Over the years I have worked with some of the best hair dressers in the world. I mean world-class professionals. You know, those people who make the women on the covers of Vogue and Bazaar look so effortlessly glamorous. I am endlessly impressed with their talent. I am often left speechless as I watch them morph the models' hair from style to style. Of course, you would expect these hair mavens to have magic in their hands.

What really surprises me, however, is the seemly God-given ability for almost any woman with long hair to painlessly mimic the most complicated hairstyle. Braids, up-dos and variations of the partial up-do are extremely popular hairstyles, especially in the summer. I have often stared in awe as I watched long-haired women carry on conversations with other salon clients, never even peeking in the mirror as they twist, turn and tuck their hair in place. I am humbled by their talent as they finish their hair in minutes and run out the door looking great. If I say anything about their ability to whip their hair into shape, they simply laugh and thank me for the compliment.

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After seeing woman after woman put her hair up in just moments, I realized it must be easier to do than it looks. I talked to Lena, one of the salon's top stylists, and asked her for the lowdown of simple and effortless long hairstyles that I can't help but notice every day in the salon and on the street. She agreed that they are easy for almost anyone to do and gave me a quick demo on three models.

THE HIDDEN BRAID

1. Lift a section of your hair from the crown and clip it out of the way.


2. Place a braid on each side of your head to lift hair up and off your face. Join braids in the back and secure with a hair elastic.


3. Release hair that has been secured with clip and let cascade over braids.

THE BRAIDED BUN

1. Part your hair with a side part.


2. Make two mini braids starting at the part and continuing in a slight upward direction. This gives hair a shape that is flattering for most faces.


3. Join braids together into one and continue braid into a ponytail. If hair strands should pop out, don't worry. It will give your hair a more carefree and less serious look.


4. Twist the ponytail braid into a low bun. Accessorize with a flower, a real one if possible. After all, it's summer!

TWIST AND TUCK

1. Start with a low side part.


2. Make a section from the part to just behind your ear.


3. Start to twist and tuck, continuing to add hair as you go around the head.


4. Gather hair together behind your other ear, fasten with pins and fan out ends to create a feathered look.


5. Add a fresh flower or a hair accessory to finish the look.

You don't have to be a hair genius to keep long hair looking great all summer long. All it takes is a twist, a tuck, a few pins and a little imagination. With a little practice, your hair can always look beautiful and like it was done by the pros.

When you have been in the hair business as long as I have, you can't help but notice how people cut, color and style their hair. The moment I meet someone, my eyes go directly to the top of their head. It's a horrible habit that makes almost everyone uncomfortable, and I've tried to stop doing it for years to no avail. My eyes are especially drawn to any hair faux pas. There is nothing more frustrating than having to bite my lip instead of giving a hair tip. It often takes every inch of my self control to keep my lip zipped.

Here is a list of the most common hair faux pas I have tried not to notice over the years.

Picking the wrong haircut and style for your hair's texture. Wearing fine hair too long or layered will only make it seem wispier and see-through. Wearing curly hair straight often looks dry, fried and tortured in place.

TIP: Always work with the texture of your hair. You're not fooling anyone but yourself.


Picking the wrong hair color. There's a rumor out there that you have to make your hair color lighter as the years go by. Guess what? That's not always true! Often the best solution to avoid dull hair color is to make it brighter or richer.

TIP: Your hair color should always provide contrast to your skin color. If you find your self putting on more makeup than usual to look alive, you have picked the wrong hair color.


Making clean hair look dirty by misusing products. This is so five years ago. Hair today looks fresh, clean and natural. It should never look over-gelled, moussed or waxed into place. Hair should never look like it's made of shiny plastic.

TIP: Less is more. If you can't run your fingers through your hair, you have used too much product.


Highlighting hair to look solid or worst yet, frosted. There are two common highlighting mistakes.

The first is when too many highlights are placed too close together, creating a loss of contrast and often resembling an overall, single-process color. This will result in an unnatural looking color that requires frequent touch-ups instead of the graceful grow out that highlights should provide.

The second mistake is when highlights are left on too long to avoid gold shades. Highlights without gold often appear grey and frosted. This will make your hair look dull and you look older.

TIP: Never place your highlights too close together or make them too pale. Highlights should accent and brighten your base color, not change it or make it dull.


Using scrunches, butterfly clips and banana clips as hair accessories. They are tools to keep your hair off your face. They are appropriate to use while washing your face, applying makeup or giving yourself a facial. As easy and gentle as these are to use, they should never be worn outside your home.

TIP: There are many simple and chic accessories available at your local drugstore or beauty supply. Look for the simplest headbands or covered elastics. They are gentle to your hair and always look right.


That's it! You now have the list of my Top Five hair faux pas. The good news is that they are all easy to remedy. With very little effort you can look prettier, softer and younger!

Standing behind the chair doing color for many more years than I care to admit, I have heard about hundreds of hair myths. Most myths were handed down through the generations from grandmother to mother to daughter. Some of these are based on fact, others contain half-truths and many are total fiction. Many rational people hold these hair myths to be true even if they make absolutely no sense. I wrote a previous blog entry addressing some of the most common hair myths. Today we will examine 10 common beauty myths and determine whether they're fact or fiction.

MYTH: Never shampoo your hair right before you have it colored.

FACT: When your hair is dirty it is harder for the colorist to determine the exact color of your hair, whether it has oxidized, and if subtle changes might have occurred during the course of the touch-up. Clean hair enables your colorist to have a clearer picture of the proper adjustments that need to occur to keep your color perfect. Hair color also takes better on clean hair. If you do have a sensitive scalp and are worried about a reaction to the coloring process, gently wash your hair. Do not scrub your scalp.


MYTH: Your hair can get used to shampoos and conditioners.

FACT: Shampoos and conditioners tend either to either be light and clean or heavy and conditioning. If you use one product line exclusively, your hair can become overly clean and fly away or excessively conditioned and weighted down. It is best to have a couple of different hair care lines in your shower so you will always be prepared for your hair needs.


MYTH: Lemons lighten your hair.

FACT: Lemon juice will minimally lighten your hair, but only if you go out in the sun. Lemons will lighten fine hair best. If your hair is a light brown shade or darker, lemons can turn your hair orange. Instead of lemons, it is best to use over-the-counter hair color. Hair color contains toners and conditioners that will consistently keep your color in check and hair in great condition.


MYTH: Beer adds body and shine.

FACT: Warm flat beer in a spray bottle is a great setting lotion that adds shine. The scent of beer dissipates as the hair dries, leaving you with a smooth and glossy finish.

Summer is here and it's time to show off your body. I am not talking about your bikini body. I am talking about your hair's body. Thin might be in, but plump hair is where it's at. Unfortunately, we all don't have full bouncing hair. Some of us were born with fine hair that has little or no body. Fine hair tends to look good right after shampooing and then almost immediately falls flat. Nothing can be more of a downer than feeling sexy and realizing your hair looks limp. But there's no need to sweat about fine hair this summer. Here are some simple do's and don'ts to keep your hair looking great all day long.

1. Start with the right haircut. Shorter hair works best when you have fine hair. This will make hair with the finest texture look as full as possible. Extremely fine hair should be worn as short as your face shape will allow. If your hair is fine but has a bit of weight, a chin-length bob works best. The longest fine hair should be cut just above the shoulder with barely there long layers. If hair tends to separate or look see-through, it's too long.
2. Use a light shampoo and conditioner. Heavy shampoos and conditioners will weigh down fine hair. Apply conditioner to ends of hair only, avoiding the scalp area. Be sure to thoroughly rinse after shampooing and conditioning.
3. Hair color is the secret weapon to end flat hair. Besides covering grey or making your shade lighter or brighter, hair color adds body. Semi-permanent hair color coats the hair and permanent hair color is deposited in the shaft of the hair, making it feel thicker. Highlights or tone-on-tone color give texture that adds volume to hair.
4. Sparingly use styling products that add volume without weighing hair down. Root lifts, mousses and hair sprays work best on fine hair. Pomades and silicone serums can weigh down fine hair. Apply styling products to roots of hair only. This will keep ends of hair light, full and touchable.
5. It's all about the blow dry. A good blow dry is essential to having full hair. The easiest way to add volume is to tilt your head over and blow dry hair. When it's dry, flip head back and you will have instant volume. To add additional lift, use a brush to raise roots from scalp, section by section. The roots must be completely dry.

Fine hair will never be thick but there is no reason why it can't look full. The right hair cut, hair color and grooming can give your hair the voluminous look you always wanted. Now that your skinny hair days are over, enjoy your new life as a full body woman.

Watch Video: More easy hair fixes!

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How many times have you been flipping through fashion magazines and wondered why your hair doesn't look as great as the women in the photographs? The models might be younger and maybe even prettier but that's no excuse for your hair not to look gorgeous. Hair can make an ordinary woman look like an exceptional beauty. Don't ignore your most important fashion accessory. It is too easy to make good hair look great and the best part is you can do most of your primping at home. This usually takes very little time and costs a fraction of salon prices.

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Here are some easy tips.

Never walk around with your roots showing. This looks unkempt and like you don't care about your appearance. Don't fool yourself; people do judge a book by its cover. There are root touch-up kits available that can cover the grey hair on your part or hairline in 10 minutes. You can practically put it on while you are brushing your teeth. Having a busy schedule is no longer an excuse for walking around with grey roots.

Are you due for your highlights a couple of weeks after you have a major event to attend? Don't panic! There are temporary mascara highlighting wands that come in great colors. They can be used to extend a touch-up or add extra highlights around your face for your special occasion. They will wash off in one shampoo.

Brush on highlights easily give permanent salon quality highlights at home. With a brush you have exact control of color placement. The guess work of the old fashioned cap highlight is gone. You place the highlights exactly where you want them to fall. This is perfect for accenting facial features or your hair style. The new highlighting kits come in gold and bronze shades. You will never have to worry about your hair looking like a frosted home job again.

Are you sick and tired of bad hair days? I mean, really, is there anything more heartbreaking? There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get it together for a special night and having your hair flop. You can have on killer shoes, perfect-fitting jeans and your favorite top, and still look like a Lindsay Lohan mug shot!

When your hair doesn't look good, it doesn't matter what you are wearing, you don't look good. Your hair is your most important fashion accessory. To help prevent this beauty tragedy from ruining one more night in 2008, I came up with five simple tips to help guarantee great looking hair all year long:

1. First thing's first! A great hair cut and hair color are key to looking extraordinary all year long. This provides the foundation to ensure your hair will look good every day.

TIP - Keep it real! Pick a color and cut that works with your hair texture and hair color.

TIP - Note the two year rule. If your are wearing the exact same style and cut for two years or longer, it's time for a change. This does not mean you have to have a dramatic change every two years. The smallest changes will keep you looking modern. It can be as simple as a change of part, bangs or no bangs, or trimming your hair one inch.

2. Stay within a few shades of your natural color. This is the perfect way to make sure your new color compliments your skin tone.

BEAUTY WARNING! - If you have to wear more make-up to make your new hair color work, you have picked the wrong color. That added plus of staying within your own color range is that your re-growth will be minimal.

3. Use the correct styling products for your hair. Use lighter products on fine hair that add volume without weighing your hair down. Mousses and root lift products work best on fine hair. Heavy creams work best on thick, coarse hair. They add control without making hair look stiff or frozen in place. Silicone serums and light creams work best for controlling frizzies on all hair textures.

4. Mood swings! The easy way to instantly change your look is with a hair accessory. You can change the look of your style in a split second. This is a great way to go from day to night. Hair accessories are appropriate for almost any age. Rule of thumb, over forty, keep it simple.

5. It's okay to cheat! Clip-on hair is perfect for everything from bad hair days to party nights. Pony tails are always in. Tie hair back, and clip on your fantasy hair. You will look perpetually chic.

TIP - Avoid thick hair pieces. Thin pieces look much more natural when clipped on your hair. The best part is you take it off at the end of the day. Clip on hair is not harmful to your hair.

I think the first tip of today's post is the most important: A great hair cut and color is the best way to look good every day, all year long.

Play it safe. Work with your hair texture and accent your natural color and you will look great every day. The rest is easy!

Want to learn Louis Licari's five secrets to improve your locks in 2008?

Watch the segment from TODAY: Here's to having better hair in 2008!

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