Goodbye 2017, hello 2018!12/31/2017 This past year has been interesting to say the least! I’m not speaking politically, socially, or economically, even though it’s been interesting in those realms, I’m speaking about the hair and fashion from 2017. Looking back on this past year’s hair trends it’s fascinating because it reminds me of the 1970’s. The hair trends seen were very remnant to the free styles that existed during the decade of disco.
Here are my top five favorite trends for 2017.
These trends do not surprise me. Hair and fashion is highly influenced by what is going on politically and socially in the world, for example the Ombre trend became very popular after The Great Recession between 2007-2012 because it was an affordable trend that allowed the client to go longer in between hair appointments. If you look at where America was in the 1970’s you will see there are some similarities. A very quick and brief summary of some of the issues in the 1970’s. Women, African American, gay, lesbian, and Native Americans were all fighting for equality. The Environmental Movement made a massive impact by helping prevent pollution and take care of the Earth. In 1970 we celebrated our first Earth Day and passed the Environmental Policy Act. A brief look back on 2017. Native Americans are fighting for their sacred land, we are still fighting environmental issues, the Black Lives Matter Movement is active and thriving for the inequality of our African American community, and women are still fighting for equality in the workplace. On top of all that we are also dealing with a flood of sexual harassment allegation against politicians and celebrities and some of this accusations date back to the 1970’s. With so many similarities it makes sense that we are sharing hair trends as well. When we as people feel stressed out and feel we do not have control over what is going on in the world we turn to areas where we do have control. Our self. Sub consciously or consciously we control areas in our life that we can change. More edgy and radical haircuts and colors are usually a sign of how we feel about the outside world, it’s almost like a protest. If you look at the Punk rock culture birthed in the 1970’s it was influenced by straining economic times specifically in England, New York, and Los Angeles What does this mean for the trends for 2018? Hate to break it to you but so far there is nothing new and exciting. So far, the trends are predicting natural textures, bobs, long fringes, and smooth sleek hair, however just because this is the prediction it doesn’t make it so. A lot can change throughout the year, who knows what next entrepreneurial in devour will come. Remember the feather trend back in 2010? That wasn’t predicted but it became a trend because someone was trying something new, they were setting their own trend because it made them feel a certain way and was a part of their own fashion, but this was also during The Great Recession and had a feeling from the 1970’s punk scene. My question to you then is what will our politically climate look like in 2018? How will that influence hair and fashion? What will be your hair feathers for 2018? Will you be the trend or set the trend? Have a Happy New Years my friends! Be safe and remember you are loved. DJH
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Happy Holidays12/24/2017 This past week has been a little chaotic. Not only with working in the salon and getting ready for the holidays, but I've been helping at Ballet West for their production of The Nutcracker. This nasty cold has been going around with the cast and crew of the production, so I’ve been filling in as a wig assistant.
Last night I was walking downtown to get a cup of coffee before heading to the theater and realized that I hadn’t finished my blog post for today! This time of year, always sneak up on me, right when I feel I have all my obligations taken care of I noticed one slips away. Since I didn’t finish my original post I will just take this time to share my gratitude. I am so incredibly thankful for all of you that read my blog, to all my clients for their loyalty and support. My friends and family who are always there for me and a constant source of support and love, thank you. I am so grateful everyday that I can have a career that excites me, motivates me, and challenges me, and thank you all for being a part of this journey. I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunities to advance my education and my career. Going forward into Christmas and into the New Year I would like to commit to spreading more love and joy, to show more gratitude, and to be more compassionate towards people and the world. We live in interesting times and the holiday spirit of love, joy, and compassion should be a daily practice, not just a yearly tradition. With lots of love. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas. DJH Am I successful?12/17/2017 I’ve been a hairdresser since 2008, nearly a decade. It blows my mind to think about that, it feels like I have only been in the hair industry for a few years. The time has flown by and I have enjoyed it tremendously, it hasn’t always been perfect, but I feel like I have made a very successful career as a hairdresser.
But what does that mean? ‘I’ve had a successful career’. How can one measure success? Do I make six figures a year? No. Am I driving a BMW? No. Am I booked solid in the salon for the next three months? No. Am I the best hairdresser in town? I don’t know, I feel like I’m talented and I would assume my clients are pleased with my work. It doesn’t look like I’m “successful”. The Buddha once said, “Success is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing you will be successful.” In my career I have met a numerous of people who are making six, seven figures a year, work 50-60 hours a week but they are not happy. Some of these people complain that they never have time to do what they want, they are exhausted, eating poorly, unable to maintain healthy relationships, drinking excessively, the list goes on, but the point is they are unhappy for countless of reasons. Is that what success looks like in America? Work yourself to death, make those six figures, be miserable, and eventually die? Let me go back to what the Buddha said, “Success is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success. If you love what you do you will be successful.” If you are happy in life you will be successful. What makes you happy? For me my ideal day is to wake up, go to the gym, meditate, prep my meals, attend class, work in the salon, create beautiful hair, read, write, spend time with those I love, and go to bed. It’s simple, but this is what brings me joy and happiness in my life. I am fortunate to be able to have a career that I love and to find joy in attending university. For those who are working jobs that they do not enjoy it’s even more of a reason to find activates and experiences that bring you happiness. If you are living a life that fills you with joy and happiness, you are living a successful life. Material possessions don’t create happiness, well maybe they do but only for a short while. Experiences create happiness, fill your life with experiences that fulfill you. In 2013 I moved to San Diego, California, I lived there less than a year. At first, I loved it! I lived and worked close to downtown, the salon I was working at was fun, I was close to the beach, it was a dream. After six months my job situation changed and very quickly my job and life became less fulfilling. I was commuting 2-4 hours a day to and from work, working behind a desk, now longer doing hair. After a few months of not living the life I wanted and being unhappy I decided to move back to Salt Lake City. I never thought of that experience as a failure. I did something I always wanted to do, move to California. I realized quickly that I wasn’t having fun, there was no joy or happiness in working 40 hours a week behind a desk, spending another 10-15 hours a week driving, and living in a house I didn’t love. Moving to California did not create success for me but moving back home did. Moving back created happiness and made the trip successful because I discovered what I really wanted for my life. There will not and cannot be one view or idea of success, even a failure can be a success in its own way. Since we all find different pleasures and happiness in life there are numerous ways we will all be successful in our own separate ways. Here I am, living in a town house with roommates, making five figures, single, driving a Kia Soul, I’m back in school, working at a salon I love, I don’t have the latest iPhone, and I couldn’t be any happier or more successful in life. I leave you with one question, what does your version of success look like? DJH ‘Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.’ -James Dean Social Media: Competing for the perfect hair12/10/2017 Social media has forever shaped and changed how we acquire information, keep in touch with our friends, and find daily inspirations. With over 500 million people interacting on Facebook daily1, Instagram has over 700 million active monthly users2, and Pinterest has over 313 million monthly users[1]. It has never been easier for us to obtain information, connect, and feel connected via the world wide web.
In the salon I use Pinterest with my clients and it has proven to be a helpful tool. I have different boards dedicated towards different hairstyles; from women’s haircuts, hair color, Ombre, men’s haircuts, and kid’s haircuts. It is a great tool to have access to for the client that wants/needs inspiration for their hair. Although there is a catch side. I have clients who will show me pictures of hairstyles found on social media platforms all the time. Which can be a tremendous help for me during their consultation. Occasionally the photos have zero similarities to what the client has. Let me elaborate on this. The other day a client showed me a picture of a J-Pop (Japanese pop) star with longer, straight, fine hair. The sides are shaved down, the top is disconnected with the sides, pushed towards the face and is extremely texturized. The man in this picture had a feeling of edge, high fashion grunge, wore heavy eye makeup, and looked like an all around bad ass! I see what my client liked about this style, it was edgy, different, and cool. The client in my chair had none of these qualities, he is conservative looking, t-shirt and jeans, has massive density in his hair that is extremely curly. Two different hair textures, two distinctive styles. In this case I feel that it is very little about the hair but more about the feeling my client wanted to invoke, the feeling he had towards the overall style, the hair style was a small component to the larger picture. Which can be a wonderful! Shifting how you feel inside through your outwards appearance. That saying, “Dress for the job you want.” is exactly true; my client is a musician and is finding his style through inspiration online and through his musical experience. The flip side can be more dangerous for us, if we are comparing our lives to the people we see on line can be mentally unhealthy. In the case of my client he may be thinking that since he is a musician he needs to look a certain way, this can give him a false sense to his own identity. I personally have been treating social media like sugar, in moderation, it is great and can make us feel good, but to much of it and we start becoming unhealthy. With sugar it’s becoming physically unhealthy and addictive, and social media it’s mentally unhealthy and addictive. A study published by PLOS.org states that the more we use Facebook our overall subjective well-being declines[2]. Sharon Salzberg commented about social media saying, “People are competing for the perfect life.” That can be seen in some respects, people posting their ‘perfect’ lunch, the ‘perfect’ makeup application, the ‘perfect’ hair color/style/cut, etc. I use quotation marks around the work perfect because the idea of perfection is different to all of us and is only in our mind and egos, therefor perfection really does not exist, but that is a different topic for another time. Next time you find yourself on social media looking at thousands of hairstyles or makeup tutorials ask yourself, “What do I like about this photo?”, “Is it the hair?”, “The person?”, “Is it really about the hair or makeup?” Try shifting your consciousness into the world around you, not the virtual world, find inspiration from people in your community. Once you open your awareness into your everyday life you’ll be surprised by how inspiration can be found everywhere. I have grown in my relationship with social media, years ago I would post whatever, but what I was posting I didn’t even care about, I was trying to perceive I was living life and enjoying it, now I realize I don’t need to prove that I’m living a fulfilling life to anyone but myself. Currently I use Instagram and Facebook to share my blog, quotes that inspire me, photos of work that I’m proud of, a moment where I felt overwhelmed by emotion, and community events. I’m not saying to abandon social media, but like sugar, use it wisely. I would like to invite you into my own personal inspiration journey. I encourage/challenge you to open your awareness to the world around you. Close the social media apps, don’t look at people online for inspiration, because with all the filters on these apps are you getting the authenticity of the photo? Find something out in the world that inspires your hair, makeup, fashion, or your life. Let it be someone in the community, the amber softness of a sunrise, the deep redness of a rose, the first snow fall. Inspiration is everywhere, all you must do is be open to its gifts. DJH References: Chaykowski , K. (2016, October 13). Pinterest Reaches 150 Million Monthly Users, Boosts Engagement Among Men. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2016/10/13/pinterest-reaches-150-million-monthly-users/ Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., . . . Ybarra, O. (2013, August 14). Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults. Retrieved December 07, 2017, from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0069841&mbid=synd_msnhealth Osman, M. (2017, October 17). 18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2017. Retrieved December 07, 2017, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/ Walton, A. G. (2017, October 03). 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health. Retrieved December 07, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#5ed30b142e5a [1] Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults [2] 18 Instagram Stats Every Marketer Should Know for 2017 Be kind to yourself.12/3/2017 On Tuesday I woke up in a funk, I didn’t want to get out of bed, I felt blah. I know that’s not really an emotion but I’m sure we have all felt blah before. Even so, I forced myself out of bed and went to the gym. Half way through my workout my body was talking to me saying, “We’re sore and aching! Please stop!”. This was probably because of Mondays workout, I decided to cut my workout in half and listen to my body.
Leaving the gym, I felt frustrated. At some point on my way home I had a random thought of my ex and a flood of sadness overcame me. Here I am, barely 8:30am feeling blah, sad, and frustrated. What a terrific way to start my day! Once home I cooked a lovely breakfast and packed my lunch for the day. Recognizing my current state of emotions, I took a nice long shower, not trying to push those feelings aside but rather to embrace them in solitude before heading to work for the day. After the shower I took my time getting ready. Styling my hair, massaging my face lotion and sunscreen into my skin, trimming my facial hair, picking out my favorite cologne, jewelry, and outfit. While doing all of this I listened to my favorite music, that morning it was my Happy Playlist, Mika, Superfruit, Cher, and Stromae, just some fun light-hearted tunes. I said my daily goals and affirmations out loud and was good to go. Once all pampered and dressed for the day I looked in the mirror and I noticed a shift, obviously in my appearance, but also in my overall Being. I no longer felt sad or frustrated, I didn’t feel blah anymore. I felt excited, I felt love for myself, I felt happy and joyful, I felt sexy and was ready to charge into the day! What happened? Where did that shift come from? Let’s start with the emotions. I began by recognizing the emotions; the frustration, the sadness, and the blah. It’s easy to push out or ignore difficult emotion, let alone to face these feelings. By acknowledging our emotions and embracing them it allows us to experience them and have them move on, by not dealing with them they fester. Nothing good ever comes from something that festers. It’s like anticipating a difficult conversation with a friend or co-worker, the longer we wait the harder it is, the sooner we have that conversation the easier it is to move on. The second shift that happened was that I was kind to myself. I allowed myself to have those emotions with no judgment, instead of festering on why I was having these emotions I simply allowed them to BE with no judgement. Also in being kind to myself I took the time that I needed for me. Whether it was taking the extra-long shower, listening to my favorite music, or pampering myself in my morning ritual. Lastly, I picked out my favorite outfit, cologne, and jewelry, trivial things that bring me joy in my life. By looking good and feeling good about my outward appearance it made me feel all around better. With our minds and body being connected something as feeling better about our outward appearance makes our mind feel better. Which I’m sure you’ve read in some self-help book, because they all talk about it. Taking care of the body takes care of the mind and vice versa. The point is, be kind to yourself. Take care of yourself. If you are having a blah day, take a minute and do something kind for you. Dance in the bathroom to your favorite music, put on your favorite outfit, get a haircut or a manicure. Do something special for yourself because you deserve it. As Rupaul says, “If you can’t love yourself how the hell are you going to love somebody else.” If you can’t care of yourself how can you care for others? So, be kind to yourself, take care of yourself, but above everything else, love yourself. Take care. DJH 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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