Hello you beautiful sun babe, I’m so excited to see you in my chair! For many of you, this might be your first appointment into the salon. It definitely can be intimidating, and there are sooooo many questions on what you're supposed to do before you get your hair done. I thought,” why not create a checklist” to help prepare my guests for their appointments. So that’s exactly what I did, here is your Pre- Salon Visit Checklist!

1. What you wear matters, Keeping your outfit in mind is huge for your hair appointment. I recommend wearing clothes that you don’t care potentially getting hair color on. Even the best hairstylist, while applying your color sometimes can hit the collar of your shirt or have an “uh oh!” moment at the shampoo bowl. Also staying away from wearing hoodies or collared shirts. At the shampoo bowl they usually get in the way and most likely will get wet. Also if you want major points, wearing neutral colored outfits are great for the “after” photos. Wearing colors that don’t “scream” so that your brand new hair can be the main focus of the hair photos.

2. Wash your hair, There has been a ton of old school sayings “ The color will take better if your hair is dirty”. When in fact that is only a myth and not true in today’s world. Coming into the salon with dirty hair will actually make it harder to achieve your hair goal. Dirty hair can have product buildup, oil buildup and not lay correctly. When you come in with clean, dry hair, the color will take more accurately, you’ll get better results and tbh i’ts kind of yukky lol. I never judge or expect you to come in squeaky clean but when it comes to results it can make a difference.

3. Have inspiration photos, bringing inspo photos to your appointment is a great idea. Sometimes it’s hard to describe exactly what you want and showing a photo can definitely give some insight to what your hoping to achieve. I recommend 1-3 photos, any more can make things more confusing in the consultation. Yes, while having inspiration is great, please be open to the fact that it might take more than one session to achieve your desired hair goal and that it wont be identical but as close as possible.

4. Set enough time aside in your day, depending on your desired look, length and thickness of your hair sometimes appointments can run long. Having enough time in between social events and your appointment can make for a more enjoyable experience. If you have to be out at a certain time please tell your stylist at the beginning of the appointment. Some appointments can be up to 6- 7 hours depending on the service and desired outcome.

5. Bring a snack, like my last tip, appointments can run long. We don’t want to rush through our self care time just to grab a bite. Bringing a snack or being prepared and eating before an appointment will help keep you alert and give you some energy to hang through the appointment, Most salons have some refreshments but if you have dietary restrictions it might be a good idea to bring your own.

6. Keeping an open mind, and having patience is huge at the salon. At the end of the day we are working with chemicals and doing a lot of hypotheses. We can predict how things will turn out but they don’t always. Being open minded will help you have a better experience, I never recommend having your heart on one desired look but being open to something similar.

7. Be prepared to purchase hair products, of course you don’t have to buy anything you don’t want but I definitely suggest that you purchase some professional products. When you shop with your stylist not only are you supporting your hair bff but you're protecting your hair investment. Professional products help lower your hair PH, and while doing that your closing the cuticle of your hair so color doesn’t bleed out after every wash, and your hair integrity stays strong and healthy, maintaining that salon feel and look.

8. Be photo shoot ready, but for real lol. Wearing some makeup or having some cute sunglasses help make your hair photos look better and more professional. And plus, don’t you want to show off your gorgeous hair?? When the client feels more confident it shows through the videos and photos. And then you can re-post and share with your family and friends without covering your pretty face.

9. Pre- Book your future appointment before you leave! If you loved your salon experience secure your next appointment so you're prepared for holiday’s and other special life events, instead of scrambling trying to get in a few days before. Pre- booking is a great way to make sure you get first dibs in the calendar. Also don’t forget to tell your friends about your salon visit and send them to your stylist.

   Reviewing this checklist will help give you confidence before your next salon visit. You’ll know exactly what to expect and be prepared for the best experience! If there is anything else you’d like to add please share in the comments. I can’t wait to see you the behind the chair ! Share , like and comment to support!

Hey babe, it’s been a minute since I dropped some knowledge on you. For years I’ve been working behind the chair and had many clients tell me about their hair loss and concerns about their growth. They were experiencing thinning around the hairline, thinning in the crown section and they noticed A LOT of shedding after brushing. Tbh for a long time I didn’t know how to help them, but I realized they were coming to me for a reason and needed an actual solution to their hair problems. So I finally did it, I’ve created the perfect 10 Ways to help you grow your beautiful hair. Let’s get started,

#1 Understanding the root problem

In order to fix something you have to identify what the issue you're starting with is. In most cases slow growth, thinning and excessive shedding is due to internal issues. That’s right, what shows outside of our body is the product of what’s going on inside our body. Some ways we can find these internal issues are by getting some blood work done with your primary care physician. Getting lab work to check hormones, thyroid, autoimmune diseases , stress test and checking for vitamin deficiencies. These will help kick start the process of understanding your root hair problem (pun intended lol). I’ve also really liked the brand, Cell Well Being. They use epigenetic science to give you a full 30 page analysis of what might be going on internally. Check them out https://cell-wellbeing.com

#2 Supplements and lifestyle changes

Once you find out what might be the root cause of your hair concerns, then you can start taking some action. I always recommend my sun babes take a daily vitamin to start and add whatever specialties they need. Next is lifestyle, if you eat a well balanced diet and limit alcohol and smoking you will have better hair, If your life style isn’t a healthy one sometimes that’s all it takes to see positive changes in your hair growth.

#3 Stimulate the scalp

Bringing blood flow to your scalp is super important. Often when aging our capillaries in our scalp go dormant (means they fall asleep). And we need to wake those babies up again so they can give us some new growth. The ways that we can do that include, Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) 20-30 mins 1-2x per week , daily scalp massage, exfoliating the scalp at least once a week using a fine tooth comb or boar bristle brush. And last but not least using a good shampoo and conditioner that helps keep the hair in the Anagen stage (the growing stage).

#4 Regular hair trims

Trims play an important part in growing your hair because when the hair is damaged it means the ph is off balance and when that happens you will notice your hair growing and breaking off at the same time, so then you get the illusion that your hair isn’t growing. If you cut off the damaged hair (split ends), then it will allow your new healthy growth to catch up. I recommend getting trims every 6-12 weeks.

#5 Limiting hot tools

I’ve seen the best results of hair growth when my clients leave their hair in the natural state most of the time and don’t use everyday hoot tools. When you use heat in your hair that’s when we can damage the mid shaft and ends causing split ends. I know it’s not fun, not using hot tools, but trying different styles enhancing your natural beauty will give you the best results. But if you need to use heat in your hair then make sure your using a good heat protectant before any heat styling.

#6 Limiting chemical hair services

Anytime we use chemicals in our hair we are opening and closing the cuticle. Excessive chemicals on our hair can cause breakage and not help you if your trying to grow you hair. I recommend finding a hair color you can live with and rocking your natural hair texture and wait until you get some good growth before making any drastic hair changes.

#7 Using salon quality hair products

Using hydrating products are crucial in growing your hair. When we start to get new growth we want to protect the new hair we have. So adding high quality moisture based products to your hair care routine will get you the best results. I love to use leave in conditioners, healing oils and heat protectants on every single guest in my salon. I recommend limiting the use of hairspray, dry shampoos and gels, mainly because they can cause your hair to dry out and cause build up making it hard to maintain healthy growth. Higher end products usually use better quality ingredients and not as many sulfates. Sulfates can coat the hair and clog your pores on your scalp causing acne and other scalp issues while making your hair feel greasy and limiting your new growth.

#8 Investing in hair extensions

Extensions can be a great way to give you instant results. Nowadays there are many extension methods at all different price points, so that you're able to feel confident while at the same time growing your hair. When you use extensions , a lot of styling is done on the extension hair and not your hair your trying to grow. I used many different types of extensions while I was on my hair growth journey and having the hair extensions made me feel beautiful and confident.

#9 Maintain patience

Tbh growing your hair takes time depending on your desired results. If you take my advice and start implementing these tips today, you wont notice results until a minimum of 3-6 months. Growing your hair is a process and staying committed can be tough. Stressing out over your hair will only prolong your hair growth journey. Stress is a big reason why we lose hair in the first place!

#10 Having a positive mindset

Sometimes having hair loss and excessive shedding can make us feel not the best versions of ourselves and can make us depressed. Stay positive through your hair journey, remember you are lucky enough to have a second shot at growing beautiful hair. Everything takes time and know you are not defined by the length and fullness of your hair, you are a gorgeous sun goddess.

Thank you so much for taking the time to educate yourself about hair growth. I hope you can benefit from the information I gave you today. If you or someone you know has hair loss or scalp concerns please book online for a ‘Hair Loss’ consultation. If you have any questions or concerns please leave a comment on this blog post. I can’t wait to connect again! - Andy <3

So this topic is one I have personally battled for many years. Just like most cosmos in beauty school I experimented a lot, and I mean A LOT with hair color, bleach especially. After one of my first days of learning hair color , I knew everything there was to know about hair and coloring it (absolutely not but I was overly confident). I applied bleach using the highest developer on my whole head and let it sit for an hour then I went and sat in front of the fire place (because I heard heat was good for bleach , and omg I was an idiot that’s not what they meant) after another 45 mins I decided the burning probably wasn’t normal 2 hours after the application. So I washed it and omg... clumps and clumps of hair breaking off and I had a horrible chemical burn on my scalp. My hair was breaking off as I brushed it and I had a disgusting amount of hair stuck in the brush. When my hair was wet it stretched and broke off when I pulled then ends. It was absolutely a nightmare. When my hair was dry the ends looked shriveled up and felt so nasty and they broke anytime I touched my hair. So immediately I did my research and did everything to get me back to a good hair place where it could actually grow. And years later , ironically now I am an educator teaching how to heal hair using the best products in the hair industry. Here are my tips -

1) THE BIG CHOP

I know , I know this might be the worst part of the healing process but it’s the only way to realistically come out of this. You don’t need to shave your head or get a pixie cut necessarily but you need to take some length off and no not a half inch girl, a few inches is what I’m talking about. This is a good start but you will need to schedule hair cuts (trims) every couple of months to continue to get the old damaged yukies off as your hair grows.

2) CONDITIONING TREATMENTS

You should be going to a salon for a deep conditioning treatment at least once a month or every 6 weeks for a intensive treatment. Some treatments use heat and some do not it depends on the brand your salon uses. You should also be doing at home deep conditioning masks once a week. And I don’t mean put food in your hair because that is such a waste of food ,and it only works if you EAT it! You need a healthy balance of moisture and protein (keratin) too much of one or the other can be counter productive.

3) PICK A COLOR

When your hair is healing it’s extremely important to just leave it alone. You cannot be switching the color up all the time especially putting more bleach on it. You need to let it go and let it grow. It might not be the prettiest but what’s more important here? Let me tell you , healthy hair is beautiful when it’s colored correctly, but damaged hair colored is just that, damaged hair colored, and sorry sis that’s not beautiful.

4) NO HEAT STYLING

Yup you read that correctly. No hot tools baby put them away in a safe place , out of sight out of mind. Heat can be damaging even on virgin untouched hair, so it’s important to not make things worse. Hop on your Pinterest and start finding all the non heat styles. But also note you need soft tension styles. Styles that are very tight and have a lot of tension can actually make things worse and ABSOLUTELY NO MESSY BUNS !! Braids with light tension are a great style for hair healing. Neat styles are ideal.

5) GOOD PRODUCTS

Put the hair sprays and gels away, a lot of those products have a form of alcohol in them and it can dry your hair out. If you need a lil somethin’ somethin’ for a fly away or two you’ll be okay. Focus on cream based products for good moisture, leave in conditioners and healing oils will work just fine.

6) PATIENCE

And last but not least, patience my dear. It might be one of the worst ones on the list but it’s necessary. You got to give it time. Grow it out and give it a few years for a full recovery. Hair grows on average 1/2 inch per month , so if you have 3 inches of damaged hair it will take about 6 months to get it back after the big chop. I know it sucks. If you follow my tips I promise you , you can come out of this. I have done this so many times to my hair ( definitely not my proudest moments) and have made it out alive with beautiful growing locks. It does suck, A LOT but it is what it is homegirl , I’m not going to sugar coat the truth and tell you these “split end menders” work because they don’t. I have the recipe for healthy hair in my salon, if you need help healing your hair DM me on IG @dollface.andybee and I will help you get out of this too. Good luck on your hair healing journey.

Whether your hairstylist is a commission stylist, booth renter, Sola or salon owner you should ALWAYS purchase the products recommended to you from them! Every single stylist is a small business. They all get a percentage of the product sale made ! When you go and take a picture of the product recommended to you by your salon professional or ask “where can I buy this cheaper?” and then go and buy it off of Amazon or some other discounted site, one, that is so rude! Like really rude. Two, that product your going to buy from the internet is most likely diluted and diverted. Con artist make their living selling you watered down with dish soap or other weird ingredients in that product and sell it for cheap cheap. You think your getting a deal when your not. So now you seem rude and your not even getting 100% amount of the same quality you can get from a salon. When you buy the products from your salon your helping someone feed their children, pay for dance lessons, help with house / car payments. Your putting your money into a small business and supporting the person already taking the time to take care of your beauty needs. When you purchase from a big corporation (not located in the salon) your helping these high rollers buy their next yacht or vacation trip. Like come on girl, Let’s help the one helping you! We give value to where or how we spend our money. I understand sometimes we can’t splurge and buy everything recommended to us and that’s okay,  maybe start with the cheapest product recommended to you and slowly build up your beauty bar at home. The hair care company L’ANZA that I work for has an agreement with online suppliers. They are not allowed to sell the products cheaper !!! They can sell the products for the same price as sold in the salon or for more money! So when you go home after your appointment and search for those products your now paying more and now waiting a week to even get the products and not helping your girl out! When you could have supported your stylist and got them instantly! And knowing exactly what your getting is 100% the product and not some diluted version! I’m writing this blog to inform salon guest to understand how our industry works. Most people don’t know what diversion is or that their stylist even gets a percentage of the products sold ! Almost every salon guest says “ I wish you could come home with me and do my hair everyday !” Or “ I can’t make my hair look as good as you do it!”  When you purchase the products recommended to you in the salon , that is a HUGE part of your stylist coming home with you! LOL! After reading this I hope you better understand how the system works and I hope you have it in your heart to support your stylist! Like , share and comment to support!! 🖤 - Andy Bee 

So your thinking about having silver hair, here are some things to consider. While silver hair is absolutely fabulous and oh so trendy, you should know the truth. Not everyone can have it in one round at the salon, heck not even two - three rounds. And here’s why, silver hair can only show its true color on platinum hair. If you have natural black / dark brown hair color and it’s virgin ( meaning not chemically treated ) it will take three- five sessions possibly more, at the salon to safely get you to your goal of having silver hair. If your natural hair color is light brown / dirty blonde and it’s virgin hair,  it can be easier to achieve this goal in one - two visits. HEY! I know it’s not fair but I didn’t make the rules!! It is what it is. Now if you have dyed your hair color dark in the last three - seven years, this will absolutely effect the process. Your new growth (roots) will be virgin hair and the mid shaft down ( middle- ends) will be chemically treated with old hair color. So when wanting silver hair and having previously, dark colored hair you need to do color correction appointments before even starting the true process of going silver. Color correction and going silver are lengthy services and can be costly also damaging especially if the integrity of the hair is not in good shape starting off. Keep in mind as well,  once you finally reach your goal and got your silver hair, it will fade. Yup, it’s going to fade even if you use the best shampoo and conditioner in the game. This is just what happens. The maintenance for having silver hair is high. You need to come in for toners often and use color safe shampoo and conditioner (as well as a toning conditioner) minimal hair washing and come in for trims and treatments. 

Okay so now you got the facts and are wondering where to begin. This is what I recommend you do if your heart is set on having silver hair. Get a haircut. Yes, trim it up baby girl. Get rid of those dead ends, stop holding onto that length you “think” looks good, healthy hair is beautiful hair. Next get used to getting deep conditioning treatments and doing them at home. You need to make this part of your hair routine. And I’m not talking about cracking an egg on your head and mixing it with mayonnaise and rinsing with a beer. All that diy hair mask mumbo jumbo. Go get yourself some good shit, that’s professional. Alright now do your research find the stylist you are going to trust to create this dream hair for you. Schedule a consultation and show them a picture of your dream hair at this consultation. Then the stylist will be able to give you a price quote, per session. And let you know how many sessions they predict you will need to achieve your hair goals and what products you need to keep in your cabinet. It could be up to a year with consistent appointments. Other alternatives for getting silver hair are extensions. You can purchase platinum blonde extensions (recommended by your stylist) and have them colored ( only of course if they do extension work) but the maintenance is the same if not more when having extensions. Also purchasing a wig can satisfy that crave for silver hair without the damage and maintenance of having your actual hair color treated. I also want to put it out there that everyone is different, and some times you can achieve silver hair in less or more sessions then I mentioned before. A lot of factors come in to play, and it can be different every time. 

I hope this post can help you understand what comes along with wanting silver hair color. This can help you decide if silver hair is for you or not. Let me know if you’ve gone silver and your experience! Also let me know if you have any other recommendations! Please go like, share and comment !! 

• Andy Bee