Oliver Finley

Juxtaposition Hairshow

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:56:17 +0000

Color My World

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:33:59 +0000

Do you remember your first foray into water color painting? Probably 1st or 2nd grade, the teacher brought out tins of “Prang” paint and showed us how to wet the brush and paint a masterpiece. Shortly after the wet brush part we discovered how to make mud as all our colors got mixed together and the water got dirty. Our red wasn’t red anymore and yellow, well, it was just gross! About now you might be asking yourself ” Why is she carrying on about 1st grade and water color and mud?”. Well, I begin a new basics color class this week and as usual I start to ruminate on all that is color which this time around prompted the “Prang” train and in turn deposited me in “Pleasantville”. Ponder for a moment a world devoid of chroma. Black and white and gray all over would be a dismally pallid existence, Crayola would go out of business and 31 Flavors? Monotone ice cream just isn’t the same. Carnival lights and skittles, gerber daisies and play doh, an eyeshadow display at the mall, color grabs our eye and generates curiosity, it makes us feel bright and happy and it lights up our world. For the cosmetologist, color is a way to express who we want to be. Hair color, makeup color, tattoo color, the more we immerse ourselves in it the better we understand it and the better we manipulate it. We have the opportunity to be wizards and alchemists, bending light to our will and commanding the eye to see what isn’t there. Wow, what could be more exciting? Next time you’re out and about, don’t stop and smell the roses, instead stop and look at them, then color them!

Cheri

Tango With Me

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:20:17 +0000

Did you know there is a color of the year? That’s not just a color but a color of the year! I was in Sephora today and was absolutely entranced by a new cosmetic collection based on Pantone’s color of the year…wait for it…”Tangerine Tango”. Just the name excites bliss… Tangerine…Tango. It embodies more than a color, it speaks of a mood, an energy, an outlook. It’s warm yellowy goodness tied up in a red bow, it suggests warmth, jubilation and seduction. Musically it is the tropical Bossa Nova with a dash of Reggae, the manifestation of summer and in less quixotic tomes it is known simply as orange. This celebration of orange inspired some web crawling and imagine my dismay when I ascertained that not all mavens of the color wheel share my appreciation for the vibrant hue. As a matter of fact orange seems to be one of the most universally disliked colors! How can this be? Orange is the color of creamsicles for goodness sake! It arouses creativity and courage, it stimulates change, relieves boredom and is the original julius. It’s the perfect blend of crimson’s passion and citrine’s sunny outlook and it looks hot on summer toes and lips. No other color sets off that spray tan quite as well. Maybe it’s time to embrace something exciting and new, incorporate a little spice in those hum drum days and peruse the world through orange colored glasses. Come in for a mani/pedi and let us shellac those nails with a glowing tangerine or a soft pearly peach, try a Jane Iredale lip color in a bronzy coral and if you’re feeling especially bold, we can do a clear appricot glaze to summerfy those locks. Take a chance and tango with me!!

Cheri

To Be or Not To Be…That Liberated Beauty

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:43:48 +0000

It was brought to my attention through the gentle encouragement of a higher power, that my last blog provided the perfect segue into a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. So near and dear in fact, that it is almost inconceivable to me that it wasn’t my very own idea. That being said, I will still seize the opportunity to clamber onto my soapbox and proselytize on a subject that has probably effected every woman at least once. Enter stage right: We have made an appointment to get our hair done and have decided its time to redefine our corporeal countenance (ok…it’s time for a new do!). Our stylist lovingly crafts a visual masterpiece and we flounce out of the salon feeling oh so HOT! After all, we look fabulous dahling, don’t we? If only we could hold on to that bravado when we arrive home and are greeted with the dreaded, deadly “I hate it”! Three heart rending words that deliver a devastating blow to our freshly colored and coiffured hair. Now this can translate into ” I’m not crazy about it”, “I liked it better before”, or even ” It’s not that bad” but they all have the same (negative) effect, one that usually has us whirling out the front door and back to our stylist’s chair in a matter of hours. How, as today’s strong, confidant, liberated women do we allow so much of our self esteem be tied to our hair? Consider those bad hair days when nothing, not even our Jimmy Choo shoes can make us feel gorgeous, yet a “good hair” day has us feeling fabulous, even in our converse! Logical? Of course not, yet our self esteem rarely is. So, what do we do with this longing for something different and exciting when we’re afraid of what our friends, family, significant other might say? Simple, be the strong, confidant, liberated women we are and “Rock That Hair”! Own it, flaunt it, love it…if it makes us feel beautifully happy then we need to stick to our guns, after all it’s our hair and if we’re happy they’ll get there too! Should the friends, family, significant other choose to adopt and perpetuate a surly attitude then they perhaps need a slight attitude adjustment, one that does not include a changing of the hair color. Moreover, as my mom would say, “They have the same clothes to get glad in they got mad in!”.

Cheri

Liberated Beauty

admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:05:46 +0000

I received an email recently about “retro life”. It was quite a lengthy chronicle of vintage ads and anecdotes most of which were from 1964 but the one that caught my eye was entitled “The Good Wife’s Guide”. Ever curious I began to scan the guide and the more I scanned the more horrifiedly indignant I became. Directives such as “have dinner ready for him when he gets home so he knows you are concerned about his needs” and “prepare yourself, put a ribbon in your hair and freshen your makeup” gave way to “don’t question him, he is the master of the house” and “a good wife knows her place”. Of course remembering that 1964 was a completely different generation living a completely different way of life helped diffuse the indignation but it did lead me to consider the multifarious roles we as women have embraced over the last 48 years. Liberation took us from housewife to homemaker, from “Mrs.” college degrees to Masters and PhD.s and from flower child to corporate president, all of these define the paths that have compelled us to become who we are and have propagated the women of the millennium. Women who not only can but do bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan! Of course, at this point you might be asking yourself what does all this have to do with Beautiful You? My answer would be everything! This bacon frying ability transfers itself into freedom of choice and what could be more beautiful than choice? Encouragements like “express yourself” allow us to use hairstyles and colors as an accessory that defines our mood or our outlook on life rather than our “station”. Stay at home moms sport neon extensions and corporate America may be seen with a deep violet spiky do! This is liberation in it’s truest form, choose who you want to be and epitomize it with style. And that my dears is Beautiful!

Cheri

DIY Beauty?

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:05:25 +0000

I saw an add on T.V. recently for a “Suave” keratin system for at home use. Today while at the store I noticed several other “keratin” products lining the shelves, along with hair color, relaxers and perms. This led me to question the faith big business seems to put in the average consumer and what that faith seems to do for our business. I remember getting my first permanent wave in my grandma’s kitchen when I was about 6 years old and complaining about the smell and the dripping and the curlers being too tight and all the other stuff a 6 year old would complain about. Home permanents were all the rage, after all why pay your hairdresser to do something you could do in your kitchen, especially when you can get the same results? Curls are curls after all, aren’t they? Fast forward 30 years, through countless home perms, home hair lightening, home hair frosting and home hair color. So many choices and all of them done quite easily AT HOME, BY ME! Honestly my T.V. says I can color hair on a bus, in an office, and even in a hallway just in time for a surprise party. Who needs a stylist at all? Then I went to cosmetology school and learned all the “real stuff” about hair and realized I was lucky to have hair on my head! Working at the school has provided the opportunity to see just how far people will go with their own hair and realize they too are lucky to have hair on their heads. Of course some of them don’t, I was told a story Saturday about a young lady who purchased a home relaxer kit to use on her beautiful long blond hair and it relaxed her hair right off her head, literally! See, big business is in the business of selling hope, hope for inexpensive, convenient, kitchen beauty that makes them a little bit richer and most of us not one bit wiser. Next time you’re wandering down the hair aisle of your local discount store, remember there is a reason cosmetologists are required to go to school and if you really have the itch to do hair check out enrolling yourself. Don’t trust your crowning glory to an advertisement, instead trust your stylist to do what we’re trained to do.

Cheri

A Day Away

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:38:32 +0000

Last Wednesday Oliver Finley hosted their annual “A Day Away”event for cancer survivors and their care givers. This occasion proves to be both a celebration of life and a sobering look at our own mortality as gentlepersons of all ages are pampered with hair, nail and skin care services. Getting to know these wonderful people and hearing their stories of triumph is as uplifting for us as it is cathartic for them. Realizing that this insidious disease is no respecter of persons regardless of age, sex or race causes us to take a look at our own lives and count our blessings as our persevering clients surely do. Courage was the watchword for the day and courage we experienced in various forms. Courageous students who’ve experienced their own cancer losses worked through those losses as they applied their skills and lent an empathetic ear to courageous patrons as they recounted their tales of triumph. Among all the tales of the day, none stood out like that of a 6 year old girl named Joselyn. This beautiful young lady had completed her final radiation treatment that morning and her sweet face was alight with excitement and happiness when she came in for her appointment. Since a hair service was out of the question she told us “I just want my nails to look pretty”and that’s what we set out to accomplish. As the student buffed and polished, Jocelyn’s mom filled us in on her story, how she had broken her ankle last summer which led to the Dr. finding a tumor that had destroyed the bone. Rounds of chemo and radiation were followed with removing the leg below the knee, yet her mom bragged about how strong she is, how she can do pushups on one toe and hang like a monkey around her neck. Jocelyn danced around the school radiating encouragement and hope and smiles and all the other good things that life is about while reminding us that every day our happiness is a choice and while adversity can make us stronger it can also make us more beautiful if we let it.

Chalk It Up To Spring

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:33:45 +0000

The spring runway shows were full of color. Bright happy color the likes of which we haven’t seen in a number of seasons. Bright clear color that reaches out and grabs your attention, color that shouts ” Hey, look at me, I’m bright, I’m happy I’m COLOR!”. It’s difficult not to get a little happy when presented with an eye popping array of rainbow hued gloriousness. Effervescent eye shadows, and zingy lip/nail color combos create a frizzley snap of attitude and confidence that makes us want to strut our stuff. While all the technicolor trends are fun, one of the most intriguing is the colorful streaks seen flowing through the models hair as they strut their stuff. Even more intriguing is the way these streaks are applied. Believe it or not, sidewalk chalk is not just for hopscotch anymore. Indeed this childhood favorite has grown up and joined the ranks of the rich and famous. Hair chalking is a technique used to add delicately bright slices of pigment that glint and glimmer through the tresses. The best part is the color can last until your next shampoo or through the next several depending on the application method used. Imagine the possibilities…apricot and rose today, lavender and turquoise tomorrow. Match your hair to your eyeshadow and your nails.Wow, what a wonderful world!

P.S. Hair chalking is done at Oliver Finley. Make your appointment and be ready to mingle with the runway elite!

Sole Mates

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:36:39 +0000

Friday was a glorious day! It was warm, it was sunny, and on my way home I spotted a willow tree with LEAVES! Saturday was almost as nice, not quite as sunny but still warm and the leaves were still there on the willow. Oliver Finley was a hive of activity with students and clients alike buzzing about in summer clothes and summer sandals. Ah sandals, nothing else says happy warm summer days like sandals (well maybe sno-cones but no sign of those yet)! Of course when the sandals come out so do the toes and the heels, and yes basically the feet. Are your boot, shoe, sock confined winter feet ready for their first sandal sashay? After keeping our tootsies bundled all winter it’s hardly fair to just kick them into sweet sexy little next to nothings and expect them make a fabulous showing…alas, what’s the discriminating foot to do? Come in for a pedicure of course! A warm sudsy soak, a good lush scrub and a relaxing massage with a rich replenishing moisturizer is a great start. Follow that with a bright flower inspired burst of color on all 10 of those little piggies and you’re ready to walk that walk. Add a little art and BAM you’re ready to sashay, waltz, even tango your way out the front door. Come on, make an appointment, after all a perfect pedicure makes the perfect sole mate!

Marmalade and Shampoo

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:33:41 +0000

I’m bleaching my hair. That’s right, the sunny chat from two days ago has awakened the spring beast and the tiptoing has turned into a rampage! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going for pale blond, rather the “warm fluff” I’m partial to, but that sunshine craving is hitting hard and what better place to find it than on my own head? Of course warm fluff comes with a price, that price being ever so slightly stressed tresses, and that leads to the need for a richer shampoo/conditioner regimen.

Now we know all shampoos are not created equal (just watch TV, those swingy haired models say it all), but when it comes to choosing what’s right for your hair a little knowledge goes a long way. So let’s start with the difference between those swingy hair store brands and the products your salon sells. Often price is the deciding factor on a purchase without realizing you DO get what you pay for. For example, that highly advertised brand that will give you sleek, soft, shiny hair also has lots of wax for the sleekness and a pH equal to some perm solutions for the softness! Will it cleanse your hair? Sure. Is it good for your hair? Not so much. I know my marmalade toned hair needs a cleanser with a lower pH to actually help keep my hair smooth and protein small enough to penetrate for strength. Then there’s conditioners! Again, pH and protein are important, especially when chemical damage is a consideration, but moisture is important as well and knowing what formula will work best for you and being able to recommend it is part of what your stylist does. You really don’t get that at the local discount store. I will be tenderly caring for my crowning glory with Joico Shampoo and Conditioner for color treated hair, treating with a customized weekly deep conditioning treatment (Redken Shot Phase) and using Alterna Bamboo Kendi Oil as a leave in protectant. With a regimen like that my bright hair will be healthy shiny hair and if you’re craving that bit of brightness on a cloudy day, stop in for a “sunny” HI!