Highlightin' and Lowlightin'

this last week I got the chance to do this pretty little lady's hair.

she has fine hair and is working on getting her hair to grow out and get healthier so we really didn't do much with the haircut other than clean it up and get rid of the dead ends.  also she loves to wear clip in extensions to give her fullness and length, so we just kept it simple so when she styles it (which she's super good at) it looked really natural and blended.

we loved the jennifer aniston honey lowlight and bright blonde highlight look, so we got rid of the roots and made it happen.  sorry the lighting is so dark, it was later that evening I realized I didn't take a before and after, so this will have to do...but I promise to be more on top of it for the future .  :)

one thing we talked about with her lowlight was that we were going to go just a shade darker than the desired level; the reason we did this is because it's summer time and she was on her way to california... so with being outside in the sun it would slowly lighten them up naturally and give her a longer lasting result with her color.

another thing we chatted about was getting her hair healthier, she's doing a mask one night a week before bed and then leaving conditioner on the ends when she showers during the week, that way they have a little more protection and stay hydrated.

such an awesome client, loved spending time with her and getting to know her hair a little bit more.

let me know if there are any questions my pretties.  

mega dust

I've been looking for the perfect little product for my coiffe to help keep it lookin' good and volumous all day long and think that the search may have come to an end.  I introduce to you, Mega Dust...

so you tap the magical dust on to the base of your hair (the root area) and then rub it in with your finger tips...then bam volume.  the best part is that when your 6 hours into your day and you see your hair starting to look a little limp you just run your fingers at the base again and the body and volume you had at the start of your day is back.  enjoy!!!  

hey pretties!!

hope your weekend is going great :) saw these and had to share.

follow me on pinterest for more fun pins. 

happy saturday!

opening ceremonies party

so the opening ceremonies are just a few weeks away and I've decided to throw a party in honor of the big night.

:)

who doesn't love a good party?  any excuse for one and my family, friends and I will throw down....okay so not in like a frat party way but you get the idea, right?!

each guest is in charge of choosing a country to represent with food or drink.

now I'm working on coming up with some games for us to play...and I don't want all of them to be drinking games...but I know it's bound to happen.  anyone have any suggestions?

can't wait for the big night, I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.  :)

the start of my salon days...

so after finishing school I was able to get a position at a great salon in north scottsdale assisting one of their stylists.  I started the week after graduation so it was a great transition; but man oh man it was tough!  one of the things I loathe the most in life is starting a new job.  if I could just skip the part where you have to figure everything out and just jump forward to two months later when you're kind of settled in I totally would.  ugh!!

what my job consists of:
meeting our guests in the lobby
getting them settled with a beverage and a smock
sweeping
shampooing for a hot dolla
deep scalp massages
small talk
tearing foils
cleaning color bowls
managing our daily schedule so we don't run behind
turning on and off curling irons, etc
picking up lunch
ordering color and supplies
paying our rent and other bills
organzing color cabinets
and generally being as on top of things and awesome as I can be

I do like what I'm doing and I have definitely learned some pretty cool things, but I have to admit to all of you that I just want to get my hands in some hair!!!!

thankfully we have a class every wednesday where we bring in models so it's nice to have that one night where I know I'll get to test out my skills and make the world a more beautiful place :)

if any of you ever are in need of some hair lovin' on a budget I would call one of the nicer salons in your area and ask if they have assitants that ever need hair models and give them your info...totally supervised great hair is done in these classes, and I have to say us newbies are probably a little more detail oriented than seasoned stylists.  just sayin.... peace, love and hair cuts.

Graduation

so I officially graduated from Penrose Academy on Friday April 13, 2012.

incredible night.  great clothing.  tears and smiles.  yummy dinner out.  drinks with friends.  and one hell of a hang over the next day.  

here are a few of my favorite pictures from that night :) 

Jill Kohler (owner of Penrose) and I :)

the parentals and I 

my whole class. 

I spent 1600 hours with these people...

more like my extended family now. 

LA LA Land

sooooo in April I had the opportunity to visit LA for a bumble and bumble color minded event.

it was so inspiring and such a unique opportunity.  myself and three other gals from my school got to attend and we were the ONLY students invited to the event.

Bumble and Bumble is one of my favorite hair product companies, as many of you know, and they recently launched their new color minded line that helps protect you hair color from the sun, heat and fading.  absolutely amazing.

here are a few snap shots from the weekend.  audrey and I stayed at W Westwood and partied like rockstars (okay not really, but we felt pretty damn cool...okay so no poking fun)

the bathroom in the standard hotel....a little racy ehh?

audrey and I dining like rockstars. 

see I told you, partying like rockstars!!

me and the gals at the SLS where the event was hosted. so pretty.  

audrey and gianna with howard!!!! OH EMM GEE

I'm sorry.

bad bloger over here.

but with all the crazy things I've been up to I'm sure you all will understand...

right?

I'm going to get all you little pretties up to date though, don't you worry!  you are going to be so stinkin' proud of me...just you wait.  :)

here's what you have to look forward to:

LA LA Land re-cap

graduation!!

first days in a salon

AND...so much more.

LA LA Land

in LA for a bumble and bumble event this week...so. much. fun.

ate well.

drank well.

slept well. 

feeling completely rejuvinated.  

can't wait for the event tonight, details and pictures to come :) 

this weeks pin

cannot stop obsessing over these highlights I saw on pinterest.  reminds me of a grown out ombre look and I'm praying I get someone in my chair in the next week or so that will let me try it out on them! 

also loving these quotes. 

it's been a rough week, but nothing better than finding a few inspirational quotes to keep me going. 



best of instagram link up

lucy and me on our way to puppy class.

little how to for my pompador.

yummy dessert my friend made :)

drinks out with famliy and friends.

the best way to describe my buzz ;)

me and cousin at the bar together.

lucy and I spending the afternoon together people watching at AJ's patio

follow me here...utsmsheff :)

since we all have found the latest addiction of pinterest I thought I'd do a pin of the moment and share it with all you lovelies. 

I saw this pin a while back and added it to my hair flair board and this last week my mom came in to get her hair done and had this picture as her inspiration for her cut and color.  so cute...right?  the crazier part about this is at first I didn't realize it but it's Jessica Simpson AND that's a wig from for hair do collection.  she should seriously consider rocking short hair, she looks amazing and has such a great face for it!  what a cool option for you long hair'd gals...and it's only $79.  anyways...happy friday and check out some of my other pins here.

Happy Hump Day...

Cocktailing...products that is.

cocktailing products is one of my favorite things to do for just about anyone's hair. 
one tricky thing about this is that you have to understand your product well enough to know how much is "too much".  by mixing products I find that I get a great look and it's just a bit quicker to do a few steps at once.

here are a few of my personal favorite combo's below:

+

=

gives my hair a little hold while still being able to move,

but takes care of the frizzy ends I get at times.  I like to put this in dry after I've flat ironed or blown out my hair just to give it a finished look.

+

=

I live in the desert, so I like to use products that help fight the dryness for both my hair and skin...quencing is my go to for hydration, but the purple shampoo and conditioner are what help keep my hair bright and bloned. 

when using color shampoo's and conditinoners you have to use the conditioner

(I mix with my quenching conditioner usually) that way your cuticle is sealed and the color is locked in until your next shampoo.

+

=

shine has sunflower oil in it and is super potent, so you don't need much.  I spritz one spray on my hand and then add styling creme which is a great heat protectant to put on towel dried hair before putting a blow dryer to your hair.  by combining you'll see your hair get shinier as you dry it which I love to see. 

hope you took some cool tips and tricks...what do you like to cocktail together at home? 

bad blogger

took a few days off from the blogging world...

I had so much to do so I had to prioritize my week and weekend.

and the loads of laundry I had been ignoring in my bedroom beat blogging

on the list last week. 

I'm sorry.

(thanks to pinterest this about sums up what I'd

rather have done with my weekend)

I'm back though...

and I have some fun posts this week for all my lovely (two) followers :)

Lazy hair days

this weekend was filled with them.

I just didn't want to do my hair. 
at all.

many varieties of headbands came into play,

as well as some hair powder to cover up the grease.

the funny thing was I got more compliments this weekend on my hair than when I actually do my hair...

people kept saying "I love your hair pulled back like that, it's great to see your face"

???????? 

made me wonder if I usually cover my face so no one knows what I really look like. 

anyways. 

what tricks do you have for lazy hair days? 

My Week In Review

                             

thanks to instagram and the genius link up idea from story of my life here's what this past week was filled with...

lucy our pup being shy for the camera

jim and I on date night

getting rid of 'dem roots girrrrrl

the quote to summarize my week

my new coffee obsession from starbucks

me on my way to school...white hair don't care

follow me on instagram... @utsmsheff

Blow Dry

one of my favorite things to do with hair is blowdry it.  such satisfaction :) hair goes from wet and drab to volumized and fab!

at Penrose we're taught bumble and bumble techniques and there is a lot of rhyme and reason to each of the different steps but I thought I'd share a couple that would be useful at home for all of you.  :)

1. power dry the hair so it's like 60-80% dry, but don't just shake you're blowdryer back and fourth because that will make your hair frizzy...insteady have the blow dryer follow your hands from the base of your head down your hair strands and just move around the different parts of your head.

2. focus on the base (the part of your hair closest to your scalp) of each section of hair and make sure it gets dry

3. be sure and let each section cool after being blow dried before running your fingers or a brush through it (you're setting the hydrogen bond with heat from your dryer so you want to make sure it doesn't break)

Here's one of my favorite blow dry's I've done recently... so gorgeous!!!

the wheels are turning

Have you ever had one of those moments where you start to gain some serious momentum on your future, but you're not sure of which direction to take?  well today I am having one of those moments.

As school comes to an end and so many different options come up after I finish school it is so hard to decide which direction to take.  I'm one of those thinkers where I think of what this decision will impact later on...which only makes me more stressed and confused over what I am going to do.  I am slowly trying to figure it out, but am only getting more stressed as I list out all of my options.

When you have one of these moments what do you do?

: /

2 years ago today

I met this little hottie....

happy anniversary babe. 

love you! 

xx