Feel the fear and explore it.3/25/2018 Fear is an emotion just like love, it should be explored into its fullest, and just like love, fear has a beautiful side and a frightening side. This week’s post is a two parter, half this week and the other half next week.
Let me be the first to welcome you to this dialogue on fear. Within the last week fear has been a factor in my life and for those around me. I am beginning some new projects which I will announce next week, but because I am diving into something new and exciting it terrifies me. Will it work out the way I intended? What will the response be? What if I fail? The fear has almost stopped me on this next journey. I’ve also seen fear in the salon. This week I had a new client, a woman in her mid-late twenties, she had never colored her hair and wanted a very subtle ombre, nothing to dramatic, but a change. I had a lengthy consultation with her about the process, what to expect, pricing, etc. I apply the hair color, let it process, rinse, tone, and blow dry her hair. Once she saw the color she hesitated. I asked her, “So… what do you think?” She said, “It’s dramatic, it’s a pretty color, I’m not used to seeing my hair this way.” I’m thinking, of course not! You’ve never colored your hair before. I told her to wear it for a couple days and to keep in touch with me as she adjusted to her new hair. Two days later I get a message from her saying she loves it and wants to go lighter next time. The moral of the story is she pushed through the fear of coloring her hair, having a change, and discovered something new about herself. When we decide to push past fear it is uncomfortable, scary, it leaves us open, raw, and vulnerable, and it SUCKS! Pushing through though expands our horizon, gives us the opportunity to learn something new, or even get a reward. We need to push past the fear. I’ve never heard anyone say, “I’m so glad I didn’t face my fears!” I have a friend who is approaching his forties, he is one of the kindest people I have ever met, he is funny, smart, handsome, but full of fear. He tells me almost weekly that he hates being vulnerable, he’s never been good about facing his fears or opening up towards others. I love this man, but our friendship is at a stand still because of his fears, fear of going anywhere besides his house and work, fear of expressing his wants and desires, I have empathy for him because I’ve experienced that crippling fear. The first time I ever designed hair and makeup for a Utah Opera production I was full of fear and doubt. I thought I wasn’t good enough, talented enough, I thought what if it the director hates my work. But I accepted the job and I did the best that I could, I pushed through the fear and guess what? It was a nightmare! The director hated the hairstyles I created, we had opposite opinions on what the lead female should look like, I was yelled at, it was passable work but nothing exciting or rememberable. I pushed through the fear, I did the best I could, and I may not have conquered the job, but I conquered the fear. I took that horrible experience and learned from it, the next show I designed by myself was La Boheme. I felt confident and terribly scared, I had learned communication skills and technical skills from my last experience and was going to deliver the best hair that I could. It was a tremendous success, the director of the show was very pleased, I impressed the company, and most importantly, I made my mentor proud. I had to dive through all that initial fear again though. What if I screw up again? What if the director hates me or the work? Etc. Diving deep into that fear and failure was horrible, but I fought through and was able to create something I was proud of and take some skills and lessons from it. Don’t let fear control your life, control the fear you have in your life. Recognize your fears and dive deep into them. I have a fear of heights, but that doesn’t stop me from rock climbing. I challenge you this week to recognize one fear you have, no matter how small or large and to explore it, maybe not conquer it, but at least explore the depths of the fear. Next week I will be sharing something new and exciting I’ve been working on, it scares me to share this with you, but I would never suggest you to a challenge and not do it myself. Ride the fear like the waves in an ocean. DJH
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Life can be a real drag!3/17/2018
Fashion is the total package. It’s not just about what clothes you throw on your back or how you style your hair. It’s everything! It’s the music we listen to, the television and movies we watch, it’s our hobbies, it’s art, architecture, it’s food, it’s life! Fashion is a living breathing organism that is always evolving, growing, and progressing. Vidal Sassoon loved architecture, that is what inspired him to create the geometric shapes in hair cutting; like the five-point haircut and the graduated bob. Gianni Versace was inspired by Greek mythology, hence the Versace logo being medusa.
Anything and everything can feed our own fashion. I had a client tell me last week that she is always excited to see what I wear in the salon, because my fashion changes daily. Looking in my closet I have jeans and graphic tees, button ups and slacks, over sized sweaters, floral prints, paisley, blocked colors, worn/textured fabrics, studded boots, loafers. Brands from H&M, Theory, The Rail, 1, Jared Lang, and Maceoo. Long story short, it’s all over the board, I dress to fit my mood. I find my inspiration in fashion from what I see on the red carpet and runways, musical theatre and opera houses, musicians, movies and television, and drag queens. Drag queens have become a huge inspiration for the fashion world, to be honest drag queens have always inspired the fashion world, but it’s became more recognized or popularized with the hit TV show, RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s no secret that designers like Marc Jacobs and Marco Marco have designed clothes for drag queens or have collections inspired by drag queens. Why drag queens? Drag queens are typically known for designing and sewing their own outfits, styling their own wigs, and creating their own makeup trends. They are basically a fashion designer customized for their own body and style. Also, their drag typically mirrors their own style out of drag. For example, winner of RuPual’s Drag Race Season 4, Sharon Needles has a goth, punk, high fashion, scary appeal, it’s the same when she is not in drag and wearing her day to day male clothing. I will be referring to the drag queens in the pronouns of her and she because they are portraying a female persona. It would be disrespectful to refer to them as he or him when I’m speaking about their female character. The more you know. What I love about the fashion of drag queens is that everything is over the top, the hair is larger and brighter, the makeup is bolder and creative, because it takes more than Covergirl to cover boy, and the wardrobe and costumes are these huge statement pieces of different colors, textures, fabrics, and periods. For example, RuPaul Drag Race Winner of All Stars Season 3, Trixie Mattel has a wide range of style about her, she has two folk/country albums on iTunes where she embodies a country girl vibe, but also invokes this amplified Barbie look. In my opinion there is not a ‘drag style’ because each drag queen invokes their own style and fashion through their interests, hobbies, passions, and art. Drag is the highest level of fashion, because it’s fashion that took steroids, injected itself with collagen and Botox, and gives no f*cks about what other people think. Up until recently I was a drag queen who performed monthly at a local gay bar, being a drag queen, or even watching local drag shows gives me inspiration for my own personal fashion, my drag persona’s fashion, and inspires me in the salon. Since drag queens wear wigs (most of the time) they buy or create wigs that are styles or colors that you don’t see every day. This inspires me when working with clients that want something new. I may not make my client’s hair three feet tall like some of these drag queens wear, but I can still do something creative, like pastel color, asymmetrical cuts, etc. About four years ago right before the silver hair and pastel hair color trend was big; drag queens wore wigs in those colors, it is common to create a synthetic hair wig in those colors, and it’s something more dramatic. Shortly after drag queens wore these wigs that trend of pastel/silver hair took off, coincidence? Inspiration for hair, makeup, and fashion can be found everywhere. I believe drag queens hold a power that can influence fashion and hair trends. Below I attached some photos of my drag persona, Trixie Belmont and some music videos from drag queens that showcase a vast variety of hair and fashion that have influenced and inspired me. As mama RuPaul would say, “We are all born naked and the rest is drag.” And as my English 2010 professor said, “Never end a story with a quote.” X DJH WARNING: The AAA Girls video contains some vulgar language. Flu season in the salon3/11/2018 It is Sunday morning and I am sitting on my couch with three different drinks, a bottle of water, a glass of Gatorade, and an immunity booster tea. The flu season has been intense, and I am surprised that it took me this long to get sick. I felt like everyone around me has been sick. I started feeling strange last night and have not had much time or energy to compile this weeks post. With that being said; I’m going to talk about being sick and working in the service industry.
As a hairdresser and makeup artist I work very close with people, literally, I am working right in someone’s face! I have had clients come into the salon coughing, hacking, and wheezing, not only do I tense up, but so do the clients in the salon, because no one wants to get sick! If a client is sick and they call and cancel their appointment, we as people in the service industry, appreciate it. We do not want to get your sickness and we do not want our clients to get sick as well. If you are sick and have an appointment please call and cancel, it’s okay, we get it, we’ve all been sick, it’s much better to reschedule and take care of yourself then to risk getting sicker or getting those around you sick. It is merely out of respect. When I get sick I will cancel my appointments, if I must work I take precautions to avoid getting others sick, like washing my hands constantly, wearing gloves, not breathing on people, and Lysol everything I touch. If you're sick and have an appointment with your hairdresser, tattoo artist, or whomever, be respectful and reschedule your appointment. Now I’m going to spend the rest of my day on the couch, watching Netflix, and drinking all the fluids. Until next week. X. DJH I'm lovin' it!3/4/2018 Last month McDonald's made headlines for some very strange reasons, on February 5th Newsweek published that a chemical in McDonald's french fries could cure boldness. February 22nd Metro News published a new haircut being banned in Great Yarmouth Charter Academy in Norfolk called ‘Meet me at McDonald's’. As I stumbled upon these articles I would have never guessed McDonald's every influencing the hair industry, but never the less they unintentionally have. This week I explore how a secret chemical in McDonald's fries may hold the cure for baldness and what the ‘Meet me at McDonald's haircut is. Let's start with this magical cure for baldness. A Japanese stem cell research team from Yokohama National University used a method to regrow hair on mice, they use dimethylpolysiloxane, the silicone added to McDonald’s fries to stop cooking oil from frothing. Preliminary tests show that this groundbreaking method is likely to be successful when transferred onto human skin cells. According to Biomaterials Journal, this breakthrough came when the scientists mass produced “hair follicle germs” (HFG) which were created for the first time ever through this method. “The key for the mass production of HFGs was a choice of substrate materials for the culture vessel,” said, Professor Junji Fukuda, of Yokohama National University. “We used oxygen-permeable dimethylpolysiloxane (PDMS) at the bottom of culture vessel, and it worked very well.” This technique created 5,000 HFGs at once. The researchers then planted the HFGs from an HFG chip, a fabricated, roughly 300-microwell array, onto the mouse's body. “These self-sorted hair follicle germs were shown to be capable of efficient hair-follicle and shaft generation upon injection into the backs of nude mice,” Fukuda said. Within a few days, Fukuda and his research team reported tiny black hairs on the areas of the mouse where the chip had been transplanted. When this article was published McDonald’s had not responded to the request for a comment by Newsweek. If this research leads to human trails it could change the hair loss industry forever. If you would like to read more about this research, please visit the original article published by Newsweek. Alright, now that we have a potential cure for baldness let’s move onto the haircut all the British youth want and can’t have, ‘Meet me at McDonalds’. The ‘Meet me at McDonalds’ haircut has been said to be so offensive that a school in Great Yarmouth has banned students from having it. Great Yarmouth Charter Academy head master, Barry Smith wrote a letter to parents warning their kids will be sent home from school if they had this haircut. The haircut is a ‘business on the sides, party on top’ style, with shaved sides and a long-tousled top with a floppy fringe. The hair is sometimes permed to add more volume, texture, and tighter curls on the top of the head. Examples of young boys wearing 'Meet me at McDonald's. Photo credit via Twitter. Where did the name for this haircut originate? No one knows. When hairdressers in the area where asked they told Metro ‘they had no idea’.
Why is this haircut banned from this school? Great Yarmouth Charter Academy has a very strict dress code, this dress code restricts many hairstyles, some other examples of restricted hair styles would include shaved part lines, or hair that has been back-combed to give excessive height. If you would like more information on this haircut and its ban, please check out the article published by Metro. What are your thoughts? Do you think the 'Meet me at McDonald's' haircut is offensive? And how do you feel about eating the new baldness cure? Until next week. DJH References: Zhao, C. (2018, February 06). Chemical in McDonald's fries may hold the key to curing baldness, study says. Retrieved March 04, 2018, from http://www.newsweek.com/chemical-mcdonalds-fries-may-cure-male-baldness-study-say-799439 Drewett, Z. (2018, February 22). What is a 'Meet me at McDonald's' haircut? Retrieved March 04, 2018, from http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/22/meet-mcdonalds-haircut-7333906/ THE GEOGRAPHY OF HAIRThe Geography of Hair is devoted to share experiences and stories in cosmetology and how it has affected people, myself, or us as a society. Archives
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