MakeOver Magic / Nick Arrojo

Makeover magician, celebrity stylist, multi-award-winning pioneer of modern hairdressing and self claimed “world's best razor-cutter” is also the author of the Great Hair Beauty Book. Imported from Manchester England and Sassoon trained, Nick Arrojo is known worldwide for his ability to give women hairstyles that bring out their individual beauty.

Not so long ago millions of What Not to Wear viewers would tune in to see him transform women’s outdated styles or unflattering hair styles into fresh contemporary looks.  Most importantly Nick helped women realize their hair’s true beauty potential. In doing so he not only changes their hair styles but also changes the way they feel about themselves.

His beauty book, Great Hair was written with the general public in mind, but makes an interesting read for the professional hairdresser as well.

Great Hair reveals his styling secrets giving the reader a complete education about hair including: Identifying your hair type and how that impacts the cut, color and style. Understanding hair products, styling tools and how to use them to style your hair. How to choose the right hair color that enhances the style and dispels the myths and outdated ideas about hair. His six step guide to finding a hairdresser and how to talk about your hair and what to expect from a salon visit I found very interesting.

Chapter Three, “The Ultimate Hairstyling Guide” features dozens of before and after makeover's with examples of how a beautiful face-framing shape can enhance your unique facial features. Nick points out that to make your hair easy to style everyday it must be cut and shaped preferably with a RAZOR and match the hair’s natural texture and characteristic (straight, curly, wavy, thick or thin) for a hairstyle that works with not against itself. Knowing and using the strengths of your hair type allows you to have a modern, sexy, youthful and healthy no-fuss hair style everyday or dress it up for special occasions with ease. And best of all, no more spending cash trying the latest trendy hairdo’s that your natural hair can’t handle.

The Great Hair Book is all about getting to know your own unique hair type and the important role it plays in finding the right hairstyle which I totally agree. It was refreshing to finally hear a hairstylist talk about styling hair from a purely natural point of view point. His web site (www.nickarrojo.com) features a creative ONLINE Magazine filled with fashion images and worth taking a closer look.

Despite his checker board beauty show and television show schedule, you can still see the maestro himself at his New York studio. A makeover appointment on the selected days starts at $500. The Great Hair beauty book is available at www.amazon.com
 

Quick Response Beauty / Q R

So you already have great, fresh content on your website—what’s next? Have you heard of QR codes yet? Here is a quick introduction. Similar to an old-fashioned bar code, a QR (which stands for "quick response") code is a black and white graphic box holding valuable information (that can be scaned and read) quickly by a smart cell phone. They come to us from Japan where they are very common and look like this.

You'll soon be seeing QR Codes in a beauty magazine advert, on a billboard, a web page or even on someone’s t-shirt. Once it is in your cell phone, it may give you details about that business (allowing users to search for nearby locations on the internet), show you a URL which you can click to see a trailer for a movie, or it may give you a coupon which you can use in a local outlet or details about the person wearing its on the t-shirt.

The reason why they are becoming widely used is that modern cell phones can scan (take a picture) of them. The cell phone needs a QR code reader and only take’s a minute for a iPhone or Android phone to install the reader. You can easily generate your own (quick response) QR code using a site like (www.kimtag.com) or the new Google QR generator and its free.

Your salon, no matter how small or large, can use QR codes in a number of ways. Here are a few examples of how others are using them. You could add one to your business card containing your contact details so its easy for someone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone. Add them to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, TV ads, product details, contact details, salon offer details, event details, a coupon, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs or a link to your YouTube video.

Today, few may be using them, but those that do use Quick Response codes will definitely love how easy it is to find your business on the web,Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube etc. Using QR codes for your salon marketing is a very smart move. They’re topical, they’re unusual, they’re clever … and they’re definitely cool and edgy. We are only just scratching the surface of how this new technology will be used. That’s iNSTANT marketing – Quick Response Beauty___ you have to love it.

American HairColorists Summit Review

Hundreds of creative Haircolorist's from across the country met in Los Angeles at the Merritt Airport Hotel over the weekend to attend the Eleventh Annual Energizing ABCH Summit. The event is a high-level haircolor seminar where individual hair stylist's learn how to use the latest hair coloring techniques and products. The Summit is sponsored by the American Board of Certified Haircolorist's, an organization of hair colorists whose mission is to raise the degree of expertise of hair colorists around the country.

My wife who is also a hair stylist and amazing hair colorist to boot and I attended the ABCH summit and were trilled with the number and variety of classes available. I saw techniques used and learned color concepts I had never seen before, and I've been coloring hair for what now seems like forever...lol. The number of hair colorists teaching the "hands-on classes" made it really easy to understand. I also enjoyed the salon marketing class and hair color forum, where a panel of color artist's were willing to share their experience and answer questions the audience posed to them. The information and their insights were well worth the time and expense.

 

What I was most impressed with was the level of professionalism and appearance of the hair stylists that attended the summit. Not at all like the trailer trash look you see at beauty shows these days. Also it was held at the Merritt LAX hotel which gave the entire experience a warm and friendly feeling unlike the ice cold impersonal atmosphere of convention centers beauty shows.

The American Board of Certified Haircolorists is not sponsored by hair color manufactures, so all the information was generic and could be used with your favorite brands. At the end of the day I was excited to get back to the salon and try the technique I've learned. There were so many interesting classes I would have enjoyed taking, but didn't have the time. However I've made plans to attend their next summit

For a list of the  2011 American Board of Certified Haircolorists Summits visit (www.haircolorist.com) TEL: 1 310 547 0814

Long Hair Styles Gallery

Long hair is back. So, put away all those short and medium bobs and go get hair extensions so you can rock some of these amazing long hair styles.

The secret to many long hair styles is in the haircut, specifically in the layers.  Layers added to a long style help to break up the style and create movement. Add to this a splash of color with highlights and/or lowlights, maybe a hint of side swept bangs and you are rockin a great long hair style.
See some of the latest long hair styles in new photo gallery.

Cameron Diaz / Star Hair Style

Drawing inspiration from the hair style trends of our favorite stars and celebrities has become a national pass time. One such star hairstyle is cinema beauty Cameron Diaz. Like many stars her big break came about when Cameron changed her natural dark brown hair color to a glamorous golden and honey blonde hue for the part of a famine fatal in the movie “The Mask”. What more can be said about changing your hair color? 

TO GET THE LOOK: Are you searching for a totally new hair color?  If that's the case, take a hair styling class from Cameron Diaz.  Her long sexy face framing style and glam honey blond hair color is an excellent starting point. Be forewarned, this sun kissed color and sassy style is a dude magnet. To get the look, let’s take it one step at a time; staring with a style cut and shaping. 

LET’S SHAPE IT:  Cameron’s style starts with a long layered contoured silhouette for volume and side swept peak-a-boo bangs for an alluring look. This sassy “time saving” do’ is idea for straight and wavy hair and suits most face shapes. With a few adjustments (trims as it grows) you can easily find the ideal length and shape for your hair, face shape and personal style.

LET’S STYLE IT:   For style support start with a dab of styling foam, gel mousse or nothing at all.  To get your style in motion and add volume, toss your hair upside down and give it a quick tousle with a blow dryer. If your locks look a bit dry or frizzy a dab of styling cream will tame it. For a dressy look, a quick twist around your styling iron or a fist full of hot rollers gets the look. After, tuck one side over your ear and add red glossy lip stick, eye liner and shadow, diamond stud earrings and you’ve got the look.

NOW, LET’S COLOR IT:  Star’s change their hair color often for the many rolls they play and is how Cameron became a blond. To get the look, her natural dark brown hair color is lightened several shades with cream bleach giving it an overall Honey blonde tone. After, Flaxen and Champagne blonde strands are sprinkled throughout with a professional foil weaving technique giving it a natural sun kissed look. To keep this up the new growth is lightened with cream bleach or a high-lift tint every 6 week and highlighted every three months. This bit of hair color magic will cost a few extra bucks but hey; just look what it did for Cameron Diaz. 

Cameron’s colorful style is the stuff that dreams are made of and loaded with sex appeal. Its shapely silhouette with center part or side swept "peak-a-boo" bangs give it the alluring look. For your time challenged life this sassy do’ almost styles itself. Just give it a quick tousle with a blow dryer and styling brush and your good to go. The dreamy two toned hair color looks so au natural it’s sure to get rave reviews. Heads will turn and girl friends will be green with envy when you show up with Cameron’s sassy do' and dreamy hair color.

No Compromise Leadership

Neil Ducoff has gained international respect as the guru of team-based compensation and has coached more than 3,500 businesses, including Aveda, Gillette, Proctor & Gamble, Planet Wings, Canmeng International Taiwan, Profound Beauty Products, Kerastase Paris, Eveline Charles Canada and L’Oreal, on how to achieve the highest levels of success and profitability, while creating a positive, rewarding workplace. Besides this award-winning No-Compromise Leadership book, he’s also the author of Fast Forward, the salon and spa industry’s only business reference manual.

At first I thought who needs another book on business? Just a few pages in and I knew this book was worth the time to read. Neil has written a blueprint on exactly how not to accept good enough. No-Compromise Leadership is not a book about what you want to hear, but what you need to hear to be successful. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky, feel-good book. This is about having the business you want. No Compromise Leadership guides you step-by-step to a business that’s profitable with happy, productive employees and loyal customers.

Compromise is the path of least resistance. It’s easier to avoid a leadership responsibility than to do it. It’s easier to avoid addressing a difficult employee’s behavior issues than to resolve them. It’s easier to deliver mediocre rather than world-class customer service. Don’t blame the competition, the economy or your employees for holding your business back. The real culprit is compromise at the leadership level. No-Compromise Leadership is a wake-up call for salons both large and small, and an antidote to the mediocrity that afflicts so many.

 

No-Compromise Leadership is a two-phase process. First, learn what it takes to become a true no-compromise leader – and how to get there, based on where you are now with your own thinking and behavior. Second, learn to create a dynamic no-compromise salon culture, committed to driving the Four Business Outcomes – productivity, profitability, staff retention and customer loyalty. “Truly inspiring…the right questions with the right answers and, more importantly, fun to read. Neil Ducoff makes becoming a no-compromise leader easy. So much so, I have adopted the no-compromise concept into all I do. No-Compromise Leadership is a must-read for every salon owner.