Lauren’s last update on beauty from the fabulous land of France!

After spending 5 days in Paris, we spent the last half of our trip in the French Rivera. Such an amazing trip and what beautiful views we saw. For this half of the trip it was just relaxing and sitting by the pool in the sun most days and going out for dinner at night. Now I definitely wanted to incorporate some of the chic beauty looks I used in Paris but a vacation by the pool requires some modifications.

For sunny vacations I know the beauty drill... SUNSCREEN. In the morning I would make sure to load my hair up with Blonde Me Leave in Conditioner and Buff to protect my hair from the sun then I would just twist it up into a bun. For my face I strict SPF 60 or higher (I am very fair) and then I went with just a little of Lift Cosmetics Flawless finish to make my skin look even, used some of our Waterproof Black Mascara too. But a day of swimming in chlorine and sunning can make for some messy hair so I opted against the messy bun for evening. After a day in the sun I had to struggle just to comb through all my frizz!

 To get a chic evening look after that scary pool hair I would load my hair with Moroccan Oil to get it to smoothed out and brushed through nicely. Then I would pull it into a low pony tail and just pin it up randomly to secure it. I don’t have any pictures of it from the back sadly but just picture the big bun I showed you before but placed lower.

 (This isn't my hair - mine looked a bit messier, this is on a client at Lift done by Emily, but it gives you an idea of how it looked!)

I kept the front really smooth and frizz free to look more elegant. Then I did a subtle version of our Paris makeup look to polish off my evening style. Some Oynx Liner, Flirt Lipstick and a little Flawless Finish and some Waterproof mascara and I was set! 

Well now you know all the hot beauty looks I discovered in Paris! Summer in Toronto is the perfect place to try them out! Any questions on how to perfect your own summer look? Just call Lift at 416-960-5438 and you can come in for a complimentary consultation. Or get the Lift Beauty Girls to come to you to teach you and your friends the new looks at home by planning a beauty party. Call us for details! 416-960-5438

The Bride Herself!

The Bride!

 

Here is how to get the Disney Princess bridal look.

Emily has gone over all over the amazing looks she created for all my favourite girls (herself included ) but who better to describe the bridal look than the bride herself!?!

I told Emily she could do whatever she wanted and I knew I would love it, and that most certainly came true. No matter what she did with my hair if she likes it I KNOW I will; I have complete trust. So I wasn’t worried at all about showing her pictures of what I wanted or trying to explain my look because she just knows me! I am a lover of all things Disney (especially Cinderella) and had the castle venue and the ball gown -- what next but the PERFECT princess bun.

Here is what Emily did... She asked me to smooth out my hair with a blow dryer the night before so it wasn’t frizzy. No prob! I loaded up my strands with Moroccan Oil and Osis Buff to condition my hair and help hold the smooth style. I used a round brush to get my locks frizz free. On the day of... the first thing Em did was spray my hair with some Glamour Queen and sprinkled in some Dust-it to get volume! Then she pulled my hair up into a high pony tail and use her hands to soften it at the scalp so there was some shape (I don't like a SLEEK pony). She knew I wanted the bun to look FLAWLESS, and it needed to have height and DRAMA! Thought my hair is long and THICK, Emily thought she would garuntee perfection by using the aid of STUFFING! Using some magical doughnuts (as I call them) she placed them around the pony tail stacked to create lots of volume. Yay! Then she took my hair and smoothed it over and around the doughnuts to create this flawless magic bun with tons of height! It was time to seal with lots of Sessions Hairspray. Did I love it? OF COURSE! I knew I would, it was the perfect ‘do for me! Then I felt just like a real princess as she placed my Tiara on the top of my head around the bun.

To complete my look I had to have those big Disney princess eyes and Joy was up to the task! Using Lift Cosmetics she evened out my skin with Flawless Finish Lite-n-Sweet and then brightened my cheeks with Temptress blush. Adding lots of glow with Stardust shimmer powder to highlight my skin and eyes she then smoked them out with Taupe and Black Magic eye shadows and some Onyx Eyeliner.  We went big with a full set of lashes and finished my princess look off with Flirt Mineral Vanilla Bean Lipstick and a touch of Mint Sugar Plum Gloss.

My look was perfect for me, and of course Emily knows me so well she would have no problem at all creating a look that made me feel my best on such a big day. A BIG THANKS to Joy and Emily for making us all look and feel so beautiful that day!

Wanna try my look? We carry all the products used in our store! Mention this post and you can get 15% any of the products we used for my big day! Call Lift Beauty Boutique to book us for your special day at 416-960-5438.

Rule of Thumb for Hair

So, for the last week I have been pushing our event "Girls Night In at Lift" for the Canadian Cancer Society but now it's over! I wanted to say thanks for all of the help and support it was such a great success and a lot of fun! I will post pictures soon!

Now on to blogging and my regular tips and tricks...

I've been asked too many times to count, "How often should I be getting my hair trimmed?"

Most Hair Stylist will give you the generic answer of "Every 6-8 weeks!" They give this answer for 2 reasons; 
1. For maximum hair health the 6-8 week period will ensure CLEAN ends!
and 
2. Because it get's you back in their chair FREQUENTLY meaning more $$$ for them!

Here's the truth in it all:

The amount of time that you wait between cuts/trims depend on your hair style, your hair length and your hair type!

Let's start with Style: If your hair is extremely "styled," meaning bangs, heavy layering or asymmetrical than you will need to visit your stylist more regularly than someone who has a simple "traditional cut." 

Why you ask? 

Extra length on a very precise and artistic cut can alter the desired shape and design. You may notice that after just 3-4 weeks you feel your hair cut has "lost it's shape."

 On To Hair Length:

Short - Have you ever noticed that the men in your life generally get there hair cut 3 or 4 times the amount that you do? It isn't because their hair grows faster, it's because growth is far more noticeable on short hair than long! Those of you who have short hair, are rarely getting their hair cut to remove split ends, it's to maintain the shape of your style! People say short hair is the lowest maintenance, I totally disagree... I think it's the highest maintenance.

Length of time you should be going between cuts? hmmm, depends on your personal preferences.. as I mentioned you wont be cutting for hair health, so only you will know when your style has grown out! My short cut client's usually visit me every 4-6 weeks to maintain a flawless shape!

Medium - Medium length locks with a traditional cut can go the longest between trims! Why? Because when it grows out it just looks like a long version of your original cut, and your hair isn't so long that the ends split quickly. For you, I say wait as long as you want between cuts! When you desire a new style or your ends start to feel dry... visit your stylist!

Long - Us long locks ladies: 8 weeks should be your maximum wait period between cuts if you want your long hair to look full and healthy! Reason: Think about how old the hair at your ends is... YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS old! I would say my ends are about 6-7 years old. In those 6-7 years I have washed my hair too many times to count, blow dried it, curled it, straightened it, sat in the sun with it, swam with it SOOOOO many times! This repeat ware on the hair is very damaging. The longer your hair, the older your hair, the older your hair the more damaged your hair, the more damaged your hair the more split ends you get the more split ends - the more cuts you need!!!
*Long haired ladies always say "my hair stops growing after a certain length" THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! Here's the reason why it seems that way - Split ends break off the hair shaft, which makes the hair shorter. If you don't trim your hair, it will trim itself in a detrimental way and you will never notice growth because it's breaking off before you can see the difference! Hair breakage also results in an uneven, straggly, and fried look!

Last but not least, Hair Type:

Most Hair types react to the elements relatively the same. However if you have naturally dry hair or THIN hair, you must visit your stylist more frequently! Blame genetics for that!

Dry hair and thin hair, at whatever length will naturally deteriorate faster than other hair types. I suggest regular visits for a trim every 6 weeks for you ladies!

*Styling your hair with product and hot tools can also effect the length between when you need to revisit your stylist. Using heavy products with a high alcohol level will cause the hair to dry out and split = extra visits for trims. The same thing applies to using BAD hot tools without protecting the hair with GOOD products! To prevent damage from styling I suggest the following products:

Amika Irons

Buff (Styling cream and protector) by Osis 

Moroccanoil® Glimmer Shine Spray

Day 3 of Hair Science

Continued from yesterday....

So, I had succeeded in training my hair to produce less oil and therefore was able to go a day or 2 between Shampooing! Hurray!

I knew that my PH balance had leveled out because I my scalp wasn't producing as much oil and grease! BUT my bottle of Shampoo was empty...

NEXT STEP:

I chose to switch shampoos to Schwarzkopf's BlondMe Reflective Luminosity Shampoo!

*Most professional shampoos do have a balanced PH level, so once your scalp is balanced you should be safe to switch to ANY of Schwarzkopf's Shampoos! I'm going to try their NEW VOLUME Shampoo and Conditioner next. 

 Here's my hair schedule and how I make one Shampoo last 4 days!

Day 1: Shampoo and condition hair in the shower - towel dry hair - Apply BUFF to the mid shafts and ends and spray all over with GLAMOUR QUEEN - Go to bed with hair wet! *By NOT blow drying your hair from WET to DRY you are saving it the stress of direct heat!

Day 2: Wake up with hair a MESS! Blow dry the roots (whether they are wet or dry) to fluff up the hair - add another light spray of GLAMOUR QUEEN! Then I enhance my natural shape. Ex. If my hair is mostly straight that day I touch up the few strands that have a wave with a flat iron. If my hair has a nice wave to it, I enhance it by curling a few locks with a similar sized curling iron. If it's a complete mess, I brush it out and curl the entire head!

Day 3: Brush out my hair, weather it is straight or curly - add DUST IT (Dust It helps me go the exta couple of days by mattifying my hair! The texture feels weird but it definitely does the trick and looks wicked - it adds volume too) and another spray of GLAMOUR QUEEN - touch up any funny pieces from your slumber with a curling iron or flat iron, shake it out and go.

Day 4: Brush threw, toss head upside down - shake with your hands, flip over and smooth out. Add a small amount of MOROCCAN OIL to the ends - pin a few pieces back and go!

Day 5: WASH! I do 2 shampoo's and conditioner and start over again!

I hope you try training your hair! Let me know how it works out!

All of the products that I use are available at LIFT and are relatively low in $$$,  call 416-960-5438 to get them!

Xo