Hair Trend: Feathers!

It started off with two or three requests a week and before the salon staff at Sam Brocato Salon could blink, the demand for feather extensions (among both clients and staff!) reached over ten times that amount and is still growing.

“Feather extensions are THE Spring/Summer hair trend of 2011,” says Sam Brocato. “They are the perfect way to tap into the super colorful extension trend right now. But they are much more low maintenance, much easier to pull off for the average woman and totally whimsical and fun.”

You can get your own feather hair extensions at Sam Brocato Salon in Soho, where extensions of all kinds are a salon specialty. Feather extensions are available for $45 for a bundle of five feathers. Or you can get the same look with Fancy Feathers by Bling Strands. You can mix and match Fancy colors & choose how many feathers you want. There are 8 color groups and 12 individual colors to choose from. Note: Fancy Feathers are best applied by salon professionals.

Spring 2011 Spring Hair Trend: Sleek 70s Hair

Clothing inspired by the 70’s popped up all over the fall 2011 Fashion Week runways, and now hair styles are following suit. Celebrities have been seen sporting the trend en mass lately with straight, center parted looks.

Celebrity Hairstylist Kevin Mancuso, who has worked with A-listers like Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman and Kristen Bell, offers his tips for achieving this sleek style:

“The key to a gorgeous straight style is to create a slight lift at the crown so hair has movement and doesn’t just lie flat,” said Mancuso. “To avoid feeling dated, add a series of long, one length layers throughout for additional swing at the ends.”

PREP:
· Start by applying Nexxus Mousse Plus Volumizing Foam Styler directly to damp hair for fullness, body and density.
· Press mousse into hair from roots to ends for all-over volume and textured hold.


STYLE:
· Create a middle part and blow dry hair using a large round brush. By blow drying instead of ironing, you create volume and flexibility, so you can form the shape you want, and keep hair from looking limp.
· Use the blow dryer to bend ends slightly under for a flattering, face framing shape.

FINISH:
· Lightly mist hair with Nexxus Comb Thru Natural Design and Finishing Mist for flexible hold and shine that lasts.

Spring Hair Trend: Stylish Ponytails

Owner of Cutler/Redken salons, Rodney Cutler, and his talented team of stylists took to the catwalk to showcase stunning hair. For spring, many of the looks were inspired by airy texture, which complemented a lot of the designers’ style and feel for the clothes. Overall, there was a juxtaposition of beautifully polished and feminine clothes with slightly undone hairstyles. My favorites were the ponytails so I'm going to share how you can rock the look yourself!

Textured Ponytail as seen at Carlos Miele

Fitted gowns and soft fabrics flowed down the runway at the Carlos Miele show. “We always like the look to be very elegant, simple and feminine,” says Rodney Cutler, the lead stylist for the show. “This season, it’s a little more editorial with a dry, airy texture.”

Rock the Look :

1. Spray Cutler Volumizing Spray into damp hair and blow-dry for volume and texture

2. Set hair with a 1” curling iron, taking small sections and lightly spraying with Redken Forceful 23 Hairspray

3. Rake fingers through hair, starting at the roots to create a disheveled look

4. Create an imperfect center part and pull hair back into a low center ponytail

5. Use a bungee elastics and be sure to apply tension when securing the ponytail, which will accentuate the shape of the head. Lightly brush the ponytail to create an airy effect

Fun Fish Tail Braid as seen at Nicolas K

“To complement the casual-yet-chic designs, we wanted to do something that was strong and graphic, but still beautiful,” says Rodney Cutler, the lead stylist for the show. “The fishtail braid is cool, understated and worked wonderfully with the clothes and makeup. Plus, the great thing about the braid is that it’s so easy to re-create at home with minimal products and time.”

Rock the Look:

1. Spray damp hair with Cutler Volumizing Spray and blow-dry for volume

2. Gather all hair just below the ear, pull to one side, create a fishtail braid and secured with a small piece of leather

3. Leave a few fly-aways around the hairline to achieve a soft effect

4. Lightly spray with Redken Forceful 23

Rock the Look: Chic Blunt Bangs

Long, face-framing fringe is in for spring and stars like Jennifer Hudson and Sandra Bullock are embracing the trend. As perpetual style chameleons, celebrities often go for bangs as a simple way to transform their look without a drastic change to their existing haircut. This bold statement look is dramatic, impactful and easy to achieve with a few scissor snips.

To Rock the Look, go for brow-grazing bangs that are slightly tapered at the corners. This way you can wear them down or sweep them to the side to quickly change up the style.

Celebrity hairstylist and Nexxus Creative Director Kevin Mancuso, who has worked with A-listers like Anne Hathaway, Abbie Cornish and Kristen Bell, offers his tips on how to style your bang look:

“Bangs are a great way to update your look without sacrificing length off your ends,” said Mancuso. “The addition of thick, blunt fringe immediately draws focus to your eyes and emphasizes your bone structure.”

PREP:
· Start by applying Nexxus Thermal Volume Volumizing Heat Protection Mousse directly to damp hair to create body and protect strands from the damaging effects of heat styling.
· Press mousse into hair from roots to ends for all-over volume and textured hold making sure to include the bang area.

STYLE:
· Pin bangs to the side and create a middle part. Then use a large round brush to blow dry the rest of your hair.
· Make sure bangs are still damp before styling. If they have dried a bit, mist them with water prior to blow drying. This will ensure there are no unwanted kinks in the bangs and also help set the style.
· Curl bangs over the round brush and blow dry on low, bending ends slightly under for a flattering, face-framing shape.
· Release the rest of hair from the hair tie.

FINISH:
· Place the round brush under the bangs and lightly mist hair with Nexxus Comb Thru Natural Design and Finishing Mist for flexible hold and glossy shine.
· Roll the brush slightly under as you remove it from the bangs to smooth hair.

Waves + Bangs

I love this picture of Tyra Banks sporting heavy bangs and waves. It is such a Spring 2011 Hair Trend! In order to recreate this look you can do it a few different ways, separate the bangs from the rest of your hair and blow dry it straight out. For the rest you can choose to use heat or do it without.

With Heat:

Use a curling iron or a round heat barrel, take small pieces of your hair and wrap it around the curling iron. The key is to take different sized pieces of hair and wrap them different ways around the curling iron barrel. Doing it like this will ensure that your waves look natural.

Without Heat:

Personally, bantu knot outs do not work on wet hair so I would have to start with dry hair and use a leave in spray to dampen the hair. Once the hair is damp I create little buns all over and once it's dry I remove the buns and waves are in place. Just like when I use use heat, I create different sized buns to create more natural looking waves.

Spring 2011 Hair Protective Style

Celebrated stylist and Kérastase Paris Spokesperson, Ashley Javier led his team backstage at the Behnaz Sarafpour Spring 2011 show and unveiled a beautiful, new take on the traditional French braid. Relying on his coveted source of professional treatment and styling products, Ashley Javier plucked from his arsenal of Kérastase, including a new secret weapon coined Elixir Ultime, to perfect each model’s hair and complement the stunning collection debuted by the designer.

The Inspiration: “The collection was very delicate and feminine so I wanted to create a look with innocence and sweetness, but with a bit of an edge. We created a designer French braid that snaked neatly behind the head and was very intricate, not “do it yourself” looking. The great thing about a neat and skillful French braid is that it can last for days…even longer than a blow dry.” — Ashley Javier

To Create the Look:
§ Ashley began by applying NEW Elixir Ultime beautifying hair oil to the lengths of the hair to prepare it for braiding, by softening, adding body and solidity
§ Next, he started the braiding at the top left and worked hair into a French braid, following a crisscross pattern across the back of the head
§ Once complete, a non-visible elastic secured the braid, and the ends were pinned up under the hair
§ He finished the look with Double Force Controle Ultime to set the style in place with a firm, yet workable hold
§ Finally, he smoothed the edges around the hair line, once again using Elixir Ultime, and with a fine toothbrush perfected the hairline