Hair Bun Styling Tips
“Hair Bun Basics”

The beauty of the bun is it’s a classic, chic, effortless hair style. Wet or dry, positioned to the center or the side, all you need is two hands and elastic bands and pins. First, gather hair into a ponytail (exactly where is up to you) and catch with an elastic band.

Try a coated elastic—it won’t damage or tear out your hair. Begin to twist hair, spiraling it around the base of the pony until it buckles back on itself. Tuck the thinner pad of the hair bun underneath and lock in place with pins.

Here are just two examples of the many ways to rock the bun:

Julia Stiles’ braided hair bun This look is perfect for a quick fix and can work with long or shoulder-length hair. Julia’s given it a looser, lived-in look. The back is a ponytail thats been braided, with little bits that pop out.

• GET JULIA STILES LOOK: Here, Julia’s braid is wrapped and pinned to the head using a mix of bobby pins and hair pins. Or, as an alternative, go a bit more structured and sleek.

• Here’s how:

• 1. Make a clean, low side-part and brush hair tightly back into a sleek pony.
• 2. Do the braid or braids (depending on your length of hair) in the same manner: textured and loose.
• 3. Wrap and pin To really mix it up, place your bun on far to either side and add a beautiful hair accessory.

Ashley Judd’s undone bun

This style is clean and sophisticated, but still very romantic.

• GET ASHLEY’S LOOK:

• 1. Style hair into waves, then part tresses in a halo just in front of the ears or at the center.
• 2. Gather hair with your hands and secure into a low bun.
• 3. Using medium tension, take the front pieces and frame the bun, securing with hair pins.

Article courtesy of Harris Publications

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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Summer is coming, here’s how to smooth and define your natural curly hair
“Natural Curly Hair Styling Tips”
Are you blessed or, as some would say cursed, with naturally curly hair? I guess both sides have legitimacy. Natural curls, when cooperating, are God-sent, maybe even angelic-like! It all seems to be in the hands of Mother Nature as to how your natural curls will turn out from one day to the next.

The humidity in the air has everything to do with curly girls having a good or bad hair day. And with summer days almost here again, its time to get a strategy! Make it easy on yourself and work with your hair type. First, find the right hair care product and next discover a few quick and easy hair styling techniques.

I have naturally wavy to curly hair. It’s become more curly over the years, where I guess I can change the description of my hair type to curly hair. Mine is the curly hair type, that with scrunching in the right product to my heavily layered hair, it curls great for a day. On day two, it will then relax into waves. With the right hair cut and hair care product, its easy. Those of you with my hair type can also straighten your hair easily until the summer months.  But come summer (hopeful thinking) spending a little time styling hair with the right curly hair care product,   . . . voila! . . . good hair days and peace ensue!!

Here is a simple hair styling technique video from TIGI, that works great for those of you with some natural curl to your hair.  I use this curl amplifier by TIGI, Catwalk, Curls Rock, when I want more curl definition to my scrunched in curly hairstyle. It works great, but less is more with this product. Note the small amount this girl uses in her long hair. It’s easy to use too much, even with the way they try to limit the way it dispenses. I find if I add water to my palms it thins it down a bit and works better for my hair. Experiment, don’t give up on the product if it seems too much at first. Also, the less you manipulate the hair as it dries, the smoother the curl.

For further discussion on tips for curly hair you might want to check out these other articles:

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• Styling Products 101: Curl Boosters
• The Best Curly Hair Products

Barb Quinn on Google+  

Hair Coloring Tips

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Longer Lasting Hair Color with Tea Therapy

“Coloring Your
Hair with Tea????”I imagine a number of you who have sought out hair coloring tips using “organics,” may at one time or another come across the idea of using tea or coffee as an alternative method for tinting your hair? There are problems in taking this procedure on by yourself however.  First, you don’t have a clear recipe or understanding of what you’ll end up with after all your efforts. And, the notion of application of the procedures that you have found, look messy! It’s probably why you don’t hear much of women using this as an at-home, natural alternative to hair coloring . . . possibly teens and tweens accepted. Well, at least I haven’t tried it and don’t know anyone who has.”

BUT, the news of one high end salon in Uptown Manhattan offering, “Tea Hair Therapy Treatments, caught my attention.  Tela Design Studio,  in Manhattan’s fashionable Meatpacking District, was written up in February’s issue of American Salon. Owner, Philip Pelusi is a renowned hairdresser, a 40+ year veteran in the hair industry, an entrepreneur, educator, designer and avid art philanthropist and photographer . . . a Renaissance man! He currently employees over 350 people including his 13 company owned salons in Pittsburg.

Pelusi has also pioneered, with the help of herbalist and chemists, the first line of specialty organic products that carry the FDA seal of approval, as seen on QVC.  I got in touch with Philip and it was easy to hear his strong passion and love of life.  “There are no products out there that are 100% organic, Pelusi said, but we have produced a 95% organic rating on two and a 70-80% rating on 9 of our 11 speciality products , so far.”  “The base of all our products is tea, he said, green tea, white tea and oolong tea.”
The line is called, Tela Beauty Organics, and is found at Barneys. Soon these products will be offered at other upscale hair care product retailers across the country. All items in the Tela line are paraben free and safe for color treated hair and contain Pelusi’s Tela Organic Core Blend, which is composed of 35 USDA and Oregon Tilth Certified organic ingredients. All shampoos and conditioners sell for $50 each.

The “Tea Hair Therapy Treatments,” consist of teas mixed with deep conditioners that are applied to the hair. “Brunettes can use a combination of teas such as, black tea with elderberries, blackberries and raspberries,” says Pelusi and “blondes use classic chamomile tea to enhance their color.” The treatments can also help to stretch the time between hair coloring services, as they “enhance the depth of color in high lights and brighten the shine and tonality of color-treated hair.”

As I said before, I don’t know much about using tea in the hair, but I’m hopeful that we may be seeing more of these type of treatments offered and learn more of what teas can achieve!

For those of you who have never seen some of the homemade concoctions used for dying the hair with tea, hear are a couple I found. . . I’m not recommending these, its just FYI.

For red hair:

* 1 tablespoon beet juice
* 1 red hibiscus tea bag
* 1/3 cup of catnip, dried or fresh

For blonde hair:

* 2 chamomile tea bags
* 1/3 cup of catnip, dried or fresh
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

To Get the gray out
Turn gray hair dark again without an expensive trip to the hair care salon or the use of chemical hair dyes. Make your own natural dye using brewed tea and herbs: Steep 3 tea bags in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 tablespoon each of rosemary and sage (either fresh or dried) and let it stand overnight before straining. To use, shampoo as usual, and then pour or spray the mixture on your hair, making sure to saturate it thoroughly. Take care not to stain clothes. Blot with a towel and do not rinse. It may take several treatments to achieve desired results.

Condition dry hair
To give a natural shine to dry hair, use a quart (liter) of warm, unsweetened tea (freshly brewed or instant) as a final rinse after your regular shampoo.

Some recipes call for adding henna or vinegar and wrapping hair in a towel (old towel that can handle tea/beet stains.) And don’t forget to keep it off your skin, unsightly stains could be embarrassing and a bit hard to explain!

Barb Quinn on Google+  

Got a question, war story or comment about this topic? Click on the "Leave Your Comments" link at the very bottom of this article. Some of my best ideas for future articles come from reading reader comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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