Hair

Eye on Style: Celebrity Hairstylist Wendy Iles

July 10, 2010

Wendy Iles is an iconic figure in the world of hair artistry, she has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. Wendy has worked with hollywood A-listers such as Dita Von Teese, Chloe Sevigny, Hilary Swank, Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz. Iles is one of the most sought after hairstylists and has worked on editorial campaigns for Dior, Cacharel, Hermes, and major hair brands like L’Oreal, Wella, Schwarzkopft and more. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Iles and she shared some of her favorite tips and trends with me.

Dita Von Teese for Vogue | Hair Stylist: Wendy Iles

1. What are your favorite fall hair trends?

I love the easiness of the hair this fall season. Ponytails worn lower on the nape of neck, hair flowing naturally allowing any natural movement like curl to be free.

2. What individual products and brands you’re “addicted” to at the moment and you use on a daily basis?

I discovered a shampoo and conditioner by accident called Number 4 L’eau de mer. Its totally PH balanced neutral and leaves the feeling like spun silk. Its expensive but worth it. I also like all Khiels products.

3. What are some of the most basic but effective hair care tips that you have, that are really important?

a) Always use a conditioner after shampooing. In today’s climate we all need to condition because of pollution in the air, chemicals in our water, etc. Even oily scalps there are conditioners that are adaptable to oily hair.
b) Keep ends of hair (especially when growing long) cut or trimmed every six weeks. It prevents split ends, keeps hair in maximum health and aids in getting long healthy hair faster.

4. What are the biggest hair care dont’s?

Don’t use too much hairspray. One looses the suppleness and control in the hair if its over sprayed. Be sure to use a non-detergent shampoo. Often a good test is the more bubbles a shampoo gives the more detergent is inside.
Don’t use pure elastic rubber bands on your hair or your children’s hair. It will break the hair instead always use fabric or thread coated bands.

5. What hair color do you recommend for the upcoming season?

This fall season it’s all about “chocolate” colors. So it’s the time for brunettes to shine! Even the blondes can have milk chocolate lowlights or white chocolate (that’s a beige color) toners. Hair is less sophisticated in style this fall, more relaxed less constructed so ultimate healthy shiny hair is important.

L'oréal Kerastase | Hair Stylist: Wendy Iles

6. Would you share with us a few your best hair tips or insider secrets?

For me personally I have long natural curly hair. To control the curl and take away the frizzies plus keep the hair in perfect condition I’ve discovered the best way is to use a condition mask not a styling mousse as it makes hair crunchy to touch or frizz ease serum as the hair becomes greasy. The hair mask I use is L’Oreal Kerastase lightly skimmed over the surface of damp hair. Comb through place curl the way you like it fall. Don’t touch again till dry. The result is great.

7. What is your life motto, any words of wisdom that get you by in life and professional career?

Always do your best, and one will eventually succeed.

Iles recently published ARCHIVE: A Book about Hair, available at Rizzoli bookstore in NY or directly online from publisher printkultur.com .

Eye on Style: Celebrity Hairstylist Tippi Shorter

July 1, 2010

I recently attended an event with Pantene celebrity hairstylist Tippi Shorter whose hands have maintained the manes of Hollywoods A-list celebrities such Lauryn Hill, Fantasia, Michelle Williams Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Kimora Lee Simmons as well as many others. Tippi is a well respected industry expert on styling and haircare so I was eager to hear what she had to say about about haircare and the NEW Customized Pantene lines. Here are a few of the questions that I was able to ask Tippi:

Which Pantene products do use regularly use on your celebrity clients?
I use the relaxed and natural shampoo/conditioner as well as the curly shampoo/conditioner.
Which Pantene products do you use on your own hair?
Hands down, i always the relaxed and natural on my hair.

Why do you prefer to use Pantene over other products?
I enjoy them because the deliver great results and are always easy to get while traveling. I do use many other products, but, pantene is my regular go to brand for prepping the hair.

What inspired you to become a hairstylist?
I use to be a hair model and really enjoyed the amount of creativity the stylist where able to do daily. I also wanted to live creatively daily.

What is your favorite deep conditioner?
I would recommend the intensive restoration treatment for the medium-thick collection.

Any tips on summer hair care?
Conditioner and use a leave in to protect your hair from the sun.

New from Pantene: Customized Solutions

June 19, 2010

Pantene has reinvented their entire brand structure with more customized solutions for different types of hair. This new line features new ingredients, new packaging and even a new fragrance. Pantene has created products for Fine, Medium-Thick, Curly and Color-treated hair including shampoos, conditioners, styling products and treatments.The new line also focuses on the “end-look” for those that seek more volume, shine, moisture, smoothness and strength. By providing customized solutions this new line helps to address the needs of so many different types of hair and while delivering the results that women are seeking.

Pantene Pro-V Fine Hair Solutions: Flat to Volume, Dry to Moisturized and Fragile to Strong.

Pantene Pro-V Medium-Thick Hair Solutions: Frizzy to Smooth, Breakage to Strength, Dry to Moisturized

Pantene Pro-V Curly Hair Series: Curls to Straight and Dry to Moisturized

Pantene Pro-V Color Hair Solutions: Color Preserve Shine, Volume, Smooth, Blonde Expressions, Highlighting Expressions, Brunette Expressions

I sampled quite a few products from this line and I must say first off that these products smell amazing! I’ve been an avid Pantene user for as long as I can remember and I’ve always loved the smell of their products. I was a bit surprised that a new scent was going to be introduced but I was pleasantly surprised by the new scent. I have color treated hair that is also fine and can get quite dry without proper moisturizing so I need quality products that keep my hair soft, shiny and do not fade my haircolor. One of the products that stood out to me the most was the Fine Hair Solutions Ultra-Light Moisturizing Treatment. This product is light but left my hair so silky smooth and did I mention that it smells great!? I would have to say that this is one of my favorites.

Pantene Fine Hair Solutions Ultra-Light Moisturizing Treatment

To test out their new product line, Pantene created 600 prototypes and tested 20,000 women worldwide to gain a thorough understanding of the ingredients needed to deliver the best results for each type of hair. PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) measured a statistical improvement in womens moods in comparison between old Pantene products and the NEW Patense products. Now that’s research!

Will you be trying out the NEW Pantene Hair Solutions?

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this review was provided by a PR Agency for consideration.

Is Jonathan a Smooth Operator ?

May 9, 2010

Like many women humidity is not my friend. I wish that I could say that a day at the beach is just that but I can’t because at the end of the day my hair falls short. Even when I wore my hair naturally curly it still got frizzy. With that being said, I’ve tried several anti-frizz serums and often found that many of them were sticky and my hair felt coated and heavy. Recently I purchased Jonathan Create Smooth Anti-Frizz Volumizing Serum. This product was a bit different because I noticed right away that it was 100% vegan and I thought “wow, that’s different”. Some of the main ingredients are aloe, white Ginger, lemongrass water, almond extract and basil. The scent is very light and disappears within a few minutes of application.

I liked that the serum was not at as heavy as some of the other anti-frizz products that I tried. My hair did not feel sticky or tacky after I dried it so that was a plus. I tried the product with my hair wet and then let it dry naturally and then I tried it in my hair wet and blow dried it and the latter worked better for me. My hair gets quite frizzy so I try not to blow dry and let it dry naturally but without the blow dryer my hair was still a bit frizzy. I like this serum for the times that I need to blow dry my hair because it helps to smooth it out, for the times that I let my hair dry naturally I’d probably have to pass. The directions state that you need to apply a small amount in your hair and style as usual but I had to use at least 3 dime sized amounts in my shoulder length hair.

This product retails for $26 and is available at Sephora or online on sites such as Amazon.com.