Britney Spears - Hot or Not?

Lately it seems like there has been an invasion of bad bad bad hair extensions. As much as I used to love her and idolize her when she was in her prime, Britney Spears may have some of the WORST hair extensions I have ever seen...and I think there are a few factors contributing to this horrible example of enhancement:

• *The wrong method of extensions: I just don't understand why, when a much better option exists, people resort to using the fusion method. This method results in rice granule-like bulbs at the roots. If she would have opted for a less conspicuous method like Platinum Seamless, she would have extension bonds that align perfectly with her hair strands and lay flush to the scalp. This just looks gross, and it's a sick cycle - the weight of these fusion bonds, coupled with the fact that she clearly doesn't take good care of them, causes her natural hair to thin out and shed, thus the need to opt for extensions to create the illusion of length, thickness, and lush long hair. She needs to stop the madness, STAT. And by the way, how on God's green earth does one run their fingers through their hair with the knotty, tangly mess. Maybe that's why she doesn't ever wash her hair - because she can't get her fingers through it.

*She's obviously not taking proper care of her extensions. Her super oily scalp is in desperate need of a good shampooing, and the oils from her scalp aren't helping her extensions. Scalp oils have been known to loosen extensions bonds. And I know, I know, as a hair stylist I'm supposed to live by the idea of shampooing infrequently and conditioning frequently...but this is just painful to look at! I'm sure (or at least I hope) her hair stylist took a great deal of time doing a full head of fusion extensions - this can take up to 10 hours! If I was him or her, I would not be happy with the negative publicity they are getting from this client! Hair extensions are an investment in both money and proper care, and if a client is not getting adequate education regarding the caretaking, their stylist is not doing his or her job.

*What is with the color, Britney? This jaundicey, uriney, yellowy color is not doing it for you. It looks flat, one dimensional, brassy, and it has absolutely no sparkle or liveliness. I would love to see Britney go back to her "In the Zone" days, with the dark blonde, light brown, multi-dimensional color - sure it doesn't look totally natural, but has Britney ever been one to opt for looking natural?

I guess I'm just not sold on the idea of fusion , Great Lengths, SoCAP USA, or very many other hair extension methods. I think that hair extensions shouldn't really look like extensions - the evidence should be hidden far far away, and really hard to detect. That's why I am such a believer in Platinum Seamless extensions - I have them in right now, and I will have a really difficult time getting myself to remove them when the time comes (in a few months), not because they are hard to remove, but because I don't want to part with them! I love how the keratin bonds are attached to wefts of hair that lay aligned with your natural hair. I love how the bond lays flush to your scalp, but can move freely. I love how I don't have headaches, shedding, or pulling from them. I just love them! Lauren Conrad is one of the celebrities that has been known to wear them - and homegirl looks good! She was probably only at the salon for a few hours for the entire appointment as well - coloring and full head extensions application only takes about 3 hours! That's a huge improvement from the more traditional extension techniques!

If you want to schedule a consultation for Platinum Seamless extensions, give me a buzz at 816.942.8787!

P.S. I don't know if I have to say this, but I'd rather be safe than sorry - I don't own those pictures, they were taken from outside sources! We all know how sue-happy our culture is today so fyi I don't own the rights to those photos.

Consultations

If you ask me, I think a good, solid consultation is your key to hair happiness. Too many of my current clients complain of subpar communication between them and their previous stylist. You wouldn't ask me a question in French, and understand my answer in Spanish, right? Muddy communication is usually where I think stylists and clients go wrong.

Communicating and Cutting
When I was in middle school (the worst, most awkward years of life for me), I went to a salon with hair collarbone length. I instructed the stylist to take about an inch off the length.

Little did I know, an inch to me and an inch to this girl were INCHES apart. I came out of the salon with hair up to my jaw and tears in my eyes. How could this woman honestly think that she took off one inch??? Looking back, if would have shown her how much "one inch" is to me, maybe we could have avoided the whole thing!

I think that might be why I am such a conservative cutter. I would much rather have to take off more length than wish I would have left more length - and I think everyone would agree with me there! And I don't know about other stylists, but I don't mind at all if people ask me to explain what I'm doing! I figure that if a stylist doesn't want you to know what they are doing, it's probably because you won't like what they are doing. Just sayin!

Consultation and Colors
When I look back at pictures from middle school and high school, I am honestly horrified at what I see. I was so preoccupied with being the cookie cutter "pretty blonde" that I didn't even stop to think about whether my brassy blonde tone was good on me! I can barely stand looking at some of those pictures from my blonde phase. What I had at that time was everything I have come to hate: brassy, orangey blonde that's clearly unnatural; dark ashy roots; and yellowy color combined with the yellow undertones in my skin! It looked jaundice-y! I don't know if no one thought to gently guide me in the direction of the cooler blondes for fear of hurting my feelings, but it taught me the importance of understanding the effect different hair colors and tones have on skin tones.

Eventually I got it figured out. It may sound strange, but I figured out that I am a "cool," by taking note of which colored clothes I got complimented. Those colors are jewel tones. If you get compliments the most when you wear colors like oranges, earthtones, olives, browns or plums, there's a good chance that you are a "warm."

Understanding whether you are cool or warm is of utmost importance when deciding what hair color to go for. It's important to maximize what we have and can't change. To me, that means choosing a color that makes your skin glow, your eye color look brighter, and the whites of your eyes look whiter! Another reason to understand our skin tones - picking the right shade can potentially allow us to rely less on makeup, and more on the fact that we just look more awake naturally!

So I guess the point of this post is to stress how important it is to:
*understand our own skin tones, and work with them!
*understand the importance of crystal clear communication, and
*understand and really reflect on what you want as a client.

Just because someone really really really wants to be a certain color, doesn't mean that they want it for the right reasons. We should strive to find a color that you love for the right reasons, not something you want to love for the wrong reasons!

My First Blog!

Hello all! I have started this blog to share with friends, family, current clients and potential clients all sorts of tips, trends, and suggestions as they relate to the beauty industry!

First off, let me tell a little about myself. My name is Sophie Fox, just got married August 22, 2009 to the coolest guy in the world! We are both originally from Nebraska and moved down to Kansas City with my husband's job (engineer at Burns & McDonnell).

I think I knew from a young age that a career in the beauty industry was the route for me to take. I distinctly remember when I was 8, I gave my American Girl Samantha doll a haircut. She had long auburn hair, and I decided that she needed a haircut. My mom walked in while I was in the midst of giving Samantha a shoulder length angled bob. My mom was furious - those dolls aren't cheap! I had to sit in time-out for a bit. But eventually the anger wore off, and Mom wasn't mad so much as awed. I guess for an 8 year old with a pair of Fiskars, I did a pretty decent job on Samantha's new stacked bob.

Fast forward to the college years, I was just kind of floating around, trying to decide what to do with my life - which I don't think any 18 year old is capable of. After changing majors relentlessly trying to find my niche, I had kind of an epiphany while getting my hair done sophmore year (Tona at Headlines in Lincoln - she rocks!). She had the job I wanted. Continuous creativity, making people feel good about themselves, never the same thing every day.

Imagine being 20 years old, halfway done with college and telling your parents you want to quit school and go to beauty school. That didn't go over well. We compromised - I would finish school and then go to beauty school. Afterall, what parents want to sink $20k into a college and have nothing to show for it? Turns out, despite my arguing with them and the finals week meltdowns, finishing my business degree was the best thing I ever did. I guess Mom and Dad really do know best. But don't tell them I said that.

So now I'm 24, I work at Shampagne in Kansas City, and I couldn't be happier with my career. I love color, I love the overall transformation, I love it all. It's just in my nature to do everything with 110% of effort. I think that if I'm gonna do something or be something, I have to be the best at it that I can possibly be. So when people sit in my chair at Shampagne, I give them the best customer service, the best cut, the best dimensional color, the best style that I can possibly give them (which is pretty damn good if I can say so myself, judging by my expanding clientele). Because if I'm not giving everything my all, what am I really accomplishing? Just barely getting by? That doesn't sound like the career or lifestyle I want. I have finally found my bliss, and luckily my bliss involves helping people look and feel their best.

So all in all, my goal for this blog is for it to be your headquarters for tips, trends, suggestions and general discussion about the beauty industry - hair, makeup, fashion, etc.

I would love and appreciate for you all to post comments, opinions, or topics you want me to research for you!