Blowdry Tips: Blowdrying Bangs

Bangs are a great way to change your look without doing anything too dramatic. However, sometimes they can be a little tricky to style on your own. One question I get alot from clients with bangs is, "How do you get my bangs to look so good? I can never get them to look the same as when you do them". Here are a few tricks when it comes to blowdrying your bangs.

• Make sure you blowdry your bangs first. Bangs always dry the fastest, so to ensure you get the best finish on them be sure to dry them before they dry how they naturally live and become difficult to style.
• Start by blowdrying with a vent brush, using low heat to ensure you don't dry your bangs before you have them how you want them. Brush your bangs to one side, then to the other (if you have straight bangs, brush them straight down as well between brushing to each side). By blowdrying your bangs across in each direction, it helps to neutralize cowlicks around your hairline. If you have a really prominent cowlick, use a comb with tight teeth rather than a vent brush to get more tension on the hair and help to better smooth it out.
• After you have removed most of the moisture, set dryer to a higher heat and change your brush to one that has nature boar bristles. A brush with natural bristles puts more tension on the hair to help get it nice and smooth. If you need to, part your bangs into two or three sections to make them easier to work with, smoothing one section at a time.
• With sweeping bangs, blowdry them on the opposite side of where you part. Blowdrying a sweeping bang on the opposite side and then brushing it across to where you usually wear it gives a nicer, more natural sweep. Straight bangs can be dried forward.
• You can use a flat brush to make your bangs lay straighter, sleeker, and closer to your forehead; use a round brush to add a little lift and put more of a bend on the ends. It all depends on the look you are trying to achieve.
• After you have finished drying your bangs, you can move to the sides and then the back. 

Be the boss of your bangs! With these tricks in your bag, you will be sure to get great looking bangs everytime.

Little Products You Can't Live Without: Tonic Lotion

One of my absolute favorite products is Tonic Lotion. It is one of those all around great products to have in your product drawer because of it's range of benefits. Tonic is one of Bumble and bumble's foundation products, the first step in your product regimen.  

A light leave in conditioner, Tonic is great for lubricating the hair to help with detangling, while also adding moisture back into your hair (this is especially important for those of us who live in drier climates, such as in the state of Utah). Additionally, it's Tea Tree Oil is great for keeping your scalp healthy.

Another great feature of Tonic Lotion is that it acts as a primer for your hair, similar to how you would use an eyeshadow or foundation primer to enhance the performance of your face makeup. Tonic is your hair primer, to prepare the hair for any additional products you are going to put in it, as well as to enhance the performance of those products.

Tonic can also be used to reactivate any products you have in your hair. Need to freshen up your look for a night out? Or, in a hurry in the morning and don't have time to start your look from scratch? You can mist some Tonic on your hair, dry it a little, and you're good to go! As a hairstylist, if there is one product that I recommend for my clients, Tonic Lotion is it. Little product, big benefits. 

REVIEW: Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo

For awhile now, I have been seeing commercials for Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo being advertised as being just as good as salon brand dry shampoos. Now before I begin, I should start by saying I am an avid Bumble and bumble fan, which is one reason I like working at Shep Studio because that is the product line we carry. My addiction first started at the age of 14 and slowly grew to where now it is the only brand of product I use. So, naturally, I use Bumble's colored dry shampoo. However, after seeing all these commercials for Suave's dry shampoo being advertised as salon quality I new I had to try it, even though I personally believe Suave is one of the worst brands of hair product out there.

For weeks when I went to Walmart (I won't go into my opinions about that place), they were completely out. I thought to myself, well, this stuff must work well enough if they can't keep it on the shelves. Finally, the other night when I went to look they had it in, and I purchased my own bottle to take home and see for myself just how good it was. To my surprise, it actually works pretty well for being Suave and only $2.97. I definitely love the smell: citrus - grapefruit maybe? You have to make sure to shake the can really well and definitely hold it 10, if not 12 inches away from your roots. If you spray it too close it comes out too much and all white on your hair. However, I did notice that I was able to make it through the next day without my hair looking greasy at all, and it did give some bounce back to my hair as well. The only thing I noticed that was kind of a con was with my dark brown hair, I could still see some of the tiny clay particles they use to absorb the oil in my hair. So, maybe due to the light color of this dry shampoo (I usually use brown) it is more ideal for people with lighter levels of hair where this wouldn't be as noticable.

Although I love my $35 Bumble brown dry shampoo, this is a great option for someone who just needs something inexpensive to get them to their next wash day and provide good results. Tresseme also has a dry shampoo, which I believe at Walmart is $4.94 or close to that, and is next on my list of inexpensive brand dry shampoos to buy and review. For now, if you're looking to make it a little longer to your next shampoo but can't afford the salon stuff, Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo is a good option.

Graduated Bob Class

Every Thursday at the salon we have class. The first two weeks of the month we bring in models, one week for color, the next for cut. Today our models were for graduated bobs. I love cutting bobs! And my amazing model Marissa had a great head of hair to practice on. We took her heavy, one-length bob  and turned it into a beautifully graduated shape. This was great for her because she has crazy thick hair and her current bob just wasn't cutting it. There is no better feeling than giving someone a look that makes them look and feel great.

The best part about class is the one on one help to guide and direct me into becoming a better stylist. The key to a great stylist is education, education, practice, and more education. If you want a great haircut or color, the best person to give you that is someone who is continually moving forward to better themselves. I am grateful for a boss who is pro continued education, because I definitely wouldn't have grown as much as I have without that.

New Blogger Alert!

I am exposing myself to the world of blogging. I have always kind of been interested, but never made the effort to start a blog. However, I figure now is as good a time as ever to start. Any tips or tricks will be appreciated! As my profession is in the beauty industry, hair styling more specifically, I felt like I wanted my blog to revolve mostly about that as to keep people up to date on the latest trends, as well as what I do in the salon. I am super excited to start this new adventure of blogging. Hopefully you can call bear with me as I learn the ropes!