Rocks in your Hair

Your Hair is full of Rocks!

What’s in your water and showerhead?

Its South Florida, the water is hard and full of minerals that attaches to your hair and produces discoloration, build-up, fade-age, and makes your hair feel dry and dull.

Hair has negative ions and water has positive ions.  Together they create a magnet and everything in your water attaches itself to your hair and fills up the strand with unhealthy mineral deposits. These deposits form as rocks in a tunnel. Your hair-shaft is filling up with all that it doesn’t need.

How about using positive ions with healthy components so when they attaché through the magnetic reaction your hair is better, shiny, healthy, full of life and longer lasting color.

So the next time you’re in the shower just look up. All those white caked-up deposits are calcium and all those green spots are copper. Imagine what they’re doing to your hair?

Let’s not forget lead and magnesium and if your color is always brassy or red then iron is the culprit.

If you want longer lasting color, healthier hair, longer lasting keratin treatments then Wellness Color is for you.

Our new Wellness Color Experience will excavate the rocks and produce healthy anti-oxidant color, and will cleanse and detox out the impurities.

If you are one of those people whose scalp gets sensitive from color services we can adapt your service using the same methodology, just inform us.

What you do and use at home is equally important since you cannot change the water supply. Using weekly at home treatments can cost as little as $10/week.

It is our firm belief that if your hair is not healthy or if your canvas is compromised than excellent color and cut is a continual challenge, it doesn’t have to be.

What’s Behind Your Hair?

What’s Behind Your Hair?

You open a magazine, watch TV, go shopping and you simply get bombarded by brands. Brands can be powerful and can make an impact at times.
The large companies behind these brands are powerful and have the purchasing power to be everywhere. They appear in your web browser because of the sites and searches you perform or where you shopped or because of your age.
In the beauty industry a small handful of companies owns everything and makes it very difficult for you to be open to other possibilities.
So what’s in a brand and what’s in your hair?
First ask yourself you do you trust? A commercial or the person who knows your hair such as your salon professional?
What is it that makes a consumer buy a hair care product off the TV from a stranger who clearly wants your money vs. the person who touches your hair and knows it needs issues and challenges?
The answer is that it’s in your face, telling you that you need it and need it now. It creates immediate relevancy and urge because if you act now your hair will be shiny, smooth and they will throw in a special something because this won’t last.
So how come when your hairdresser tries to sell you something you balk, or feel as though you are being hard sold?
They’ve touched your hair and know what it needs. We know plenty of salons that are forced to sell to every consumer every time.
Some salons will always carry the latest, hottest most popular product of the second waiting for the phone to ring. They jump on anything at any time based on media hype and assumption. SO they naturally attract a very fickle uncommitted clientele. They may also eliminate your favorite product at any time for no reason other than hot sales on the next thing.
Typically a salon who behaves like this is using popular brand with the mass appeal riding on the coat tails of the company’s advertisements.
Then you have the free thinkers who truly care. These are salons that carefully research and try a product in search of something unique and exclusive that can’t be found in the drug stores and supermarkets. Let’s face it; those salons that carry the latest and greatest have to compete with every other salon, drug store and super market with no loyalty whatsoever.
As a salon owner, I want no part of a company that sells to everyone including supermarkets or drug stores. I am not easily sold on the hippest thing nor do I want those one time buyers who jump ship at the slightest change in what’s on QVC.
We want to work with private labels because they provide high quality products, ingredients, support and do not sell to the masses or to the retail chains.
These companies care about the salon. They are for hairdressers by hairdressers. These are the companies I want my dollars spent on and these are the companies I want you to trust and spend your money on.
A true salon professional will care about your hair; work with high quality product not sold down the block and will never hard sell you. They stand behind their work and their results and the performance of the product they invest in.
Sure, not everyone can be pleased but it is also about the salons brand. And it’s the salons brand that is what’s behind your hair.
I am behind your hair; Hair Studio Artists is behind your hair. We select the finest private label product that we feel is affordable, performance worthy and that has high quality ingredients.
We touch your hair and create your look, advise you based on your hair type and lifestyle.
All too often these other companies end up with very short term search and then one day your hot product is on the news because it messed up someone’s health, caused cancer or was found unsafe. Just remember Brazilian Blowout Brand and all is cancer causing ingredients.
If a product fails us or a company sells us out we drop them. It’s that simple.
The same integrity we have behind the chair with your hair we expect from the companies we do business with.
We purposely want a label you haven’t heard of. And the whole time you jumped on board when you heard no sulfates from the top players we’d already been there and done that because our manufacturer who doesn’t advertise already figured this stuff out and is now researching how to improve their brand not create new ones based on hype.

Blow Dry Bars

What would you do if your dentist stopped doing everything except cleaning your teeth? No cavity filling, no x-rays no nothing?
Or we simply stopped cutting and coloring hair?
What statement would be made by giving up our hard earned skills or if we never had them to begin with?
Well that’s how a certain segment of the salon industry views Blow Dry Bars.
Although highly successful and making sense to some degree these blow dry only bars might do well in cities like NY where people are on the fly from the gym to work to dinner to meetings and need their hair styled in between; but why not just call your regular salon and/or hairdresser to get this done?
It seems silly to have spent $10-$13K on school, to get licensed. Open a salon; pay the same fees, permits, licensing etc. only to limit your services to blow dry’s.
Are these people taking the easy way, do they have a new cutting edge business model or did they simply cop out of the salon industry because they are just mediocre?
These are just some of the questions that come to mind as we see this type of “salon?” crop up here and there.
Is it the convenience of sitting and waiting no appointment necessary like a barber shop, to get your hair blown out or is your regular salon too busy for you?
Accommodations are our business so we are always prepared to take a client for any service. Should we ever become too busy to get you in for a blowout, you’ll be sure that we will simply hire another salon professional to get you in for your blow out.

Feel free to post your thoughts, we are curious about this topic. Oh and if you need a blowout, well; just call us, email us, text us, blog us, FB us-we're always here for you.

What Makes Fabulous Hair?

Who doesn’t want fabulous hair? It is something we strive for, covet, dream of and for many chase after as you hop from one salon to another.
For some of the lucky people out there they have been blessed with great hair, texture and density (which is the quality of the hair fabric and the amount of hair per sq. inch) and many of these people maintain this great hair by doing less.
Others obsessively seek things far from what they possess naturally, thus pushing the limits of what their hair can do.
They perm or straighten to damaging degrees, they over flat iron, over color and or over bleach. In these cases both the hairdresser and client are to blame. Many hairdressers have no care or emotional integrity in their work and will simply over process over chemical a client’s hair at their request in search of something they simply are not.
These clients do not have a realistic expectation, nor do they care or consider the long term quality of their hair. If it gets damaged they cut it, and seek another salon.
In the salon industry, the person who touches your hair last is responsible. This is not a fair or true statement.
The true professional cares dearly for your hair. The true professional makes recommendations every time you come to the salon. They will offer treatments, products, color options, color glazes and glosses, and advice not only on the best cut but how to style it.
They will not compromise the integrity of your hair under any circumstance. With such integrity comes the risk of losing those clients who cannot understand or appreciate the impact and meaning of this.
For example, the “BLONDOREXIC” clients want unrealistic results; they push their lightening ability of their hair in order to be far from what nature created them to be. The end results are always “BLORANGE” color or overly damaged nearly white cotton fried hair.
The holds true to changing the texture from straight to curly or curly to straight.
When the limits are pushed the hair suffers and so does the reputation of the salon and salon professional.
So what makes fabulous hair and how do you get it?
It starts with a very realistic, honest, consultation about your hair. The salon professional will analyze your hair’s texture, density, existing color, natural color, percentage of gray (if any), and study its length and your facial features, skin tone and eye tone.
From this point several options will be offered about they length, type of cut, color and home care.
The true key to fabulous hair also lies in the credentials of the person doing your hair. Make sure they are involved with hair shows and education. Ask them about what they believe in.
You must first care about your hair before they can. All too often the true salon professional cares more about the client’s hair and its quality more than the client.
I have personally heard many people point blank ask for either unrealistic results, expect a miracle, tell me they don’t maintain their hair often, or don’t care about the condition so long as they get light enough.
How can a professional deal with hearing such things?
Some salons are like bars where the hairdresser is the bartender and will serve whatever you want no questions asked. Some salons are like those unscrupulous plastic surgeons that take the money and could care less.
Other, such as Samantha and I, truly care deeply for the wellbeing of your hair, is condition, quality and overall finish.
The other side of selling homecare is not just about a salon making a buck but truly caring about your hair’s integrity and having you be able to recreate your look at home. Things like shadow lighting and glosses along with proper treatments will only serve to create healthy color longevity.
Let’s face it, there are those that walk into a salon and their haircolor and condition and style look great. They save money by listening to the suggestions on how to maintain the look and care for it. They use professional product recommended by their professional, not jumping to drug stores and QVC for the latest “whatever” sounds good to them.
They trust the salon professional in all things hair related!
So their key to fabulous hair seeking out the top professional and following their advice. They are not there to create something outdated, unhealthy, inappropriate or damaging.
It is their ability and your trust that allows hair to showcase its finest attributes. These attributes are using what Mother Nature gives. Harnessing the hair’s natural undertones, warmth and texture qualities without veering too far from what is naturally given is essential.
Remember, pushing the hair’s limits leaves you limited, compromised and the further you push it the less shine and luster it will have.
Staying within 2-3 steps lighter or darker is vital and it’s what the top top professionals will always advise.
Your stylist will enhance your eyes, and facial features including your bone structure with the right cut. The right cut will accentuate everything. Trust what they say in terms of length, layers, bangs and texture.
Follow carefully what they use in your hair. When you leave looking and feeling awesome it’s because of what and how they used it to create it.
A salon chooses its products carefully, it’s what they believe in and what performs best for the type of work they do.
The colors, shampoos, treatments, style aids; all have not only a performance quality but also have an ingredient quality that all balances out properly with your hair type and the type of work they are committed to.
Using any product that you think works or can save you money is not the case.
One of our professional friend’s and colleague wrote this great article that will also help in your having fabulous hair. http://haircoloradvisor.blogspot.com/2011/11/choosing-new-salon-how-to-avoid-top-7.html?spref=fb
Fact, the majority of salons are under qualified, have no education past beauty school, do not care about the integrity of your hair, want your money, and will ruin it for those salons that are the exact opposite because the trust has been broken for the client.
So when you see someone with fabulous hair, stop and ask them where they got it done. Don’t be afraid to travel and spend a few extra dollars on yourself and your hair.
When was the last time someone complimented your hair?

Merry New Hair

This season color is all over the place. From Punk colors, to dipped ends, to Rooty effects to classic color; we have it all.
As chaotic and unpredictable as our world, haircolor is whatever your mood wants it to be at any given time.
We are in such a creative pot of whim these days that clients can experience all varieties of looks.
So how can you achieve all this excitement without breaking the bank and without completely changing everything about your color and cut?
Simple: add a few highlights to frame your look and go for an exciting tone, or if you already have an existing base color with highlights just try glossing those dimensional strands with a new shade. This will completely shift and change your appearance with no extra cost or time.
The famed Ombre is getting a new twist. The once extreme look has shifted into a beautiful oozing, glowing feel on the mid shaft and ends of the hair. Think of a cascade effect from your darker root area growing into a lighter sun-kissed version of your own color. Ombre can be seen as hair dipping.
Brunettes are rising to new heights of sexiness. It is a mature responsible color that never goes out of style, its classic and can be so fun and sensual. Just add new tones of golden brown and chocolate to you current brown by infusing light browns with dark browns to create the shadow effect. It is no longer about specific highlights and lines or contrasts of lightness but about creating the illusion of reflection and space. Imagine accenting your brown with veils and valances of similar hues of brown ever so slightly twinkling in 2 part counterpoint.
Blondes are rich and tonal, not washed out, faded or over processed. The modern blonde is hot and smoking with gold, butterscotch, caramel, sand, bamboo, maple, and almond with touches of cinnamon, curry, or cayenne. These are multi tonal, thicker in richness blondes like never before. Blondes are not supposed to just go lighter and lighter without reason but rather to show how empty or negative space can create the perfect interior shadow to background your haircut lines with those brighter tones.
Cuts are ranging from long and tossy to short and asymmetrical depending on who you are. Don’t be afraid to lose some length, it could be the exact mood enhancement you need. More waves and curls are expected so it’s time to grab some curling irons and give the flat iron a vacation this holiday season. Texture creates interest, this could be the interest needed to be noticed in 2012.

Conditioning Treatments – Don’t Get Fooled Again

Salons advertise conditioning treatments. How do you know what you are getting and what you are paying for?
As a consumer you must ask questions about their so-called “conditioning treatments”
A great tip off to see if you are being ripped off is when salons advertise “deep conditioning treatment”
What does that exactly mean?
What is the point and purpose of a conditioning treatment?
Many salons take advantage of this by buying the largest, cheapest, horrible quality, junk they can find and dispense it in a cup of some type and an assistant applies it and places you under a dryer.
These “deep conditioning treatments” are nothing more than water (aqua), cetyl alcohol, cetrimonium chloride, fragrance (parfum), potassium chloride, distearyldimonium chloride, disodium edta, dmdm hydantoin, silk powder, tocopheryl acetate (vitmain e acetate), methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone,

In other words just a bunch of heavy laden products filled with junk that fools you into a false sense of hair manageability.

Consumers typically over use hair conditioners for the purpose of being able to comb through their hair on a daily basis.

In fact many of these products immediately promote hair color fading and weigh the hair down. That slick quick fix you get coats the outside of the hair allowing you to comb it but beyond that causes more harm than good and yes you can over use and abuse conditioners.

For this purpose people need a good quality detangler which closes the outer layer of the hair making combing the way it should be. These are weightless and color safe.

As far as haircolor goes, the typical conditioner out there is a larger molecule than haircolor and cause what I refer to as the Pac Man effect. The conditioning molecule eats up that beautiful color you just spent all that money on. Therefore you must be using color safe, color retaining product that is balanced with the color you are paying for. Similar ingredients vs. some other brand not formulated for your haircolor.

So when a salon offers a conditioning treatment ask what is in it, what will it do for me, will it fade color, is it designed for my hair type and texture.

Be careful what you end up paying for these bogus salon rip off services.

A reputable salon will have an array of “Treatment” options on their menu and will be called so. These honest salons will have products designed for different and specific needs to improve the health and quality of your hair and can back up their claims with fact and proof in the performance and the ingredients.

A Hair Studio Artists we are proud of our many quality treatment options that are performance and ingredient driven.

We work with Malibu C, Inspired by a long held commitment to health-based beauty, Malibu Wellness is a leader in the salon natural treatment category and home to Malibu C®, a groundbreaking brand of patented formulas blended with freshly activated vitamin crystals. Malibu C powerfully and effectively draws and removes damaging hard water deposits and environmental impurities that can diminish the health and appearance of both hair and skin - leaving each with renewed clarity and vitality. This first of its kind revolutionary technology uses a potent L-Ascorbic Acid form of Vitamins C.

We are proud to inform you of your options. Currently we carry treatments for swimmers, blondes, hard water, repair and special in-salon treatments that can correct or adjust color, as well as our most potent hair detox that removes impurities, product buildup, toxins and helps restore hair to a place of color clarity and condition.
Each one is specifically designed for that specific purpose and we also use Patrice products for our shampoo and styling line. Patrice is all natural, simply one ingredient away from organic while our Malibu line is 100% vegan.
In addition we carry power dose treatments designed for color treated clients who want long lasting luscious shine, contrast clarity and repair for damaged blondes and over bleach hair.
Because we care so much about the canvas of hair being the most important venue for creating our highly skilled work we have chosen to keep our price points affordable with little to no mark up.
Once you pass the $30 mark on a treatment you have to start questioning integrity. We base treatment pricing on the time and knowledge we need in order to make the properly informed decisions about your hair as well as on the quality of the company and their ingredients.
We will drop any line that veers from this or that takes their business to the supermarket or drug store level.
It is important to us to offer this knowledge to you so that you understand the mutual commitment we share to you, your hair, and to having you remain loyal and raving fans of our salon.
So next time you see QVC, or are in the supermarket, or happen to talk to someone from another salon or friend who goes to another salon think really hard about what we have shared.

Are you Brave Enough to be Red?

The latest science shows that natural redheads are slowly fading into extinction.
But in the world of beauty this highly admired and exciting color is very much alive and in demand.
The red trend started in 2010 and has been growing stronger and stronger.
There are warm red and cool reds, bold red and sensual reds, romantic reds and spicy reds.
Reds can be red or orange in nature. When we refer to Auburn we refer to red reds while speaking of strawberry blonde we are referring to copper based reds.
Warm reds belong on people with pink, yellow or neutral skin tone.
The most amazing strawberry blondes belong to those with very fair skin, those with freckles, pale skin with either blue or green eyes.
When I think of red I think of Julianne Moore, Ginger from Gilligan’s Island, Lucille Ball, Maureen O’Hara and Rita Hayworth.
Who is your favorite red?
Reds are some of my favorite creations and to make them even more unbelievable I like to create them dimensionally with hidden hues of light and dark complimentary tones and reflections. Creating the illusion of something happening but not quite sure what is the goal. You want to see elements of the red spectrum. Study any natural redhead up close and you’ll see a tonal variation party subtly oozing through the strands.
Here is our latest and soon to be famous redhead Emily Thompson, notice the stunning impact of the color on her and her on the color. Emily is on her way to NY for her audition for NYC Broadway Evita.