Light Up Your Face--Highlights and Lowlights

Have you ever seen a really bad hair-coloring job? You know the type that looks like a bottle of ink got spilled on someone's head? (This is often seen on men who grab a box of Just for Men and dye their own grey away. Guys: Step away from the dye bottle!)

At Believe, we've seen (and fixed) quite a few.

The reason bad dye jobs look so ...well, bad, is that nature didn't give us one color hair, but multiple colors that blend into the rich tapestry making our color shine. Whether its the gorgeous copper tones in brunette hair, shiny platinum in blonde hair, or that hint of lovely dark blue that shimmers for those of you lucky enough to possess jet black hair.

So what to do if your base color is fading or grey hairs are showing up to make you look older than your years? Come into Believe to get your hair colored but consider adding highlights or lowlights to bring out the depth and beauty of your hair.

We all grew up with home highlighting kits and probably spent at least one Saturday afternoon having our friend paint on highlights for us (this was probably not the same friend we let iron our hair on our mother's ironing boards--since we stopped speaking to her after that scorching incident.) As we should have learned then, but bears repeating now: Do not try highlighting at home. This really is a job for professionals (like us here at Believe.)

Highlights and lowlights are spot hair color processes. Depending on what look you wish to achieve, they can be used separately.

Highlights are when thin or thick strands of hair are lightened (at least two shades lighter than the rest of your hair and this doesn't have to mean you make your highlights shades of blonde only. Got dark brown hair? Consider caramel highlights or brown highlights with black hair.) Try not to go more than three shades lighter than your hair color (unless you are opting for rock-star highlights like lavender, electric blue or crayon yellow. In that case, throw the rule book out the window and let's rock!)

The object of highlights is to brighten up your color and draw attention to your face (that's why highlights are applied to frame your features.) Add as many or few as you like—we can always add more—and remember, the thinner the highlight, the more natural the look. If you want them to stand-out, go for chunky highlights. Also, you don't have to refresh your highlights every time you come get your hair colored (unless you want to change out the tone for another.) Every other time will do.

Lowlights can also pump up the drama in your hair—but in a more subtle way. For these, think or thick strands are made two or three shades darker than your natural color. (Because they are less noticeable, lowlights have to be refreshed only every third time or so you visit Believe to have your color done.)

Of course, you don't have to stick to either high or lowlights alone. You can mix it up by asking for tri-colors! Highlights are added near the top of your hair (to make you shine like the star you are) and lowlights near the bottom (to give the illusion of more volume and dimension.) Tri-colors are tricky things. It takes a little artistry to get the right look (good thing Lisa, the owner of Believe is one of the few Master Colorists in Westchester, eh?)

Call at Believe and make an appointment to come in for a consultation. We'll be happy to show you how highlight, lowlights and tri-colors can add some va-voom to your color. You'll be turning heads in no time!

Beards On Vacation--Get Growing!

Flip flops instead of shoes, tan legs instead of pantyhose, T-shirts instead of business suits...all signs of summer vacation. But, at Believe, we know of one more: Beards! Throwing off the tyranny of daily shaving, more and more men are choosing to grow beards and summer vacation is the perfect time to get growing.

Here's a few tips to get your beard off to a good start:

• Make a commitment: Just like anything worth doing—like running or learning a new language—growing facial hair takes a while and you should commit to a certain time period to see it through. Don't quit in the middle and the results could be great!
• Seeing is believing: You should at least try to grow a beard once in your lifetime. Until you do, you'll never know if you suddenly sprout a full red beard (though you are a blond) or if it will come in silver (so distinguished) or if you have bald patches on either side of your chin just where your dad did. You can't fight genetics, but how do you know that your great-great-great granddad wasn't Blackbeard (whose luxuriant facial hair—into which he wove lighted sparklers—made the ladies swoon and the men quake in fear)?
• Tell everyone else to put a cork in it: Make a pact with your wife, kids and friends that you want to try to grow this beard and that, for awhile, you will look like a beach bum. Ask that they hold their opinions until the growing season is complete. (Your opinion is the one that counts in the end anyway.)
• Prepare to be a little uncomfortable: Yes, yes, as your beard grows in, it will be itchy, but let it grow for six weeks—no cheating. Don't trim it, shape it, or cut it during this time. Just let Nature takes it's course (and try to look like you are deeply pondering the problems of the universe while scratching your beard.) Wash it with gentle shampoo, like AESTELANCE  G  and condition it with IDEN TREATMENT. A little extra moisturizer like ZUM BODY(in assorted scents) rubbed into the skin beneath your beard will also lessen the discomfort.
• Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow: Even if you have only a goatee or a luxuriant mustache in mind for the finished product, why not let everything grow so you will have more hair with which to decide how you want it styled in the end? You can always cut hair off, but it takes a while to grow back.
• Get it professionally trimmed: Make an appointment and come into Believe for us to professionally shape your beard. In the trade, this is called “designing a neckline.” Usually where the beard grows to its upper limit on your cheek is best left natural. Our trained stylists will then take into account your jawline, the measurement from your sideburns to the proper section of your neck, your ear placement in correlation to your jaw—many things that will make your beard look natural, clean and neat. (This is not a job for amateurs! Come let us teach you how to trim your beard properly or visit us at Believe every time you need a trim and enjoy a little pampering. You deserve it.)
• Put down the dye: Here is the problem with do-it-yourself beard dyeing—the final result looks like you are wearing a fake beard. Products like “Just For Men” dye your beard (and usually parts of your neck, ears and bathroom counter) one flat shade making it appear much darker than your hair and looks as unnatural as if you had dunked your chin in shoe polish. If you truly can't stand the grey, come on in to Believe. We are experts at multi-tonal dyeing and can help hide the grey in a way that won't scream out “I dye my beard!”
• Don't be hasty: Put off the decision to ditch the beard until after your “neckline design” appointment at Believe. If you then decide to shave it off (or leave a soul patch/imperial or a luscious mustache) we can do it for you. Trust us; Our sharp scissors, professional handling of a beard trimmer and follow-up skin care will save you from lots of bumps cuts and ingrown hairs.

From Abe Lincoln to Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison to Sigmund Freud, famous men have been almost as celebrated for the facial hair as for their deeds. Should you decide to join such renown company (and agree with an anonymous ancient Greek who said, “There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women—and I am neither one,” call us at Believe to make an appointment for that shaping and put down the razor!