Style Hair Magazine News

This is my first entry, having switched over from an off-site blog, I've implemented this one right on my site. The idea is to make it easy for you to find newly added information and for me to share tidbits, opinions, commentary, and current hair news that may not fit elsewhere on the site. I hope you enjoy it!

January 15, 2006 12:39 - Find A New Hair Style The Virtual Way!

For over a decade, virtual hair style software has been evolving and improving. In the beginning, this was a very exclusive practice offered in salons, and even at that, only salons which could afford the expensive programs and hardware. It was rare and the ones that did exist were archaic by today's standards.

Fast forward to 2006, and now you can upload a photo of yourself and try on hair styles and colors in the comfort of your own home...for a fraction of what those early programs cost. Visit the virtual hair styles page for a breakdown of the most popular online programs offered today. I've also included free demos right on this site so you can have a go at it, but beware...this could become addictive! (Go to URL)

January 16, 2006 12:16 - Hair Products and Styling Tools --The Best of The Best

I've finally put together the pages detailing my professional recommendations for hair product and the best hair styling tools. It took a while. The site is a year and a half old and these pages were intended from the very beginning. But I wanted to get a certain amount of content up on techniques and trends before adding this section.

The market is inundated with new products and tools constantly, which can make it difficult to know where to start. Which items will be the most effective? Where are your dollars best invested? Collectively, we spend billions on hair paraphenilia every year and unfortunately, alot of those dollars end up being wasted on less than effective "stuff." I've broken down the best hair products and tools into categories to make it easy for you to find what you're looking for and have detailed the benefits of each item so you can decide whether the characteristics fit your individual needs. Here's to great hair every day!

Add this blog page to your rss reader as I'll be highlighting new developments in hair product and tools that are worthy of inclusion on those pages as they're introduced. (Go to URL)

January 18, 2006 07:06 - Stay in Touch...Syndicate Style Hair Magazine!

I've added RSS functionality to the site. What the heck does that mean?!

In a nutshell, RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", and it means that you can save RSS "feeds" of your favorite sites to an RSS reader (free software you download--many choices) and you can check in, at your convenience, to see what's up at your chosen sites.

Your RSS reader will display a short headline and a little blurb of any newly added content so you can click on the titles that suit your fancy. If you'd like a super-simple connection to Style Hair Magazine, go to our home page, you'll find the RSS box just below the navigation choices on the left. If you click on the "What's an RSS feed?", a help window will pop-up with a brief explanation and a link to a free RSS reader you can quickly download.

You can also syndicate our content by adding Style Hair Magazine to your MY Yahoo or MY MSN pages. Just click the icons for either one, add our feed, and you'll be all set up! Or you can add the rss feed to this blog using the orange "XML" button at the bottom of the page.

The great thing about RSS is that you can see all your chosen syndications at a glance, without having to visit each site separately. Unlike saving a website in your favorites menu, in which case, you have to first remember that you wanted to re-visit, then begin the hunt for it. With RSS, it's just there waiting when you check in, conveniently directing you to all the action.

I'm no Martha Stewart, but I've gotta say........RSS, It's a good thing!

January 19, 2006 09:17 - Birth Control Pills and Hair Loss

Several months ago I bit the bullet and reluctantly started taking "the pill" again. I really didn't want to. Mainly because of the weight gain issue, and the fear of thinning hair from the hormones. My hair is already fine, so I don't need that aggravated by anything. Well, I hadn't been taking the nasty little pills for more than 3 months before I started noticing that I could see alot more of my scalp right near the crown.

It wasn't a difficult decision to dump the entire stock into the trash and embark on a hormone normalization process. I checked in the mirror every day for signs of new growth, even though I'm fully aware of how long it takes to grow new hair. And I also suspected that new hair would not begin to grow until my hormone levels had normalized.

I'm thrilled to report that, 3 months later, here I sit with baby hairs sprouting all over the top of my head (I've included a photo to proudly display my new growth). I used to complain about those little guys sticking up but I'm finding it positively fantastic right now! Never again will I subject my body (or my mind) to such turmoil. Thinning hair is a very disturbing ordeal, an experience I wish never to have again. You can learn more about both internal and external solutions to hair loss here.

January 20, 2006 09:59 - Hair Style Galleries

Find a hair style photo in our gallery pages, which are an ongoing project. New pages will be added occasionally so bookmark the site and check back for more free, high quality hair style photos.

All of the images in these gallery pages are clickable to enlarge for a better view or to print and take to the salon with you. If you are a stylist or photographer, you can have your work displayed in our galleries! Use this submission form to have your images considered for inclusion.

January 22, 2006 06:44 - Bad Hair I'd Like to Get My Hands On

As a stylist, the sight of really bad hair is distressing. Especially on a public figure...and most especially on a wealthy public figure. There are some folks I can barely contain the urge to coiffe while at the grocery store or out and about. In general, the urge passes once the subject is out of sight--but these follicular disasters in the public, their image is seared in my minds eye...taunting me in an imaginary sing-song...

"I know I'm terrible, but whatcha gonna do about it?"

My two top picks at this moment would be The Donald (of course), and Edward Walker from Trading Spaces. One a billionaire, the other a designer. Neither of these fellas have any excuse to be sporting such unflattering manes. It's downright appalling.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest. I feel soooo much lighter now! (Who knew having a blog to vent in would be so therapeutic?!)

On the serious side ;-) If either Edward or Mr. Trump do happen to read this, feel free to contact me for a consultation. Or have a look at the hair style photo galleries for a little inspiration.

January 24, 2006 07:37 - New Hair Style Trend Articles

Two new pages have been added to the hair trends section. Several more articles will be added in the coming weeks with a focus on new hair style ideas and options for 2006. The world of hair fashion is constantly changing and there are so many great looks to choose from if you're in a hair rut or just like to experiment and reinvent your image from time to time.

The newest additions cover two very hot new hair style trends, mod hair style, and the extremely popular faux hawk hair style. Both of these styles work for both men and women and the pages offer tips for achieving the style and photos for inspiration. Enjoy!

January 25, 2006 13:40 - Home Hair Color Must Knows

If you color your hair at home, these pages are for you! Understanding how hair coloring works is critical for success. This page details the chemistry involved in any hair coloring process with a useful hair color chart and color wheel.

Your finished results will be much more professional if you have an understanding of these basic principles. For specific articles on bleaching, foiling hair, using hair toner and coloring grey hair, see our hair color articles. Each of these topics are covered in great detail to arm you with the knowledge to make your new hue everything you hope it'll be.

A botched hair coloring process can be embarassing, expensive to fix and cause long term chemical damage to your tresses. Get the information before you subject your hair to potential disaster. And if you want to be sure whether a color you're considering will suit you or not, try out new hair colors and styles on your own photo here. Find your next look without the commitment.

January 26, 2006 12:38 - Celebrity Hair Styles

Being in the limelight, always vulnerable to the paparazzi hiding in the bushes to snag an unsavory shot of you taking out the trash or stumbling home after an eventful night of clubbing would inspire even the thickest skinned among us to always try and look presentable. Besides, the rest of us are living vicariously through these jet-setting stars, looking to them for fashion and hair style ideas, so it's their responsibility to look hot...right?!

Celebrity hair styles are not always the choice of the individual star however, but often are necessary to portray a certain look for their everchanging movie roles. Musicians are fortunate. They're free to express themselves through whatever hair style they choose, having a huge influence on the face of fashion. Some, like Mariah Carey, and Jennifer Lopez stick with tried and true styles they know are flattering, changing small elements to keep it interesting. Others, like Cher, Kelly Osbourne, and David Beckham are constantly reinventing their look and providing us with plenty of inspiration...and fresh dirt to gossip about.

Wigs, hair pieces, and extensions are a celebrity's best friend if they want to spice things up without sacrificing their mane. Or in the case of those celebs who weren't blessed with enviable locks through their genes to sport a hot mane and leave the world oblivious to their secret. If only we all had the funds to indulge in such delicious deciet. Check out our celebrity hair style galleries for inspiration from some of the most recognizable icons of our time, and of the past with the vintage Hollywood hair style pages.

Try out celebrity hair styles on your own photo here.

January 27, 2006 12:22 - Hate My Hair Days!

We all have 'em. Those days when we wish to be sporting anyone's mane but our own....okay, maybe not anyone's. But any one of the models in the Victoria's Secret catalogue would do just fine. I go back and forth with my hair. Especially after flipping through VS or watching "The Insider" and seeing all those hot, flowing celebrity hair styles.

"I'm gonna grow it out" I think defiantly. Allowing myself to drift into that fantasy world where I've got thick, voluptuous locks that'll look good no matter what. Then I snap back to reality and suffer the disappointing truth. I have fine hair with enough curl that I can vamp it up quite a bit. But once it's longer than my shoulder blades, it starts to look scraggly after about half an hour.

Fact is, my hair is at its best when it's cut above the shoulders. It's swingy and thicker looking. The curls are more lively and it doesn't do the stringy thing at all. Is it cut above the shoulders right now? No. I'm growing it. LOL! Until one day, as always happens, I'll become fed up and venture into my salon for the scissors. But that day has not yet arrived, so until then, I'll vascillate between loving and hating my hair on any given day all the while knowing I've got no-one to blame but myself. That's never stopped me before though. Tomorrow will be better.

I'm not sure if having the scissors at the ready and the know-how to chop it is a blessing or a curse. Ah well. There're some great options in the hair style photo gallery if you're having a "hate my hair" day. And if you're in the fine hair family like me, check out my instructions for thickening hair and creating volume when styling.

January 30, 2006 08:42 - Style Hair Magazine Gets A Makeover!

If you've clicked through a few pages of the site, you've likely noticed that there are 2 different designs. I've recently learned how to use CSS for my site design and am in the process of changing over all the pages. As well as creating new hair trend pages, adding to the hair style photo galleries and preparing to start a brand new site. So much to do...

Good thing I love the new direction of my life, building websites. Friends and family ask me often "how are you doing it?" as for the most part, people spend more money having websites built than they ever earn from them. Not the case here. If you'd like to know how I'm doing it and how you could too, go here. No tricks or get-rich-quick schemes will work in building a long-term successful internet business. Just a down to earth program that contains all the tools and takes you through it step by step. Plus a healthy dose of "brain and motivation" as stated in the Site Build It Action Guide, which you can download for free here to read through and see if you think it's for you.

My passions in life are hair styles & trends, and health & beauty, which is why that's what my site is based on, and my future site as well. What is your passion? Can you imagine yourself able to build a business around sharing it with others?

K. I've gotten off track from the original purpose of this post. (Passion will do that to even the most focused person) In the months to come, the entire site will be switched over to the new design and many more pages will be added on hair styles, hair coloring and hair trends. Plus, I'll let you know when the new site is up so you can check it out. If you're into hair and looking and feeling good, I think you'll like it. Thanks for visiting, as always!

January 31, 2006 11:27 - Static Hair - Is It Plaguing You?

Where I live, in Canada, this time of year static electricity runs rampant. It used to cause me much annoyance and made simple things like putting on a sweater or jacket a dreaded chore because it'd inevitably bring on more static in my hair. Hair trends are forever changing, but I don't remember a time when the flyaway static look was ever hot.

I'm pleased to report that within the past decade, I've hardly had a problem with static electricity in my hair. How's that? Well, I've found that among other benefits of using professional shampoos and conditioners, the reduction of static electricity is right up there on my list of reasons why they're superior. Not all of them though. The light daily formulas sometimes don't contain enough moiturizing ingredients to quell static. But I always use products formulated for colored hair, which have a more moisturizing effect. For a short period of time, I sampled some drugstore brand products as research for this site. I wanted to be able to give an honest opinion of whether it was better to use salon products or not so I figured I'd better do some experimenting. Guess what. Yep. Hoards of static in my hair again!

Leave-in conditioner is a great product to have in your arsenal for reducing hair static, especially in children's hair. Just a bit goes a long way and kids are often more receptive to leave-in's as they're quick and easy to apply. If your hair is curly, frizzy or very dry and prone to static, the options on this page of curly hair product choices will help you.

I'm joyfully static free, even though I no longer use fabric softening dryer sheets in my laundry. (They're chock full of nasty chemicals...do a search online if you're at all curious.)