Beauty is skin deep they say but honestly it is so much more! Here on the Beauty DISH we will share tips for great skin, hair, make-up, nails... you name it, we DISH on it!
Entries in azur west (8)
DON’T LET SUMMER KILL YOUR HAIR
By DISH Contributor Nick Brines, Owner, Azur Salon and Azur West
All of the elements that make for a perfect summer day — saltwater, chlorine, surf-side breezes and the warming rays of the sun — will reek havoc on your tresses. Follow these tips from our stylists to maintain your gorgeous hair all summer long:
1. Use Hair Moisturizing Products! The heat of the sun along with salt, chlorine or sand will open up your hair cuticle, stripping it of natural oils. (And, use a good conditioner every time you shampoo, too.)
2. Shield your Hair Color! Just like you wouldn’t go out in the sun without SPF, don’t let your hair be exposed without a UV protection for your hair. Wrap your hair with scarf, use a hat, or try a UV protectant specially formulated for your hair.
3. Keep your Hair Saturated! Before you dive into a pool or the sea, drench your hair with clean water first. Your hair will soak that in instead of absorbing damaging chlorine or salt.
4. Use the Sun to Your Advantage! Try coating your hair with a deep conditioning masque before lying out in the sun. All of the “good for you” ingredients will soak into your hair as the heat helps the products to penetrate deeper into the cortex of the hair fibers than they normally would.
5. Put Down the Heating Tools! With all the sun exposure you are getting, minimize your use of dryers and irons. You know your hair won’t hold up in Houston’s humidity anyway, so use a great styling product and let your hair dry naturally. How about a great curl-enhancing spray for a sexy beachy look. Or, some great accessories for a casual summer ‘do.
6. Humidity-Proof Your Hair! Try a demi-permanent treatment, such as the Brazilian Blowout or a Keratin treatment, to keep your hair from getting frizzy or unmanageable in the humidity or when you sweat. There are also great shampoos, conditioners and styling products that have anti-humectant properties to get you through those swampy days.
Going on a great beach vacation? Planning on spending a lot of time at the pool? Need help keeping your hair healthy looking as the weather heats up? Come see us at Azur Salon or Azur West! We'll show you the correct products for your hair type, and help you find the perfect color, shape and style to keep you cool and looking fantastic.
DISHhouston
in azur west, color, damage, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, hair, heat, houston, moisturizing, salon, summer
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Ready for Volume? You can Pump it UP!!
By DISH Contributor Greg Decker, Azur West Creative Director
At Azur West, we are in L-O-V-E with Shu Uemura Art of Hair’s latest product. It’s called “Volume Maker” and it’s the first precision hair powder brush that gives instant root lift, texture and body. It also helps to refresh any blow-dry for long lasting hairstyles. Since it is an invisible powder, it works on all hair colors.
It comes out as a clear powder with no scent. It’s a sleekly packaged product in a very easy-to-use canister. The red and black design is ultra-cool, and it is the perfect size for your purse! The product gives your hair instant volume, just like its name suggests.
The product is also a fantastic dry shampoo; it works wonders on second (and even third!) day hair, absorbing oil on the scalp while making it feel cleaner.
Stop by the salon and let us demonstrate it for you! We know you will want one, and you’ll be the envy of all your friends.
DISHhouston
in azur west, beauty, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, greg decker, hair, hair powder, houston, volume
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Ombré Color at it's Best
by Jennifer Stepp, Senior Colorist, Azur West
Flipping through fashion magazines, you can’t help but notice that Ombré is a popular color trend. Ombré is French, meaning to shade or graduate in tone. Hair stylists use Ombré to describe the hair that begins dark at the scalp and changes tone through the ends of the hair.
As we enter into Spring and move into the warmer Summer months, Ombré can provide you with that “just back from a beach vacation” look. Much like the perfect hair color achieved by a younger person who spends their days playing in the sun, the hair farther away from the scalp will be lighter than that which is closer to the head. Since this effect is more natural, it also requires much less maintenance than other color techniques. You can use Ombré to be as strong or as subtle as you wish.
Call us at Azur West at 713.400.2987 for a complimentary consultation for any of our popular color services. Whether you want to try Ombré or achieve a palette of rich tones by using the Balayage technique or traditional foils, we can find the perfect color for your hair.
DISHhouston
in azur west, beauty, blonde, color, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, hair, houston, jennifer stepp, ombre hair color
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Need Volume or Length? Think Extensions!
by Katie Sullivan, Stylist, Azur West
Want a quick, easy and beautiful way to add tons of beautiful volume to your head of hair? Looking to add instant length? Have you considered hair extensions?
I personally avoided hair extensions for a long time. And probably for the same reason you and many of our salon's clients had. The application process can be very damaging to your existing hair, and the hair quality was chemically over processed or unrealistic. My salon, Azur West, did tons of trials and research over several years and made a conscious decision to not offer this service until they found a solution that matched the luxury and high performance of the other services and products for which our salon is known. I am very happy to report that we have now found the perfect hair extensions! Ron King Invisi-Tab hair extensions are a new brand on the market, with the very best in hair quality and application system. Don't believe me? Come by my salon and let me show you myself.
Austin, Texas-based hair guru Ron King is a national educator for hair color and cutting with several celebrity clients on his roster. He developed these extensions after sourcing a fantastic collection and resource for 100% European hair. The hair is virgin, unprocessed hair that most closely matches the majority of our clients' hair texture. It is incredibly soft and is heat-friendly for styling tools such as flat irons, blow dryers or curling rods. The hair can be styled, highlighted or colored just like your own hair.
Ron King was able to secure an exclusive arrangement, so this type of hair is hard to come by, and distribution is extremely limited. Because of this, he has hand selected just a few salons across the country to partner that will have access to this hair. I'm very excited that my salon, Azur West, was chosen to be the first (and only!) hair salon in Houston to feature these extensions.
Other than the hair itself, the application process is revolutionary. Ron King worked with a friend in the medical industry to create the "Invisi-Tab" system, using medical grade adhesive that appears seamless, offers great flexibility and does not require excessive amounts of care. You won't even feel them in your head. Trust me, I wear them myself.
I personally have found clients who are growing their hair out love these extensions to help with that awkward “in between” stage as their hair is growing. Even better, I prefer to use them to add tons of body and volume for a gorgeous head of hair. Even just adding as few as two to four extensions makes a big difference in the volume of your hair, and makes the cost affordable compared to other solutions on the market. I have even used the extensions to add highlights or lowlights to a client's current hair so they could avoid doing a chemical process to their own "real" hair. There are so many great ways to use these extensions.
Call Azur West at 713.400.2987 for a complimentary hair extensions consultation. I would love to show you how these extensions can make you look like the supermodel you deserve to be!
DISHhouston
in azur west, beauty, body, dish, dish-houston, hair, houston, length, salon, volume
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Balayage: The Hot Highlighting Trend
Celebrities are wearing it. You can’t be a Victoria’s Secret model without it. And now, women in Houston are asking for it by name. What is it? Balayage! The Balayage (pronounced bah-lee-AHZGE) technique of highlighting hair has been around since the 1980's, but it went underground for quite awhile. But as the old saying goes, “what goes around comes around” and Balayage is back as strong as ever.
Supermodel Gisele shows how Balayage Highlights Balayage is a hair coloring technique designed to create natural-looking highlights with a soft grow out. A French word meaning "to sweep", Balayage involves custom hand-painting the highlights to your hair by individually selecting each strand and then softly "sweeping" with a special hair color brush to give a perfectly natural sun-kissed look. The highlights are concentrated primarily on the mid-section and ends of the hair. However, unlike the Ombré technique, the color is also swept up to the roots in a soft, dissipated fashion. This creates a darker root area, but a very beautiful and natural grow out. Balayage is certainly an art form and takes a lot of practice. Unless you are with the right stylist, it can be a very difficult look to achieve.My fellow hair stylists at Azur West and I are experts at the Balayage techniques, and we are ready to consult with you to see if Balayage highlights are the right choice for the look you are trying to achieve. Want to experience Balayage for yourself? Call Azur West at 713.400.2987 for a complimentary hair color consultation with me or any of my fellow stylists to learn more!
DISHhouston
in Balayage, azur west, beauty, color, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, haid, houston, salon
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Is Your Color as Good as Angelina's?
While you might think that dryness and damage are just the inevitable effects of professional hair color, Azur West now offers an innovation that changes everything you thought you knew about hair color with INOA. The name INOA stands for Innovation No Ammonia. INOA gives you beautiful, rich color, without wreaking havoc on your precious locks. INOA, by L'Oréal, worked for over a decade with a team of more than 300 scientists to invent a new way of coloring hair, the first such innovation in hair color in over 50 years. With over 22 patents on this technology, L'Oreal has partnered with a limited number of select salons throughout the U.S. to offer this exquisite brand. And you can find it right here in Houston at the INOA Color Bar inside of Azur West, a Shu Uemura Art of Hair salon. -
INOA is odorless: One of the most prominent disadvantages to other types of professional hair color is the strong chemical odor. If you are an experienced color client, you have no doubt experienced the strong fumes coming from hair color. Any woman with hair color knows what it is like to get a whiff and have stinging, irritated and watery eyes. INOA color makes those chemical fumes a thing of the past, as it is completely odorless. Ask to stick your nose up to a bowl the next time I apply this to your hair. You won't believe it!
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INOA contains no ammonia: Ammonia is the ingredient found in hair color that causes major damage to your hair and scalp. Ammonia is an alkaline agent typically added to hair color in order to lift your hair and distribute color. But, as a side effect, it also leaves your hair strands dry and swollen with breakage on the ends. Ammonia is also often responsible for causing your scalp to become red, itchy and irritated. INOA hair color is so innovative that it uses a totally different color delivery system, called ODS Technology, thus saving your hair from the terrible and frizzy results other color systems are known for.
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ODS Technology: INOA uses a new breakthrough technology known as the oil delivery system (ODS) to distribute color perfectly. If you want the best for your hair, INOA is your hair color. Compared to other permanent colors, INOA provides up to 2x more lipid protection to every strand of your hair. The result is a bold, shiny and lustrous texture that leaves your hair feeling like silk. It's like getting a free hair treatment with your color treatment! After 7-8 applications of INOA over time, it takes your hair back to that beautiful virgin hair texture that we all desire.
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Better results: My fellow stylists at Azur West and I are able to offer you color that is better matched to our color swatches, avoiding any surprises with the final result. In addition to better color consistency, your hair will be improved with each application of INOA. In the past, your hair became more damaged with every coloring process. INOA reverses that trend and takes your hair to new levels of health while providing superior scalp comfort.
- Celebrity stylists use INOA: Hollywood’s leading ladies have to look good at all times, but especially in front of the camera. Celebrity stylists must bring the newest and most innovative color to their clients in order to make sure their hair looks nothing less than flawless. Ted Gibson, stylist to the stars and owner of Ted Gibson Salons along with Jason Backe, Master Colorist, of the Ted Gibson Salons in New York, D.C. and Fort Lauderdale switched to INOA and fell in love. As personal friends of ours at Azur West, we took their advice and followed their lead. “I’m really excited about being part of the latest revolutionary hair color technology in the world,” says Gibson. “My clients have been thrilled with INOA – the color process and the amazing results!” Hey, if it is good enough for Ted's clients such as Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Renée Zellweger, then it is good enough for me!
Angelina JolieINOA by L’Oréal has taken hair color to a completely new level. Come take a seat at our amazingly beautiful color bar at Azur West. We'll serve you a drink to relax while you watch one of our stylists or me formulate and mix your color. And, you won't be forced to sacrifice the health, softness and bounce of your hair. Let one of the professional stylists at Azur West show you the best your hair and color can be with INOA.
DISHhouston
in azur west, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, hair care, hair color, houston, inoa, jennifer, l"oreal, salon, stepp
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A Healthy Scalp Leads to Healthy Hair
A healthy scalp is key to a beautiful head of hair. Maintaining the right balance of oils ensures the hair root can take hold and remain in place. Nourishing the scalp through vitamins, exfoliating dead cells to unclog pores and increasing blood flow provides the optimal nutrition and conditions for hair growth. Your scalp is filled with capillaries, and unless the blood is delivering the right nutrients to the scalp (and the skin is not clogged to receive the good stuff), the root of the hair will die. Most of the time, thinning hair and hair loss can be corrected by balancing nutrition and exfoliation.
You need the right nutritional supplements and products designed to keep your scalp its healthiest, to reduce hair loss, increase texture and density of hair, and to avoid thinning hair. The popular Kérastase line of products has developed specific blends of nutritional supplements designed to ensure your scalp and hair have the nourishment they need to take root, hold strong and grow beautifully. From the Densitive blend of nutrients for men or women experiencing thinning to the Age Premium vitamins created for women’s hair loss due to aging and hormonal changes, there is something perfect for everyone. Paired with the proper shampoo for scalp health, it helps to deliver a healthier head of hair.
Shu Uemura Art of Hair, another popular brand, used their research on healthy scalps to create Essential Drops. A dropper of carefully selected oils to help balance and maintain the health of the scalp while providing inner balance. From the purifying and invigorating peppermint oil to the combination of lemon and catnip for a calming effect, enriched with ginger stimulierndem, embedded in the non-greasy oil of tamanu nut, rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. Plus, combined with the steam of your shower, it turns your daily routine into a luxurious spa-like experience.
At my salon, Azur West, we carry both of those product lines and a variety of nutrients and exfoliation options for every head of hair. Stop by to visit me and my fellow stylists! We would love to help you find the right products to balance your scalp and ensure a perfect environment to grow a healthy (and beautiful!) head of hair.
DISHhouston
in azur west, beauty, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, hair, healthy scapl, houston, nourish, tony sanchez
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4 References
Damaged Hair? Try this Simple Test!
Here’s an easy test to determine how badly your hair is damaged: Take a strand and place it in a glass of water. The sooner it sinks, the less protein it has. This means your hair is more dehydrated and at risk for breakage. A great in-salon treatment with a home conditioning regimen are critical components to fixing damage from over-processed color, heating tools, chemical services and even the sun.
Prevent damage by treating your hair like your skin. Never go out in the sun without a sun protectant in your hair (or a great hat or scarf to keep away those harsh UV rays!). Don't rub your hair with a towel after getting out of the shower. Rather, press your hair and wrap it in an absorbent towel. Always use a heat protectant before pulling out the flat iron or blow dryer. Use a wide tooth comb in your hair when it is still wet before you begin your styling. And use the right products that don't contain too much alcohol or other irritants that can damage and dry the hair.
If you already have the damage, come see me at Azur West. I can hook you up with the very best solution to rebuild your hair to be silky, shiny and healthy! We can shore up the cuticle of your hair fibers by injecting moisture, shine and silkiness through a fantastic treatments and give you the best take-home products to fix most any problem: breakage, frizz, dryness, dull or limp hair. Our stylists are specialists in identifying and solving hair problems. Plus, we will help to avoid the damage in the first place. We can provide you with the best sun and heating protectants, and we use advanced color technology that will treat instead of damage your hair. We look forward to hosting you soon!
DISHhouston
in azur west, damage, dish, dish-houston, dishhouston, greg decker, houston, salon
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