I was sick on Monday with a stupid cold. I took turns watching movies, napping and checking facebook. One of the movies I watched was an old favorite “The Royal Tenenbaums”. If you haven’t seen it, you really should. Like all Wes Anderson movies, it’s got a cool/muted color scheme, dark humor and a dysfunctional family. Also, it was filmed in my neighborhood here in NYC and I recognize so many outdoor scene locations. I love when that happens.

Anyway, Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, Margot, is the best role she’s ever done. Margot wears a fur coat, a stripey collared dress and a blonde bob with a red barrette for pretty much the whole movie. Also, she has a wooden finger.But really, her straighty straight bob is spectacular.

Whenever I watch this movie, I remember that I want to be Margot for Halloween some year. Jake would make a great Richie if he grew his hair out!

Images from Flickr

I recently talked about the reverse ombre and why it’s a bad idea. But there is another way to do it that looks good and isn’t so much maintenance.

Instead of painting the highlights on to gradually go from light roots to dark ends, you can do your highlights on top like normal, and do a single process underneath. By going a few shades darker underneath, you are actually creating a very natural look. Naturally the sun wouldn’t lighten that hair, because it’s not ever reaching it. If you have layers, even long layers, the darker underneath part will peek through the lighter parts, making a similar “reverse ombre” effect. There is actually very minimal damage with color like this, because you don’t have to do highlights underneath, and that saves your ends from a lot of grief! I had my hair like this for several years. I would do a 7N or 8N underneath, and do highlights on top every few months to keep it bright.

Here are a few pictures!

You guys, I don’t know why I just don’t enjoy J-Simps’ company. Her hair is a good example of what I’m talking about though.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s is my favorite!

Nicole always has great hair. Not because she has naturally great hair, but because she has a great stylist.

Way back in beauty school, we called this look The Shadowbox. We did a more severe look like Christina Aguilera though. Back in 2002, I loved the platinum blonde with red or black underneath. You couldn’t pay me to do it now. Ha.

Would you try this look?

This lady made my jaw drop. No one does a center part better than Gwyneth. Maybe Mary Kate Olsen on her best day, but she wasn’t there…so Gwyneth wins for best center part. I loved her gown and her hair. They complimented each other perfectly.

Mila Kunis won for best up-do in my opinion. It looks straight out of a silent film. Her dark hair with her lilac gown looks stunning. Her gown was one of my favorites of the night.

Scarlet’s hair has never looked better. This is by far the best length and color for her. I thought her unfussy hair was a nice surprise at the Oscars. And let me mentions that someone with a body like hers would usually go for cleavage galore and I like that she doesn’t do that every year. Am I right?

Michelle Williams did it again. I love her bright blonde pixie, and I love her textured mermaid dress.  She’s a babe and I love her. (however, did anyone see her short uncomfortable conversation with Ryan Secrest? Awkward.)

On to the worst.

Amy Adams. This dress is stunning, and although she has amazing hair, I feel like it the wrong style for her structured gown. She needed something up.

As pretty as her waves were, there’s no changing my mind, she needed it up.

Reese Witherspoon. I heard people say she had the best hair of the evening. I thought it looked like a clipped in hair piece from Claire’s. I usually love Reese’s hair, but I don’t know, I just didn’t like this look. And to be honest, I wasn’t crazy about the gown either. There, I said it.

Melissa Leo did her own hair, without a mirror, on the car ride over. There’s just no other explanation. (but hey, she won an Oscar, so…)

Note: I kind of hate doing a “worst” list. It’s mean. I think about how I would feel if I went out on the red carpet, smiling and thinking I look amazing and then got ripped apart by some local hairdresser on fire. So, I hope that the women on my worst list know that I think they are all beautiful and awesome. Plus they are basically for sure millionares and maybe that will help soften the blow. So if Reese or Amy or Melissa read HDOF, sorry guys!

Q by Auro: I got (ummm … had) mid back wavy dark hair. Love it but mostly tie it in a bun on a daily basis. On special occasions I open it out, run a curling iron through it and feel fabulous
So I have been toying with the idea of chopping of my hair.  Have done so two times in the last 10 years. Love it for a month or two and then can’t wait for it to grow back.
Anyway – fast forward to yesterday. I went in for a hair cut armed with pictures of long, medium, short styles and one that I did not quite like. Discussed it with my hairdresser and we decided to keep it long but shape it up so that it looked changed.
By the time she was done it was by my neck. She styled it and it flipped and looked exactly like a photo I told her I did not like Anyway – in the heat of the moment I decided what the hell, just chop the back so it does not look flippy like that !!
Now I have short hair And I sit her shocked and stunned 24 hours later. My husband is quite amused by my reaction and tells me its just hair ! I know there is no magic pill and I know it will eventually grow.
But is there any advice you have in the meantime. What would you tell a client ?
I know I am being super vague here – but as you see I am emotionally scared
Much love,
Auro

A by Reagan: I bet a hundred people will read your question and cry and nod their heads because they are or have been there with you Auro. I am still in the honey moon phase of short hair, I am LOVING it, but let’s be honest, it wont be for long. Soon I’ll be pulling on my hair and brushing it 100x on each side in attmepts to stimulate my hair follacles so they’ll grow faster.

Here is a short list of ways to get your hair back.

~Keep it healthy. As healthy as possible. Dry, damaged ends will break off, making your hair shorter! K?
~Get regular trims. I like to yell at my clients *I don’t really yell at them ever* when they refuse to cut their hair because they are growing it out. If you keep, nice, healthy, moist, blunt, lush ends, they will continue to grow DOWN instead of damage and dry-ness growing UP your hair shaft, breaking off inches of your hair. That is where the confusion of “cutting you hair makes it grow faster” comes from. It doesn’t actually make it grow faster, it just ensures it will continue to grow in the right direction. Your hair will end up the length you want to achieve more quickly if it is (say it with me) kept healthy! Woohoo! Team Healthy Hair!
~Deep Condition. Buy a good deep conditioner at a salon or beauty supply and use once a week or every other week. Leave on for 15-30 minutes before rinsing.  Again, keeping hair healthy and preventing damage.
~Find a stylist you trust. There aren’t many things more frustrating (when it comes to hair) than having several months of growth cut off because the stylist doesn’t understand the difference between a 1/2 inch and 5 inches. It has happened to me. It has probably happened to you. PS I dont do that to people. It is my goal in life to be a trustworthy stylist.
~Comb, Massage and Brush hair. You thought I was kidding about stimulating your hair follacles. It’s a real thing! If you stimulate them, they produce more quickly. Before showering, brush your scalp medium to hard with a bristle brush to loosen up any buildup on the scalp and to stimulate those little guys. Top it off with a clarifying shampoo every few weeks. (never over do the clarifying shampoo!!)
~Finally, talk to your hair, tell it that it’s doing a good job. Tell it you’re proud of it. Caress it. I don’t know if that helps. But it’s just one of those things that is like a “why not?” sort of situation.

Hey, do you guys want to sit back and covet some pretty hair with me? Nothing like starting out your day in seething jealousy!

Dont cry guys. Your hair will be long soon.

Sorry I never credit my photos. I need to work on a better photo storing system…