Five expert tips for moisturizing your mane as the weather shifts Whichever hemisphere you’re in, seasonal changes makes a good excuse to revive tresses that have suffered recent abuses. Doing a little something extra to up hydration, whether lacking from too much sun or radiator heat, can bounce hair back to its full glory. We checked in with Angelo David of the eponymous NYC salon to get a few tips on how to achieve luscious locks—most importantly, don’t go outside with wet hair and limit the use of products with alcohol and sulfates. Read on for a comprehensive plan to get the most moisture possible into your tresses. Locking in moisture doesn’t always mean turning to lubricating products. David suggests a home humidifier to put moisture back in the air and your hair. We like Stadler Form’s William Ultrasonic Humidifier ($230), which can cover up to 1,000 square-feet of space (in spite of its compact size), fends off bacteria with its Ionic Silver Cube, and has a timer, a turntable mist diffuser and an integrated humidistat. The stylist also recommends running dryer sheets through hair to avoid static and tame flyaways. While I rather like the laundromat smell, The Laundress’ nontoxic, biodegradable and allergen-free dryer sheets are made from fragrant plants ($16) and make a more healthy choice. Sometimes the right products can go a long way when you need more than just hair maintenance, but some serious help. David proposes beginning with the Pureology Hydrate Antifade Complex line. The shampoo has a “ZeroSulfate” guarantee and comes packed with essential proteins to rehydrate your scalp, while the conditioner mixrd jojoba esters and shea butter to replenish and soften hair. Both cleansers are scented with organic botanical blends and are designed to conserve color ($20 each for a 10.1oz bottle). Applying Angelo David’s Zero Frizz Control cream ($20) to hair directly after washing seals in moisture without weighing hair down. The cream works best when hair is exposed to high humidity or dry indoor heat, making it the perfect year-round restorer. They also recommend styling hair with their large round brush ($55), made with a balanced amount of boar’s hair and nylon bristles to prevent breakage and stimulate the scalp—which will help hair grow as well. Take our reader survey and enter to win a CH Edition Jambox!
Tweezerman’s souped-up magnifying mirror sheds new light on grooming For the obsessively vain, the original Tweezermate magnified mirror reveals every pore, blemish and hair, coming in handy for putting in contact lenses and all sorts of other detail work. Now, the compact little wonder is even more useful for all your tweezing, make-up or other fussy grooming needs with the addition of a surprisingly powerful light. A built-in, battery-powered LED shines onto the face, guaranteeing better accuracy for a precise pluck or a quick touch-up. While the black plastic housing might mean you want to hide the device away, suction cups make it easy to stick onto most smooth surfaces, like the inside of a bathroom cabinet (where I put mine). The design also makes it a boon for travel, as well as for tight spaces where there’s no room for a stand-alone mirror. The mirror sells online from Tweezerman or Sephora for $15.
People do all kinds of strange things with Twitter these days, and that’s part of the beauty of it. But I’d never heard of anyone doing something like Reorbit , a project co-founded by my friend Dawn Danby. It’s an attempt to reanimate historical and literary figures as they go about their daily lives. Here’s the plan: Reorbit will host a collection of plays each performed in text by an author. The author takes on a persona of a historical or literary character of their choosing as they go about their daily lives and mis- adventures. The audience follow the plays in real-time using this site or via the Twitter. Plays are preserved and selectively published in traditional deadwood book format. The organization that they’re building to do it will function a bit like a theater company, and for some reason, it feels like such a thing really should exist. With fictional Twitter accounts whirring to life from @FEMINISTHULK to @CrankyKaplan , it makes sense to me that someone would try to take the form to the next level, if such a thing can exist. They’re officially launching the site in March. If you want to be a part of that, they’re looking for more writers . Or you can follow them on Twitter, @reorbitproject .
From public radio to public art, our favorite books for 2010 exemplify the beauty in freedom of speech and beyond Though this year consumers had their pick of platforms with the e-reader, iPad and at its tail end, the ambitious Google eBooks project all at the pinnacle of published matter, print stood strong and proved that just like with the movies, the book is usually better. 3DD Photographer Henry Hargreaves’ ” 3DD ” took an in-your-face approach with 86 pages of topless women, whose all-natural breasts were maximized with the clever graphic design best experienced with the included pair of 3D aviator glasses. The Kiwi model-turned-photographer shot the women, most of whom are friends, in NYC. Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art Written by Carlo McCormick and with an introduction by Banksy , ” Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art ” is a large-format book featuring the unsolicited works of over 150 artists curated by Marc and Sara Schiller of the street art site Wooster Collective . From never-before-published photos of work by Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat to more known pieces by Krink , Os Gemeos and Shepard Fairey , “Trespass” goes beyond street art to include essential outdoor performances and protests such as those by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Ikea, The Book Ikea gives industrial designers a look into the company’s most successful designs with its 450-page tome ” Ikea, The Book .” Stories include how they persuaded various creatives—including the iconic Danish designer Verner Panton—to make an original piece to how Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad turned his vision into an international brand that the rest of the world instantly associates with Scandinavian design. Understand Rap Successful lyrics decoders got opportunities to win prizes during Jay-Z’s recent treasure hunt in support of the recent launch of his new book, but sometimes insight is the prize in and of itself, as ” Understand Rap: Explanations of Confusing Rap Lyrics You and Your Grandma Can Understand ” proves. Divided into chapters that explore ten categories from fashion to places, the book breaks down the slang and diction of lyrics like “Hockey players pagin’ me to practice on my wrist” into plain English (with so much diamond jewelry, my wrist is like an ice rink). This is reading for the whole family. This is NPR: The First Forty Years Correspondents including Cokie Roberts, Susan Stamberg, Noah Adams, John Ydstie, Ren
Last-minute gifts at these eight temporary holiday shops in eight cities around the world With contributions by Karen Day, Victor Reznik and Bailee Wolfson Toronto: Bicyclette Canadian clothing store Bicyclette transformed an already beautiful space into a winter wonderland for the last two weeks of December. Featured designers include Lauren Elan, Biko Jewellery, ScarfParty and Hart Boutique, among others. The shop is at 972 Queens Street and is open Tuesday through Sunday through 31 December 2010. Paris: Darkroom Focused on bringing the beauty of Africa to the wintry season, London’s Darkroom boutique takes its goods to Paris for a colorful temporary shop. Located inside the renowned Le Bon March
A greaser-inspired Milanese salon you wouldn’t mind getting stuck in your hair Named for a ’50s brand of pomade, Gum is a trio of hairstylists playing off the gravity-defying greaser hairstyles to come up with looks suited for the modern man. The salon, located in Milan’s fashionable Ticinese area, mixes the old-school aesthetic and vintage furnishings with quality cuts and clever ‘dos that go far beyond the rockabilly pompadour. The stylists each focus on their individual talents—with Alice scheduling appointments, Stefano cutting hair and Monica applying color, Gum tailors each style for each client’s hair type. Through collaborations with photographers and make-up artists, Gum has steadily built a large presence in the fashion and music industries in the few years since it opened. On a recent visit to Gum, I couldn’t have been more satisfied with the experience. A cozy atmosphere, no more than two customers at once, a welcome drink, wi-fi—not to mention dedicated time for choosing the right style and a head massage with perfumed balms—Gum provides an altogether deep, personal and flawless experience.
Our favorite three emerging designers from the American Design Club’s latest show An opportunity for emerging designers to showcase their work, A+: The Young Designers’ Platform took place earlier this month during the Accent on Design event at New York’s International Gift Fair. The American Design Club curated the event, aiming to highlight raw new creatives and their recent contributions to the design world. Seven out of ten of this year’s winners also had a focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility, bringing simple solutions to the world’s environmental concerns to the forefront of the design world. We picked three of our favorites newbies in the world of jewelry, compost, and cast iron cookware, who each snagged a space on the list of finalists, rounding out the eclectic list with their innovative new designs. Bin by Fuccillo Vancouver design studio Fuccillo recently turned its attention to composting—a simple but important part of a sustainable urban lifestyle. Making it easier for environmentally-conscious citizens who already freeze compostable scraps and drop them at their local farmers markets, Fuccillo created a stylish new “bin” using hard plastic and flexible silicone. The container stays in the freezer until it’s time to be dropped off, eliminating stench and pests by pausing the decomposing process. When ready for emptying, the silicone bottom stays flexible and pushes in for easy removal of the waste (without having to reach inside and scrape it out). Next month the bin will hit shelves online and in stores across the U.S. and Canada for $45 each. Hila Rawet Karni Hila Rawet Karni specializes in “industrial jewelry,” using materials like paper and leather to construct geometrically intricate patterns. We like the way the extraordinary level of detail and a passion for industrial design combine in the Melissa necklace in particular. Consisting of a series of interlocked textured, leather pinwheels, the design embodies the beauty of her creative mathematics. Paper, leather, plastic and spring necklaces come in various shapes and sizes at Hila Rawet Karni’s Etsy store. Borough Furnace Jason Connelly and John Truex were cousins before becoming business partners based on their shared admiration for industrial design and environmental responsibility. The two finally teamed up to create Borough Furnace , a Murfreesboro, TN-based cast iron cookware production team. Upcycling iron from scrap radiators or other junkyard items, the team creates high-quality cookware, including a popular dual-handle frying skillet, in their own backyard. The products are entirely recycled and handmade, not to mention classically-designed for a lifetime of use and beautiful craftsmanship. For more general or purchasing info, contact info [at] boroughfurnace [dot] com.
Though I’ve tried to remember much over the years, there’s only one quote I know I’ll never forget. It touched me deeply. Asked if she could edit one thing from her past, Fergie, the ex-crystal meth addict and one-time onstage urinator from the Black Eyed Peas, said she’d have started applying eye cream when she was 18. The day I read this, I bought an eye serum. Currently, I’m enjoying Crème de la Mer’s extravagant new eye balm(£95, cremedelamer.co.uk). I forget to use it more often than not, but whenever that interview comes echoing through to me, which it does, admittedly, at moments of great ennui, I’ll dab it on, and sigh for Fergie.
Peel-off impurities from skin with a preservative-free mask The preservative-free, luminizing black mask from Boscia purifies skin with a pore-cleansing, peel-off formula. Filled with minerals, extracts, natural clay, vitamins and antiseptics, I like that the recipe mixes the benefits of a more traditional clay mask with modern ingredients. The upshot is a mask that penetrates well, removing impurities, excess oil and noxious bacteria. While applying the opaque black goo feels as weird as it looks, it also seems to really work. After letting it dry for fifteen minutes, I peeled it off (one of those strangely satisfying tasks) to reveal smaller pores and brighter skin. Boscia’s black mask sells exclusively from Sephora for $34.
Video director Carl Burgess’ work takes on mass media “Art in advertising? Why would anyone do that after Warhol?” The joke may come from the most recent episode of Mad Men, but the punchline is just as clear in Carl Burgess’ video for ” Drugs “—Ratatat’s latest single off their album LP4 . Composed solely of stock footage typically reserved for the likes of corny law firm or pharmaceutical commercials, Burgess points to the absurdity of these kinds of images. Editing strategically distorting them at moments (with effects familiar to anyone who’s ever used Apple’s Photobooth) suggest how quickly the mundane turns sinister—well, at least in the eyes of the drugged. Directed by Carl Burgess , the video is a continuation of his media scrutiny, demonstrating how people are more addicted to the melodramatic characters in the commercials than to drugs (a point SNL recently made with their Sally Fields skit). His slippery-slope outlook also extends to the media’s obsession with beauty. For example, his video ” A Turn For The Worse ” chronicles a muscle man’s fall from perfection, suggesting the perilous journey in seeking ultimate allure. In his series of portraits excerpted from commercials, called ” Trapped In Infinite Politeness ,” Burgess states that when “Isolated from the bad ads in which they appear, the forced cheer of actors becomes an eerily compelling study of falseness.” Showing how these characters mock real emotions is his silent video ” Talk Show ,” which portrays how the media could easily utilize a less-attractive set of frames for the stock footage in their commercials. Finally in ” Advanced Beauty ,” Burgess removes people all together for a clear statement on the definition of beauty. The abstract animation symbolizes how beauty is an evading concept, and that perfectly-proportioned bodies or drug-induced happiness will not lead to ultimate pleasure.
Long, bouncy, tumbling, just-had-a-blow-dry hair has for some years been to a certain type of woman what a gold Rolex has always been to a certain type of man: an instantly identifiable calling card of wealth and success. This is because – newsflash! – not many women are born with hair that grows skywards for an inch at the root, falls perfectly straight to the jaw, and then loops itself into demi-waves at the end. That kind of hair requires professional blow-drying, probably using expensive Japanese hair straighteners and quite possibly with extensions underneath.
Well, goodbye to all that, and welcome to a new era of kirby grips and dry shampoo. Girlish, loose hair is being edged out of the spotlight in favour of a new look: the grownup, serious updo. Mad Men’s glamorous styles – and, in particular, Joan Holloway’s siren-red updo – are this catwalk season’s premier style reference. Chignons and buns, hitherto dismissed as the dowdy retirement-home options of a barnet past its prime, have made a resounding comeback. At the most recent Prada catwalk show in Milan, models in bosomy bustiers and below-the-knee full skirts were given scaled-up versions of severe-librarian-style updos. Giles Deacon gave his models an inflated, circular beehive with a soft, marshmallow texture; at Yves Saint Laurent, scraped-back hair was augmented with an enormous, chelsea bun sized twist on the back of the head.
Personally, as someone who has never had either the funds, time or inclination (never mind all three) to schedule weekly salon appointments and whose natural hair categorically does not bounce or tumble, I am more than happy to see the back of blow-dry tyranny. But this is not, it must be said, any kind of age of austerity. I was half-lying about the kirby grips. While it is perfectly possible, with practice, to do these styles yourself, it is not merely a matter of reviving old scrape, twist and spray techniques vaguely remembered from childhood ballet exams.
Jo Cree Browne, artistic director at Trevor Sorbie, points out that “the shape and the scale have to be exaggerated. That’s what makes it cool, and not just granny hair.” Flick through any of this month’s glossy magazines, and take a look at the new Prada campaign, in which the models’ heads are almost doubled in size thanks to their giant chignons. Luke Hersheson, the hairstylist responsible for many a hot cover look or catwalk trend, specifies that “the height and volume has to be at the back now. Height at the front, that looks old.”
The bewitching aesthetic of Mad Men has introduced a new generation to the joys of pinning one’s hair up. “There are different versions worn by different characters,” points out Ian Florey, master stylist at Charles Worthington. “Christina Hendricks [who plays Joan] is a bit Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and then January Jones [who plays Betty] is a bit more Bardot.” And even before Mad Men hit our screens, Amy Winehouse had been subverting the traditional connotations of the beehive, and Kate Moss has been wearing her hair in a very simple bun for major events – receptions at Buckingham Palace, the British fashion awards – for at least six years.
Mad Men’s popularity is also a symptom of our fascination with the look and feel of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Think of Julianne Moore in A Single Man, set in 1962, and the diva-ish, Liz Taylor proportions of her hairdo; or of Michelle Obama’s Kennedy-era sartorial references. “The 1960s sexy, messy updo has been around for a while,” says Hersheson. “What’s new this season is that the look has gone back a few years. It’s a bit more 1950s. It is a look that projects respectability, and seriousness.” (This might be why Naomi Campbell chose it for her appearance at the Hague last week.) “It’s for a girl who wants to look like a woman,” says Hersheson.
But in an industry still obsessed with youth, can the updo survive the stigma of being associated with the not-so-young? In the film Up, Ellie Fredricksen, late wife of the curmudgeonly hero, is depicted with her hair in a neat, grey, bagel-sized bun, a cartoonish image of an old lady. Most of the hairstylists I spoke to said that the women experimenting with super-sized chignons were their younger clients.
Although dramatic, these styles are, says Cree Browne, “a more attainable look” than the Manhattan blow-out ideal. Last year’s furore over Cheryl Cole advertising hair products while wearing extensions demonstrated how unrealistic our expectations of long hair had become. A chignon or a “cinnamon bun” – as they more poetically call the “doughnut” in America – may take some effort to achieve but once done it will last all day and evening.
“And I like that it’s honest,” says Hersheson. “It is blatantly not effortless, and I’m over that whole faux-effortless thing. This is grownup hair, and grownup attitude.”
How to create the supersized chignon
You will need: volume spray, kirby grips, a net hair “doughnut” and hairspray.
1 Prep the hair with volume booster and dry upside-down.
2 Split the hair into two sections from ear to ear, and pin the front section out of the way.
3 Pull the back section into a high ponytail, backcomb the ponytail, then thread it through your net “doughnut” and twist around to make a high bun on the crown.
4 Divide the front section into three, comb the two side sections back, and flatten with lots of hairspray.
5 Take the last section of hair – a square on top of your head from your temples – and pull this over the bun at the crown, tucking it underneath. Pin and spray with hairspray.
Jo Cree Browne, artistic director at Trevor Sorbie
This article titled “Kiss and make-up: eye serum” was written by Eva Wiseman, for The Observer on Sunday 29th August 2010 11.02 UTC
