Category Archives: Hair Style Products

Hair Style Products, News

Devacurl Supercream

Supercream
Photo Source: ulta.com

I’ve fallen in love with the Devacurl supercream this winter. First of all, it has the most moisture of all of their styling products, which is great for our dry Michigan months when you may need to smooth, shape and define your hair. It’s also great for controlling your frizz during the humid summer months.

Be careful though, with this product, you can definitely put in too much! How do I know this, you might ask? Well, because I’ve been known to get overzealous with hair products, and have done exactly that.

How much is the right amount? It really depends on your hair type. If you have wavy hair that tends to be on the finer side, then it might not be the product for you. If your hair has more curl than wave and is of a more medium texture, then feel free to use the supercream; but remember: less is more. Put a tiny bit in your hands, work it in your palms, and use your fingers to gently smooth it over your curls.

Now, if your hair is super curly and tends to need TONS of moisture all year round, then this product will be your new best friend. When using this, take smaller sections of soaking wet hair and gently work the supercream into it. Make sure that every strand gets some supercream love. After it’s all worked through, that’s when you take your devatowel, old t-shirt, or paper towel (if you’re in a pinch), and gently squish out the moisture. Then allow your hair to air dry, or slowly and gently diffuse it. As always, before you begin to shake out your beautiful curls, be sure that they are mostly dry; otherwise you’ll be headed to frizzy-ville.

The supercream has you covered all year round. Whether you’re dealing with our dry winters or our humid summers, this product is great for all seasons; although, the amount you’re using may shift a little. Try it out! Your hair will thank you by being softer, more manageable, and far less frizzy. What I’ve noticed with my curly clients this winter is that using these products keeps my hands incredibly soft. They help with your hair AND your hands! Remember, all DevaCurl products are 100% sulfate, paraben and silicone free. Enjoy!

Hair Style Products, Local Businesses

Beauty and the Diversion Beast

Stop Diversion Photo
Photo Source: American Salon

As an Ann Arbor hair salon owner, where style is in constant demand, it’s important to stay on top of your education game. This is how I get refresher information on the industry as a whole, find new tips and fun tricks to better myself as a hairdresser.

Earlier this month, I attended an educational afternoon with some wonderful folks from the Matrix company care of Sola Salon Studios. It was great. Not only was I given some quick styling ideas, for a fun date, wedding, club night; I was also reassured that some of the obstacles that I face as a hairdresser, are also the same for other beauty professionals.

One such obstacle is the topic of diversion. Diversion occurs when the professional products that we know and love are sold in “unauthorized” places. Educators refer to these places as URL’s: unauthorized retail locations. Diverted products are bad because they could potentially be old, counterfeit, diluted, or even expired formulas that may not be safe for you to use.

As many of you may know, I’m a huge fan of the Pureology, Deva Curl, and Evo products. I purchase all of these wonderful products from licensed distributors that in turn, get their products directly from the company. That’s how I know it’s the real deal. However, if you get these products from the grocery store, drugstore, or any place other than an authorized salon, spa, or salon related website, what you’re getting may not be what you think. Meaning also, that it may not perform the way you expect it to.

For example, in the class I mentioned above, these ladies were talking about the fact that their products have a special scan-able code on them to help determine whether it’s real or fake. They also said that their company, like many others, will often buy products from the drugstore, grocery store, etc., to test the quality of what’s inside. What they said next was literally unbelievable. They told us that what was inside some of the bottles was actually DISH SOAP! That there are people out there who create their own “copycat bottles” that look similar to the professional ones, put whatever they want into them, and sell them to a salon/drugstore/etc. cheaper than a licensed distributor will. Yikes!

What this means is that you, as the consumer, are getting the raw end of the deal, literally. This is why buying your products from a salon, spa, or another authorized source is the best way to go. Plus, the price you pay at the drugstore is probably more expensive than at your local salon. Also, it’s a great way to support your local businesses, thank you for reading!

Hair Style Products

Pomade for Short Hair

evo casual act a great pomade for short hair
Photo source: Mhoom

A Great Pomade for Short, Fine Hair!

The evo brand styling pomades are the best that I’ve worked with so far in my career. This month’s feature product is the casual act moulding paste. It has a little bit of hold without a ton of shine, so it’s perfect for the fine haired short haircuts.

This pomade works great on those above mentioned haircuts. If you have any kind of texture to your hair, you’ll need something that has more of a shine quality to it to help smooth out your texture (but more on that later).
The best way to use any pomade, from my personal experience, is to begin by completely drying your hair. Once dry, put a small amount of pomade in your palm, about a nickel’s worth, and vigorously rub your hands together until the product seems to disappear in your hands. You can always add more product if you need too, but if you over saturate your hair; you’ll have to start all over.

Next, start in the back of your head (the first swipe is going to have the most product on it), and work your hands from roots to ends in an upward movement all around your head. What I usually tell people is that if you don’t look like a crazy person when finished, you haven’t done it right. Your hair should be sticking up all over the place because you’ve saturated all of the hairs. After that, then you can start to bring your hair down and put it where you want it, sculpting it into place.

This pomade, as well as all evo brand products is: sulphate, paraben, dea, tea and propylene glycol free. The key ingredients being: lanolin, lanolin wax, and beeswax. What that means, is that it’s easy to get this product out of your hair, it doesn’t tend to build up, so you can look and feel great about your hair day in and day out!

Hair Style Products

Dry shampoo and why I love it!

Dry Shampoo
Photo source: Alive Skin Hair

This month’s featured product is my absolute favorite! It’s the dry shampoo from the evo brand, called Water Killer. I tend to have oily hair and scalp, but I lighten my hair, so I don’t like to wash it very often. This product is perfect, it gets rid of the excess oil, is a styling spray, and it gives me a bit of texture (which fine haired people need).

This particular dry shampoo is for straight haired folks only! It comes out with a white color to it, so you’ll have to brush it thoroughly through your hair to get the proper effect from it. I’ll talk about the steps I use on myself, and hopefully, these hairstyling tips will work for you as well.

When I use this product, it’s after I’ve showered and blow dried my hair. I begin by spraying Water Killer along my part, and then I spray it from my part to the ends of my hair. Next, I start at the crown of my head and gently lift up small horizontal sections and spray the product directly at the root. I repeat this until I’ve reached the nape of my neck. I then flip my head over and brush the product through the hair, flip my head right side up, and brush some more. This process assures that my hair will be completely covered.

This technique is also great for prepping hair for a wedding or special event style. Oftentimes, the fine, straight hair has a hard time holding a curl, but using the Water Killer on the hair (along with a great hairspray), will allow for a curl on even the straightest of hairs.
Again, I can’t say enough wonderful things about this product, it’s more than my favorite, it’s one of the products that I can’t live without!

Hair Style Products

Curly Hair Styling Product Tips

Devacurl Angel Hair Gel for curly hair styling
Photo source: Beautyzip

I absolutely love the Devacurl brand products for curly hair styling! Not only do they do great work on fighting frizz, maintaining moisture, and allowing for incredible shine, they are definitely affordable.

As a hairdresser, my favorite so far has to be the Angel light hold styling gel. I use it on wet hair that I’ve gently towel dried; I put about a half dollar sized amount in my hands and work my hands together. Then I scrunch the hair up (gently) from the tips toward the roots, being careful not to “overwork” the hair because this will cause frizz. Then I’ll put my client under the hood dryer to dry (you could just let your hair air dry).  After 10-15 minutes, I’ll finish up with the diffuser.

The gel acts as a setting lotion, so it’s important to allow the hair to dry completely. Once the hair is dry, you can then feel free to move it around a bit because it has already been set. If you do this too soon, the frizz will show itself, so be patient! Unless it’s going to be a rainy day, you’ll be able to enjoy bouncy, frizz free curls all day. I hope that any of these curly hair tips have been useful. Enjoy!