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Is this not one of the prettiest hair styles you’ve seen in a while? It is in my books. As soon as I saw this picture of an update on the classic French braid, I instantly thought about how many times I could wear it in the summer. Weddings, the office, beach days, summer cocktails on a patio … and thank goodness I’ve decided to grow my hair out longer so I can actually try this hair style out! It’s the braid trend we’ve seen over the past few seasons (remember Alexander Wang’s messy side braid from spring 2010?) with a sweet and sexy spin thanks to this Valentino knockout originally created by Redken Creative Consultant Guido Palau.

Currently loving this pretty take on the French braid at Valentino. Image courtesy of ImaxTree.com

Our tips on how to recreate this pretty braid yourself come courtesy of celebrity stylist Susana Hong who is also a spokesperson for TRESemmé. If you’re not an expert braider (like me), you might need a bit of assistance until you get the hang of it.

“I love it because once you’ve achieved it, it’s pretty low maintenance,” explains Hong.

The look works best on long, straight hair with very few layers. “If you do have curly hair, just blow dry straight but do not use a flat iron because that will flatten the cuticles too much making the hair harder to grip for the braid,” recommends Hong. And nix the flat iron, since it can make hair difficult to work with. “Hair with heavy shorter layers might prove difficult to style for this particular do. Though it can be done, it will take more product and hand strength to ensure the layered ends stay put in the braid,” says Hong.

Short hair tip: “You can use extensions, but the traditional ones that are clipped in most likely won’t work. You can use ‘braid’ hair – hair that is not attached to any sort of weave, it’s just loose hair. You would add that at the start of your braid, but it’s pretty advanced stuff for the average gal. But the best thing about this look is that it doesn’t have to be perfect,” says Hong.

To get the step-by-step on this hair style … Read the rest of this entry

It’s been a busy few days at NYFW and already some key hair trends are starting to emerge for fall. One of the most interesting ones is a return to super straight, flat hair – usually with a dramatic centre parting.  The ’90s are clearly back, but without the grunge and the recession! Oh, no. Wait, scratch that. Well, at the very least, the sleek, pin-straight styles that caused hair straightener sales to fly through the roof are back.

So far, the look has emerged at Prabal Gurung, where Paul Hanlon (working for TIGI) added extensions to create his piecey, slick look (seriously, look at this hair!), Victoria Beckham, where Guido Palau (for Redken) created a glossy, “uptown, rich girl” style, and at one of my favourite shows — Alexander Wang — Palau (again, using Redken products) added hair extensions to the models so that hair could have a clean line cut straight across the bottom. It looked like classic Wang to me — modern and minimal with an edge. Read the rest of this entry

If you haven’t received a slew of party invites yet for the holidays, I’m sure you’re about to any day now. I already have a few weekends filled, so that means I need some easy, fresh hair ideas, stat. Like most of you, I need options that I can easily do at the office for après-work fetes and be able to switch up the looks from party to party.

I might attempt these three celebrity hair style options that I have been drooling over the past couple of weeks. And if not, at least they provide some pretty eye candy to look at for inspiration during lunch.

Holiday hair a la Lauren Conrad. Images by Michael Tran/FilmMagic and David Livingston/Getty

Lauren Conrad
This girl is my celebrity hair crush. Yes, I even put her above Jen Aniston, and I talk about her hair a lot. Her hair always has a perfect wave, looks soft and is super healthy. If only I could get my hair in such good shape. I also love that she’s willing to try out quirky and fun twists on classics. Take this look: Love the old Hollywood glam vibe, but if you look at the back, it’s an intricate swirling of wavy hair braids. Definitely will need some help with this hair style, but the end result would be worth it. Read the rest of this entry

I’m in love with this fall hair style. It’s so polished, smooth and chic for day or night. I attempted to recreate it on my own, but after many failed attempts (just couldn’t get my hair smooth ans shiny enough!), I enlisted the help of Charles Baker Strahan, hair stylist for Herbal Essences. Here are his tips for getting this impeccably smooth hair style.

Backstage at Ferragamo. Image courtesy of ImaxTree.com

1. This look is all about being sleek and touchably smooth and the first place to start is in the shower. To create the right base for styling, I recommend Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner that has a built-in smoothing serum to help control frizz and maintain smoothness.

2. Next, work styling gel (try Herbal Essences Set Me Up Styling Gel) through your wet hair and blow-dry your hair straight using a boar bristle round brush to smooth down the cuticle layer.

3. Then pull your hair back into a low ponytail.

4. Next, apply Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship Leave-In Split-End Protector to the ends of your hair and separate the pony in two and twist each section into opposing directions allowing the sections to twist around one another and down upon themselves. Then secure the ends underneath with bobby pins.

5. You can artfully manipulate the coils and secure areas with pins for extra hold.

6. The last step is to finish the look with a bit of hairspray to smooth down any flyaways (Try: Herbal Essences Set Me Up Extra Hold Hairspray).  Read the rest of this entry

Fresh and clean is what you can expect from the hair and makeup at Joe Fresh and the look last night was no exception – which we love as it’s totally wearable.

Fresh and easy hair at Joe Fresh. Image by Noah Lehava

Eric Del Monaco, L’Oreal Paris Official Hair Stylist and Colourist, was asked by the designer to use no product to keep the look fresh and sporty, so hair was simply brushed back into a natural ponytail (not too high or low) with the front given a short side part. If doing the look at home, he suggests giving your hair a fresh blow dry first to smooth out the cuticle. Read the rest of this entry

DAVE M. BENETT/GETTY IMAGES

Ok, I was about to jump on the deep side part bandwagon this fall since it was huge hit on the runways (we saw it at Gucci, Marni, Chanel). But then all of a sudden Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz are spotted together sporting dead centre parts. Now I’m back on the middle part wagon for this fall hairstyle trend – at least for the moment.

Most of the summer I went with whatever my hair wanted to do naturally, which was usually a slight, messy side part. But for the more structured fall hairstyle trend, I’m ready to start make my parts more defined. I’m totally envious of Gwyneth’s straight-down-the-middle part and super glossy, straight hair (well, I have major hair envy when it comes to Gywn’s locks pretty much all the time). But I also loved Cameron’s more relaxed style with the slightest wave. Btw, who else is loving the golden hue of blonde she’s now wearing? Read the rest of this entry

Faces were fresh and tone on tone at Barila. To make the brows looked gently bleached from the sun, Amelie Ducharme, Cover Girl Makeup Pro, used Simply Ageless concealer. On the eyes in the crease and underneath the lash line, she used Smokey Shadow Blast in beige. A bit of clear Shine Blast Lip Gloss 800 was then applied to the lid and cheeks for a wet look. She then gave cheeks a slightly bronzed look using Cover Girl Pressed Powder 255, and finally the lips were played up with Lip Perfection 200 Sublime, a brown with hints of red, focused on the centre of the lips. Read the rest of this entry

For the Annie 50 look, Denis Binet, creative director for hair for MFW  had an aha moment this summer in Corsica.

Do you embrace your natural wave?

What do you think of the beauty looks so far at Montreal Fashion Week?