Hair

I color my hair, so I’m always looking for a good shampoo and conditioner duo that will clean and detangle my hair without stripping it of the darker shade I’ve paid good money to achieve.  Although I’ve used a few drugstore brands that I’ve been okay with, my current favorite is Kelly Van Gogh’s Daily Caviar Shampoo and Daily Caviar Conditioner.  Kelly is a renowned colorist whose products are all designed to keep your color looking great for as long as possible and I’ve found that they really deliver. (more…)

Multi-tasking has seemingly become a part of everyday life. While I’m exercising, I’m also listening to my iPod. When I’m “watching TV”, I’m also on my computer. Even while I’m “doing work”, I often streaming Pandora… and have my TV on at the same time! In all seriousness, trying to juggle grad school, an internship, freelance jobs, and my social life can get quite hectic, and I’ve learned that impeccably planning my schedule and maximizing my time is KEY to checking off my to-do list. Many women struggle with balancing their personal and professional lives, but leave it to leave it to Suzanne Cats, founder of (the country’s first eye, lash, and brow beauty spa), to solve our beauty problems and create LuxLash BeautyLab, the destination for multi-tasked beauty services!

Between manicures, pedicures, hair care, spray tanning, and eyelash and brow care, us women spend a lot of time taking care of ourselves. LuxLash BeautyLab can help you with that, by taking beauty treatments that would normally take eight hours to complete and condensing them into three. Your foils set while your manicure, pedicure, and eyelash extensions are being applied. Additional services include body glow treatments, custom facials, and hand massages. (more…)

Beta carotene and organic fruits and vegetables; sounds healthy, right? While healthy eats and taking our vitamins and minerals are important for our health and well-being, they’re also important to maintain our oh-so-healthy glow, good looks, and outward appearance. Combine these ingredients with dead sea minerals, and you’ve got Yes To Carrots, a natural and affordable line of hair and skin products. (more…)

I’m always on the lookout for a good salon in Los Angeles, so when I heard about The Parlour on 3rd, I was really excited to try it out.  It had been way, way (WAY!) too long since I’d had a good cut and color and my hair definitely looked it.  When I found myself actually starting to frown at it in the mirror, I couldn’t make it down to the salon fast enough.

When I first walked in, I immediately felt relaxed and at ease.  The space is bright and inviting, with big comfy chairs to wait in and a super friendly staff.  I wasn’t even there three minutes before they were handing me magazines to read and getting me a big cup of delicious coffee (both immediate ways to make me happy).  A few minutes later, when my stylist Leeya Alvandi came out to get me, I was almost sorry to get up!

Before we started doing anything to my hair, Leeya and I talked about how I wanted it to look for awhile, which I always find to be a sign of a really good stylist.  (more…)

As the beauty director of MORE Magazine, Genevieve Monsma dispenses monthly beauty advice to more than 1.3 million women. She has been covering the skin, hair, and makeup market for over a decade and has written about beauty for women of all ages. In addition to her tenure at MORE, she has been the beauty director at Shape Magazine, the deputy beauty director at Marie Claire, the beauty director at CosmoGirl, and the associate beauty editor at Redbook. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to interview this beauty veteran and find out what tops her must-have list!

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Who: Stylists Matthew Preece and Kristoff Ball

What: Preece & Toff Salon at Fred Segal

Where: 420 Broadway in Santa Monica

When: Monday-Sunday

Why: Located in breezy Santa Monica in the former Fred Segal Beauty space, Preece & Toff is a full service salon and spa. When you walk into their beautiful open loft-inspired space, your immediate thought will be that it is a modern zen retreat meet rock n’roll. (more…)

What: Inphenom Treatment, a Japanese deep hair conditioning treatment designed specifically for colored hair, to add shine and softness and rejuvenate it to its natural condition.

Where: Concept Salon, 1107 2nd Avenue, New York, NY

When: M: 11-6, T-Sat 10am-8:30 pm, Sunday 12-5pm

Why: I haven’t been able to get out of my daily hair washing routine, even though I know that washing your hair daily is a bad habit that strips it of natural essential oils.  This bad habit has wreaked even more havoc on my hair since coloring it, and it was getting to the point when I could feel and hear that uncomfortable dry-swish swish sound when I rubbed the ends of my hair against each other.   The Inphenom treatment, was just what my hair needed.  Newly available stateside at the Concept Salon, thanks to insider knowledge from  Helio de Souza and Andrea Piccolo, this magical formula comes straight from Japan and retains both color and moisture by filling in the damaged holes inside the hair and between the cuticle layers caused by repeated color processing.   With a reported 75% of women who color their hair, it’s evident that this is a much needed treatment. (more…)

During the summer, my hair tends to look worse than it does during the winter because I wash it twice a day.  (I know every expert tells you how bad that is, but it’s so hot here in Los Angeles that there’s no way I can’t shower again before bed).  It gets all dry and frizzy and in general, just looks a lot more dull and lifeless.  I’d been hearing a lot of great things about Living Proof’s Shampoo and Conditioner, so I wanted to give them a try and see if they could help bring my hair back to some degree of normalcy.

The two products were designed to be used on all hair types and they’re sulfate and silicone-free.  For the best results, you’re supposed to use both of them together because the longer you do that, the more resistant your hair becomes to humidity.  The formula’s key ingredient, PolyfluoroEster, creates an invisible shield on your hair that locks in smoothness and keeps out dirt and oil, so you can go longer between washing your hair and break the frizz and damage cycle.

I’ve been using the shampoo and conditioner duo for a couple of weeks now and my hair looks great (if I do say so myself).  It’s definitely a lot less frizzy and looks much healthier.  (I am still washing it twice a day though, which I’m probably not supposed to be doing, so I’m curious to see if it looks even better once winter comes).  My hair just seems so much smoother, without all those little pieces of flyaways that usually make the frizz so obvious.  What’s also great about the duo is that for all their frizz fighting power, they both smell great.  They’re sort of light and fruity, definitely a scent that I like lingering in my hair.  The only downside is that they’re fairly expensive at $24 each, so it’s kind of a hair investment.  But if you’re hunting for a special treat for your hair and want to see how great it can look frizz-free, I definitely recommend checking out Living Proof’s products at Sephora.com.

Love Jon Hamm and his character, the dapper Don Draper, on Mad Men? You’re not alone. The man is charming and impeccably dressed, with a gorgeous head of dark, smooth hair. Though the era of mad men is gone, now you can help your own man look sleeker–in the hair department, at least.

Coming in September from AXE Hair is the Shine Pomade, a styling product that can help create a polished, put together look easily. The Shine Pomade provides extra shine and control so that your guy gets smooth, sophisticated hair. Whether he throws in a side part or slicks it back, you’ll see a Draper-esque ‘do in no time. Of course, AXE makes sure that their products truly create “girl-approved” hair, so his hair will still be soft enough to run your fingers through. Pick up the AXE Shine Pomade for your man next month for a gift you’ll both appreciate.

Carrying your own toiletries while traveling can be a little annoying. They have to meet size requirements, fit in a plastic baggie, and it’s hard to find small sizes of more luxe products that you may have at home. Philip B. actually has a great Travel Kit that is fantastic–it meets travel requirements, and the conditioner in the set is also paraben free! So you’re getting that great Philip B. luxe quality, even away from home. I recently toted this with me while flying to a wedding, and I wanted my hair to look its very best. It was super convenient to bring along, and my hair looked great! What’s in the kit?

• Peppermint & Avocado Volumizing & Clarifying Shampoo
• African Shea Butter Gentle & Conditioning Shampoo
• Nordic Wood Hair & Body Shampoo
• Light-Weight Deep Conditioning Crème Rinse

All these are 2 oz. and meet all hair type needs. Take a look on philipb.com and you just may want to bring the Travel Kit on your next trip!