Face Shape - Knowing Your Face Shape

Square faces are generally full and feature equal or near-equal width at both the jaw line and hairline. The jaw line and hairline also have a squared line. The objective with a square face is to thin it a bit and soften the shape's blunt lines - easy to do with face-framing layers, soft waves, or large curls. Most hairdressers will advise you to keep locks well below the jaw to create the illusion of length. Stay away from blunt cuts, geometric lines, linear bangs, or anything severe.

The oblong, or rectangular, face is long and slender. To flatter an oblong face, a hairstyle must do two things: de-emphasize length and create width. Therefore, long, straight hair is a no-no, while short and medium-length cuts with curls or plenty of fullness are ideal. Layered bobs are good and shags can work if the hair is directed off the face - if it falls on the face it will only make the face appear slimmer.

A diamond-shaped face features a narrow forehead, a narrow chin, and width through the cheeks. To normalize this shape, you should choose a hairstyle with width at the top and bottom and sleekness where the face is wide. A good option is a chin-length style that features wispy, temple-to-temple bangs. You can experiment with looks that are cut to fall onto the cheeks or try styles that are created to move off the face - I have heard various hairdressers claim one or the other is the best option for diamond-shaped faces.

Heart-shaped faces are characterized by wide foreheads and small, delicate chins. The right hairstyle can create a feeling of balance by making the forehead appear narrower and the chin seem wider. Looks with width at the jaw - such as chin-length bobs - are perfect for this. When swept to the side, longer bangs break up a wide forehead without adding too much width to the top portion of the face. Is your face heart-shaped? Looking for something a bit different to give your hairstyle some oomph? Try sweeping hair to one side. It's an ideal way to de-emphasize the chin and make the forehead look narrower.

The triangular face is most narrow at the temples, slightly wider at the cheeks, and widest at the jaw line. Create balance with plenty of fullness in the bang area and at the temples, moderate width at the cheeks, and sleekness at the jaw. Does such a cut sound impossible? It isn't actually. Simply ask your stylist for a layered look with volume up top and tapering through the bottom. Plenty of short and medium-length cuts fit the bill, as do some shags.

The pear-shaped face is narrow at the forehead and flares out to great width at the cheeks and jaw line. Think symmetry by creating plenty of fullness at the temples and in the bang area, and sleekness at the cheeks and jaw. Full, layered looks that feature height at the crown are good, as are any kind of shag. Many hairdressers prescribe looks that fall well past the jaw. Use your hairstyle to make close-set eyes look farther apart: add width at and below the temples and keep the top flat.

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Beauty - Creating A Signature Style

A signature hairstyle is something that is "so you" that it becomes part of your overall look. Meg Ryans short shag, Katie Courid rounded crop, Goldie Hawns banged pageboy, and singer Chrissie Hyndes choppy overgrown bowl cut are all signature 'dos. Though the wearer may regularly update her look by altering length, reigning in or adding fullness, changing a line, or playing with color, shes found a basic style that she likes, which works with her face shape and hair type, suits her personality, and fits her lifestyle.

Working with your hair

You probably have an idea of what styles your hair can and can't pull off. For instance, if your hair is stringy-soft, there's no way it will look kittenish worn halfway down your back. Likewise, if your hair is incredibly thick it won't be sleek and swingy in a short, one-length bob; instead, you'll look like someone set a mushroom on your head.

Icy blonde, Scandinavian hair is usually fine in texture, most Central European hair is medium, and Asian and Latin American hair is often strong and coarse.

You can attempt to overlook your hair type completely - if you can find a hairstylist who will let you. Most stylists, however, know that your hair type plays an integral role in determining which styles will and won't work for you. When a stylist talks about hair type, he or she is referring to a few different elements: how fine or fat in diameter your individual strands are, how many of these hairs you have on your head, and whether the strands are straight, wavy, or curly.

Body shape

When it comes to finding a hairstyle to complement your body, balance is the word. The smaller your body - this refers to girth as well as height - the smaller the hairstyle should be. The bigger the body - again, this means girth as well as height - the bigger the hairstyle. A big coif emphasizes a small lady's stature by making her head seem enormous and her body even smaller. Similarly, a small coif on a big individual draws attention to her body by shrinking the appearance of her head.

Age

As we age, gravity takes hold, softening our features and silhouettes. A severe hairstyle often emphasizes these things. However, I don't believe length or lack of length influences a style's severity. True, a buzz cut is short and austere, but a tousled pixie is short and extremely soft. Yes, poker straight, waist-length hair with a center part is harsh, but long, curvy hair with plenty of body is gentle. The adage to keep in mind is that as you age, go softer.

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Hair Volume - Examining Hair Types

Hair with strands that are skinny in diameter is called fine hair and has a silky, baby-like feel. Although most people with fine hair have little of it, there are many fine-haired people who are blessed with an abundance of strands. Because it is so light in weight, fine hair is often flyaway and generally works best with unlayered or minimally layered cuts that don't remove too much weight.

Medium, or normal, hair strands are those of middling width. These strands form the most common type of hair texture. Medium-textured hair is neither flyaway nor wiry; instead, it i hangs where it's cut to hang - this makes it well-adapted to all kinds of haircuts.

Hair that is fat is referred to as coarse. This type of hair is usually strong, easy to style, and may have a wiry look. While many people with coarse hair have a lot of individual strands, it isn't uncommon to find coarse-haired individuals who have so few strands that their scalp shows. Because coarse hair can have a bristle-like finish when cut too short, avoid styles that feature ultra-brief layers.

The circumference of a hair's individual strands indicates its fineness. The diameter of a medium strand of hair is 0.004 inches (0.1 mm).

Hair volume

How many strands you have per square inch indicates your hair's thickness, which some hairdressers refer to as volume. To determine the quantity of hair you have, pull your hair back into a ponytail. If the diameter is approximately 3/8 inch (10 mm), you have thin hair;5/8 inch (15 mm), you have normal hair; and 3/4 inch (20 mm), you have thick hair.

Another way of determining volume is to check whether you can see a lot of scalp when your hair is wet. If you can, your hair is probably thin. Because there aren't a lot of strands to give it a full, fluffy look, thin hair has a tendency to hang close against the head, making the scalp visible. If you can see some areas of scalp, your hair's thickness is medium, which just happens to be the universal norm. If there is little or no scalp peeking through, you've probably got thick hair.

Hair of medium thickness works in many styles. Of course, hair's volume isn't the only thing to keep in mind when choosing a cut, but if yours is medium-thick, volume will be one less thing to consider. Because there is so much of it, thick hair often looks full ­even puffy - in the way it blankets the head. Adding layers thins strands out, giving a sleeker finish and helping locks lie better. When short, thick hair needs some layering; if worn all-one-length, tresses look mushroomy.

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Laser Resurfacing and Laser Effects

Laser resurfacing was the "it" treatment of the 1990s - and with good reason. By removing skin's outer layer, the procedure can lighten or banish discoloration, scars, and fine and moderate wrinkles, as well as tighten slack skin, giving the face a firmer, younger appearance. The high-energy beam of light can selectively transfer its energy into tissue to treat the skin. A dermatologist will use one of two types of lasers for laser resurfacing treatments: the deeper-reaching carbon dioxide laser is usually used for deep scarring. The more surface-skimming Erbium Yag laser is generally used on areas of lighter scarring and has less of an effect. Prior to laser resurfacing, it may be necessary to take medication to prevent infection with herpes simplex virus.

If your dermatologist is using a carbon dioxide laser, intravenous sedation is generally used; local anesthesia is typically used for an Erbium laser treatment. After skin is cleansed, your dermatologist will pass the laser's light over your skin. The condition of your skin immediately following the procedure depends on the type of laser your dermatologist has used.

What if your face features both deeply scarred and lightly scarred areas? Your dermatologist may opt for a dual-Erbium Contour laser. Kind of a dual carbon dioxide-Erbium laser, the machine lets your doctor use the deep-tissue carbon dioxide beam on your severely scarred skin, and the Erbium beam on the more superficially flawed bits.

Laser effects

After a carbon dioxide laser procedure, skin is raw and oozy for the first 3 or 4 days. Next, skin crusts, peels, and is ready for makeup after 2 or 3 weeks. Skin can remain pink for up to 6 months after treatment. After an Erbium laser treatment, skin is slightly raw and feels sunburned for the first few days. Skin then peels and is ready for makeup after 5 to 7 days. Because both types of lasers stimulate new collagen growth, you may notice continued tightening and firming for up to 6 months after the procedure.

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Preparing Color - Home Color Versus Salon Color

Whether you're going it alone or heading to a salon, there are a few things you can do beforehand to ensure gorgeous color:

Wash hair 24 to 48 hours before coloring. Shampooing the same day as your color service strips the natural oil that protects hair and scalp.

Deep condition hair's ends. The older a strand is, the more likely it is to have been damaged by sun, wind, or styling. These damaging elements make hair's ends more porous than the hair closer to the scalp. Porous areas suck up color, creating a result that is noticeably more intense through the ends. Deep conditioning the ends 24 to 48 hours before color is added can help temporarily close the cuticle so strands don't absorb as much color. Coarse hair generally takes more time to absorb hair color, while fine hair absorbs calor more quickly.
When searching for a home hair-color shade, don't choose a color by the model on the box.

The result you achieve from a home hair color may not be exactly what you expect. A given hair-color shade actually produces a range of end results, depending on the hair-color shade you start with. That's why the back panels of most hair-color packages show you a range of color swatches so that you can determine your end result based on your starting color.

Here are a few additional steps for the home-colorists among you:

Do an allergy test, also known as a patch test, to determine whether you have any allergies to a given hair color. At least days before you plan to color hair, mix a small amount of the color - you'll find instructions for patch-test mixing included with your box of hair color. Using a cotton swab, apply a 1/2-inch (1-cm) patch of color to the inside of your elbow. Leave the area uncovered, unwashed, and undisturbed for 48 hours. Save the remaining mixture for use in the strand test. If no redness or irritation appears after 48 hours, the product is safe to use. If you do experience a reaction, you are allergic to the product so get rid of it.

Do a strand test with the color you mixed for your patch test. A strand test shows you exactly what color a home hair-color product will create on your hair. It will also give you an idea of how long a product takes to treat your hair type. Clip a few strands of hair - you want a sample that is 1/4 inch (6 mm) in diameter and at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) long - preferably from the darkest area of your hair. Bind one end of the strands with tape to keep them together. If the instructions say to apply color to wet hair, dampen the strands. Otherwise, leave hair dry Paint the strands with some of the mixed hair-color solution, then place strands in a plastic container. After about 10 minutes, rinse and dry the strands. If the color of the strand is not as rich as you would like, reapply the color solution and check every 5 minutes, up to 20 minutes for gray patches. When the strand is the color you want, note the amount of time the color has been on the strand. This indicates the amount of time you should leave the color on during the overall application.

Gather your supplies. Find some old towels, a second-hand shirt to wear, petroleum jelly or a heavy moisturizer to put around your hairline (this keeps color from seeping onto skin), and anything else you'll need - you don't want to be wandering through your house with hair color on your head. Remember, permanent dye really is permanent.

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