Wedding Hair 2009

Wedding season has come to an end for this year, and it's now time for next year's brides to start their planning. If you are getting married in 2009 it's time to find your wedding hairstylist and makeup artist, and start thinking about what kind of look you want to go for.

Hot Trend

When I'm trying to choose a style for a bride or her bridesmaids, I look to the red carpet. One trend that has been very popular on the red carpet lately is the messy french braid. What I like about this trend is that, unlike many other bridal hairstyles, the interest is in the front. I've seen so many brides choose styles with beautiful intricate patterns in the back, but from the front don't look like anything too special. When you are getting your wedding photos taken, they are of your face, not the back of your head, so it make sense to have a hairstyle that looks good from the front as well as the back.

The french braid can be worked into a variety of different styles depending on the type of look you are going for. Sarah Michelle Gellar (left), Amanda Bynes (centre), and Anne Hathaway (right) depict 3 different versions of this trend.
Gellar's style is the most modern, and my personal favorite, with messy curls pinned loosely in the back. This style works well with a formal or casual dress, and is appropriate for both daytime and evening weddings.

Bynes's style is soft and youthful, with the majority of the hair left down in loose waves. This style is best for outdoor daytime weddings, but by moving the part to the side, and with a little more finish on the hair that is left down, it can be transformed into a more sophisticated evening look.

Hathaway's style is the most polished, with a smoother braid and a neat bun in the back. This style is appropriate for a formal dress and formal settings, and works well with a veil.

Choosing A Style

Before choosing your wedding hairstyle and makeup, it is important to take into consideration: the theme of your wedding, the style of your dress, whether or not you are wearing a veil, and what kind of setting the wedding is taking place in. But above all you feel good about the way you look. If you choose a style that is too different from the way you would usually style your hair, or apply a lot more, or a lot less makeup than you're used to, you will only end up feeling uncomfortable. Meaning that if you never wear your hair up, then you probably aren't going to like the way it looks up on your wedding day either. The best wedding look for you is usually just a more glamorous version of the way you style your own hair, and do your own makeup everyday. If you really want to try something different then make sure you have a trial on a day that you can wear the hair and makeup out somewhere that you'll be seen, and see how it makes you feel. If you feel good, then you know it will be ok for the wedding, but if you do feel uncomfortable, then it's better to know it before the wedding day.

If you have any specific questions about wedding hair or makeup, don't hesitate to ask emily@emilyroop.com

Hair colour for men. How to do it right.

I thought it would be appropriate to follow up my last blog about hairstyles for men with a blog about hair colouring for men. Many men tend to shy away from colouring their hair, but colouring/highlighting can be great for blending away gray or enhancing your haircut. The best looking colours for men are the colours that look like they could be natural, so you want to stay away from anything too bright, or too different from your natural hair colour.

Blonde Hair

My personal opinion is that all lighter hair (every shade from light blonde to dark blonde or light brown, and every length) looks better when you add some highlights. To get a natural look you want thin evenly spaced highlights that are 2 or 3 shades lighter than your natural hair colour. The idea is to recreate the colour your hair turns after being in the sun, so it's ok to go a little lighter on the top of your head where the sun would naturally hit it.

Red Hair

Lighter more ginger coloured red heads also look great with highlights. By adding some blonde highlights to ginger hair you'll get an overall effect of a warm golden blonde. Those few men and women who have that true red hair colour usually look best keeping their natural colour at least until it starts tuning gray.

Dark Hair

For dark haired men (ranging from medium brown to black) it really depends on the hairstyle. Shorter haircuts generally look better left natural, or sometimes coloured darker. Short dark hair won't naturally lighten much in the sun, so lightening it looks unnatural, but for longer styles adding subtle highlights, staying within about 2 shades of your natural hair colour, will look fairly natural, and it will give depth and texture to the style.

Gray Hair

If your hair is under 40% gray, and you want to cover the gray, then doing an all over colour that is close to your natural hair colour is the best option. I would recommend using a semi-permanent colour that is one shade lighter than your natural hair, but in an ash tone (rather than a natural tone). Over time all colours will become warmer, so using an ash toned colour will help prevent your hair from turning red/orange. Using a semi-permanent colour will help prevent getting a root line, and using a slightly lighter colour will blend the gray in better and look more natural. If you have more than 40% gray then doing an all over colour will give you an obvious root line, even if you use a semi-permanent colour. At this stage I would suggest either letting it go natural, highlighting or lowlighting. If you natural colour is blonde, light brown or red then adding highlights will blend the gray into your hair and give you a blonde look overall. If your natural colour is medium brown to black then adding lowlights will give you an overall salt and pepper look (but more pepper than your current colour). When low-lighting your hair you want to use either black or dark ash brown.

Feel free to email me at emily@emilyroop.com if you have any specific questions regarding colour, or if you are thinking of colouring your hair for the first time and need some professional advice.

2008 Hottest Hairstyles for Men!

I always tend to focus more on female hairstyles when writing my blog even though at least half my clientele is male. Maybe this is because the majority of my male clients ask for variations of the same hairstyle (short in the back and sides, and a little longer and messy on top), and very few of them colour their hair. It's not that there is anything wrong with this popular style, but there are many other options when it comes to hairstyles and hair colours for men. I would like to start out by suggesting some alternatives to the standard men's haircut that are still trendy and sexy.

One look that never goes out of style is the buzz cut (as seen on celebs such as Matthew Fox, and David Beckham). This style is clean, simple, requires little or no styling, and works with every hair type. Even though this is a style that you could probably achieve with the help of a friend and some drug store bought clippers, the touch of a professional stylist always helps. Justin Timberlake's cut is an example of a slightly longer version of the buzz cut in which the sides are kept clean and short, but the top and back have been left a little longer. To maintain a very short style like this you will need to visit your stylist every 3 to 4 weeks.

If you don't want to buzz it all off then you could try growing it long. The long hairstyles that are popular today are masculine and well groomed, not like the wild rocker hair that was popular in the 80's. Actors: Josh Holloway and Adrien Grenier, and models: Javier de Miguel and Andres Segura are a few examples of modern long hairstyles for men. Whether you wear it curly or straight, brushed forwards or back the style is more or less the same. The back is cut to around the middle of the neck, and it's slightly layered throughout. Mathias Lauridisen's cut is an example of a variation of the long men's hairstyle in which the back is cut shorter and the front left long. To maintain a longer hairstyle you want to make sure you visit your stylist every 6 weeks.

If you have any specific questions about hairstyles for men then feel free to write me at emily@emilyroop.com

2008 Red Carpet Hair - Simple is "In" for Red Carpet Hairstyles this Year

Whether you're going to your 2008 Grad, the prom, a wedding, or any other Red Carpet Event, the 2008 Oscars shows us that Simple is "In".

The low loose ponytail, featured in the three celebrities (Anne Hathaway, Miley Ray Cyrus, and Cate Blanchett's hair) in the images to the left was a big hit at the 80th Annual Oscars (2008) this year. I like this style because it's very easy to achieve, even if you're doing your own hair at home and this look is elegant yet relaxed.

So, it's apparent that simple is "in" but how do you go about achieving the look of Anne Hathway, Miley Ray Cyrus, or Cate Blanchett in the photos from Oscars 2008. Of these three celebrities, the celebrity that wore the low loose ponytail look the best was Miley Ray Cyrus. Paired with the low backline of her dress, Cyrus's soft waves in the ponytail and loose strands around the face really make this look stand out on her.

For those who have long wavy hair with layers around the face, it's simply a matter of putting your hair in a low ponytail, but for those who don't, there are ways you can achieve this look without going to your hairstylist.

To achieve this look for long & straight haired women, curl your hair with a curling iron before putting it in a ponytail (the curls don't have to be perfect because you're going to put them in a ponytail).

To achieve this look for very curly haired women, before you put your hair in a ponytail, blow dry your hair straight first, then smooth with an anti-frizz syrum. You don't need to flat-iron because you want the hair to still have body.

To achieve this look for short haired women, you can utilize clip-in hair extensions. When selecting a hair extension, choose a color either the same shade or lighter than your current hair color. Your hair naturally lightens towards the ends so a lighter tone will look more natural whereas if you choose a color that's too dark, it will look unnatural.

If you have a specific hair type you need a suggestion with feel free to email me for more direct advice at emily@emilyroop.com

2007 Favorite Fall Hair Colors from Vancouver Hairstylist Emily

My favorite colors for the fall of 2007 are three-toned blondes (seen in Nicole Richie's hair to the left), rich chestnut brown (seen in Eva Longoria's hair to the left), and golden brown with carmel highlights (seen in Jessica Alba's hair to the left).

Nicole Richie's hair, a three-toned blonde, works best on naturally dark blonde or light brown hair. The first color is your natural color, the second color is a warm blonde one or two shades lighter than your natural color, and the third color is a platinum or white blonde. The hair is highlighted by alternating foils of one warm blonde to one platinum blonde. These three colors blend together to create a beautifully-dimensional shade of blonde.

Eva Longoria's hair, a rich chestnut brown, is a solid color that works on a variety of skin tones from fair to dark; it would look good on most cooler skin tones. However, I wouldn't recommend this for anyone with a lot of red in their skin.

Jessica Alba's hair, a golden brown, has a base of about a level 5 which could be natural or colored, but works best with a neutral tone. Then, the hair is highlighted with a golden or caramel color. This looks best on people with golden or tanned skin like Alba's.

I wouldn't say that any of these are more popular becaues it really honestly depends on the individaul. If you're looking to achieve any of these hair colors this season, take into account your skin tone, and your natural hair color (or your current hair color).

If you have a specific question, or need specific advice on your hair, send an email with a picture to me at emily@emilyroop.com.

2007 Fall Hair Fashions from Vancouver Hairstylist Emily

In the last year or so we've seen a lot of long layered haircuts styled in curls or waves. While you would think that this trend may have faded, it's still a very popular style for this season, and especially good for colder environments such as Vancouver weather since curls are much more forgiving in the rain than straight hair.

Most people can't afford to visit a stylist everyday to get their hair done, so here's a few tips on how you can achieve this style on your own at home. For Reese's natural looking wave (shown in the top picture on the left), use Pureology Real Curl applied to damp hair and then blow dry with a diffuser. For Simpson's more finished, smoother wave (shown in the bottom picture to the left), use hot rollers on dry hair (see this instructional video).

Most people think they should go darker in the fall & winter with the darker weather, but I tend to disagree and discourage my clients from doing so. Darker hair only makes your skin look paler and emphasizes your fading tan. If you want to change something, try adding warmer tones to your hair such as gold or auburn highlights.

A dull color will only make you feel more depressed in the rainy, colder Vancouver-style weather we tend to get in the fall and winter.

Also, don't forget that if you have any specific questions for me that you want answered, don't hesitate to send me an email and I'll do my best to answer all of your questions.

Vancouver Hairstylist Emily's New Hair Tips Blog!

Hi everyone and welcome to my new blog on hair tips. I'll be keeping an ongoing blog here for any questions that visitors to my site may have for me. I've been in the hair industry for nearly a decade and have come across every situation having to do with hair colour, highlighting, cuts, and styling.

Whether you want to get some advice on how you should take care of your hair after you've had a colour service, how you can correct a "botched" hair job, or other hair related questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Hope you all enjoy the new site and feel free to give me your suggestions on how you think I could improve it.

Thanks!

-Emily