Hair Coloring is an ever changing chameleon... as fashion on the runway changes hair coloring follows.  What I'm drawn to the most these days is reminiscent of the 70's when colors looked very diffused (or soft) and natural.  You didn't see garish or vivid colors of the 60's.. when colors were more solid (think Lucille Ball or Marilyn Monroe or Priscilla Presley), but hair color of the 1970's was more back to nature... like you'd see in a small childs hair color (my most favorite reference is the beautiful god-given hair color of our youth).. maybe the roots are darker and the ends brighter.  Maybe you see natural looking streaks around the only the face.  Gone are the highlights down to the scalp and underneath layers where the sun never shines.  Do I give people what they want if they want that? Yes, absolutely (I still give perms! lol they have their place! :) and though what I personally like definitely affects the type of work I do, my goal in the end is to please the client in my chair.  I stumbled onto a website blog of a color artist with photos that please my eyes... check it out to see what I mean ... Box No. 216

Side buns and braids are big this season.  Braids and Plaits have made a comeback last season on reality tv, the runways and most recently the Red Carpet.  I'd liked seeing how the young fashionistas Whitney and Lauren of "The Hills" have worn their hair in these long messy braids and fishbone plaits last season.  These young women are working in the fashion industry and hair, makeup, accessories, et al are directly related to the clothing collections. The models of Spring 2010 collections (Missoni's, Alexander Wang and Miuccia Prada’s Miu Miu) were wearing particularly the long side braid, and the fish plait.

Here is a pic of two cute little girls that came into the salon and had nice un-layered hair which is perfect for the ROPE braid technique.

My favorite over the counter hair product is discontinued!  Why? Because the company was purchased by a new company and it was let go.. ugh!

I don't understand it... never will... but now my search continues.  In it's place I've resorted to using a product that covers the gray (in-between touchups) but doesn't have the clean feel that I'm looking for.  So for now I have to recommend Fullmore as my go-to easy to apply temporary color.  I have clients that use it and are satisfied for the most part.  It will smudge off (think of it like makeup for the hair) on pillowcases if you sleep with it in, but it washes out and doesn't leave a stain.

I have discovered a really cool over the counter product that will give your limp hair more volume and control.  How easy is it?  Wow... it couldn't be easier... who'd of thought that a dry hair shampoo could give texture to freshly washed clean hair that is too soft or limp to do anything?  I found what this product can do kind of by accident when I was using it on 2nd day unwashed hair.  It made my hair smell good but it also gave it some texture just like the Name implies, however I don't always believe what I read... so was pleasantly surprised.

So, the following day I sprayed it into my freshly washed and dried (read soft and limp) hair and it gave me the body and lift at the roots I usually only get on the 2nd day when all the hair product I use has built up and combined with a microscopic amount of waxy sebum and debris from the scalp. (yes, I agree.. gross..:(   In a good way, the dry spray shampoo somewhat simulates this conglomaration.  It's combining a drying agent and blows colored powder between the hair follicles, plumping them up a little like a feather pillow. 

That brings to mind an old-school barber's trick that entails puffing the thinning hair of their gentleman clients with white powder and using hairspray to encapsulate the particles so that they give nearly same effect as the dry hair shampoo.

Now, that reminds me of another story of the glamorous 1940's actress (I'll have to research this again since her name slips my mind) that had cotton fibers back combed into her hair to achieve the volume needed to create her professionally crafted crown of hair.  (the Starlets and Stars today get hair extensions and such and the papparazi & even the public have the images up on the internet in a matter of minutes.. but I digress and will try to get back with some updates on that story at a later time.) 

Well, why not give it a try yourself, if you haven't considered it. It works great to refresh your hair if you don't have time to wash it and imparts a fresh, clean scent.  You'll love it especially if you have thin or fine hair.  But the colored variety helps blend away graying roots between touch ups.

At 8 bucks for the colored sprays & 6 bucks for the unscented  how can you go wrong...