Another Amazing Christmas.

I hope everyone had a special Christmas this year. I can't believe it's over with already!

This year we had a small Christmas Eve/Christmas but it worked out beautifully. Christmas Eve we had at our house and we had a delicious sit down dinner with just Sean and I and both of our parents! It was so much fun! Christmas my whole entire family (about 15 of us) went to the movies and saw the movie "Young Adult" it was funny yet depressing at the same time. After the movies Sean and I headed over to Sean's sisters house for another delicious dinner.

As far as my Christmas Wish List goes, I got nothing on there that I had asked for, but I got spoiled and surprised this year!

Sean got me a Tiffany & Co. Necklace

He also got me a Michael Kors purse and some new Snowboarding gloves. I was very surprised. He has really good taste. :)

I also got

         -"Flora" by Gucci perfume. Which smells awesome! It's a citrus smell.

         - Juicy Couture Daisy Earrings

         - Juicy Couture Silver Charm Bracelet Starter

         - Lots of pretty jewelry

         - Pajamas and Socks

  It was overall a great Christmas weekend! Now I'm excited for New Years Eve! I am going to a Black and White Midnight Masquerade with open bar and Champagne toast at midnight.

This is my dress that I bought from Forever 21 and it was only $27 bucks! Can't go wrong with that price for a sexy LBD! Along with my dress I did my nails a little early but here's how they turned out.

I used 2 coats of YOUR ROYAL SHINE-NESS by O.P.I

and 1 coat of COME IN FROM THE COAL'D  by Nicole by O.P.I

Happy New Year everyone!





Dear Santa

Christmas is in only 6 days!!!

I just love the Holidays, the food, the family, the friends, the memories are all the reason I love this time of year.

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year! I have just a short list this year and would be happy if I just received ONE of these things on my list.

A new watch since I shattered mine in Las Vegas..

This oh so very nice camera so I can always remember my favorite memories, and my other Nikon is broken :(

Black High Heel Boots

Cocktail Rings

Burlesque Glitter Polish

Merry Christmas!!!!

Love always,

Katie

My Favorite Styling Tools!

Styling tools are key to your signature hair style! These are some of my favorite tools I use on my hair and in the salon. It's really important to quality tools on your hair.

There are multiple things you want to look for in styling tools. The key thing you want to look for is, is it ceramic or titanium? 

 A ceramic iron is great for fine to medium hair it protects the hair from all the heat that is going on. It makes the hair shiny and smooth!

Titanium is a metal it is great for medium to course curly hair. The only time you want to use titanium on your hair is if your hair is unruly and hard to get smooth and shiny. It infuses the hair with moisture and really closes the hair shaft resulting in an extra smooth look.

This is the blow dryer I use at home. It is light weight and has multiple heat settings.

A lot of people ask why would I want 3 different heat settings on a blow dryer? The answer is those 3 different settings do 3 different things.

Hot- The hotter it is the more open your hair shaft is going to be. In order to have soft shiny hair is to have the hair shaft completely closed. In that sense you only want to use this hot heat if you want to take out some of the moisture in the hair when your hair is still very wet. If your hair is very textured and you have a lot of curl you might want to consider using this setting for most of your styling time in order to get the curl out, just remember to use a good heat protector.

Medium- This is the temperature you want to style your hair with. It's hot enough to dry the hair but cool enough to be closing the hair shaft. By using this heat setting is going to keep your hair in better condition than by using the hot setting.

Cool- The cool temperature is a great thing to have on your dryer because its purpose is to really seal down the hair shaft. You want to use this at the end of your drying time. Give your style a cool shot to give your hair extra shine, it also will make your style not fall flat and to make it last longer.

This is my all time favorite flat iron! It's the Paul Mitchell Ion Pro. It is a ceramic iron that has 2 silicone strips on one side of the plates. The strips really grip the hair and smooths it, putting every hair in place. The plates are flexible so if you wanted to use this to curl your hair you can! This is an awesome 100% ceramic iron and you're paying the price for it in this iron. Some cheap irons that you get at the drug store can be dangerous. Most of them are made out of aluminum which does not contain any protection in the hair and also grabs the hair causing frizz and breakage. Even some cheap irons say they are ceramic but don't be fooled as it may only contain 1% to 10% ceramic and the rest is aluminum.

In my opinion the Hot Tools brand has the best irons on the market. They are durable, reliable, and long lasting. It has a cool tip and a swivel cord. The cool tip has a slot to put your finger in so you can have more control in holding the iron while it is hot. The swivel cord keeps the cord long lasting it stays still while the iron is twirling. Hot Tools comes in 2 different plates one Ceramic and the other Titanium. The gold plate is ceramic and the silver plate is titanium. I use the 1 inch ceramic for big curls and I use the 1 1/4 inch for movement and beach waves.

Thermal Protectors

Some days I use all 3 of these styling tools. In order to keep my hair healthy I use a thermal protector. It lays on the hair allowing the heat to penetrate the hair while the heat activated protector is conditioning your hair. My favorite protector is Trilliant Spray by Sebastian. It has 2 parts to it. The first layer is an oil and the second layer is a conditioning treatment with glitter in it. You shake it up to mix the 2 and spray it in sections of your hair. It makes your hair shine like nothing else and makes it soft like nothing else. The glitter is what makes it fun to use what girl doesn't like glitter?

I hope this was useful for you all!!



Awkward Ugly Sweater Party

Tis the season of UGLY SWEATERS!!!!

I went to my local Goodwill store and picked out the ugliest sweater I could find. I was a bit bummed to find out the the stuff at the Goodwill was not so ugly.....except for this white sweater with feathers on the collar and sleeves. I saw the potential and made it even more hideous!

Enjoy the laughs!

Meoww! LOL

The Photo Wall

"The Winner"

Me and some of my salon girls!

We had a blast laughing at each other. I actually had a fun time making this hideous sweater as well LOL! Have you ever been to an Ugly Sweater Party?

Have a great weekend! I know I will be since we're headed up to Tahoe for the weekend :)

Holiday Hair and Product of the Week

It's official! December is here which means it's time for family gatherings, company parties, and fun get togethers!

We had our "Girls Night Out" party at the salon tonight and it was a blast just hangin out and having fun!

Yup, there's me in the blue/green sweater! Like my hairstyle? It is super easy to recreate this look... I call it my "romantic do"

In order to get this look you need:

-1 inch curling iron

- light/medium hold hairspray

-Brilliance Cream (product of the month see below)

-serum or oil

- comb

-about 4-6 bobby pins

Step 1: prep your hair with using 1 pump of serum apply to evenly on your hair

 Lightly spray your hair with a few shots of hair spray to give it some texture so the curl will hold

Step 2: Curl your hair away from face

Step 3: Slide all of your hair with your fingers to the side you choose while lifting the hair on your nape slightly

Step 4:Take the bobby pins and insert it vertically right in the center of your neck/hairline, when it feels secure take another bobby pin and criss cross them. Keep doing this until it feels secure.. I usually use about 4 bobby pins

(Tip: Don't worry about if you can see the pins or not the rest of your hair will fall over and cover it)

Step 5:ow you have all of your hair pinned to the side. On the side that your hair is pushed to take a small section from the front and bring it slightly mid ear area and pin it! Then just finish with some hair spray and Brilliance Cream!

(I really wish I could have more of a picture tutorial but it's pretty hard taking pictures of the back of your head lol just ask me if you have any confusion or questions)

*PRODUCT OF THE MONTH*

Bamboo- Brilliance Cream

I love this product for multiple reasons because it is easy to use and you get great results from it. It's a finishing cream that you use after your flat iron or curl your hair that makes your hair soft,shiny and smooth! Take a pea sized amount of this on your hands rub it around and run your hands over any fly aways! Bye-Bye fly aways! It's such a light weight product you won't want to miss out on!



Thanksgiving / Black Friday

Some of my cousins...I have a cousin that lives in Florida that we were Skyping the whole time, and wanted to snap a family photo LOL! 

My Lover and I getting ready for the big feast. YUMMMM

(I used a 1inch curling iron on my hair, took sections vertically but used the curling iron in horizontal position, this creates beautiful "S" waves)

Every year we head over to Aunt Nancy's and Uncle Fred's house for some a delicious dinner. We had so much fun, food, and family....all 33 of us. It was very loud and very crazy but I wouldn't change it for the world. I am so very thankful for such great people in my life. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving dinner! What was your favorite dish this year?

BLACK FRIDAY ANYONE?!?!?!?!?

(ME,ME,ME,ME!!!!)

Sean and I got up "early" 9am to be exact and headed to San Francisco for some shopping and a celebration for my birthday coming up! I was a bit disappointed this year because all the stuff that was on sale was either:

Ugly

EVEN MORE UGLY

Still ridiculously expensive even though it was 40% off

Or the line was wayyyyy to long to buy one $10 T-shirt from H&M   

I only ended up buying 3 things and none of them were special. Oh well there is always next year! But the best part of the trip was seeing the Union Square Christmas Tree! It was beyond beautiful as always.

My favorite part of being in the city around Christmas time!

My "YAY it's winter time outfit"

-Jacket: Old Navy $40

-Scarf: Nordstrom $30

-Knee High Boots: Payless Shoes $25

Good Monday Morning!

It's Monday...which means MY DAY OFF!!!

Yes, while everyone is getting ready for work I'm at home in my warm bed sleeping until I feel like it. :)

....But don't be jealous, I wake up early to go to work on SATURDAY'S.

Not much has been going on. It's been raining here in the Bay Area so I've been pretty lazy, and Sean has been sick with a cold.

Here is my "rainy weekend outfit"

Sweater- Old Navy : $15

Scarf- Target: $10

Long Purple Tank Top- Target: $7

Leggings- Target: $7

Carlos Santana Unity Boots- Macy's: $110

I'm obsessed with my new lipstick that I got from MAC..Normally I don't ever buy their make up because it's just horrible for your skin but I was looking for a new lipstick and I passed by the counter and just had to buy it.

It's called "Quite The Thing"

I wear it almost every day just because this color can go with pretty much any outfit, it's glossy, and a super fun color. 

Who's excited?????? I AM!!!!!!! Sean and I will be shopping in San Francisco. I can't wait. I go every year. I'm even more excited because Sean and I are staying at The Westin. I'll tell you guys all about it in my next blog!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT THANKSGIVING!



Let's Talk Shampoo and Conditioners!

As a hairstylist I get a lot of questions about shampoo and conditioners. Today I'm going to be doing some Q&A's and sharing with you guys all of my shampoo's and conditioner's

These are the most common questions I hear on a daily basis about S&C

Q:What is the best type of shampoo to use?

A: Every one's hair is different. It's important to figure out the right S&C for your hair TYPE.

Q:Why should I use a professional S&C?

A: This is a great question.. a lot of clients wonder why they should buy a $12 bottle of shampoo when they can go to the grocery store and get something similar for $4. Truth is those $4 shampoo's at Target or Luckys are not doing anything for your hair. The reason they are so cheap is because of the ingredients them. They contain a lot of water, fillers, and plastics...YES plastics. All of those things are just going to be leaving residue on your hair, it won't be keeping your color safe, and since there is so much water in them you have to use a large amount. If you pay a little it more for a decent shampoo you will be keeping your hair a lot healthier and more protected against breakage.

Q: What are Sulfates and Parabens?

A: Sulfate is a really popular ingredient in any soaps. It is actually a detergent. No ,it's not the best for you and they aren't the worst thing in some shampoo's but it has been shown that Sulfates lead to different types of cancer. Also if you're worried about keeping your color extra safe, a shampoo with out sulfates would be the best choice since you don't need that extra detergent making your color fade a little bit faster. Parabens are a preservative, it's a cheap filler and makes the shelf life last for up to 6 years! They are also a leading cause to Breast Cancer.

I use all of these Shampoo's and Conditioner's and all of them do different things! Now I'm not saying go out and buy a crap load of shampoo and conditioner because honestly there are  only 4 things you should keep in your shower.

1) A clarifying shampoo

2) A daily shampoo

3) A daily conditioner

4) A deep conditioner

These are my lovely Shampoo's.

Redken Cleansing Cream- This is a clarifying shampoo, you use it about once a week or once every two weeks and what it does is it's going to remove any build up on your hair such as hairspray, products, dirt ect. It will leave your hair feeling freshly clean and weightless. This shampoo runs at about $12 at a Redken Salon.

Alterna Caviar Shampoo- This is my #1 ALL TIME FAVORITE shampoo. The name in its self explains it all. It is infused with real caviar ingredients and leaves your hair feeling like GOLD. I can't rave about how awesome this shampoo is. It improves softness by 30% and leaves hair silky shiny with excellent moisture. You will be amazed if you try this shampoo. Now this is a high end shampoo I mean it's got Caviar in it people! This shampoo runs at about $35. BUT it is very concentrated so you only have to use a little bit. My hair is slightly past mid chest area and I use about a quarter size. I've had this shampoo in my shower for about 3 months and it's about 3/4 gone. 

Bamboo Volumizing- This shampoo is great it you want big sexy hair! This isn't just for fine hair, it's just if you want to have a little bit of fun with your hair. It's great if your headed to to beach and want some texture or if you want those Kim Kardashian waves. Bamboo Volumizing Shampoo retails for about $19 and again you only have to use a little bit and there aren't any parabens or sulfates in them! You can definitely use this as a daily shampoo as well.

 Paul Mitchell Awapuhi- This is a new line off of the Paul Mitchell brand. I love this shampoo because it contains 2 things your need in your hair: Protein and Moisture. It is made from Ginger Root which will keep it strong. This shampoo is great for all types of hair. It's got a Keratin protein in it so it helps so fight frizz while repairing it at the same this. This also is a great daily shampoo. It runs at about $24 dollars. A Great price for a quality product! The smell is very gingery it smells good but it's definitely not your average shampoo smell.

Bamboo UV+ - This is my color protecting conditioner, I use it when I recently colored my hair or when I do the Keratin treatments to my hair. It glides through your hair like butter and makes it really shiny. This isn't my favorrrite conditioner but it gets the job done and protects my hair if I want to go out in the sun. The cost is about $21. It also doesn't contain parabens or sodium chloride (which is a salt)

Sebastian Drench- This is my daily conditioner. I've been using this conditioner for about 3 years now off and on and every time I go back to it I think to my self "why did I stop using this?" It's got fantastic moisture. It's heavy but not too heavy where I feel like my hair is being weighed down. Smells awesome too!! It's about $14 for a the regular size bottle.

Loreal Lumino Contrast Masque-

These Loreal Maques are great! You leave it on for 5-10 minutes in the shower. The Lumino Contrast is my favorite because it's very moisturizing but yet still has the protein to keep it strong. They are around $33

All of these products are great investments. Yes, some of them are a little bit expensive but they really are good for your hair! I hope you enjoyed my post!

Let me know if you have used any of these products before and what you think of them!

Have a great hair day!



.OBSESSED. with Jewelry.

I've always had a thing for jewelry. I used to have a little jewelry box to put all of my lovely pieces, but as time went my collection got bigger and bigger.

It got really annoying having so many boxes! It came to my mind that I needed to do something different.

This is my dresser. It doesn't look the best (yet) but the story behind it is amazing!

This is the dresser that used to belong to Brittany Ashton Holmes who played Darla in the Little Rascals! My grandma was good friends with Brittany Ashton Holmes' grandma; who then passed this dresser down to my grandma! Crazy story right? I'm planning on refurbishing this puppy soon.

ANYWAY!! Back to my jewelry addiction...
I wanted a space where I can just have all of my jewelry in one box in one area. I cleared out the top drawer to this thing and....TAA DAAA

This is my pride and joy! I'm always wearing jewelry. I just feel like an outfit isn't completed with out the accessories.

<3

My favorite pieces to wear are earrings and necklaces.

What does your jewelry box look like? What are your favorite pieces?

Day In The City + Second Day Volumized Hair Tip

 

On our way

                    

Sean and I went to the Ski and Snowboarding Festival in San Fransisco today and afterwards decided to go to Union Square to walk around and have dinner! We went to the Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy's. I love going there, it really gives you that "in the city" feel.

 View From The Cheesecake Factory

If you go to the Cheesecake Factory I highly recomend the JD's Lemonade for all you ladies out there. It's delicous, sweet but not TOO sweet, and it will give you a little buzz while waiting for dinner as well ;)

Overall we had a great time. Nice and Relaxing....What did you do this weekend?

_________________________________________________________

Now I don't know about all you ladies but I don't wash my hair everyday..it just takes too much time in the morning to blowdry, style, and flat iron. Plus by not washing you hair everyday will keep your hair healthy and shiny from the natural oils your scalp produces.

When I wake up in the morning my poor hair looks like a sad little deflated balloon. In less than 5 minutes your hair can look sexy and volumized again! All you need are these 2 things.

1) This miracle product

Volupt Spray Gel by Sebastian about $13 dollars at a local salon. Works great on any type of hair texture!

2) Your blowdryer!

First step: simply brush your hair to get all the tangles out from your beauty sleep

Second step: Spray the Volupt on your roots

Third step: Flip over your hair, take your blowdryer and wake up those roots by hitting it with the heat and using your fingertips to get the extra lift. Keep doing this until the product is DRY.

Fourth step: Flip up your hair and TAA DAAA!!!

Volumized hair in an instant! By doing this will also absorb any unwanted oil in your hair.

Have a great hair day!

-Katie



The Refurbished Red Dress

This year for Halloween I wanted to be something different...something other than my usual cat, witch, or pirate. I finally came up with the idea of

"LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD"

Every year I make my costume. This year I was determined to hit the Goodwill and hope to find the perfect dress...Well I was wrong. I went to 3 different Goodwill stores and saw a million red dresses but none of them had that spark. So I went home and thought until my brain hurt and then it finally came to me! AN OLD BRIDESMAID'S DRESS!

(sorry for the horrible quality picture: I'm on the right)

I was a bridesmaid at my cousins wedding in 2004. I was 14 years old and the dress was still hanging up in my closet. I tried it on hoping and praying that it still fit..and it sure did! It was a little tight in the chest area but I was determined to use it!

I called up my Aunt Nancy who is the Queen Of Sewing. She is just AWESOME! I went over the next day and a few days later she turned my 7 year old, floor length dress into a  short, sexy, Little Red Riding Hood dress! She even made the cape and a little apron to go with it.

And here is the Refurbished Red Dress!

(Sean was the Big Bad Wolf)

I loved it so much I wore it to TWO parties. We all know that girls never wear the same costume twice in one year..but this one I just had to!

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

-Katie

My First Blog!

Let's see....Where should I start...?

I am soo excited to be entering and learning about the Blogging World!

Let me start out by telling you some facts about me!

My name is Katie, I'm a hairstylist and I absolutely LOVE what I do! My job is so much fun and gives me challenges everyday. I work at a beautiful salon Ma Jolie Salon & Spa. You can check out our website here. My family and friends mean the world to me. I come from a big, fat, so loud you can't even hear your self think, GREEK family. My boyfriend Sean is my other half. He's so amazing and I love him so much.

I love to be creative with everything! From my closet, to my hair, to my jewlery, to my room. Katie's Kollection blog will be about things that inspire me, tips and tricks to hairstyling, fashion, food, and much more!

Thank you for checking out my blog Katie's Kollections! See you all soon and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN

-Katie