This Australian Gent wanted to update his hair with a splash of colour,
with his blue eyes and tanned complexion we opted for a steely platinum to give him an edgier sophisticated look.
It’s always a pleasure when someone entrusts you with such a major change, thankfully he was delighted with the result.
Protecting your hair from the Summer Sun.
Summer, a great time of year to frolic, relax and play, but hot, long summer days can really play havoc on your tresses.
Exposure to high temperatures, direct sunlight and U.V, humidity, chlorine and/or salt water…..well you get the picture.
The main complaints I hear over the summer are usually associated with dryness, frizziness and discolouration, but this need not be your reality with just a few small changes to your home hair care routine.
Firstly try to shampoo less, you probably feel like doing the opposite but frequent shampooing can rob your hair of it’s natural oils leading to dryer, frizzier hair,
cut back on your shampooing whenever possible.
Next look at what you are currently using on your hair and consider if there are gentler options, many people switch their skincare products as they move into Summer, the same consideration should also be applied to your hair and the products you use.
Also re-think some of the harsher chemical services you may be planning until the Summer is over to minimise the impact those chemicals are going to have on your hair without adding the extra stress of Summer to the mix,
I’m especially thinking of processes like chemical straightening as I write this.
Condition, Condition and Condition!
Up the quality of the conditioner you’re already using, perhaps switch to a “leave in” product for extra protection and if you are not already doing this, a weekly hair mask, bi-weekly if necessary will make a massive difference to how your hair feels after Summer has retreated and your tan has faded, don’t let the biggest reminder of what a great Summer you just had be a head of dehydrated, bleached out, frizzy hair,
Oh, almost forgot a couple more things, leave your conditioner in for a MINIMUM of 5 minutes and try whenever possible to lay off the heated hair tools and allow yourself a natural dry, with the correct use of the right products and a few tips from your stylist, you should be able to achieve a look that embraces the casualness of Summer whilst still lending itself an air of sophistication.
Also before swimming pre-saturate your hair, hair can only absorb so much moisture so make that moisture from the shower and not the pool or sea.
Is your hairstyle ageing you? It’s not always that easy to readily identify a bad hairstyle, particularly on oneself and unless you have a completely butchered haircut,
you probably think everything is going O.K with your current look. Ask yourself, when was the last time I updated my hair?
If it takes you more than a couple of seconds to answer that you may want to read on.
One common mistake is not getting your hair reshaped frequently enough.
On average your hair needs cutting approximately every six weeks.
This is not some arbitrary number but decades of experience has taught me that clients I see that have their hair cut with less frequency, say 8 weeks or more, invariably remark” I should have had this cut done weeks ago!” Which begs the question ”How have you been looking these past few weeks?”
Just as Men over about 40~45 should be careful about the instant ageing effect of not shaving daily, designer stubble is best kept for the younger guy,
a grown out haircut that has lost it’s freshness is something to pay particular attention to avoid.
Is your cut working for you, does it have a contemporary flavour to it?, even the most classic haircut can be given a fresh twist,
explore options with your stylist and remember, a change doesn’t always mean you need to become a completely different person,
an enhanced version of who you already are is often subtle and sufficient.
Styling tip, Try to keep a casualness to your styling, don’t finish your hair off too perfectly, if possible, at the finish, use your hands a little more to place your hair
rather than brushing it into a severe perfect finish,
Also, don’t “over do it” with the hairspray, sexy, youthful hair moves.
The ultimate Ager
Colour is a category that I could write reams on but two things come to mind when it comes to hair colour that ages,
1) Make sure your base colour is not too dark, by a certain age, you should be careful using the natural colour of your youth as a reference to which colour you are going to use to cover those pesky greys.
As you age and your hair naturally lightens by an increase in grey, your skin tone also changes to balance that
so keeping it too dark not only creates a strong contrast as the new hair grows through, regrowth,
but likely no longer suits your changed complexion/skin tone.
2) The same can be said of being too blonde, I recommend a darker blonde base colour with some light blonde highlights
which will look much softer on a mature skin tone than heavy blonde alone.
Being an ex-pat salon in Tokyo means it’s a fairly common event to say goodbye to clients returning to their country or onto another assignment on a regular basis but sometimes it that little bit harder when it’s a great person like Lucy.
Lucy has been a constant, loyal client to our salon, indeed Gold is the only salon she has trusted with her hair in the over 8 years she has been in Japan.
To say she will be missed is somewhat of an understatement!, “Best of Luck Lucy”, from all your friends at Gold.
Ever went out for a big night clubbing, hitting the dance floors, getting your groove on, sexy dress, cha cha heels, hours spent getting your hair looking just truly fabulous, you know what I’m talking about?
Only to find that after a couple of dances/ hours inside a hot, sweaty club your hair looks anything but fabulous and all your hair styling efforts have gone south?
Lots of great waterproof makeup on the market these days making sure no matter how hot and sticky things get, your makeup won’t let you down.
The same unfortunately cannot be said for hair products, well at least till now.
I’ve started using a product by Paul Mitchell in a way that I’m sure they never intended.
Paul Mitchell’s “Express Dry” is a modern take on a dry shampoo, those are the products designed to freshen your hair without washing it,
basically a fine powder is applied to mop up perspiration and scalp oil so as to extend your frequency of shampooing a further day or two.
Great for anyone who travels a lot or convalescing in hospital.
Anyway, it occurred to me lately, if these dry shampoos, like express dry, do such a good job of mopping up oil and moisture from hair that needs to be shampooed, how about putting it in the hair when its clean and dry so when the perspiration or natural oils start making an appearance,
the dry shampoo takes care of the issue before it starts? Guess what, this work a treat!
Just spray it all throughout your hair, paying particular attention to the underneath hair and the root area that usually gets the hottest and sweatiest
and just wait and see what a difference this little idea makes to how your hair looks as the dance floor heats up!
If you find that using this product robs your hair of shine and lustre there are plenty of shine sprays that can be used in tandem with Express Dry to combat that effect.
Just finish you application of Express Dry then give a light misting of shine spray like Glimmer Shine by Moroccanoil to replace the gloss, it’s that easy! Needless to say, you can use this trick also on any sticky days to help combat the effects of humidity and or the sweaty train rush hour!
A style saver, particularly for anyone with fine hair.
O.K., so before you hit the beach or start pool crawling,
pay a little thought to how best to protect your hair from the potentially hazardous cocktail of highly chlorinated water and the summer U.V rays.
The very first thing to remember before you go swimming anywhere and this includes the beach
is that your hair only has the ability to absorb a certain amount of water.
So taking this one small fact into account, it is of the upmost importance that you fill your hair with
the least damaging water you can find.
For anyone who finds it a little extreme to wet their hair with bottled water, don’t laugh,
I have a good friend who does this religiously before she swims, the water from the shower is certainly
less chlorinated than what is used in pools so I recommend you wet your hair completely with the
shower water before entering the pool or ocean for that matter.
After your swim, once again rinse your hair thoroughly to remove any pool water that may have
leeched it’s way into your hair, this step is also good for getting the pool water off your body, thus
protecting your skin.
Another useful tip is after pre-wetting your hair, apply a liberal amount of hair serum, we like
Moroccan Oil for this task.
The silicones found in the serum will aid in sealing the hair from penetration of the chlorinated water.
After your day poolside it is essential that you shampoo your hair and condition it well,
by well I mean leave the conditioner in your hair at least 5~10 minutes.
Alternatively use a hair mask if you have one available. Never allow saltwater or chlorinated pool
water to dry into your hair and sit there overnight!
Well with this relentless heat if you don’t already have short hair, then there are times your going to wish you did.
That’s when your going to need to work out a plan B to get that short hair, off the shoulders coolness
without doing something that you may possibly regret later, or sooner for that matter.
Some people tie their own hair up with grace and ease, for everyone else here’s a few tips to help you to get that swept up cool look, with relative ease.
Firstly it is very difficult to put up clean, freshly washed hair, ask any stylist and they will tell you that the best hair to work with for up- styling is slightly dirty or at
least second day hair, freshly shampooed and conditioned hair is often too slippery to pull up into place and falls down easily.
Secondly your going to need good tools to get the job done, I struggle to put hair up if I don’t have the right combs, brushes and grips.
A cushion based partly bristle, partly synthetic brush combination I find the most effective for bringing all the hair together tightly and smoothly.
Mason & Pearson make the worlds best version of this type of dressing brush but there are many imitations that cost a fraction of the price and still do the job effectively!
Next you’ll need a tail comb, that’s the combs with teeth at one end and the other end with a long straight tail that is really useful for tucking ends in and smoothing the surface of the hair.
Lastly you’ll need something strong to hold your hair up in it’s gravity defying incarnation.
I have always found that any up- style having as it’s base, an elastic secured ponytail to be by far the easiest to work on and the safest against falling down or
collapsing throughout the day.
So to start with use a little gravity to get your hair into the initial ponytail providing the basis of any creativity that follows.
Whilst brushing your hair toss your head over as if you want to take a closer inspection of your kneecaps and with your band around your wrist brush all your hair
from all sides, gather it tightly in one hand before bringing the band off your wrist and around the ponytail your holding in your other hand tightly in a fist.
Wrap your hair band around as many time as you can creating a tight ponytail,
separate it in two then pull it in opposite directions to tighten further, you should now have a high, tight and hopefully smooth ponytail.
After this basic step, this is now where the fun and creativity starts.
I could write a whole book of suggestions on what you can now do with this ponytail but today I’m going to share one simple trick to give you an idea of what can be achieved when you have a plan to dress up a simple ponytail.
Your going to need four small rubber bands, start by taking a 1/4 of your ponytail, splitting it into three then braiding it finishing the braid with one of the rubber
bands to make sure it doesn’t unravel, repeat that procedure three more time on the remaining hair from the ponytail till you end up with a ponytail consisting of four braids.
Before commencing the next step you’ll need to have at least 8 bobby pins ready for the finish, simply take one of your four braids
and wrap it around the base of the ponytail in a clockwise direction and fasten the ends of that piece using two bobby pins attaching it to the base of the ponytail,
literally cross over the end of that braided piece of hair and push the bobby pins into the ponytail stump where the first and main hairband is.
Repeat this procedure with your second piece of hair except now you wrap it in an anti clockwise direction and pin in the same manner as the first piece.
Same goes now for braid number three back to a clockwise direction and finishing of with the fourth and final braid wrapping around everything in a anti clockwise
direction.
First and third braid wrapped and secured clockwise, second and fourth braid wrapped and secured anti clockwise.
Besides ending up with a beautiful braided top knot, you will have something that is near bullet proof when it comes to staying power and all you needed was an
elastic for your pony, four smaller ones for your individual braids and 8 pins, perhaps a little time consuming but time well spent.
Now with a little imagination, just think about what other creations you could come up with based on a simple ponytail??
And in most countries that assumption would be accurate.
I can’t remember how many newcomers to Tokyo have remarked to me over the years about the sudden dryness and unmanageability of their hair in the first few months of moving to Tokyo.
Chlorine I’m sure is the lesser of two evils when it comes to having it in
That being said, I also believe some small strategies need to be implemented
I have not only felt the drying effect this chemical has on hair but also seen some very strange dis-colorations that I have never seen elsewhere, particularly in blondes, which are like the “canary in the mine” when it comes to early detection of anything destructive to hair, in particular chlorine and metals such as Copper (turning hair blue/green) and Iron (turning hair orange).
Don’t laugh, I’ve seen two examples of this in the past three weeks.
1) Regularly Clarify or deep cleanse your hair. Do this by adding a weekly or bi-weekly deep cleanse to your hair care regime.
Two shampoos with a deep cleanser , leaving the second shampoo on your hair for 3~5 minutes, aids in removing build up from products you use daily to style your hair and/or silicones found often in conditioners as well as chlorine and to some degree heavy metals that may also be absorbed from the water you shampoo your hair with. We have these shampoos at Gold if necessary.
2) This step is easier performed as the weather gets warmer and that is washing
3) Last but most definitely not least, the changing of your shower head to one with a built in filter. You may lose a little water pressure but I’m sure you’ll notice a large improvement in not only how your hair feels, but also your skin as well. I use at home and recommend “The Crystal Shower Head”.
This filter removes twelve different chemicals, heavy metals and chlorine as well as dangerous bacteria and micro organisms.
Made in the U.S.A, the Crystal fits easily to most Japanese standard shower fittings. Just screw off your shower head and screw their’s on. The filter will last you about six months.
Get yours on Amazon, EBay or Rakuten with overnight delivery (click the link below),
In my many years in this industry, I have observed that in at least nine out of ten cases where there is a problem in the salon involving a client’s hair, the cause can almost always be traced back to a failure in the communication process between client and hairdresser, rarely something technical or skill based alone. This is never more so the case then when someone wants to make a dramatic change to their hair colour. It is extremely rare these days to find anyone without some level of colouring in their hair, as one very famous stylist once quipped “hair without colour is like a face without make-up”.
Their are indeed physical limits to what can be achieved on any individual head of hair and the more extreme a journey one takes their hair on, some degree of damage is an inevitability.Hair once treated with colour will, depending on the extent of colouring, often need a little extra care compared to hair in a virgin, non processed state.
Your stylist has a responsibility to explain to you what is possible on your hair to achieve your desired effect without creating a level of damage that corrupts the beauty of the resultant colour. It is not his responsibility to give someone what they may have requested if he believes it may be unsuitable or too damaging to perform the services to achieve your desired look, he always reserves a right of refusal. This is for the client’s protection as much as it’s for the salon’s protection.
Having stated this, there is also a degree of responsibility on behalf of the client to give a full and detailed breakdown of the current hairs colour history in it’s entirety. Here’s a little example of someone who was in the salon recently and failed to inform us of “all” her colour history.
The client in question had hair to her shoulders, her hair was last coloured about two months ago with a medium brown colour she had been having done over the past year or so. Her natural colour which we could see at the roots was a light brown/dark blonde shade. We later found out that for many years before going brown,she had been having her hair regularly highlighted blonde to give her an effect that was closer to her childhood colour.
We also later learned that a year or so ago she decided that she was sick of the high maintenance involved in the upkeep of blonde so she had her previous stylist colour her blonde hair, medium brown.
Anyway, I guess that was fun while it lasted but now she missed her blonde look so she visited Gold to get her shoulder length hair light again. If we had been doing her hair for the past three or four years consistently then we would have known exactly what we had to deal with.
However, as she was a new client, we needed a full and complete picture of what had been happening on her hair over the past couple of years. I think she had felt like she must have been having this brown colour done longer than she thought so when quizzed about her colour history she told us that she had been having this colour done for years and years. Therefore we approached her colour as a two step process, to lighten the new growth at the roots with one formulation and remove the darker colour from the rest of the hair. ( at this stage we didn’t know about the old bleached highlights in the ends)
Anyone with shoulder length hair, has hair that is approximately 2~3 years old. So with hindsight, this client’s hair breaks down into 3 categories of colour and condition as follows The first 1~1 1/2 centimetres at the root is virgin non coloured hair. (condition normal/healthy) The second 12~14 centimetres in what we call the mid lengths, is hair that has been coloured darker over the past approximately 12 months. (condition slightly processed as hair was only darkened and not bleached in the process)
The remaining section down to the ends was heavily highlighted hair that has been covered by a permanent darker colour. ( Bleached hair that is highly processed, fragile and at risk of major damage or breakage if again re-bleached)
Now, as she was a new client in the chair requesting the stylist to make her hair blonde, the stylist asked many questions to get a clear understanding of the history of the current hair, by appearance and touch alone, we may not be able to ascertain whether or not under this brown hair we have before us, the hair has been previously bleached. High quality conditioners and treatments can hide a multitude of sins and present hair in a much healthier state than it really is!
I cannot remember the amount of times that in this kind of situation the client has failed to remember that she used to be blonde a year or two ago, or had a perm, straightener etc…
So although we asked all the relevant questions in the consultation, we soon found out when applying the colour to lift the darkness out of the ends,to our surprise the previously bleached hair suddenly reappeared, processing at a greater accelerated rate than the hair that had only been coloured darker and had no previous bleach on it.
To get a successful result on this kind of hair would usually require a minimum of three steps of processing for the various areas, the virgin roots will lighten easily as it is always easier to take natural pigment from hair as opposed to chemical pigment, the mid lengths will need something stronger to remove the build up of the brown chemical pigment in hair that was previously natural hair but without highlights, this section of hair because it is in a relatively healthy state is by far the most difficult to get back to a blonde .
Last but not least the ends will need to have something strong enough applied to take out the pigment from the previously bleached, coloured over hair, but not something that is too strong for highly processed hair. No matter what colour the hair on her ends currently presented as in the salon,
it is now and always will be, regardless of it’s current shade, bleached hair. This is only one of many scenarios that professional hairdressers deal with daily, and just as it is important to tell your doctor if you are using another medication or that you have allergies, it is always of the utmost importance to let your stylist know about any little details of your hair’s history, regardless of how insignificant they may seem.
Oh, as a footnote, for that particular client everything turned out O.K. in the end, although after rinsing the first colour application off and now having to deal with blonde roots, orange mid lengths and blonde ends, things got really interesting.
Fortunately for her we have the skill set to make the colour even in the end and she left blonde and happy, phew!
Without the heads up from her about the old bleach lurking underneath the brown colour in her hair ends, a certain degree of luck prevailed which is not something anyone colouring hair professionally really wants to rely on.
This story relates to a specific colour service and head of hair but the message is the same for whatever you may be having done to your hair, anything you know concerning the history of your hair over at least the last couple of years, we also need to know about, you can never share too much information!
The thing I always notice in Spring,
is the amount of people coming into the salon for something different,
a major colour change, total haircut restyle or even
just a subtle difference by adding a few layers to one length hair,
opting maybe a fringe/bangs, that kind of thing.
Before acting on the impulse to brace the new,
there are two pieces of advice I’d like to share with you,
the first is research, by that I mean spend a little time online putting together
a photo essay of the kind of look you would like to have.
You can even compile pics of the kind of look you don’t want.
If it’s based on a celebrity then find photos of her/him
taken by as many different people as possible to see the look in
it’s many varied incantations.
Look realistically and objectively at the hair you desire
and try to judge if your hair is similar or able to sit like your subjects hair.
So much can be achieved in the salon in relation to shape,
colour or texture but it’s important that you are aware
of the level of daily upkeep and maintenance necessary
to keep it looking as you want.
This brings me to the second piece of advice,
a lengthy consultation with your stylist to ascertain
the suitability of your desired look to your face shape,
skin tone and/or hair texture.
Bring all your research pictures and request an extra 15 minutes
added to your appointment when booking to go over
your ideas together with your stylist to get the best possible understanding of
what will not only suit you, but how suitable your desired new look
may be for your own skills, so at home you can recreate what was achieved in salon.
A change is often a good thing, a successful change is simply wonderful!
