Professional Hair Care
Does
Every Hair Process Need A Professional?
When In Doubt, Ask One.
| When it comes to professional hair care know how, I'll have to admit
"I'm a little out of my depths"...
I know what I like, I know how it looks, and I even have a pretty good idea of how to get my hair there. BUT the thought of attempting any hair processes (those involving application of chemicals to my hair) at home is, well, hair raising. Been there, done that. Lots of people do purchase hair color, hair perming, hair relaxing, hair highlighting etc. " kits" right off the drugstore shelf, take them home, follow the instructions and have decent results. Dare I say "great" results?...Or even professional looking?... Of coarse there are also lots of people who have to book an emergency appointment with a salon to "fix" what they did to their hair. Not to mention all of those who had results that fell in between satisfactory and hair disaster. The appeal of trying to achieve your desired hair style from a kit, versus safe, secure professional hair care through a salon visit, is an obvious one...TO SAVE $. What is the key to successful hair processing at home? Obviously it can be done. There is a multi-billion dollar industry that exists because people do just that, take their product home and do it themselves. However, what I wonder is this, is there quite a learning curve necessary to achieve a sufficient level of know how to get results that range from satisfactory to great? And are there really only certain processes that we can expect success from at home? I took these questions, and more to a professional stylist.
Your likely thinking, as a professional hair care expert she may provide a completely biased perspective. Yes that is possible, however, still an insightful perspective based on extensive training, knowledge and experience in the science of hair care, cutting and styling. At the very least we can begin to untangle the messy issues of salon versus home. Question #1 What can you expect from professional hair care? Mary-Anne: First of all, when you arrive in a professional hair salon you can expect quality time in consultation with a stylist. Not only are we trained to expertly achieve our clients hair wishes, we are also able to assess our clients hair type, condition, face shape, personal style and make recommendations about the suitability of the hair style to our client. In addition, most of us continue our hair education attending hair shows, collections, style forecasts and reviews. Often hair brands will do shows, and invite salons to attend. For example, L'Oreal's Color Collections provide excellent exposure to cutting edge, up to date professional hair styling. Aside Reference: "L'Oréal Professionnel Professional Hair Care provides hairstylists and colorists with tools to fully explore their creativity. Twice a year, L'Oréal Professionnel organizes the Color Collections, major events that contribute to making hairstyles an essential part of fashion by combining L’Oréal’s technical expertise and innovative approach with the latest trends on the catwalk." L'Oréal Professionnel @loreal.com Question #2 What are the advantages of having color work, and other chemical processes done in a salon versus at home from a drugstore "kit"? Mary-Anne: An obvious advantage of a salon is avoiding the physical awkwardness of the application process yourself, not to mention the mess to clean up. In a salon, when you are having your hair colored, you will have a lot of color placement care, to control the color, and avoid potential bleeding (common occurrence in home). You basically have custom colors mixed to suit your hair type, color and end result hair style goal. A drugstore can't facilitate that kind of range in color or suit that range of individual hair needs. Plus with an in salon toning capacity you also have far greater control of the end result in a salon. With most in home chemical processes you have limited control over the results. In home single color hair processes, although far less predictable than salon professional hair care, can have fairly good results. You do have to watch for build up of product on the ends of the hair. The ends become "drab" and over processed, dry and damaged (Explain "over processed"...Hair becomes like a sponge and will suck up too much product, become dry and damaged). Also, drugstore color tends to have too much ammonia. Having your hair colored in a salon will bring exceptional quality to the end result because professional hair care accesses highly specialized product lines. For example L'oreal's Luo Color is multi dimensional with high shine. Question #3 What are the differences between hair care products sold in a salon and those sold in a drugstore? Mary-Anne: Generally speaking, salons offer products with a better quality ingredient list . For example, with drugstore shampoos and conditioners you may have instant results but you will experience a waxy build up over time. Ultimately diminishing your hair's styling performance and appearance. Typically I am not that familiar with drugstore brands since I access salon products and have been using them for a long time. A drugstore brand that I like is Neutrogena since it is meant to thoroughly clean hair, remove buildup without stripping. One that I disliked was one I tried once. It was Revlon Outrageous Shampoo and the fragrance was so over powering it was on my hands and in my hair long after I changed shampoos. Question #4 What qualities to good hair products possess and what are some of your personal professional hair care product favorites? Mary-Anne: Shampoo needs to have effective cleansing properties without stripping the hair. So look for one that has a lower pH. If you have color treated hair, look for a shampoo that caters to your hair's needs. Conditioners need to be picked based on individual hair concerns. For example, for your color treated fine hair, you need a conditioner that seals the cuticle without weight like L'oreal Vitamino. For coarse thick and dry hair, I would suggest a heavy moisturizing conditioner with weight and a sealant. My personal professional hair care products are shampoo L'oreal Lumino, conditoner Alterna Hemp Line, and my styling product staples right now are Sebastian Crude Clay, Sebastian Shaper Spray and Bedhead Shine Adrenaline with Super Fine Mist. Question #5 What do you, a professional hair stylist, consider your most difficult task? Mary-Anne: Delivering a finished style that is as close to the client's wishes as possible and something they can realistically manage. Question #6 What do you find helpful from clients? Mary-Anne: Pictures are very helpful because they relate where the client wants their hair to be. It also helps me with the clarification to the client of whether the style works for their hair type. For example I can view a picture and say to my client, the person's hair in this picture is very thick and this style has been cut like so, colored like so etcetera to create this look. Question #7 What do you, a person in the professional hair care business, find the most fun or rewarding? Mary-Anne: Transformations. "I love transformations and wowing people." Moms are fun especially. Its fun making people feel good. Thanks Mary-Anne! *I would like to note that the answers accurately reflect the interview but are not always verbatum. |
*Interview
with Mary-Anne.
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