How To Tuesday videos are back! Check Michael's Beauty Blog weekly for a new video featuring Michael's beauty team demonstrating the techniques they use everyday when getting ready in the morning. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to recreate your salon look at home, so we're going to do our best to show you some secret tips and techniques so you can have a salon look everyday!

How to Curl Hair with a Flat Iron

In our last video, Sheena demonstrated how to crimp your hair with a flat iron. This week, Brooke's taking it a step further to show how to CURL with a straightening iron. Sound like an oxymoron? Watch the video to see how it's done:


Video: How To Curl Hair with a Flat Iron

To recap, here are some of Brooke's tips:

• Brooke preps her hair with Michael's Styling Creme before blow drying to give her hair more texture and hold
• This look is good for the day(s) between shampoos. The build up in your hair can help hold the curls, and prevent fly-aways
• Always use a thermal protectant spray to protect your hair from heat damage
• Brooke used a 1.5 inch wide flat iron - the size of your straightening iron determines the tightness/looseness of your curls
• Section off your hair and start on the bottom layer and work your way up, one side at a time
• In small sections, start the flat iron at your root, turn the flat iron, and pull it all the way to your ends
• Brooke curls her hair toward her face, but you can alternate in and out for a different look
• For the back, Brooke pulls the pieces toward the front to make it easier to control
• Once your hair is curled, take a look to make sure you didn't miss any pieces
• Use a dime-sized amount of Michael's Texture Taffy to give your curls separation and texture
• Finish with a flexible-hold hairspray

What do you think? Is this a look you will try? If you have any styling tips or beauty techniques you would like to see, please let us know! You can leave a comment here on our blog, or on Facebook or Twitter!

At last - the long-awaited makeover photos of Shana, our Young Professional makeover winner!

With the help of Generation Dayton, the dynamic networking group for Young Professionals in the Dayton region, Michael's sought out young professionals who would be willing to put their trust in the hands of our talented beauty professionals for a beauty makeover. We had a great response, but one nomination really stood out.

By day Shana Douglas is Marketing Director at Sunbelt of Miami Valley, by night, she is a social media extraordinaire, volunteering her time and expertise to such organizations as the March of Dimes, Dayton AMA, Greater Dayton Advertising Association, and more. She is very active and involved in the Dayton community and online (she's @ShanaDouglas if you're on Twitter).

"I nominate myself... solely because I don't have time to take care of myself like I'd like to! Between a full-time job, consulting and numerous volunteer roles, there's little time left for beauty."

Hairstyle Info:
Tonya worked with Shana to find a hairstyle that suits Shana's professional-by-day/"rowdy chucks and heels wearing diva by night" personality.


If you want to see more photos of Shana's makeover, there are more on Michael's Facebook page. What do you think of Shana's new look? Are you ready to make a change?

Yes, Salon City Magazine selected Dayton's premiere salon and spa number 9 on their HOT 100 Salons in America!

Michael's is excited to support Generation Dayton, and to kick it off, we're tying in our next photo shoot to this theme! We are looking for young professionals in the Dayton area to take part in our upcoming makeover photo shoot. We're asking you to nominate yourself, or a young professional you know who would be willing to make a major change. Selected winners will receive a free makeover from Michael's Salon including haircut & color, Jane Iredale makeover, and photo shoot with the Media Group @ Michael's. The winners will each receive digital copies of their photographs (professional profile picture!), and will be featured here on our blog. Photographs will also be submitted to industry publications.

How to enter:
To nominate yourself or someone you know, send an email to cindy@mediagrouponline.com with the following information:

1. A recent photograph of nominee
   
2. Nominee's name and daytime contact information
3. A paragraph about why this young professional needs/deserves a makeover
   

Rules and Details:

1. Nominations must be received by Monday, August 9, 2010.
2. Winners will be notified by Thursday, August 12.
3. The consultation and makeover will be scheduled with each winner and his/her designer prior to the photo shoot (we've allowed 2 weeks to accommodate busy schedules).
4. The photo shoot will take place on Thursday, August 26, 2010.
   
5. Winners must be willing to allow their pictures to be used on our blog and for submission to industry publications.

If you have any questions, please email cindy@mediagrouponline.com. Or check out the results of our last Looking for Faces makeovers. We're looking forward to seeing nominations of yourself, your employees, your recent college grads and more!

Update: Nominations have been closed. Check out the makeover photos

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:

Michael's is looking for real women over 40 to be a part of our upcoming makeover photoshoot. We're asking you to nominate yourself, or a woman you know who would be willing to make a major change. Selected winners will receive a free makeover from Michael's Salon including haircut & color, Jane Iredale makeover, manicure and photoshoot with the Media Group @ Michael's. The winners will each receive digital copies of their photographs, and will be featured here on our blog. Photographs will also be submitted to industry publications.

How to enter:
To nominate yourself or someone you know, send an email to cindy@mediagrouponline.com with the following information:

1. A recent photograph of nominee
   
2. Nominee's name and daytime contact information

Rules and Details:

1. Nominations must be received by Monday, April 12, 2010.
2. Winners will be notified Tuesday, April 13, 2010.
3. A consultation will be scheduled with each winner and her designer prior to the makeover and photoshoot.
4. Makeover and photoshoot will take place on Monday, April 26, 2010.
   
5. Winners must be willing to allow their pictures to be used on our blog and for submission to industry publications.

If you have any questions, please email cindy@mediagrouponline.com.

UPDATE: This contest is closed. Click the following link to see our Real Women Over 40 Makeovers.

Grab the current issue of Sophisticate's Hairstyle Guide and flip back to the 'Clip & Snip' section. Look closely, and you'll see that Sophisticate's selected several - actually 9 - photos that were submitted by Michael's Salon. Some are older and have been published before, but there are some that haven't been published!

Michael's Salon worked with the Media Group at Michael's to develop an intensive, hour-long training video to address the problem of choppy, uneven bobs that Michael noticed everywhere on the street. The bob is currently one of the most popular haircuts, and Michael saw a need to develop this revolutionary cutting technique. Continuing education for all designers is at every level is a large part of why Michael's is the premiere salon in the Dayton region. Michael has used this video to train his staff in small groups and has noticed a vast improvement in cuts leaving the salon. "There is no excuse for not achieving the client's desired look. You have to take into consideration the texture and type of hair, thickness, etc. in order to make this or any look work." In this training video, Michael explains how using the right products allows you to overcome difficult or hard to manage hair.

For more information on this revolutionary training video please email kim@mediagrouponline.com or call 435-5478 ext. 200.