BellaSugar

Reader Review of the Day: Redken Extreme Antisnap Leave-In Treatment

BellaSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:00:07 -0700

The season is just under way, but your locks don't have to look abused by heat, chlorine, and/or windy days. Reader Jjasinsk gave Redken Extreme Anti-Snap Leave-In Treatment ($18) a whirl after experiencing some damage to her hair, and here's what she thought:

I've never had much faith in products that claim to repair damaged hair, but this product has really performed. After compulsively using Sun-In on my hair for a year, the front sections were broken, matted, and elastic. This product didn't fix my hair immediately, but after a week of use I can definitely see an improvement. My damaged hair no longer tangles and the actual texture seems to be improving. Worth the extra money!

Do you love certain products during these warm-weather months? Tell us all about it on our Product Reviews section and perhaps you'll be the next featured reviewer.

Like Lindsay Lohan's Lovely Locks? Looky-Loo, Ladies.

BellaSugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:00:31 -0700

It seems like Lindsay Lohan is everywhere these days - or at least she's on the covers of magazines each month. For April, she's on Nylon, looking very thin and very golden-blonde.

Lindsay followers know that she colors her hair frequently, which always made me assume that her hair has to be fried from all of the bleaching. Not so, says colorist Tracey Cunningham, who colored LL's hair for the Nylon photo shoot. "I love Lindsay's hair color because it complements her look; it isn’t too blonde or too dark. It is the perfect shade for her," she says. Because Lindsay was already a blonde, Cunningham used a color gloss instead of a permanent dye. (No ammonia = easier on hair.) She custom-blended a formula using Redken Shades EQ gloss (shades 09AA Papaya, 08C Cayenne and 09G Vanilla Crème, if you're interested.)

Lohan lesson learned: If you've already lightened your hair, a gloss or a glaze can boost your color without doing permanent damage. As far as landing the cover of a magazine, you're on your own.

2009 Fall New York Fashion Week: Twinkle by Wenlan

BellaSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:00:10 -0800

After four years showing in Bryant Park, Twinkle By Wenlan showed in an appropriately retro venue: The Classic Car Club. Models stepped out in Wenlan Chia's signature knits to show off an updated take on '50s style. John Ruidant, lead hairstylist for the show, worked off of designer Chia's inspiration of drive-in movies, going for a sweet and wearable-in-real-life look. "We came up with loose natural waves with a deep side part," he explained. To get the look, he sprayed Redken Fabricate, styling lotion, on hair to add texture and light hold. After creating the side part, he separated hair into horizontal sections, then used a 1¼ curling iron to create vertical waves.

MAC makeup artist Gregory Arlt led his team in creating a similarly '50s-inspired look for the face. "I thought of a girl's first date in the '50s," he said. "It's a younger version of what her mom did; Mom might have had a cat eye, but she has a kitten eye." To update the look, he used frosted eye shadows in Naked Lunch and Phloof! rather than matte shades. Black eyeliner and mascara finished the eyes. To highlight the cheekbones, he applied Phloof! over Well Dressed blush. Lipstick in Lady Danger completed the look. So sweet, so sexy, so ready to recreate at home.

Photos courtesy of Dan Lecca

Dynamite Deep Conditioners

BellaSugar — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:29:14 -0800

Just as our skin feels the effects of our harsh environment, our hair does too. Not only does it face similar issues of dryness, dehydration and lifelessness, but because we tend to use heated tools for styling, our hair risks severe and irreparable damage from over-processing.

Once in a while, it's nice to give your hair a healthy glass of water to recharge and revitalize limp locks. These dynamite deep conditioners will help your dreary and dry hair undergo a dramatic change. Here are a few of my favorite products:

Kerastase Nutritive Masquintense Intense Enriching Treatment is often a professional's hair masque of choice. Jennifer Aniston's hairdresser Chris McMillan uses this on her fine hair frequently to add shine and luster. The rest of us are recommended to do this treatment twice a week.

I think that you'll love it. I've been hooked for months now. The smell is great and the jar lasts for a long time because all you really need is a few fingertips full. Leave it on for five-to-ten minutes and then rinse. Buy it here for $44.99 (This is the best price I've seen yet!)

Propoline Hair Mask For Dry, Colored Hair is a great product for travel since it comes in these nifty individually sealed packages. This conditioner is a pretty intense hair masque formulated to condition and moisturize. It contains natural and effective ingredients such as: olives, sunflowers and panthenol. It is also intended to prevent split ends and should help to restore elasticity and shine. Buy it here for $18.

To see the last one read more

Redken All Soft Heavy Cream is very rich, it smells delicious and you only have to use it once a week. However, there are two steps involved. First, apply it to your hair while it's still damp, then add heat to your hair anywhere from 5-15 minutes to activate the chemicals. Then rinse it off with cool water. It's made from avocado oil, amino acids and proteins to help with frizz and managability. Buy it here for $14.

Hold It! Hairsprays That Really Take Hold

BellaSugar — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 10:20:10 -0800

Finding the right hold hair spray is trickier than you think. If it's too light of a hold, your time consuming runway blow out will fall, and if it's too strong, you risk looking like you have a stiff and unnatural lack of movement to your "on-air journalist hair."

I've found that these three sprays fall perfectly in between. They give you a firm enough hold so that you can rely on them to last without having that icky and sticky feeling.

Ted Gibson Beautiful Hold Hair Spray is a light control spray best used for misting. It smells delicious and actually leaves an air of pleasant floral-y (gardenia) room deodorizer behind as opposed to that smelly and strong old-school hairspray scent that makes your eyes water. Buy this wonderfully large 10-ounce bottle here for $32.

Frederic Fekkai Sheer Hold Hairspray has a little bit of a firmer hold and a gentle light mist quality to it, so it's great for all-over hold as opposed to zoning in on one small section. It helps control humidity as well as color protection, since it contains an SPF triple color protection complex. It's available in three sizes, including a 1.5 oz travel size which I love. I just leave it in my cosmetics case as a travel staple. Buy the larger, 11.6-ounce product here for $35, the 5.6-ounce size for $22.50, or the travel size for $9.

To see one more great hairspray, read more

Redken Workforce 09 Flexible Volumizing Hair Spray is also now one of my faves. After watching its gentle mist at Rachael Ray's show, I went out to buy some. What's great about this product is its flexibility. Its got a medium level hold to it, but you can gently brush your hair after the spray is dry and it looks really soft and natural. It's also very affordable. Buy it here for $13.49.

5 Tips For Keeping Your Locks Glossy

BellaSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:49 -0700

After perusing through the pictures from Rock a Little, Feed a Lot benefit concert that took place last night in LA, I was struck by all of the completely gorgeous, shiny hair. From Isla Fisher to Christina Applegate to Alanis Morissette, it was all about light-reflective locks. There are countless ways to boost shine through technique and product, including starting off by giving residue and buildup a farewell party with a good clarifying shampoo. And I have even more tips to keep you glossy. Just keep reading.

Get Fergie's Gorgeous Hair Color, Straight From Her Colorist

BellaSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:00:45 -0700

As you can see, Fergie's hair is the perfect shade of golden brown on the cover of August's Marie Claire. Luckily enough, the colorist who made it happen, Tracey Cunningham, has shared her formula and tips for making it work on those of us who aren't Mrs. Josh Duhamel. To find out how to get this honeyed hue, read more.

Hair Color How-Tos: Keeping Reds Vibrant

BellaSugar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:00:04 -0700

Ah, red. It's such a feisty color. It can be a sassy, fiery shade of cherry, or a subtle, natural strawberry blonde. Whatever the case, one thing's for sure. While the smaller color molecules of red dye enter the hair rather easily, they also exit the hair quite rapidly.

The most surefire way to keep red staying vibrant is to wash your hair less often. But, there are more things you can do to keep your reds refreshing. Check them out after the jump, and look out for my tips on keeping blond, brown, and black hair looking fresh in posts to come. Get started when you read more.

Go pro: When it comes to red, there are so many variations and tones of color. Plus, box color isn't as strong as professional color, so it's best to leave it to the experts. That, or use professional color only like you'd find at Sally Beauty Supply.
Sun protection: Besides water, one of hair color's worst enemies is the sun. Protect from fading by covering your hair with a scarf, hat, or even sun protecting product like Aveda Color Conserve Sun Protector ($14).
Wait and wash: After coloring your hair, wait 24-48 hours to help lock it in further. Trust me. It works.
Cold water: Warm water opens up the cuticle. Cold water helps seal it. Help prevent red color from slipping out by washing it in cold water instead.
Safety first: It probably goes without saying that color-safe shampoo is a must for color-treated hair. For red hair, however, it's an absolute must. Try Redken Color Extend Shampoo ($13) and Redken Color Extend Conditioner ($15).
Glazed over: A glaze will keep your red looking shiny and fresh in between colorings. John Frieda's Luminous Color Glaze in Deeper, Richer Red ($8.50) might just do the trick.
Depositing shampoo: Once or twice a week, try a color depositing shampoo and conditioner to keep the vibrancy alive, like L'Oreal's ARTec Professionnel Color Depositing Shampoos ($17 each) and Conditioners ($19 each) in Cherry Bark, Orange Marigold, and Red Clover.
DIY: Use ingredients from nature to enhance your hair color. Apply a 50/50 mixture of carrot and beet juice on damp hair. Let it sit for an hour out in the sun.
Get real: Be realistic about red. If you are going from a light blond to an auburn, it may take a few trips to the salon to get the true, rich red pigment you desire.

Source

2009 Fall New York Fashion Week: Marc Jacobs

BellaSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:53:21 -0800

Tonight, Marc Jacobs took things to new heights with a hair-raising take on fashion. Filled with punches of neon brights, his fall 2009 collection was inspired by club kids and night owls - a total '80s lovefest. It was enough to bring François Nars out for his first runway show in a decade. While his team created most of the looks, the sparkling, intense eyes (using shades found in the Night Palette) were conceived by the makeup legend.

As for the hair, each of the 65 models had a tailor-made, shaped style. "The hair has all the bad things you can do - too much gel, too much teasing," said hairstylist Guido Palau, who lead a team working with Redken. "All the things we're told are bad taste, that's what we're doing." Bad taste, perhaps, but judging by the excitement that Marc always drums up, I'm guessing his fans are ecstatic about these looks.

View Slideshow ›

How-To: Molly Sims's Wispy Updo

BellaSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:00:59 -0800

Messy, textured updos are all the rage these days, and Molly Sims was in on it at the recent CNN Heroes ceremony. Lorenzo Caldaron, a stylist with Warren-Tricomi Los Angeles, created this beautiful, easy look. The good news for you: he says that this look's quite easy, especially for a reader who's not trained in hair. "Make it look fun and flirty, softly pulled back and messy or use less texture for a more smooth, classic look," he said. "I's very versatile and up to you. If you think about it too technically and overwork it, it's going to go to a whole different place and look too done."

Kick off this look with clean, shampooed hair and get his step-by-step instructions when you read more.

Apply a polishing gloss (e.g., Redken Glass) to wet hair and blow dry until about 75 percent dry.
Activate texture with a product like Fabricate and then just rough it up with your hands.
Use a round brush and dryer towards the front fringe and sides of the hair so it's extra-smooth there.
Build more texture with a one-inch barrel curling iron, making loose waves throughout the whole head and add a light hold hairspray (He used Workforce).
Split the hair from ear to ear so there's an upper section and a lower section then, with that lower section, take two smaller sections and tie into a large knot and secure it with bobby pins – very freehand.
Leaving the sides out, just lay the textured top part and build everything over that knot. The style's like a wider chignon shape back there so just cross, twist, play with it and do your own thing. His tip: use long hair pins because you'll need fewer and they're more secure.
When you're all done pinning, set style with a firmer hold hairspray (like Warren-Tricomi Superhold Hairspray).

Source