Things Your Hairstylist Wants You to Know

I’ve often seen articles about things your server wants you to know. Well, as another type of service industry professional, I have some hints to make your salon visit significantly less confusing for you, give you realistic expectations, and help you to not annoy the hell out of your stylist.

 

1. “If you want your hair to grow, you need to keep getting it trimmed.”

 

Before I started doing hair, I never understood this because no one took the time to explain it to me. What your stylist means is that when your ends split, they will split up the strand until that hair breaks or falls out. The more hairs that do this, the thinner and “scragglier” the bottom of your hair will look (BECAUSE THERE IS LESS HAIR THERE). If you get a “dusting” which is a miniscule trim (.25-.5 inches), to remove the split ends and keep them from splitting up, roughly every two months, you’ll maintain and keep the hair you have longer- enabling you to have longer, healthier hair.

 

2. I am not a magician, but I do have magic potions, kind of.

 

Do you see a lightning scar on my forehead? Am I carrying a wand? No, because I am not Harry Potter. I don’t magically change the texture, density, or curl pattern of your hair when I style it. I manipulate it with products. The reason your hair feels so much better after I smooth it than after you do, isn’t my hands, it’s the $33 dollar heat-protecting, smoothing spray I use. So don’t complain “I can never make it look like you do,” when we both know you’re using Suave shampoo and Aussie hairspray when you get home. It’s not magic, it’s science

3. Why my products are better than Walgreen’s.

 

Piggy-backing off that, the reason salon products are so much better than drug store ones is simple: Chemists. The highest expense in any industry is salary/personnel. When developing hair products, the most qualified (hence highest paid) chemists are working in the labs of brands like Oribe. For Oribe to make money on their products after paying these geniuses, they have to make their products more expensive than Pantene Pro-V who simply make cheap knock-offs, laden with cheap ingredients.

 

4. Coloring your hair and lightening it are not the same.

 

In fact, they are opposite processes. “Coloring” your hair darker, or to a different shade about the same color level, involves DEPOSITING color molecules into the hairshaft. Lightening it (“highlighting,” “blonding,” and God-forbid “frosting”) is the process of removing the melanin (color molecules) from your hair, causing it to look lighter (blonder) or if all the color molecules are removed, white/platinum. Number 5, is the reason you need to get this.

 

5. “Color doesn’t lift color.”

 

While taking your color darker isn’t a problem, if you come in with dark brown hair and want light-brown hair, I cannot just put a light brown color over it. It won’t do any more than if you put light brown ink on top of black ink. I’d just be stuffing more molecules into your hair-shaft. To give you lighten brown, I have to lighten it all over to a blonde-ish color, and then put the light brown on top of that. This is very time consuming and damaging to your hair. If you want to go lighter, the best option is just highlights.

6. Just because that’s your “natural hair color” it doesn’t mean you have natural hair.

 

As stylists, we refer to “natural” (or virgin) hair, as hair that has never been touched by chemicals. Your hair grows about 6 inches a year. If you have 20 inches of hair and haven’t colored your hair in a year, you’ll have 6 inches of new growth, and 14 inches of previously colored hair, so even though it looks natural, it isn’t. I need to know this so I can formulate your color appropriately. I’m not judging you if you’ve colored your hair, I’m judging you if you lie about it and your ends turn bright red. Savvy?

7. Time is money.

 

Most stylists work on commission or in a booth-rent situation, they pay a weekly rent to their salon owner. When you no-call, no-show, or call to cancel at the last minute, your stylist doesn’t make money. You’re messing with their livelihood and if you do it more than once, you’re messing with their patience and do you really want to mess with the person who’s about to be inches from your head with sharp metal objects?

 

8. “Tipping ain’t a city in China.”

 

Tip your stylist. Unless your salon has a no tipping policy, your stylist is really hoping and sometimes depending on tips. Go on a percentage system, give what you can or feel is deserved, but give something. It’s always better than nothing.

 

9. I’d rather fix your hair than you be unhappy.

 

Most stylists are happy to fix your hair if you’re unhappy with it. If you hate your hair and go around telling people that I messed up your hair, that’s bad for my business. Most good salons have redo policies where you can come back and see your stylist for tweaks and fixes, for no charge. Simply be polite and let us know. If someone truly messes up your hair (cuts it wonky, fries it off, turns it an off color), maybe just bite the bullet and go somewhere else. If they didn’t recognize and note their mistake, they’re either lazy, dishonest, or they don’t really know what they’re doing. Lastly on this point, if you go for a change and don’t like it, that doesn’t mean your stylist did a bad job. There’s a difference between you changing your mind and the stylist doing something wrong. Which leads us to our final hint-

 

10. You’re not Jennifer Aniston.

 

You will never look or feel exactly like her, because you are no her and just because you bring in a picture of Jennifer Aniston, it doesn’t mean your hair will be identical. You don’t have the same hair (or hair history) as her, you aren’t going to the same stylist as her, and you don’t have your hair professionally handled on a daily basis. Pictures are GREAT, we love them and we’ll do our best to get as close to them as we can and to help make modifications that will make it better for you, but PLEASE have realistic expectations.

I hope these tips help you and your stylist. Most stylists are happy people who are excited to make you feel your best. So help them help you.


Credits: Thought Catalog - Alli Lemon

One of the most frustrating comments I hear about the hair industry is how expensive hair services are.

I decided to break it down, and explain the costs involved in a haircut and also explain why the average stylist isn't ripping you off by charging $40 - $60 for a haircut and up in the $100 and above range for color.  I'd be willing to bet that some of the expenses in a hair salon just might surprise you.
Since our fans and readers span the globe, researching the "national average" and spending a lot of time with numbers and calculations seems unnecessary since numbers can be misleading.  Instead, I will bring you the cost of running my full service hair salon including Brazilian waxing, skincare, nails and men's barber.

I live in city of around 4.3 million people in the middle of the greater Phoenix area.  Obviously, hair salon expenses in other parts of the country will be higher than mine; others less than mine.  My salon is above average in terms of our level of talent and overall salon vibe, however we are in a relatively average city.  I lease a small studio salon in Old Town Scottsdale and a medium sized studio space downtown Phoenix.  I personally run my own business out of the studio with the help of my dedicated staff.

For the purpose of this article, and to open your eyes to just how much talent and money are invested into being your hair stylist, I am only going to talk about haircuts.  I will not go into vast and various expenses of chemical services, various tools and supplies, marketing expenses, and everything involved with running a full service salon; just haircuts.

Education

Surprisingly, beauty school is not cheap.  On average, cosmetology school costs anywhere from $16,000 - $35,000 per year at a typical state or private school.  If you live in a rural area, your cost could be as low as $5,000 - $6,000 and up to $10,000 - $15,000 if you live near a slightly larger city.  Around 1,600 hours of instruction and clinical experience are required prior to graduation and completion of the State Board Cosmetology Examination.  It takes approximately 15 months of full time cosmetology school to complete these requirements.
College Tuition = Monthly Expense: Average $295

Rent and Utilities

Some hairstylist work for a company or person and are paid a commission or salary. Others work for themselves and pay a chair rental fee, studio rental fee, or they buy or rent their own property.  At any rate, a building that is properly equipped and licensed by state regulation for hair services is required and is the biggest monthly expense. Some rental fees include utilities, products, or use of equipment. 

It all varies for each situation.  Our stylists pay a chair rental fee, which includes water, trash, heat, and electric utilities as well as the use of a two sinks, two hydraulic styling chairs, two styling stations, a storage cabinet, and hood hair dryer with chair.
Average Monthly Expense: $1,200

Licensing & Insurance

Maintaining a valid cosmetology license is very important and a required expense of every stylist and salon owner.  A salon license ($80) and separate individual cosmetology license ($30) is required to be renewed every other year. In order to be eligible to renew your license in Arizona, you have to complete continuing education hours, and pay the associated fees with these hours.  I typically attend more than the required 8 hours, but for the sake of this article, I will only include the expense of the required hours.  In the past year I have spent $250 on continuing education and license renewal.

In addition, insurance is important to cover liabilities in a salon.  You never know what may happen when you're cutting hair and it's important to be covered in case of an accident, theft, fire, or natural disaster. My annual cosmetology insurance cost is $250.
Montly Expense: $31.25

Professional Hair Cutting Tools

One of the reasons people think haircuts are too expensive is because "all that's required is a comb and some scissors".  It's actually a little more involved than that.  I have several pair of shears that I require to do my job.  They last any where from 2 to 5 or more years depending on the shear, how often it needs sharpened, and how often it's used.  In my first four years as a stylist I have spent $2,500 on hair shears, and $1500 on clippers and accessories (which reminds me that I need to buy a new set).  I also go through at least a box of razor blade replacements every week.
Monthly Expense: $150.50

Backbar Supplies

If you are going to get a haircut, chances are you will want it washed and styled.  This requires the use of "backbar" products and supplies.  Backbar supplies are the products and tools used by a stylist to wash and style hair during a haircut service (shampoo, conditioner, styling products, towels, capes, etc.) as well as the necessary sanitizing agents required by the state.  I think it's important that all of my clients leave my salon with a polished style to feel confident about their new cut.  I've also included laundry expenses to wash the towels and capes regularly.

Monthly Expense: $113.00

Hair Styling Tools

Styling hair can't happen without styling tools.  Professional hair dryers, flat irons, curling irons, brushes and combs are not inexpensive.  Professional quality products are important because they need to have the ability to stand up to hard repeated daily use.  Of course, some last longer than others.  I've estimated that in the past four years I have spent at least $1,000 on hot tools and hair styling equipment.
Monthly Expense: $20.83

Total Monthly Expenses

Let's add this up.  Please keep in mind that the monthly expenses that I included in this list are minimal and apply only to hair cutting.  If a stylist performs any other services like waxing, paraffin, coloring, perming, Brazilian Blowout, deep conditioning treatments, other chemical services or offers retail products for sale, the costs will increase.  This monthly expense list also doesn't include the little extras in a salon like wine, coffee, decor, magazine subscriptions, and other miscellaneous costs.
Total Monthly Expenses: $1,937.58

Breaking It Down: Why Haircuts Cost So Much

Now, let's break down this monthly cost of $1,937.58 so it makes sense on a haircut by haircut level.  If I work 40 hours per week, and assuming 4 weeks in a month, that's 160 hours in one month.  Dividing the monthly cost by 160 gives me the amount of money it costs to have basic hair cutting supplies and tools on hand each hour.

It costs $12.10 to cut hair in my salon for one hour.

In order to make a profit and take home money to make a living, I have to bring in more than $12.10 each hour.  It takes me 20-30 minutes on each man's or child's haircut and 30-60 minutes on each women's haircut. This includes washing and styling time, discussing products, and ensuring my client's satisfaction.

To break it down further.  Let's assume a men's haircut is $40 and a women's haircut is $60.  In two hours time I can bring in approximately $100, or $50 per hour.  $50 minus the $12.10 operating cost leaves me with $25.80 per hour "profit".  However, keep in mind all the extras that I did not include in the figures above like decor, coffee, magazine subscriptions, online reservation system, website costs, telephone expenses, advertising costs, marketing materials (business cards, brochures, etc), and other miscellaneous expenses come out of that $24.14 profit.  Not to mention income tax and sales taxes that need paid, and let's not forget the countless hours that I spend doing paperwork, updating my website, purchasing supplies, returning emails, setting appointments and other miscellanous tasks that I am not compensated.

Every year the costs go up, and every year your stylist gains 365 days of increased experience, talent, and skill.  How do you place a price on that?

At Salon D' Shayn, we pride ourselves in providing our clients with above average hair styles, haircuts and color.  I hope this helps you understand all the costs involved with getting a haircut, and maybe you'll appreciate all that your stylist manages on a monthly basis to simply make an honest wage.

Brazilian Waxing Plus Size Women

I get people all the time that ask me if I can wax plus size people.  Of course! All bodies are beautiful and it pains me when I have women apologize to me because of how they view themselves as being to big to wax.

I enjoy working on every body. I love making people feel good and I give thanks that they trust me with their most intimate grooming. Everyone deserves to be pampered and feel beautiful and I can help with exactly that!  Brazilian waxing plus size women, Brazilian waxing plus size men, it makes no difference to me, you are all beautiful in all of your shapes, colors and sizes.

Someone shared this with me...it's not my photo and I didn't write this. But...I absolutely love what this woman wrote.  So well done! Please read; it's quite enjoyable and don't forget to share ;)
A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.

They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?

They would have no sex life and could not bear children.

Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.

And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.

We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.

Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I?"

Do share if you care

8 Lies You Need to Stop Telling Your Hair Stylist

At one time or another, we’ve told a harmless white lie. But maybe these little lies are actually hurting us more than we realize? When it comes to your hair stylist, we recommend you stop telling the lies and come clean, for the sake of you hair! We’ve got 8 lies told by some of Salon D' Shayn's top hair stylists you need to fess up to, you will thank us when you do and so will your stylist!

1. I Have Time To Style My Hair

If you’re a wash-and-go girl, you don’t need a cut that involves multiple heat styling tools. Those styles that look effortless can often take lots of work, so your stylist needs to know that you’re up for it.

2. I Have Product Like That at Home

“Great hairstyles aren’t made with talent alone,” Lopez says. “A good stylist will discuss the tools as well as the techniques for recreating the look at home." So, you may feel like you’re getting a hard sell, but the intent is usually to help you find the right products for your hair.

 “Part of maintaining the cut at home and ultimately being satisfied with my work is knowing which products to use and how to style the hair,” says Marissa Lopez, hair stylist at Salon D' Shayn in Scottsdale, Arizona. “I need to find out which products they’ll use to make sure she’s happy with their style.”

3. It Just Grew This Way

Too often, women decide to take on a DIY job, and things go awry, says Gregory Patterson, a celebrity stylist. He reports seeing people who cut their own hair between appointments and swear the style grew out that way. “When a client comes back to me six weeks later with bangs that are too short or cut too far outside her face, I know she watched a YouTube video and tried to do it herself, and I have to clean up the mess,” he says.

“I’ll talk someone through how to do a trim at home because once she cuts outside the lines of my cut, it won’t be suited for her face, and I’ll have to do damage control,” Patterson explains. Don’t take the scissors into your own hands. Book the appointment, or risk a more serious chop.

4. This is My Natural Color/Texture

“Women love to swear I’m seeing their virgin hair color when I can clearly see artificial color on the hair fiber,” says Jude Sheehan, hair stylist and master colorist at Salon D' Shayn Scottsdale, AZ. “I can’t make your color happen unless I know how to deal with what’s already on your hair.”

 Share any process you’ve undergone that alters color — whether it’s a gloss, box color, or two-year-old head of highlights. “I need to adapt my strategy for lifting and/or depositing color based on what has happened to the hair,” Sheehan says. And, worst-case scenario, some box colors contain metals that can actually melt your hair when combined with bleach. This is when over-sharing is the best policy.



The same goes for keratin treatments, says Sheehan. “Any chemical process can interact with another chemical process — even if you had it done six months ago — because you’ve altered the structure of the hair,” she explains. “You can’t always see if hair is over-processed, so you need the client to tell you what they've done.”

5. I'm Naturally Blonde

Blondes deserve their own category for hair perjury, Sheehan says. “Another common lie is that they are naturally blonde — I think it’s part lie and part denial,” she says. “It's crazy to me when you can clearly see an inch of dark hair before the sun-bleached ends.”

Whether your locks are bleached by the sun, lemon juice, or peroxide, the chemical process is the same, and your colorist needs to get a sense of how you’ve damaged your hair so they can avoid piling on stress. Confess to your true level of blondeness to prevent unnecessary damage or having to undergo repeated bleaching processes to get to the shade you’re looking for.

6. I Didn’t See Anyone Else

Sure, it’s uncomfortable to confess that you’ve cheated on your stylist or colorist, but you can’t repair the damage without talking it through. "Clients try to get their hair done for less money or closer to home and come back to have it fixed,” Lopez says. “No one ever admits to doing it, but I can spot my own work from the moon. "

Be honest about why you strayed, and you might be able to work out a plan to stretch the time between appointments or make scheduling easier. And, you need to give full disclosure about what happened in the other chair — especially if you had a chemical process.

7. Do Whatever You Want

“I learned a long time ago that ‘Do whatever you want’ really means ‘Do whatever you want, as long as it's exactly what I want,’” Vanessa Ripoyla, a hair stylist at Salon D' Shayn Phoenix, AZ, says. “I have no idea why people feel compelled to say that when no one means it.” If you’re not prepared for a Miley-level transformation, don’t put all the decisions in your stylist’s hands.

Ripoyla probes her clients to discover their limits. “I try to find out if this is an impulsive decision — maybe due to a breakup — and get a sense of their lifestyle,” she says. “If they are a lawyer, I need to keep them conservative, or if they are in a band, they need to look good on stage.” 

So, if your hair consultation feels more like a therapy appointment, that’s because it is. Ripoyla explains that part of her job is to sort through what a client divulges so she can find out the difference between what they think they want and what they really want. The goal is to make sure you walk out the door without regrets, so be honest with yourself and the person behind the chair.

8.  I’ll Come In For Touch-Ups

Time and money are valid reasons why you might not keep up with appointments for root touch-ups or trims, but you need to say these may be issues up front so your cut and color can require less maintenance. “I offer free bang trims every three to four weeks because I’d rather maintain the shape than have you do it at home,” says Lopez.  



And, there’s a legitimate scientific explanation behind those root touch-ups. “If your colorist says you need to be coming in for touch-ups every three to four weeks it’s because of the science of color processing,” Sheehan says. “If your hair gets longer than that inch of root, no matter the color, the color processes differently,” she says. The reason is that the heat from your scalp helps to process the shade, and then the formula has to be adjusted the farther your hair grows from your scalp.

 “Scheduling touch-ups means much less work and time for both of you,” Ripoyla says.



This article "8 Lies You Need to Stop Telling Your Hair Stylist" originally appeared at refinery29.com.

25 Year old Blackhead Removed

What are blackheads?

The US Library of Medicine describes blackheads as small, dark spots on the skin, caused by a small blockage in the opening of a pore (follicle).

Blackheads are said to be the first stage of acne. They form before bacteria invade the pores of the patient's skin. A blackhead can develop into a pimple, which is also known as a papule or pustule.
Blackheads and acne in general usually develop after the onset of puberty, when hormone levels surge and reach the skin. Certain hormones overstimulate the sebaceous glands, resulting in the overproduction of sebum.

Sebum is designed to lubricate the hair and skin and usually drains out of the pore opening on the surface. Sometimes the sebum becomes blocked and bacteria begin to accumulate. If the buildup of bacteria and sebum has no opening to the surface of the skin it is called a whitehead. A blackhead forms if the pore opens to the surface allowing air to enter.

Sebum contains melanin, a pigment. It is the same substance that gives skin its color. Melanin turns dark (oxidizes) when exposed to air. That is why blackheads are dark¹. The dark color does not mean they are dirty, and scrubbing does not remove them.

Several conditions and circumstances can cause blackheads, or make them worse, such as the use of topical oils and make up.

Blackheads can affect people with any type of skin, but are generally more common in those with oily skin.

What are the causes of blackheads?

Blackheads on a man's nose

 

Blackheads are typically caused by the overproduction of oil, which tends to occur when a person reaches puberty.

Spikes in hormone production can result in the high levels of DHT (dihydrotestosterone), a hormone which triggers overactivity in the oil glands, resulting in clogged pores.

Skin hygiene and blackheads - a myth

Many people believe that if your skin is not cleaned properly more blackheads can appear, especially during periods of fluctuating hormone levels such as puberty or just before menstruation.
Scientists and doctors say this a myth. The National Health Service in the UK explains that most biological reactions that trigger acne do not occur on the surface of the skin, but beneath it.

"You should wash every day and wash your face twice a day. More frequent washing will make no difference to your acne and could make symptoms worse by aggravating your skin."

In some cases, blackheads can emerge if moisturizers, sun screens, make up, or foundations are overused and irritate the skin.
In the majority of cases, blackhead susceptibility is not heredity, with the exception of some severe acnes.

Food does not cause acne

Although parents and grandparents commonly tell their teenage offspring not to eat chocolates and greasy foods because they think they encourage the formation of acne, they do not cause blackheads or make them worse.

Some studies have pointed towards a link between some dairy products and acne, but the evidence is not compelling.

Stress

Stress does not directly affect blackhead occurrence. However, stress and anxiety can cause people to pick at their blackheads and acne, which may irritate the skin.

What are the treatment options for blackheads?

Spa Facials with Blackhead Extraction

Blackhead extraction is performed during most facials.  Doing so clears the pore and prevents pimples from forming.  Use cation not to take matters into your own hands!  Squeezing and removing blackheads is a task for professionals unless you want to leave your skin scarred or cause the blackhead to retreat deeper into your skin.

Hormonal treatments

Contraceptives have often been used for the treatment of blackheads and acne, often with good results.

Cleaning the skin

Clean your face with a good cleanser, ideally, one for oily skin, such as a salicylic acid cleanser. Do not wash the affected area more than twice a day, otherwise you might irritate the skin and make symptoms worse.

Medications

Adapalene is a third-generation topical retinoid, used mainly in the treatment of mild to moderate acne. Many patients with blackheads have had good results.

In the USA adapalene is available under brand name Differin, in three preparations - 0.1% cream, 0.1% gel, and 0.3% gel. Since 2010, it has also been available in the USA under the generic name Teva, (0.1% gel). Only the 0.1% cream and 0.1% gel forms are available in Europe.

Hair

Greasy hair touching the face of your skin can spread infection and in some cases encourage the spread of blackheads and acne. Keeping your hair away from your face may help keep blackheads to a minimum.

Skin virus may fight blackheads and acne

A virus that lives on our skin seems to naturally seek out and destroy the bacteria responsible for blackheads and zits. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh said that harnessing a virus that naturally preys on the bacteria that cause pimples could offer an extremely useful tool against this skin condition.

Source: Special thanks to Medical News Today

Maya Angelou - In Loving Memory

Dr. Maya Angelou truly was and always will be one of our time's greatest "Renaissance Women" as told in her biography.

Today we don't mourn, but we celebrate her life and contributions as a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.

Her light will be greatly missed, but her candle will forever burn in our hearts.  How lucky we and future generations are that we can savor her strength, beauty and free spirit through her legacy.

Enjoy a few of our most beloved quotes by Dr. Maya Angelou and please feel free to comment with your own favorites.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.

Maya Angelou

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

Maya Angelou

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.

Maya Angelou

There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.

Maya Angelou

As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.

Maya Angelou

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.

Maya Angelou

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Maya Angelou

The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.

Maya Angelou

There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.

Maya Angelou

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

Maya Angelou

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

Maya Angelou

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.

Maya Angelou

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man’s humanity to man.

Maya Angelou

Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.

Maya Angelou

Some critics will write ‘Maya Angelou is a natural writer’ – which is right after being a natural heart surgeon.

Maya Angelou

For Africa to me… is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

Maya Angelou

The Vagina Booth

I have women asking me all the time if they are "normal". I didn't realize how many women were afraid to look at their own vagina, or thought it was ugly. There is no such thing!

I personally see up to 20+ vaginas a day and have been specializing in Brazilian waxing for 12 years.

I have never once seen an ugly vagina. What I see is beauty, love, power and the soul of a woman.

I hope that I have instilled in the women whom have chosen me to take care of their most intimate of grooming that they are beautiful in all their glorious shapes and sizes. It takes many different flowers to have a glorious garden!

D'Lisa Shayn - Owner and Aesthetician, Salon D' Shayn

So how does a grown woman live her entire life without seeing her vagina?

Avid YouTube sensation Davey Wavey  posed not this question, but rather why do some women choose not to look at their most sacred of parts.  At some point in a woman's life curiosity must have gotten the best of her and she either consulted the internet, or grabbed a mirror and did some investigative work.

What Davey discovered when he posted an ad on Craigslist seeking women who had never seen their vaginas is slightly shocking and a bit sad.  Wavey's recruits would be part of a video showing women discussing why they hadn't seen their vaginas -- and then finally taking a look.

These brave women who participated in this video said they never met their vaginas, for reasons.  These ranged from body image struggles, religion, insensitive remarks from former partners, to worrying that it wasn't "normal" to look and dealing with the psychological trauma of sexual assault.
"I'm afraid it's going to be ugly," says one woman featured in the video. "I've not seen my vagina because my stomach is covering it," says another.

When escorted into the "Vagina Booth" and offered a hand mirror to take a long-awaited peek, the women seem most shocked by their lack of shock at their lady bits.

The project shows a wide audience that there is no such thing as a "normal" looking vulva. No matter what, a vagina is worth celebrating -- or at least looking at.

Brazilian Wax at Home - Why you shouldn't DIY

DIY Brazilian - Don't Try This at Home!

Yeah, so I just about pulled something in my neck laughing at this..I just had to share. (I highly recommend that you DO NOT drink anything while reading.)

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: ‘Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.’

So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those ‘cold wax’ kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.

No mess, no fuss.

How hard can it be?

I mean, I’m not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)
So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. (‘Cold wax,’ yeah…right!)

I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull.

It works!

OK, so it wasn’t the best feeling, but it wasn’t too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me!

I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.
With my next wax strip I move north after checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship.

I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.

Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) ..

I inhale deeply and brace myself…RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I’m blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!….OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I’ve only managed to pull off half the strip.

CRAP!

Another deep breath and RIPP!

Everything is spinning and spotted.

I think I may pass out…must stay conscious…must stay conscious.

Do I hear crashing drums???

Breathe, breathe…OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy – a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There’s no hair on it.

Where is the hair???

WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip…it’s not! I touch. .. I am touching wax!!

I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake…remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.

Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself ‘Please don’t let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!’

What can I do to melt the wax?

Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!

I’ll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???

*WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub – the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment – I sit.

Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub…in scalding hot water.

Which, by the way, doesn’t melt cold wax.

So, now I’m stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It’s a very good conversation starter ‘So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!’

There is a slight pause.

She doesn’t know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, ‘Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?’
She’s laughing out loud by now…I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else’s night.

While we go through various solutions, I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!

By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I’m pretty sure I’m going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace….the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.

What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and … OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend.

Its sooo painful, but I really don’t care.

‘IT WORKS!!

It works!!’ I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair…?

THE HAIR IS STILL HERE…….ALL OF IT!

So I recklessly shave it off.

Heck, I’m numb by now.

Nothing hurts.

I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I’m going to try hair color……

As Brazilian waxing experts, we understand the dangers and unnecessary pain caused by DIY waxing kits and those unfortunate bad experiences suffered at the hand of a less experienced aesthetician or "professional".

Damaged, ripped skin in your most sensitive area is the last thing you want, especially if you're paying for it. Do you ever wonder where ingrown hair comes from? They are caused when a hair is broken instead of pulled out and the dead hair cells remain. When your hair "down there" grows beneath an improperly waxed hair follicle the result is it gets trapped and grows inward causing pain and ultimately infection.

So ladies, gents, please think twice about performing your own Brazilian wax at home for your own sake.

Now share this one and give your friends a good laugh!

(Facebook source – original writer not know )
Salon D' Shayn

Drugstore vs Salon Products

Drugstore vs Salon Products

A typical interaction between me and a client goes like this:

"So before I blow dry your hair, I'm going to put in (product xyz) to (smooth it/rough it up/give it more volume.) What you do is use this much, put it (from mid shaft to ends/just at roots/whatever) and blow dry with a (round brush/flat brush/fingers.)"

I blow it out and not to toot my own horn but root-a-toot-toot, they're happy. So they might ask "What was that product again?" and I'll tell them. "Can I take a look at that bottle?" they ask, and I oblige. And if they give it a pretty thorough once-over and I get the vibe they're interested but then they're super quick to say "No thanks, that's ok," when I ask if they’d like me to give it to the receptionist for them to take home, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on.

So I say "I'm not gonna get mad or anything, but are you thinking you'll just pick it up another time at the grocery store?" If they say yes, so begins my gently-delivered spiel: you can certainly buy something that looks like the same products we have in the salon at the grocery store, but they're likely not the real deal.

The problem with big chains, including places that seem like they'd be legit like Target or CVS, selling bootleg salon beauty products that they're not authorized to carry is known in the beauty industry as diversion. To be clear, this is not an indictment of actual chain store hair care lines, such as Garnier and Organix, and if those work for you that’s great! Whatever does the trick. I’m talking about lines such as Matrix, Paul Mitchell, and Coppola Keratin Complex that are only sold by their companies to salons and then weirdly end up in the same place as paper towels.

What happens is that the world's least threatening black market under lords (actually, they call it the "gray market") will buy salon products from a legitimate distributor, then set them aside in a warehouse for years until the barcode expires so they can't be tracked. During this time, not only does the bar code expire but so does the product inside, warping from heat or just the cruel sands of time into something that is an ineffective shadow of its former self.

When I was learning about diversion in cosmetology school my class went downstairs to the drugstore beneath us to look at what they were selling and underline the point, and there was a product on the shelf that had been discontinued years ago.

I'll still occasionally cruise the hair aisle at drugstores and it annoys me every time, because there are some really obvious tells that the general public is just not aware of- frankly, I wasn't until I went to beauty school and learned. I've seen little differences in the logos or instructions printed on the bottle, but you people are normal so you don't have smoothing serum ingredients committed to memory.

However, something that you can easily spot is that that the bottles of salon products that are sold at chains stores pretty often have weird stickers all over them, and ALWAYS a sticker with a different bar code slapped over the original bar code printed on the bottle.

So brazen!

See? Shady city. I've also noticed that the prices are usually slightly more expensive- not a humongous amount that's going to have people stampeding salons, but certainly enough that I don't see any reason to buy products anywhere else. I smuggled a bottle of conditioner from my salon into the drugstore to do a little drugstore vs salon products recon work, and the drugstore conditioner cost two dollars more.

Iffy-at-best product at a higher price? No thank you. There's just no reason to do it aside from purely not being aware of diversion as an issue.

What they charge vs. what we charge

I can feel the skeptics within any healthy group of internet contributors wondering if this is just a way for hairdressers to convince people to only buy products in their salons. And it is true, we do make money from people purchasing products through us. But I've seen and played with drugstore products firsthand, and they're just not the same as their salon-dwelling counterparts -- they’re separated and oily when they’re usually smooth, or they smell different, or they’re just a different consistency.

So I can’t in good conscience -- or for the sake of being the cool hairdresser who tells it like it is and doesn’t yell at you when you trim your own bangs -- tell people that getting it at the drugstore is just as good. I can be a little skeptical myself, but I know from personal experience that diversion is a real thing and that you’re not getting what you pay for when you shop for salon products at the same place you pick up frozen pizza.

It’s frustrating not just because the consumer picking it up of the shelf is paying for something that's sub-par, but it can also mess with stylists and how much you get out of our work. Occasionally we'll go to use a product we love and know to work very well and a client will say they've used it before and don't like it, but it wasn't the real deal.

Or they’ll say their hair is driving them nuts and we’ll ask if they’re using the products we suggested and they’ll say yes and mean it, but they’re actually basically rubbing watered down Vaseline on their heads and we can’t figure out what the hell is going on.

Really, part of why this is such a big annoying deal is that 8 times out of 10 the hair trouble that someone is having can be helped with product, and if the product they’re using is expired crapola, the problem isn’t getting solved. You also have the disadvantage of flying blind when you go shopping for products at the store you stop at real quick on your way home and are more likely to buy something that’s not only been tampered with, but wouldn’t even be good for your hair type if it hadn’t been.

How many bottles of goo have you bought and then used an eighth of? Take advantage of our expertise while you’re in the chair and buy something you’ll use! Today a straight-haired client looking for volume bought a product from me that’s labeled as being for curly hair, and the reason I used it on her was because I went to a class recently where they told us they were considering relabeling the product and changing the name because it’s good for a wide range of hair types. Those hole-y metal shelves at the store aren’t going to tell you that.

Professional my ass.

There are no laws specifically against diversion which is why it's allowed to go on, but salon distributors do seem to be taking measures to prevent it lately. I was surprised but not displeased when the professional beauty supply store that I go to (which you need a state Cosmetology license to shop in) recently asked me to fill out a small questionnaire before purchasing a bunch of tubes of hair color to keep stockpiled at my parents' house for when my mom needs a touch-up. It included having me sign a clause saying that I was not purchasing them for resale.

They also have the right to refuse sale based on preventing diversion, which seems like a step in the right direction. I can't imagine that diversion laws are very high on America's to-do list right now given the shit-show state of affairs we're in, but you can keep yourself by being affected by it by only purchasing salon products in actual salons -- which, lucky for many people, includes Ulta, where they regularly offer coupons. Legitimate professional products are only shipped to and authorized for sale by actual salons, so the bottom line is that as long as there are people doing hair within the same 4 walls as you, you're good to go. If you can buy douche in the next aisle over, you are not. (Don't buy the douche either.)

Anything you guys would like to know about diversion, or anything else? Hair-related or not, because hairdressers are therapists, you know. Tell me about your relationship with your father.

Salon D' Shayn 

Special thanks to Kristen Rogers for her article in XOJane from Jul 25, 2013