Get the Look: Breathing Renaissance Romance

photo credit: Ann Lawlor

Although garments that are being showcased during Fashion Week may not be available for immediate purchase, you can achieve the hair look instantly with the help of a professional – such as New York based celebrity hair stylist Amoy Pitters.


Pitter’s client list includes A-list celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Kerry Washington, Mary J. Blige, Joy Bryant, Selita Ebanks and Maggie Rizer. At the Eryn Brinie Show, Amoy decided to go with a Breathing Renaissance Romance look. Pitter gave Fashionwithfifi the run down on how to achieve this ethereal and wind-swept, yet effortless look:


Step 1: Begin by applying the René Furterer Volume Mousse from root to end to achieve texture.


Step 2: Working on dry hair, use a 1-2” curling iron to create a soft wave through the crown. Spray a brush with RF Dry Shampoo to create volume, after adding Amoy Couture Hair clip-on extensions to add fullness and length to the hair.


Step 3: Using a comb, brush back the hair at the root, sweeping the hair to one side and creating a long braid. Continue to comb the braid back to create lose flyaway’s for a soft, renaissance look.


Step 4: After the application of makeup, put on the look’s final touches by spraying the hair with RF Finishing Spray, securing any loose hairs.


Pitter is opening her full-service beauty salon in New York City’s Upper East Side during Fashion Week — Amoy Couture Beauty. For more information about Amoy and Amoy Couture Beauty, visit www.amoycouturehair.com.

“Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration”
Suzanna

Grand Opening of Hair Rules Salon

Do you suffer from an unruly tangle of kinky, curly or wavy hair? Well, fret no more because celebrity hairstylist, Anthony Dickey, and former supermodel, Kara Young Georgiopolous, have set out to redefine the rules governing multi-textual hair care with Hair Rules, their new line of products, and a salon, also by the same name.

Last night, Fashion With Fifi, along with friends, family, and devoted customers, attended the grand opening of the Hair Rules salon, located at 828 Ninth Avenue (between 54 and 55^th streets), to celebrate the success of these experienced hair mavens.

“We take a different approach to hair care,” said Dickey. “We want people to realize that you do not need to add so many products to your hair.”

Dickey, who has styled the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Obama and Alicia Keys, understands that women with textured hair face a huge challenge when taming their manes. Georgiopolous, who has appeared in the pages of Vogue, Elle, Glamour and Cosmopolitan, met Dickey in 1992 when asked by photographers and stylists that she come to photo shoots with her hair already styled.

Dickey encouraged Georgiopolous to embrace her natural texture and eventually helped her restore her hair to its natural health and beauty.

“When I used to get my hair lightened, I would lock myself in the bathroom so the color would stay in longer and make my hair even lighter,” she said. Even though she was wreaking havoc on her hair, Georgiopolous said she did not care, as long as she got the look she desired.

As more and more people arrive for the salon’s grand opening event, it is clear that everyone attending has learned to embrace his or her hair’s natural texture. Heads of kinky, curly and wavy hair alike bobbed to the beat of cool, instrumental music and everyone mingled over glasses of wine and plates of appetizers.

The salon, which reflects Dickey and Georgiopolous’s love of the 70’s, is a long, contemporary room with clean, white walls behind a row of salon chairs and contrasting faux wood paneling along the back of the room. The floor-to-ceiling glass windows at the front of the second story salon offer a scenic view of Ninth Avenue and add a dose of natural light to the room.

Singer-songwriter Kelis best known for her hit single, “Milkshake”, made an appearance along with rapper Nas; showing their support for the innovative team and their outstanding products. Other big names in attendance included Russell Simmons, Estelle and Erica Reid.

Dickey says that Hair Rules appeals to people of all hair types and is not just a marketing ploy to get people to buy the products. He only uses ingredients that he says will leave your hair healthier.

As a testament to their product’s excellence, each guest took home their own bottle of Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream, a no suds shampoo for all hair types.

There was a tangible excitement in the room as people of all hair types expressed their enthusiasm for these two co-founders and their creative energies.

From her successful career and personal experiences, Georgiopolous offered her words of wisdom to women of multi-textured hair. “You do not need to follow trends, but wear your hair the way you want to. And do not burn the shit out of your hair.”

*Photos are curtesy of photographer Mia Marcus of Nubuzz Photos. Check out her work at Nubuzzphoto.com.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

Erin

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Street Walking

Beauty Solutions: Do It Your Self Hair-Dye Instructions

Hair coloring at home can sometimes be cheaper, but sometimes it can also be quite an adventure. I’ve been coloring my hair at home since I was 14 and have been doing it consistently every month for the past 3 years. That's because not everyone can go to a salon and spend mucho bucks and a couple of hours at the salon, so today I have some tips for you if you want to "Do It yourself".







The first thing you have to do is settle on a color. Do you want to stay within the same color range or do you want a change? If you wish to keep the color basically the same, you need to check with the hairdresser that usually dyes your hair and ask for your color number. Usually, hair dye is numbered from 1 to 20. 1 being the darkest and 20 being the lightest. Usually very light blond is a 10. After the number, you will see a dot and then some other numbers. For example color number 7.35. This means that the “level of darkness” is 7 (which is usually a dark blond) and the .35 means the tone (30 to 40 is usually an orange/ginger undertone). With undertones, remember that the lower the number, the more ashy it is and the higher, the more golden it is.



This is where things can get a little hairy. If your try to drastically change the undertone of your hair, more often than not, you’ll end up with a big problem. Red and golden undertones are the hardest to get rid off, but if you go over them with an ashy undertone color, your hair will get a really ugly green sheen (It happened to me before…) so take a very good look at your hair if you want to choose the right box at the beauty store.





Now think do you want your color to be temporary, semi-permanent or permanent? Temporary means it will last anywhere from 1 to 10 washes and semi-permanent usually lasts about 30 washes. Unless you have more than 70% of white hair, I’d recommend semi-permanent dye because it will fade and won’t leave your hair with “lines” of different color. Another thing to remember is that if you have a lot of hair or very long hair you’ll need two boxes. In this case make sure they are from the same batch (usually it’s the number besides the expiration date).

Once you get home, read the instructions carefully and do the allergic reaction test. Once it’s all set, there are a few things you need to remember apart from wearing a dark or old towel on your shoulders and an old t-shirt. Never ever use metal objects to section or hold in place your hair while coloring. The metal will touch the dye, oxidize it and God only knows what color your hair could turn into. Metal should not, under any circumstances, be in contact your hair dye. Even if you’re using one of those “comb-like applicators” you’ll want to section your hair. I have fine hair and I section it it four parts so depending on your hair you’ll want to have somewhere between 4 and 8 sections to work with.


While applying your hair dye, remember that if you’re going lighter, begin at the front part of your head. Conversely begin at the back if you’re going darker. Why? Because the hair at the back is usually darker so this will ensure the color looks as natural as possible. Massage your hair and scalp really well with your hands using gloves. I advise against combing it because the hair will be wet from the dye and wet hair is much more fragile. After that, and while you wait the necessary time, clean up your bathroom counter and remove any stains of dye from your face, ears and neck. Do so with petroleum jelly or baby oil but avoid the hair itself.

When removing the dye, try to rinse your hair with cold water (but not too cold) and with your hair leaning forward. This might not be the most comfortable position but you’ll see better when the water comes out clear so you won’t get poorly removed dye that could stain your pillow case of make your hair color patchy.

If you wash your hair and see that the color is too light, the only thing you can do is apply a darker color and wait only half the time stated on the box. If it’s too dark, use volumising shampoo and hopefully it will lighten up in 2 to 4 washes.

To take care of your new hair color, simply use adequate products for colored hair and do a hair mask once a week at least. The conditioner that comes with hair dye in some brands is large enough for several applications so you can use it. Click on the banner directly below for information on the correct utensils to use, coloring tips and instructions.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

Micky-