Anyone with long hair is acutely aware that hot weather can be murder. We understand this. The only thing you want to do is get the hair off your neck. We know you don’t really want to cut it all of right now, so we offer an alternative, which our stylists call “Two Tails.” This easy, polished updo is equally at home at the office or at a club.

1. Make a side part

2. Gather hair into two pony tails, one on top of the other, starting under the crown (the pony tails can be placed at any desired height at the back of the head).

3. Split the hair above the rubber band, at the scalp, in half.

4. Bend the top pony tail through the split from under the band through to the top of the band.

5. Gently pull up on the length of the pony tail to tighten.

6. Repeat with bottom pony tail.

7. Make a sub-section with each tail and secure each section away from the band and on the head with a bobby pin. Random placement is best. You can make as few or many sub-sections you want, depending on your ambitions.

Enjoy!

PS: If you have a question about “Two Tails,” ask any of our talented stylists about it the next time you’re in their chair.

“The experience has made me rethink everything,” said Adrianne Johnston about her recent trip to London. “It gave me a new lease on my career. To see so many people so excited about what they do—you realize how lucky you are that you can do something creative, that you love to do and can be successful at.”

Adrianne, colorist Patrick Ryan, and Amy Abramite, our Creative Director, were guests this June at the L’Oreal Professionnel Colour Trophy 2010, followed by classes at the L’Oreal Professionnel Academy in Hammersmith.

Monday night began with the Colour Trophy finals, a competition between stylists and colorists form across the U.K., followed by performances by Britain’s Next Top Model and Toni & Guy looks from London Fashion Week. “Everything was truly over the top—really dramatic looks and strong shapes,” said Adrianne, noting how many of the looks struck a balance between extreme volume/shape and an almost-prissy femininity.

Besides being the crème de la crème when it comes to waxing, esthetician Jaime Lewis is also our go-to when it comes to hot new restaurants, shopping, and all other goings-on here in the Windy City. This week we decided to share with our clients some of her not-to-be-missed picks for summer in Chicago:

The first words out of Jaime's mouth: Pitchfork Music Festival. This annual three-day affair showcases 40+ independent bands and artists, including some of Jaime's faves--LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, and Pavement. She admitted, however, to being a little torn between Pitchfork's lineup and this weekend's Sheffield Garden Walk, especially Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears.

Photo c/o Japonais

Her second most important initiative these days: finding incredible outdoor dining. The idea of sitting inside on a July evening seems pretty distressing; luckily, some of Chicago's most acclaimed restaurants are embracing the weather as much as Jaime is. "The riverfront seating at Japonais has been so fun this summer," said Jaime, going on to mention cocktails at The Terrace at The Peninsula Hotel Chicago, evenings on NoMI's seventh-floor oasis, and a few other neighborhood faves:

Not that we’d ever stick with just one piece of makeup, but if we had to—what should it be? “Everyone needs something for lips—lip gloss or a lip liner… and mascara, and a blush or bronzer,” Arianna Barroso laughs, “Can we do three instead?”

Before joining the Maxine Salon team, our makeup artist Arianna spent seven years with Mac Cosmetics, taking on everything from high-fashion runway makeup to day-to-day natural looks. For her video tutorial, she went with something that blended the two: “I wanted to do something softer, something you could still wear for day,” said Arianna, but no less striking.

Beginning with an eye shadow primer (a cardinal rule for a lasting look), Arianna created a soft-but-sultry smokey eye with some of the shades you see below, and for an added twist dusted purple over the black liner on the lower lid, a perfect complement to our model’s brown eyes.

From left, Color-Rich Shadows in Lava, Galena, Graphite, and African Violet; Eye Definer in Obsidian

Then add in a neutral pink lip and bronze cheeks: “When you make the eyes the focus of the look, you don’t want your lipstick and blush to compete. Make the eyes the center of attention.” 

I’m really happy to announce that we have two more talented additions to our staff.

Stylist Theresa Tufte has ten years under her belt with Sassoon and 12 years with Trio. She is proud to say that she’s a perfectionist, which is why there will be no stray hair left on your head when she’s done. She is particularly good at precision cutting and sculpting. She says a good haircut is one that looks terrific when parted on any side. Her clients also love her blow dries and her skills with styling tools.

Colorist Diana Mildice worked as head of Sassoon’s color department, where she was responsible for educating trainees at all the salons. Then she spent 11 years at Trio and was on the education team there. Suffice it to say, she knows a lot about color. Diana particularly likes balanced, dimensional color and may use three to four shades to achieve that goal. Above all, she says your color should be believable, yet it always needs a bit of an edge. She believes that hair is an accessory because you wear it everyday and it should reflect your mood and the seasons.

Theresa and Diana share many clients, who often see them during the same salon visit. One of their clients wrote on Yelp that you should “See Diana for color, Theresa for cut.” We couldn’t agree more.

     Maxine Kroll

It’s your turn, brunettes: One of the hottest trends right now is a dark brunette shade on the outgrowth and mid-length with a lighter caramel color on the ends. Colorist Leslie Shores doesn’t think this look is going away anytime soon because it’s classy with a bit of an edge. And it allows you to cut back on highlighting.

Examples of celebrities embracing this look are Penelope Cruz, Keira Knightly, model Lily Aldridge, Megan Fox, and Olivia Palermo.

For brunette clients whose old highlights have grown out, Shores touches up their hair in a dark brown shade without touching or refreshing the ends. The existing highlights are saved on the ends.

If someone has bright highlights that are still new, she paints a few balayage highlights onto the under layers of the hair, then creates a few caramel strands on top, one-and-a-half to two inches away from the new growth. Afterwards she touches up the new growth with a dark brown shade.

So if you want to try something different, or find yourself overdosing on highlights, this would be a perfect solution for you.

     Maxine Kroll              Thor Nygren       

 I’m happy to announce Thor Nygren has joined us as a Platform Four stylist. Thor and I go back a long way – I first hired him in 1983 at Vidal Sassoon. After 32 years as a stylist and manager at Sassoon, Heidi’s and Trio salons, I’m happy to have him back in the fold.

Because of his Sassoon training, Thor excels at precision cutting. Every haircut is perfectly executed. In fact, he compares a good cut to the proper tailoring of a suit because he tailors each cut to look different on every client. It looks like it was made for them.

Now ladies and gentlemen, you will love this: Thor gives his clients a relaxing head massage every time they come in for an appointment. He says it balances their energy and, depending on how stressed someone is, the massage can last up to 10 or 15 minutes. So, in addition to getting a great haircut, you can also achieve a state of bliss.

I hope you’ll visit Thor soon.

Here’s our idea for summer: Quick highlights that look like you’ve just spent a month at the beach. Colorist Tina Deeke recommends Express Balayage, which breaks the base color and adds softness. The balayage component means these highlights aren’t structured or predictable.

During Express Balayage, after the base color sets and is rinsed out, Deeke, still at the bowl, combs through the wet hair and paints on 10 to 12 highlights. After 15 to 20 minutes the color is set, no heat required.

Before Express Balayage, the old way to liven up base color was time-consuming. First hair had to receive the single-process color, or tint, and then it was washed, rinsed and dried. Foils came next. Or the entire head was covered in foils to achieve a balance of lowlight and highlight colors. Deeke says the results never looked natural.

“I love balayage because it looks random, yet the placement is specific,” says Deeke. What makes balayage look so natural is that within a single stroke, the highlight goes from thin to thick. “It’s hair painting – it flows,” she adds. And because balayage creates a softer grow-out, it helps extend the time between color appointments.

So try Express Balayage on your next visit. Add a little self-tanner to go with your new highlights, and you’re all set for summer.

We’re using all your hair clippings. Yes, that’s right. Hair clippings. That’s because hair is effective at catching all kinds of oil, including crude.

It turns out hair clippings make an ideal stuffing for the booms and mats that help to stop the spread of oil. Volunteers pack the clippings into nylon hosiery, which is secured at the end. All the hair packages are tied together to make a giant hair “sausage.” It doesn’t sound appetizing, I know, but it’s effective.

We’re working with San Francisco environmental charity Matter of Trust, which presently has 90,000 donors in its network contributing human and pet hair to the cause. http://www.matteroftrust.org/

The more hair clipping we have in the salon, the more we can contribute.
So please help us – and the Gulf – by stopping in for a haircut or a trim!