Hair Tip #1

This is the first professional hair stylist tip of many that I plan to post regularly here on my humble blog. I am often asked for styling, haircutting, coloring and what have you tips along the lines of hair at work and I figure that I can make this advice (and opinions) available here. I hope these little nuggets will be of some good to you. ENJOY!
(P.S. Most of my tips are aimed at mommies. We need to be lookin' ladies!)

*A little bit of color can go a looong way.

Basically if you have a fairly conservative haircut and want to embody a little more style into your every day look but do not want to commit to a new hair cut then color is the avenue to explore.
Considering your budget and your commitment to maintenance involved in a certain look is the first step. Don't commit to an intensive color treatment if you have no intention of maintaining it every month to 2 months.
Secondly, especially for mommies consider little work with big impact. This could be as simple as amplifying your natural color by making it warmer. This bounces the light around the head and face and adds more visual volume, something most women want.
Another really good consideration is using something called demi-permanent color. Demi-permanent color is to permanent color what lip gloss is to lip stick. Lip gloss adds a ton of shine with a sheer layer of color or no color at all for high shine. The same applies to demi-permanent color. It acts like a gloss for the hair. It helps to smooth and refine the outside layer of the hair shaft making it more mirror like after the application of the color. Plus there isn't the hard line of demarcation that can occur with permanent color, leaving a softer grown out look void of harsh roots. This process can calm some virgin (un-colored) fly-away hair. Additionally if you have the right tools and a little patience you can do this process at home saving a mint than the alternative of seeing a stylist every 6 to 8 weeks.
One other color tid-bit I recommend is the addition of a few key placed highlights. Correctly placed a few highlights, like 3-5 can have a huge impact on your overall appearance. Highlights soften facial features, drawing the eye around the face and can add needed dimension if you feel your hair is flat and lifeless. Plus if you check out starlets and other women in the limelight you will notice the appearance of what look like roots. Outgrowth is totally in and even more natural in appearance then some of the outdated allover to the root highlights that many of us used to get. These few highlights would need to be placed in by a stylist, but I would negotiate a lower price than what they would charge for a partial since 3-5 foils by far less work than even half of a partial highlight. I charge differently for these kinds of highlights with my salon clients and I encourage them to see me less often for a more natural growing our effect.
Again a little color can go a long way, be it boosting your own natural color to a more fashionable warmer hue, using an all-over high gloss demi-permanent color or having a few key placed highlights added to your look. Mommies need to look good because first and foremost you are still a woman and need to look fabulous no matter what.