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professional shampoo. PICKING OUT A PROPER SHAMPOO (AND STYLIST) IS JUST AS EXCRUCIATING FOR ME AS IT IS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND I HAVE BEEN A LICENSED HAIR STYLIST FOR 12 YEARS.

I have taken many product knowledge classes regarding hair product, and even I still have to wade through the BS. A few things I have gathered along the way……when in doubt, go with how your hair feels. I have most of my regular clients on my recommended regime for hair health, but every now and then a newbie gets thrown into my chair with hair challenges. 100% of my Aveda and TIGI users have had incredibly dry hair. Now, Aveda and TIGI used to be the good guys – but since Aveda sold out to Estee Lauder years ago, and TIGI to Unilever last year their products have changed. Back when I used Bumble and Bumble it was an amazing line, but a a distinct difference can be felt now that they too have sold to Lauder. I have found it to be drying, and stripping of hair color. Part of the change, at least where Aveda is concerned, is that Aveda would use the highest grade ingredients available (much like new to the states Kevin Murphy) leaving the hair feeling soft and conditioned. When they sold out the new owner (keeping the bottom line in mind) used the lowest grade ingredients instead.

getting technical:

pH is very important when considering the effects it has on the skin, hair, and nails. All of the best poo's have a pH of 4.5-5.5

If you remember the pH scale is a scale from 1(acidic) to 14 (alkaline). The pH of pure water is a 7, so when one is simply standing under the shower the water we use every day makes our hair more alkaline.Here's a bit of trivia - when a shampoo says it's "pH balanced" it never sais what it in fact is balanced to - we need to stay in the acidic range to maintain good healthy shiny hair.

Why Pantene is bad:

Check out this link..

Pay close attention to the sentence containing: substansive (which means that it doesn't come off the hair shaft) and cationic(which means that it bonds to the hairs positive/negative charge).

The reason you don't want silicone in your shampoo or conditioner is that it doesn't wash off and leaves a coating. It also repels heat which will make thick coarse curly hair more difficult to blow dry straight as it will require MORE heat that would normally be necessary.

The silicone also makes fine hair limp and greasy. (This is one thing that KEVIN MURPHY products campaign against, and why I like it so.) It makes the hair extremely difficult to style and I've seen hair so coated that you can't get the hair straight no matter how much heat is applied. When blow drying you can feel it come off on your hands.

Sure it de-tangles and makes the hair shiny, but this is not a miracle ingredient.

The pH of most store shampoo's are very high, blowing open your hair cuticle, which can cause color fadage. Then they have a conditioner, which brings the pH way down but also contains waxes and silicones which coat the hair, making it feel "soft and healthy" but really just coats the hair and makes it more difficult to perform future chemical services. Sure they can claim to be pH "balanced" because having a shampoo with a pH of 8 and a conditioner, pH 2 or 3, balances the hair back to a 5.

Penetration. A word that vacillates wildly between Sunday football and porn. In the beauty scheme of things it is considerably important – from skincare to your hair. I bet you didn’t know that an oil penetrates deeper than a lotion and the smaller the molecular structure of what you are using the deeper it goes.

This is most important when the weather changes, going from a house full of heat to the blustery outdoors, heated cars and out to run errands – these extreme changes in temperature fooling with you. Constantly putting on hand lotion? Hair feeling crunchy? It’s time to pay serious attention to your epidermis and cuticles.

There’s more. Sulfate free surfactants are a larger molecule than sulfates, therefore they have less ability to penetrate into the skin and so are less irritant. Also, because of their larger molecular quality, they help to keep the hair from depleting its color. Plus they add great shine and luster. There are a number of things that go into what you put on your person.

The most cost effective ways to combat dryness? Put your blowdryer down two times more a week (avoiding heat styling) and when heat styling use a protective product. (Make sure it isn’t filled with silicones – this pesky ingredient from the 80’s is actually counter-productive, putting a coating on the hair that is almost impossible to get off – keeping other well-intentioned ingredients form penetrating the hair shaft.) Coat your tootsies and hands before bed, sleepy time is the bed time for your skin to repair itself, and why not do it slathered in goodness? What do we like? KEVIN.MURPHY’s YOUNG.AGAIN - heat protection up to 420 degrees, is a great hydrating oil, and because the molecular structure is the same as skin care? We generously slather on our hands and feet. Best cuticle oil ever.

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Book a haircut appointment with Stina on Friday, November 26th and receive a haircut for a Child's haircut price of $30!  This haircut includes a style, but no Shampoo and Blowdry, so come in with clean hair and leave ready for the holidays!  Book today to reserve your space.  Use coupon code: BLKFRIDAY to book your appointment online

Everywhere you turn there seems to be a new take on OMBRE hair color, the latest being Dani Stahl, editor of Nylon Magazine (US), sporting a beautiful shade of yellow through her ends. This technique is not new to us here at KEVIN.MURPHY, but the approach used is certainly worth a mention. Eye shadow and color pigment are used to give temporary color to the hair, which can be seen to the left in Kevin’s VOGUE magazine spread from last year.  Demand for this look is so high that Kevin has decided to come out with a product called COLOR.BUG… it is not a colour, but a wipe in, wipe out color powder debuting this October in the States, December everywhere else.

The following is the podcast how-to transcribed for your delight::

2010- “I just recently returned from a trip to India and what I found is that women were coloring their hair with colored powder, so I think that colors a really great thing but you can’t really have it every single day of your life.

So what I am going to show you today is a thing that is called color pigment – but you can just use eye shadow normally. What I am going to do today to Jade’s hair is color it completely pink. She wants pink hair, but she doesn’t want it every day. What the powder does is give it an amazing texture, so what you have to do is take a bit of powder in your hand, rub it in the palm of your hand, and place it on top of the hair  – and actually rub it into the hair so you get this really amazing  texture, plus this amazing color. I think the best thing about it is that it just rinses out in water. So you get this great texture without having to sit in the salon for four hours.

First we used a bit of anti-gravity because we wanted to get a bit of anti-gravity in it to make it stick – so I have blow dried it in secretly without you even seeing.

Section the hair off – always start at the top of the head, I always find it is better to get everything on to the top and the front first and then you can sort of fudge the back later.  Smooth it through the ends, rub it through – you get a bit dirty but, ya know, you’ll be fine.

Pinch a little bit, put it in the palm of your hands, You can use orange, you can use pink, you can go crazy. You can even blow dry it after wards to give it a softer look as well.

I did it for VOGUE magazine just recently in India, and if you look closely you can see we just put it in the part line of the hair – so you can see there is a definite bit of orange along the part because we sort of wanted to emulate what they did in India.

In India what a woman does is put orange in her hair once she is married, it’s a wedding sort of thing. We are using hot pink because we really don’t want to offend anybody.

This is not for Mrs. Brown who wants a little bit of softness, this is for someone who wants a very dramatic look. Don’t run your hands through the hair – I think the trick is to wipe your hands over the hair – you don’t want to break up the powder too much. The thicker you do the powder the more iridescent it is. Now if you are feeling you would like it to be more pastel you can blow it out after wards, and it will mean you have less product falling out after wards as well. It can be a bit of a problem if you are wearing a white suit to have pink hair, so you want to try to blow out as much as possible. I find that when I am working I like to run my hands over the hair and around the hair – I never really go through the hair because when you go through the hair you are taking away your natural texture. So just be mindful that you aren’t really doing that. Make sure your hair is completely dry before applying the powder, purely because you don’t want the powder to get get any brighter and if the hair is wet the color is going to get a lot brighter -but also will make it a lot more natural – it really depends on what look you are going for.

I don’t believe this is a natural look, and we aren’t really trying to be natural here – we are really trying to get a rough sort of punk Zandra Rhodes who is the original person who wore pink hair all of her life, and I think she still has pink hair. She is about sort of 60 and still looks amazing, but it’s sort of high maintenance – this is the low maintenance way of changing your clients, and getting a great texture in their hair that you haven’t really seen before. If you have a look in the magazines there is a lot of this sort of dry dusty look coming out in the magazines, and I think clients like to have it, but they really don’t want it everyday of their lives, cause now women are expected to have great jobs, look really professional, have children, and look amazing all the time. But you can’t really wear this to the office because it is going to send out the wrong message. But you want to wear it on the weekend where you do want to send out the wrong message.”

  There has been a lot of bad press following around the Brazilian Blow out, but I feel like we should shed a little light on the situation and take this opportunity to tell you about the Brazilian Keratin Treatment we do at Ginger Salon.

   Keratin, is a type of protein that out hair skin and nails are made of. It has a very high concentrate of an amino acid called Cystine. This amino acid is what makes our hair extremely strong and flexible. So reintroducing this back into hair will make it stronger, shinier, and all around more manageable.

We want the Good Cuticle!

   Marcia Keratin Treatment is amazing! (I’m not biased, I swear) It’s quick and affordable for how much easier it can make the average women’s life. This is not a permanent fix, because it has no chemicals that would allow it to become permanent. Instead, you should consider this is a “making life easier “ tool.

Still not sure if this is right for you? Here are some of the points that sold us:

• Will last 12-16 weeks
• Removes 50-100% of curl, depending on your natural curls
• Removes 100% of frizz
• Leave hair silky and has a high shine finish
• Is accumulative, the more you do it the longer the end result

   Doesn’t it sound nice?  Are you starting to imagine a morning where all you do is brush out your hair and go to work?  Okay, I’m slightly exaggerating…but fifteen minutes is a whole lot better than an hour and fifteen!

    Let’s just go ahead and address some of the negative press this product has received while we are at it. I’m sure you’ve heard about all the drama over  formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a gas; therefore it cannot be put into any of the treatments. During the blow drying and flat iron processes it does let off some steam and has trace amounts of this evil gas in it. This equals about the same amount as smoking ¼ of a cigarette, and IT DOES NOT AFFECT YOU. There is a small chance (about 2%) that your stylist could inhale some of this gas. With the proper ventilation and awareness we have not run into any problems.

   Okay!  I hope this helped some of you get off the fence and leap in or at least has let you in on all the facts.  All I know is the sun is trying to come out and we all need to go get some Vitamin D. Maybe you should skip out on work, and come get your hair done?  Just sayin’

With love,  

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I don't know about you, but once summer comes I find I run into the same issue every year; I want sexy beach hair. I want to look surfer chic, bronzed by the sun and rocking breeze tousled locks that look hot no matter if they are up or down. Unfortunately, we live in Oregon which means that even if we go to the beach we will not be able to obtain this look. Not to mention we are big girls with jobs and no time to frolic in the sand and waves. So how can we get this beach bombshell look from the comfort of our own bathroom?

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite summer products: texturizer. Just like bronzer will give your skin that fab glow without any sun, texturizer will boost your hair's sensuality without that salty sea breeze. (Not that we don't want the salty sea breeze, but when you live busy lives like us, you gotta take what you can get!) One amazing texturizer that we carry here at the salon is Sidlab's Pacifica. Pacifica is a sea salt texturizer that gives you "a salty straight from the beach texture." (That's a direct quote!)

For the Kevin Murphy fans out there, he just came out with an amazing new spray! The Hair Resort Spray gives you the texture you so desperately crave and also ups the volume, a big plus for us fine haired females. You can use this product on your hair whenever you need a little extra somethin' somethin', whether it's wet or dry!

The original Hair Resort by KM is more of a cream/gel with a little sparkle to make your hair look as radiant as you feel. It has the strongest volume hold, so you can put it on damp hair, give it a good little scrunch and boom, you've got the perfect curls in no time flat!

The fact that real life doesn't stop just because summer is here is pretty hard to swallow. I mean, it's 75 degrees out! Why should I have to come to work?! Boo. But if I can't actually get out and play in it, I will settle for looking like I've been out in it. It's like my mama always said, "you gotta fake it till you make it!" So why don't you make your way into Ginger Salon and we'll help you pick the perfect product to fake it with!

    Spring has  sprung! Although the sun only likes to grace us with its presence every few days for a few hours I see all those little buds starting to bloom. What does this mean? Summer is nearing, and with summer comes all those fun sun-filled trends.

    As a general rule, Portlanders don’t think much of trends, we like to stray from the mainstream. This city is filled with extremes, but one thing is always certain; when the sun comes out, everyone comes out.

    Now that we are finally getting a change in weather, don't you think it's time for a change in your hairstyle too? Maybe you'd like to say goodbye to your golden blonde hugh and hello to a more sun kissed blonde. Adding a brighter blonde can add a whole new dimension without being overpowering. If the sun kissed look isn't what you're going for, you could try adding a fun color accent! Can't part with that chocolate brown you discovered over the winter? Let's mix it up a bit by putting a streak of bright color through it!

    For those of you who aren't into the idea of a color change, do not fret! There are still plenty of ways you can get a fun new look for the changing season. One super simple way would be to change your part. Switching sides or going more toward the middle adds a little kick to your normal 'do, and it requires little effort from you! Just make sure you let your stylist know, that way we can give you a versatile cut. You could also try switching up your layers for a new shape, or maybe adding some bangs in the mix! Don't be afraid of change!

    2011 might not be the year for you to quit your job, marry a hot puerto rican and move to a remote island off the coast of Africa, but there's no reason your hair shouldn't look that sassy! Come visit us at Ginger and let's make this your hair's best summer!

Feathers, feathers everywhere! Going along with Portlandia’s “put a bird on it” it seems Portland has gone from calling it art to making themselves the art. I am seeing feather earrings, feather headbands and now we are doing feather extensions at Ginger Salon.

    Thanks to a business called FineFeatherHeads, we are now able to place colored rooster feathers in your hairs. How cool is that?!

     The best part of them being rooster feathers is their ability for wear. They can be washed with your shampoo, blow dried, hot ironed, and curled up to 450 degrees. You can keep these fun little gems in your hair for up to 4 months depending on how much you style.

    Fine Feather Heads have an ever evolving love of the extensions and are coming out with new color bunches almost monthly. They even give them darling names like Rainbow Bright, and Summer Berry, they also have classic collections base on neutral and natural colors as well as yellows, pinks, and lavender! Annnnnd the bunches are made by hand, if that’s not love I don’t know what its.

     SO, come one come all. Let’s all be birds together.

  You know what I love? Kevin Murphy’s heat protection products (they’re the ones in the blue bottles). Seriously.  Amazing. But more specifically, I am in love with Straight Defense. Everyone at Ginger Salon is in love with Straight Defense. We are gonna list its awesome-ness, ready for it?

One. Its weightless, but still has great hold. Even if your hair is straight you can use it for volume. But if your hair is curly it is designed to keep your hair straight for longer.

B.  There is this complex, very fancily name “KEVIN.MURPHY X-HP” That is designed to keep you hairs stronger, it is also there to fight against static electricity <--- Static gives us all those super awesome fly away hairs.

3.  Heat protection up 428 degrees! Holy guacamole!! “Defense against the intense heat generated by modern appliances while delivering impressive style hold” Sorry copy n’ paste seemed like the best choice for that one. They say it so much better than I do.

 So, I guess the real question is…What isn’t there to love about Straight Defense? What is your favorite product purchased from the best hairstylist in Portland?

   “Why is it important to be Sulfate and Paraben free”<-- That is one good question!  Whenever I answer this question I go with something I have been told by an old boss, who was told by a friend, who was told by someone trying to sell them a product at some point in life.

    So, I started thinking maybe, just maybe, my train of information isn’t the most reliable source. I have spent the afternoon researching this (I love the interweb) and here is what I’ve come up with, thanks to Wiki, Kevin Murphy and Siblab sites.

   Paraben, is a very commonly used preservative. You can find it in almost anything, even your toothpaste! Now, it has been said that paraben’s are considered non-toxic, because we metablolize and dispose of then so quickly. BUT! This is where is starts getting all its bad press; Parabens are being found in Breast Cancer tumors believed to be due to its intense similarity to estrogen.

   That last statement is what gets us excited about our Paraben free lines AKA Sidlab they are so concerned with this that they donate 5% of all their sales to Breast Cancer research. Isn’t that nice of them? Loves it.

   Sulfates, seemingly harmless bubble makers, are a detergent.  But they are said, according to The Journal of The American Collage of Toxicology; sulfates have "degenerative effect on the cell membranes because of its protein denaturing properties." ….Such big words.

   SO what you are telling me, is that they are breaking down our skin because they target protein? And us people, are one big hunk’a burnin’ protein. Other interesting fact? Sulfates are considered one of the most common skin irritants’. Now that just seems silly to me. That we are using things on our skin that are known to piss our skin off! RUDE.

    There is a coconut oil derivative that can make things bubble without all this skin attacking nasty-ness. Those are what are found in our OhSoGreat KM products, called  “Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate”.  In case you wanted to know the correct term for it, now you do.

  So what have we learned today? The internet will tell us anything; Paraben can make our boobies nervous; Sulfates can make our skin mad; And, <3 Cocoyl Isethionate! Isn't it amazing? You learn something new every day.

    It’s been raining for months, generally I love the rain. I like to tell people I need to rain to grow, I’ve always lived in rain. Well that’s not true, I did live in South America, but it doesn’t count and a whole different topic. Back to the rain, it’s here, it’s not going anywhere, and it’s mean to your hair.  WE do not like this.

   Product can’t stop the rain from falling, buuuuut we can use product to help us win again some of those super awesome side effects of the wet. LIKE FRIZZ! Who likes frizz? I mean really.