As we prepared for our quarterly photo shoot, our team discussed what works and what doesn't. The fashion magazines all display images of young, beautiful models with hair that is NOT wearable for the average woman. Could you imagine getting ready to drop your kids off at school, or heading to the office - but first taking hours and hours to style your hair like this?

Image by Intercoiffure

This is a fantastic image, but it doesn't fit the lifestyles of most of our clientele. We want to inspire our guests to try new looks, but each person needs to be able to envision the look on him/herself.

For our May photo shoot, instead of having our designers or Michael select models, we asked our clientele. We sent out emails and asked for submissions on Facebook and Twitter:

Michael's is looking for real women over 40 to be a part of our upcoming makeover photo shoot. We're asking you to nominate yourself, or a woman you know who would be willing to make a major change.

We received more feedback from this online contest than any previous online contest. It was very difficult to select the winners, but we narrowed the field down to six. These brave women put their trust in Michael's talented staff to design their new look. 

Before and After Photos:

Our designers went above and beyond just cut and color to empower each woman to discover the best version of herself. Click the names below to see more pictures and to learn about each makeover:

Are you noticing that your hair isn't as shiny and healthy as it was ten years ago? It's true, with age comes hair that is drier, breaks easily and lacks body and shine.
The recent issue (May 2010) of More magazine tackled this problem in an article titled "Ch-Ch-Changes!" More offered up a six week plan to bring back the silky texture we all love. Here are some highlights from the article, with tips from Michael's included (direct quotes from More in italics). Update (5/26/10) More's article on tips for aging hair is now available on their website. Disclosure: All product recommendations in this blog are by Michael's professionals:

Trim, then tame
Visit your stylist to get rid of damaged ends, then explore conditioning treatments. "Nearly every stylist we spoke to said for the most dramatic results, you can't beat an in-salon keratin treatment."

We've blogged about keratin treatments several times, but the treatment infuses keratin into your hair follicles to promote healing, block humidity, and prevent environmental toxins from entering the hair. It leaves hair smooth, frizz-free and manageable.

Give your do some downtime
After a keratin treatment, you should not wash your hair for 72 hours to allow the treatment to soak in. When you do wash your hair, use a sodium-free shampoo like Keratin Care. Salt will strip your hair of chemical treatments, which means your keratin, or color process for that matter, won't last as long.

Also, skip a day or two from shampoo. Your hair produces natural oils which help keep it moisturized. If you must, rinse your hair in luke warm water, and use a small amount of conditioner just on the ends.
**Personal note: Jodi talked me into shampooing every other day, and I'm finally able to keep red color in my hair, after many attempts that faded quickly. And as an added bonus, my shampoo and conditioner last twice as long!

Finally, go easy on the heat. When you do rinse or shampoo, use luke warm water, not hot water. When you blow dry or flat iron, use a thermal protectant like Iron It by Michael's, Aquage Beyond Shine or Trilliant by Sebastian.

Color Care
After taking great care of your hair, you might want to amp up the color a bit. The More article recommends 'Ask your colorist if (s)he can use an oil-based bleach, which processes hair more gently than a traditional bleach." Michael's uses Wella color processes, which are oil-based, and condition your hair as they color.

More magazine is a great resource for 'women of style & substance.' They celebrate women over 40, and offer tips on fashion, beauty, love, careers and more.

What do you think of these tips? Do you have other tips to share? Let us know in the comments!

We love it when our clients take the time to offer us feedback! Here is another comment that was submitted yesterday in the 'Share your experience' box on our website:

My daughter is a freshman in high school and wanted bright red hair. I reluctantly agreed. I took her to Lisa for the new look. Not only did Lisa give my daughter the red she was looking for, she did it so beautifully that I like it too. She added some black to frame her face. The color looks great with her skin tone.

My daughter loves her new look and I love it too. Lisa gave us a win-win situation which is hard to do for a head-strong teen and her mother!
Thanks Lisa!

Balayage is an advanced highlighting technique where your designer "paints" the highlights onto your hair. It is NOT traditional foil highlights that you might be accustomed to. Balayage gives your hair a natural "sunkissed" look and is an easy way to add dimension to all-over hair color.

Jodi highlighted Nikki's hair using the Balayage technique in the photos above. Notice that the difference is subtle, but just enough to make Nikki's hair stand out.

What is different about Balayage is that the color solution is "painted" on by your designer. This gives your stylist more control over how much of your hair receives the color. Why is this important? Because, if you weave a strand of hair and put it in a foil with the lightener, you are going to have the same amount of lightened hair throughout the strand.

This means if someone wants to have a lot of blonde color towards the ends, you are going to have a lot of blonde at the roots as well. If the hair ends are thinner you end up with lighter hair at your roots.

Balayage is also great because as it grows out, the roots are more subtle than with foil highlights - no more lines a few inches from your roots telling everyone that it has been a couple of months since your last color treatment!

The Balayage technique was developed by Siggers Hairdressers in Atlanta, GA. Master designers and color specialists Jodi Schuh, Tara Myers and Mary Schuh were trained in this technique years ago, and they recently taught this technique to about a dozen Michael's designers in a continuing education class. 

Ask your designer about Balayage highlights at your next appointment!

Moroccanoil is an ultra-light formula which is absorbed by the hair instantly, resulting in a natural, silky finish and brilliant shine without leaving a residue. It restores over-processed hair damaged by environmental factors (sun & wind) and chemical procedures. InStyle Magazine noted that it’s one of Hollywood’s Elizabeth Stewards favorite instant makeover tricks. Her stylist gave her a bottle to try and she loved it. Moroccanoil - now available at Michael's Salon. www.michaelssalon.com

I highlighted Nicole’s hair really heavy on top in the shape of an hour glass. For contrast, I used a rich dark chocolate color everywhere else. Nicole wanted a fun haircut that would be easy to style, so we decided on a really cute swingline bob with lots of choppy layers. The color and style look great on Nicole.

www.michaelssalon.com

Posted by: Amanda Hansen

One of Michael's Haircolor Specialists.

This is a hairstyle with attitude.

 

Created by Tasha Swanson at Michael’s Salon and Spa in Dayton, Ohio. Tasha first cut Matt’s hair into the Fohawk form. She changed it up a bit by cutting it so it veers off to the right side in the back. The front bang was left longer and gets gradually shorter down the back side. Tasha used a razor and thinning shears to add texture. To make Matt’s new style pop, she foiled in a touch of red. Best of all, styling is easy, Tasha recommends using styling gel or paste.

www.michaelssalon.com