of our curl specialists.

Split Ends Demystified

The technical term is Trichoptilosis, but we all know these little guys as Split ends, and they are the bane of our existence. Split ends are the result of a frayed end, usually at the end of the hair but can happen up the hair shaft as well. 

There are a few factors that range to hair type and genetics to the way and frequency that you style your hair to environmental factors. Products you use can have a factor, and of course the biggest cause, heat styling. 

Split ends and broken hair shafts can cause the hair to look dull, dry and flat. The ends will look uneven and you will be able to see through the ends of your hairline. When the cuticle is damaged by any of the factors we mentioned, it will not lay flat with the fibers of the hair strand. This will cause the light to not reflect as well off the hair, causing the hair to lack the luminosity we see with a healthier head of hair. 

Okay, so the million dollar question, how on earth do we get rid of these spilt ends? Well, the bad news is the only way to truly get rid of the split ends is to cut them off. But the good news is when you do that, you can start to build a prevention plan to avoid this issue in the future. 

We recommend a heat protectant spray and limiting the amount of heat you use while styling your hair throughout the week.  When at all possible, air-dry your hair rather than heat drying with a blow dryer.  Wide toothcombs and tangle teezer brushes are the go to for detangling, and ne sure to brush gently, even if your hair is dry. 

Here is the take away, if you see a split end, you know its time for a trim. The biggest mistake clients make is trying to keep their length, but a length that is a majority of split ends will just continue to break, so you will eventually lose the length, but it will look less healthy in the process.