Showing posts with label hair toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hair toronto. Show all posts

Friday, March 16, 2012

Brushed Aside...


It feels like the old world is disappearing more and more with each passing day,  I miss Blockbuster! (haha)  In all seriousness though it seems to me that living in this time has had its positives in that we do not want for anything when it comes to information and convenience.  Everything we want is at our fingertips in seconds,  and new developments happen every second and not every day per say.  We have been shown so many wonderful advantages with tech advances in all areas of our lives.


What's funny though is that we seem to forget that we did things pretty darn well in the old days too!  When it comes to hairstyling in particular I feel like we have made advances,  realized in some cases that weren't advances at all and are now stating to go back the other way!  I mean think about it,  natural,  full,  beautiful,  healthy hair IS trendy!  Its never been anything but trendy.  The way in which we achieve this look,  and this type of healthy hair in general is to do very very little to your hair!  We try our best in salon to encourage our guests to take it easy every once in a while and not go overboard with their hair care.


As an example,  hair growth is something that cannot and will not be effected by anything expect good old fashioned natural care.   An example of this is a healthy diet,  Silica,  a good mix of B vitamins,  Rest,  and most importantly  do not put your brush aside!  Brushing the hair from root out to tip ( Like Marcia Brady used to!)  is a fundamental part of healthy,  enhanced growth.  Brushing your hair at the scalp and all the way through to the ends every morning and every night can make a massive difference in conditioning,  strength,  and vitality of your hair shaft.  Making getting it longer a lot easier overall.  The reason is simple,  brushing can stimulate the follicle level of the scalp with blood,  blood that is essential in the strengthening and support of the sustained and continuos growth.  


So the point is,  avoid always looking to what's "Hot" and new in regard to hair and try to realize that what's "Hot" is often what has always been...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Simplicity Reigns Supreme!


I am really happy about where hair trends are going right now,   have been waiting for this trend segment to come back for a while.  We went a little layer/volume crazy there for a while with layers that were just plain too short.  I really am a stylist that believes that less is more when it comes to hair and fashion,  its just more sexy that way!  We did a little too much in the way of teasing and lifting and pumping for just way too long,  and with this trend change upcoming we will get back to letting women look sexy just being natural.  That is something that I for one really embrace as a stylist.

With the upcoming changes in  hair fashion I feel like the image I have posted above will be one of the starting points.  In that,  I mean we will evolve from here and get into slightly longer and shorter variations of the same style.  Layers will get a little longer and blunt lines will be left a  little heavier taking the looks back to the mid 60`s feel that I personally LOVED.  In simple terms, the bob and the blunt are back baby! (Like they ever left?)  I hope that this sparks a change in my guests that will allow me to get back to doing the type of cutting I really love to do (Yippeee!).  Let those layers grow out a little ladies!  Forgo the volume for a more simple and healthy version of your everyday styling routines,  and with it embrace a whole new sexy look!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Stunning... Hair Done By: YOU!

A really beautiful way to put your hair up quickly this holiday season! Why not stun the fam with your gorgeous looks this holiday!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Just A Light Kiss...


So,  more and more style is going the way of the bohemian,  free flowing, natural feel.  We are being asked in salon on a regular basis what the new trends are regarding colour.  The answer to that question is  simple,  literally.   More and more women are moving away from over done obvious highlights and moving into natural soft colours that blend give more of a "sun kissed" look.  Lots of salon brands have started rolling out products that make it easier to achieve that style.  As an example we in the Bloor West Village location of evoke use a colour line called Davines.  A fantastic  and trend setting line out of Italy that always seems to stay cutting edge and on top of the needs of stylists.  Davines recently launched a new segment to their line called "Flamboyage".   A play on the term "balayage"  which the technique is most commonly called.  This technique involves highlighting the outside of the hair to create the effect of very light tonal highlighting.  The kind of colour that most women want,  (you know the one your little girl has when she's been outside all summer)  but have a hard time achieving.  A lot of women may never get that colour naturally for varying reasons such as not spending enough time out in the sun (because we work in North America!)  or not having a light enough base colour to begin with hence making it impossible for the sun to lift.  Balayage is a fantastic effect for the hair and a wonderful new way to approach lightning,  if you have been waiting for this type of colour for a while then now is the time to try it out!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Looking For Some Feedback...


Hello guys I hope everyone is doing well out there and handling the weather shift well.   I wanted to chat with you today about drug store products.  I have been in this industry for 12 years now and seem to meet at least 5 guests a day that are cooked on their "Shoppers"  brand of choice.


My curiosity has led me to enquire with you all what exactly is it that gets you guys hooked?  Is it the television adverts that keep you going back every six weeks for that next shampoo and conditioner or what?  We know that it is not the most ideal product to be using on our hair,  we know that the shampoos and conditioners generally offer little to know actual nourishment for our hair shaft.  Is it price point driven?  that would make logistical sense however I feel that most guests are willing to pay for what they get.  It could be that the marketing behind big brands is so strong we forget that regardless of how professional they try to appear they are mass produced brands.  Gone are the days of people realizing that when a company makes everything in the world (from household cleaners to laundry detergent,  floor cleaner, windex AND hair products) they seldom make all well.  Traditional drug store brands are often only a few chemicals away from being the same formula as your floor cleaner yet we feel like they are enough to use on our scalps?  Anyway I don`t want to go on a rant here (hehe) I would love some feedback from you all to find out how we the professionals can market to you better,  and get you using products both you and your scalp can be proud of!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Lean, Mean, Green and Clean!




We at evoke are starting to take notice of how we live,  what we eat,  and what it is we put on our bodies and hair.  With this new reckoning has come improvements and changes in our salon locations also.  Our Yonge and Eglinton location has been using a No ammonia base colour line for about the last 6 months,  while Bloor St.  has plans to roll out an Organic colour line in the new year.  Along with the introduction of healthier and cleaner colour alternatives;  we at both locations are looking into healthier and chemical-less alternatives in our shampoo and styling sections.  


This week our Bloor St. Location started to carry a range of Local,  Certified Organic,  Vegan, Gluten Free shampoos and conditioners by Green Beaver.  A fabulous range of product that I have personally been using for about 3 months now with great results.  We feel as though we can still achieve wonderful results using these cleaner alternatives,  and at the same time support a movement that we truly believe in and support.  I believe this evolution started as a result of a couple of different factors,  one being the recent spike in celiac cases and a need to satisfy their demands.  The other being a general belief in the need to support local,  greener,  and healthier options.  To me this was a natural progression as I had already started to make changes in this direction a while ago.  We at evoke hope to continue to service the needs of our guests and at the same time stay trendsetting and current!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin!!

Here we are with another Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin!!! Tonight I get into the discussion of what the right type of brush is for thick wavy hair blow dries. Check Out this video and hopefully you get something from it!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I Found Love... In Rihanna`s Hair!

This woman is just ridiculous; everything she touches turns to gold! (Or platinum in this case). I absolutely love Rihanna!  Many love her for her music and swagger, for me, it's her hair.   I have blogged about her in the past and have also used one of her images as our "look of the day."  Why? The reason is simple... Rihanna embodies trendsetter. I remember seeing her at Much when she and Kanye were just starting out (around "Jesus Walks/ Umbrella" Days) and they were already way ahead of the curve. Her videos are always edgy and she always seems to have the greatest hair! This is yet another of those videos in a long line of solid hits.  They Found Love, and I Found Hair-Love!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!

Normally its time to put forth a video showcasing the answer to a question iv`e  received but today,  I have to say...  I`m Exhausted!!!




I`m Exhausted because there have been few Saturday`s like this in my career,  today I had every single long,  thick haired, curly, wavy,  unbelievably massive haired client on my repetoir!   SERIOUSLY!  I blow dried more hair today than I have in my entire career combined!  I guess with the holidays on the way I was bound to get a day like this in there and well today was it!  


Everyone wants that smoothened out silky style and that means a workout for me people!  Holy moly if you think its hard on you to blow dry your own head of hair on a weekday morning imagine if 7 of you came in to see me in one day!  Well guess what... Today was THE day!  Anyway,  all i`m saying is at least I got through it with a smile :) 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Grey , Grey... IT`S OKAY!!!

Hello everyone!  I am very happy to be writing to you on this fine day! LOL!  Its just how i`m feeling today folks... a little quirky!  Anyway today we gonna answer a question that I received a couple of days ago from a great client of mine.  This is not a standard question I answer in that it wasn`t emailed,  however I figured this is one that a lot of clients might want to hear about.  So having said that lets get goin!




"Okay,  so I woke up this morning and look at what I found!  I am only 29 years old!  Why the heck do I have this ridiculous grey hair right at the front of my head!  BRUTAL!  What am I supposed to do with this thing!"


The first thing to do is relax!  Just because you`ve found that first piece of sweet silver magic doesn`t mean that its time to hit the salon hard every six weeks!  Its truly a matter of personal feeling,  by that I mean how much does thing thing really bother you?  Suprisingly,  in all the years that I have been servicing my guests I have realized one thing for sure... Not ALL my clients dred that first grey!  Some women have a real confidence about them when discussing the topic.  Why I say confidence is simply because I have heard the story so mant times,  "it did`nt really bother me until my friend mentioned it!  Now its driving me nuts!"  The question is why?!  I feel like women have this preception that men who have turned grey are dapper or sophisticated but women are old and run down.  Personally I feel like that is a societal issue that we internalize if we care about what others think.  Just like there are always those clients that say "wow she looks great with her grey I wish I could do that."  You can.  The only difference is truly feeling like you can carry yourself with that class and confidence.  Now,  if that isnt you we look forward to seeing you every four to six weeks!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Transplant Much?

So If your wondering what it looks like to have a hair transplant, or what that might feel like in general than you don`t want to miss this video! Not for anything this is a testament to why someone might want to be sure they are using the right hair products and taking good care of their hair. This video actually is quite funny considering the content and that fact that the guy is going in to surgery! He is in pretty good spirits overall I would say. Anyway check it out for yourselves and be sure of one thing... Take Care of Your Hair!!!!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin!!!

Hi Everyone!! So, the idea behind Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin is to answer peoples questions on hair in video form. Well, tonight I am going to take a step back and let another lovely lady we know very well take the stage. This lovely lady`s name is Julia Darby, and she is a great client of ours at our Bloor St. Location. The reason I am handing over the mantle for this week is that we recieved a question I can answer however I would need the time to put a video together correctly. Why do that when Julia has already done such a fabulous job?! So having said that, this is the question I recieved from Melanie... "Hi Jon, Hope you are well. I have a video request for you... could you show us how to do a glam old Hollywood kind of look? ". Here it is then, lets get to it!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Working The Wax!

Sometimes, Sometimes we decide to mix it up. Today IS THAT DAY! I came across this video on a blog that I like to read and thought WOW, Hair and its removal can be pretty painful. I mean, as a guy myself I often forget just how much women deal with in their everyday beautifying routine. I know that sounds silly but its true, women primp, prode, and put up with all sorts of crappy things in order to look their "BEST" either for a man or just for themselves. I have often wondered what it would be like to be waxed or go through electrolyisis or some of the other wonderful things they do to themselves... Well, Greg works it all out for me in this video. Greg, thanks for the answer dude... Just glad it was you.


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin!!

So here we go again folks! Its Saturday Night!!! So we have questions coming like crazy and tonight I decided to address one that I thought would really help the client who asked it. Tonight we are going to answer a question that I think a lot of people ask themselves. We were asked what the best bang to choose is for a round face shape. Check this vid out!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Tame That Swirl Girl!

So the questions have been flooding in over the last little while and i want to say thank you to our readers for their commitment to having great hair and asking us for advice on just how to get there!  Its has been very flattering indeed to see all of the questions.  For a while there in the beginning I wondered if people really cared to ask questions.  It felt like maybe they wanted to read the answers but maybe not produce the question,  I can`t answer if you don`t ask!  Well,  so much for that problem... Its Been GREAT!  Having said that,  lets get to today`s... 



" Jon,  I recently started reading the blog and want to say that I think the concept of using the blog to have my hair questions answered is great.  I have a hair dilemma,  I have a bob haircut that refuses to tuck under!  It is driving me nuts because it ends up looking more like a flippy cut than a classic bob.  Do you have any tips on how I can get it to sit under a bit better?  Thanks again"


Okay,  the bob is the worlds most difficult cut to create,  I think I should start by saying that.  Anyone can look at the bob and think "What`s so hard?,  Its only one length!"  Yeah but try cutting all the hair to one even length without any dips or bevels in the line... NOT SO EASY.  What else makes the bob a difficult cut is that if you do not layer it correctly ( meaning leave the layers long enough on the inside of the cut)  then it will definitely flip up all over the place.  Now,  lets presume that your bob was cut correctly from the beginning,  you may just need to take a look at how you dry it.  IF your layers are long enough that they are situated predominately in the bottom of the shape then you may just be styling it wrong.  Because we have a circular swirl in our growth patterns,  we have to be careful in the way we dry our hair.  As an example,  the top of a baby`s head had a circular swirl that is plain to see.  Most people don`t realize that that swirl never goes away,  when we are older the hair is just longer so the swirl is less evident.  Because it is circular,  the hair on one side of your head will grow forward and the other side back,  so when we dry it we must even that out.  The way we do that is by drying both sides of the front back and off our hairline in the direction of the back of our heads.  Basically,  pull the front backward and fight the side that grows forward.  You will be shocked!  It will tuck right under.  I hope that helped and if your layers are too short let me know.... I would love to take a look! :) Fire me off an email if you need a question answered at dimauro.jon@gmail.com!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Bringin` It Back!

Hello everyone,  and I am sorry if any of you feel like it was me who jinxed the weather by being so optimistic and happy that it was still beautiful out there!... My Bad.  I hope at least that it does n`t last any longer than necessary,  because if there is one type of weather  condition I hate its rain!  Well,  lets get right to it here and work on today`s question.


"Hi there,  I was wondering if you could give me some advice here.  I know that fashion moves in decades and considering that we are coming out of the 80`s era,  will the 90`s be next?  The reason I ask is because I would really like to have my hair cut into that Rachel from friends shape again.  I LOVED THAT CUT,  it was just soo easy and I would love to wear it again.  Am I dreaming?"




NO!  You are FAR from dreaming!  I am amazed to  have been asked this question and had to answer it because believe it or not I just did that classic shape on a girl in her late teens the other day!  I found that extremely interesting because you do not normally have a younger clientele like that asking for a look that was around when they were like 8 or 9!  It was awesome and confirmed for me that YES! We ARE moving back into the 90`s with this next wave of fashion and hair.  I was soo happy to perform the cut because I knew that she was ahead of the curve by asking for it and that we at evoke LOVE to try and beat the clock and get to these trendy looks fast.  I am so pumped by this upcoming trend that I even decided to start trying to sell it to guests in advance... Kind of like a sneak peek!  Anyway,  DO NOT Hesitate!  Get it done today!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Whats your NAME?... evokesalon.com

So every once in a while we get a little silly... When we do you don`t really ever know what is going to come out of it. We will generally make a video to help showcase just how silly we can get! Anyway the other day a couple of stylists from the Yonge St. location decided it would be a good idea to make a video, a video that would showcase one of our stylists. That stylist was Ryan Yee, an up and coming artist at our Yonge and Eglinton location. Needless to say, after you watch this you will see just how wrong these videos can go when you step up and don`t really have content! Hilarious! Anyway the objective was to ask him what he enjoyed most about his job, and what he loves about his clients.... Check this out.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Saturday Night Lights, Camera, Askin!!

Hey everyone! I hope your all geared up for the weekend and that its already gotten off to a positive start! Tonight on Saturday Night Lights, Camera Askin!! I review a great question I got this week. "What is the difference between Mask and Conditioner?" To be honest that is one that is slightly more difficult to answer in that technically they are the same thing... (Kind of) anyway hope I got to the point as I explain it the best I could! ...Enjoy.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Don`t Rush! Pick The RIGHT Brush!

Hey guys,  hope you found yesterdays video post as hilarious as I did when I first saw it!   I think I need to take it back a little more serious today.  I know you all love the videos and interactive stuff BUT I think you really  would prefer some help with your hair.  I think the majority of our readers would prefer to hear about some good tips and advice,  well let`s be honest they probably would just prefer I move in and do it everyday!  Here we go with today`s question....

"Hi there I was just curious about what brush I should be using when blowing out my hair.  I have a bob cut currently and my stylist dries it with a flat brush that has white bristles.  He always seems to get it laying just right and I was wondering if I had trouble because I was using the wrong brush?  I have a round brush that I use.  What do you think?"


I think that to be honest you would have an incredibly hard time using a Denman brush ( which is what the flat brush with white bristles is called)  to dry your bob.  The stylists will always make that look easy because we have done it 1,000,000 times!  The Denman was the original brush used by Vidal Sassoon when he created the bob in the first place,  and it is an optimal tool to use when used correctly.  However,  if you do not have experience with it it can be difficult to get your hair to sit under well.  I recommend sticking with the tool you are more comfortable with ( the round brush) because it will achieve a great result and you can duplicate what he did with ease.  OR come visit me and I will give you lessons for like 2 years on how to use the Denman (haha)  anyway,  thanks for your question and have a GREAT day!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Keep Your Strands To Yourself!

Another funny, funny ad I had to show you guys! This one will get all of you out there that over use your conditioners laughing. There is such thing as using too much conditioner on your hair after shampooing and in all fairness I think this is the best depiction I have seen of what it looks like when you do. I found this commercial hilarious for multiple reasons, One is that we are in Canada so something like this would NEVER make it on to our T.V stations. The other is that I am in the industry and therefore have been lucky enough to have to try and wash your hair out after you have used this much! It just gets to be a little too ga Reesy! ( Little Encino man there for anyone who cares) so this vid had me in stitches. Check it out and tell me what you thought!