Tips to take care of your hair


When I arrived to Buenos Aires, my hair was short and as everyone else, I needed to have a haircut. So I asked to the locals and they recommended me a place (that since I don’t like to say bad things I will not mention the name unless you ask me ☺) and it was a total disaster. They cut my hair so much that I end up with holes, and they dye my hair with an orange color because they wanted to make some highlights … total disaster!!!

So, few weeks later and being totally depress I decided to try another hairdresser, so one of my friends recommended me to go to “Studio Lamensa” with someone called Margarita … so that’s what I did. When she saw me she immediately sends me to the color area to dye my hair to a darker color and then she analyzed my case and her exacts words were: “Is winter, the best for you is wear a hat!” Imagine how I felt, if she couldn’t do anything … who else could??? So I followed her advice, and every month I came back to see if she could do something else with my hair, but the only thing to do was to wait for my hair to grow. Today after five years of having Margarita as my hairdresser, I can say that I have a great, long and shinny hair, thanks to her!

I am telling you this story, because I want you to understand why I decided to interview Margarita. Thanks to her I have my hair again, and because of her every month I spend many hours in the hairdresser knowing that I am in good hands with a team leading by Sergio Lamensa (well known hairdresser here in Argentina) and that Margarita being the second in charge will care of my hair as it was hers!

Margarita started as a hairdresser 25 years ago and from the very beginning she stood out in her work and had the chance to work in recognized beauty salons. She is in charge of many local and international celebrities’ hairstyle like Natalia Oreiro, Dolores Barreiro, Pampita, María Vazquez and Rebeca de Alba (Mexican presenter). She is constantly working in photography sessions for magazines and runways productions. She is specialist in bridal hairstyle and hair extensions.

Seating in Studio Lamensa I asked her the following:

1. Which factor do you consider to make the perfect cut in each person?
M: Obviously the first factor is the face shape and then the likes and desire of the client. We try to balance the face by not emphasizing any part, for example the ears. I always negotiate with the client so she get the best option and leave happy from here. I will never do anything to drastic with in a haircut it is a nonsense risk.

2. And what do you consider to define the color?
M: It also has to be based on each person, for example, if the client has darker skin, is not the best to be blond. But here in Argentina, everybody loves to be blond so what I do is create a balance that will look good, but it is always based on negotiation. My work has a lot of psychology, you have to be very careful in how you say things, never give a bad critic just like that, always negotiate, because the point is to make the client looks better and be happy.

3. How can we have a healthy and shinny hair?
M: Taking care of it, there is not other way. Here in Buenos Aires we have a lot of hair products so it is not that difficult, you have to try many to see which one is better for your hair. You always have to take care of it using good products, avoiding the use of the iron daily and not putting so much hot on it, if not there is no product that will help. Always use conditioner. The best method to have a healthy hair is to rotate products, try to have 2 or 3 shampoos and rotate them, don’t use always the same so the hair will not get use to it.

4. How often do we have to cut out hair? It is true that if you cut it will grow faster?
M: The best is to cut it at least 2 to 3 times per year, if not every one and a half month or every two months if you have a specific cut to maintain. It is true that if you cut your hair it will grow faster, because you help it to get renewed, it is not a myth.

5. How often can we dye our hair?
M: If you have white hair, you have to dye it at least every month; some people come every two weeks. If you just do highlights, it is ok to dye it every 3 to 4 months just to maintain the roots.

6. Since one of your specialties is the hair extension, can you tell us little more about it? In which cases do you recommend them? How often do we have to change them?
M: Usually the people come here to ask for extensions in three cases: they have a terrible haircut and they want their hair back, they love to have a lot of hair and they just want more even though they already have hair or they really don’t have hair and they want more. I think everybody can use hair extensions, I only don’t recommend it when a person has alopecia, and it will not help them. The hair extension that I use are the best for the hair, there are some that use silicone but that end up cutting the hair. The other method is using staples, it is faster to get it on, but again at the end it will cut the hair and it is very uncomfortable to sleep it damages the scalp. What I use is a hair curtain that is sewed to a French braid with needle and thread, it is a lot or work but the person will not feel it and it will not damage the scalp or the hair. The maintenance has to be every 2 months approximately.

7. What is your advice to always have a nice hairstyle?
M: You should come to the hairdresser (laughs). First you have to get a good haircut, then you have to take care of it but usually if you have a nice haircut it is going to be easier to get a hairdo. You can also use hair accessories as flowers, bandanas, etc. I don’t recommend to use spay because it will only help with those little hairs that just can stay down, but in general it is better to use a product to help the ends to look healthy.

8. How bad is to use the hair iron every day? What do you think about the permanent hair straightening?
M: I don’t recommend it because at the end it will damage the hair. I believe the permanent hair straightening is for the one who just can not stand her hair, it’s good because you will always have a hairdo, but I don’t recommend it if you don’t have very curly hair. If you just have some slight curl is better to have a brushing done. But what can I say, people like to do the permanent hair straightening.

9. What is the best hairstyle for a wedding?
M: It depends in many different variables, you have to see the dress, the bride hair, her likes … it will never be two brides that looks the same. The hair can be up or down, there is no rule, all depends on the dress and if the bride has nice hair always tell them to show it, but … honestly at the end everybody just pull up her hair after dancing.

10. Let’s finish with some myths: True or False
It is bad for the hair to wash it daily – M: FALSE. Honestly is not necessary to wash it every day but nothing will happen if you do it. Just use a neutral shampoo so it will not get dry or greasy.

If you pull out a white hair you will have 7 more – M: FALSE. That is a lie, because every hair has just one bulb so it is just impossible.

And before we end …

How do you define the style in a woman? Which things define it?
M: The hair and the shoes are key, because you can wear a perfect dress of a great designer and if your shoes and your hair are disaster, your look will be bad. The dress is the less important thing, of course it is fundamental, but what I mean is that it will not look, as it should if your hair and shoes are bad.

Can you give an advice to all the entrepreneurs that are just starting?
M: First of all, you should like what you do. Being a hairdresser implies a lot of passion about working with hair, taking your time and never rush, it is our working material. I don’t understand those people, who just cut and cut hair with out caring about the client, we should respect the hair it is our working tool.

Anything else you would like to add …

M: When you are looking for a change, ask for many opinions; don’t just go with the first one. Get advice for different hairdressers and go with the one that like you more and make you feel more comfortable. Usually, people that are going through a difficult stage in their lives come to us and ask for a drastic change in their hair. That is the worst thing to do, is better if you go first to a shrink fix your problem, and then come to us. If not it is very probable that after a drastic change in your hair, you will still have your problem and also a depression due to a bad haircut.

Ups! This last advice gets into me; because I have done that … do you?

If you live in Buenos Aires and you want to have a haircut with Margarita, here is where to find her “Estudio Lamensa” phone 48164990.

See you soon!

Fabiola

Note: The pictures included are from productions done by Studio Lamensa. I didn’t include a picture from Margarita because she doesn’t like to have a public image.



Show your face, don’t cover it!


Today we are going to talk about something that we use all the time, no matter the weather, if there is sun we put them on, or if we have a sight problem … yes, I am talking about the sun glasses and the regular eyeglasses.

There are two common mistakes when we buy this accessory:

• Sunglasses – the UV protection is not always a priority.
• Sometimes we don’t choose properly the shape of the glasses and they end up covering instead of completing our face.

The first problem is the most important since you have to use sunglasses with real UV protection to avoid retina damages. Don’t skimp on that, invest in your eyes, ignore the cheap glasses better to buy one with a good protection and not having many beautiful sunglasses but useless.

The second problem is easy to solve if you know the type of your face, you have to use a shape that is not the same as the shape of your face to create balance. Also you have to leave visible your eyebrow growth, don’t cover it. The best glasses for each face is as follow:

Narrow face – straight frame, wide arms, and the edge has to protrude a little from the face.

Square face – rounded frame, thin arms, the glasses have to be on your cheekbone.

Heart and diamond face – square frame with wide arms. The frame has to be thicker in the top and thinner on the bottom.

Triangle face – the frame has to be with a straight line on the top and rounded line on the bottom to make the forehead wider.

Upside triangle face – the frame is rounded on the top and straight on the bottom, just the opposite that the triangle face, here the effect that you have to create is to make wider the lower part of your face. Wide arms.

Oval face – you can use almost any kind of glasses, avoid the small square ones because the proportion of your face will be lost.

Rounded face – square frame with straight arms.

It is very important to choose the right glasses for you, sunglasses or eyeglasses, the shape is the key to create a complement or an implant on your face, don’t cover it!!! Personally I love the people with eyeglasses, I believe is one of the sexiest accessories, it reflects your personality in many ways.

The selection that I show belong to an Argentinean brand INFINIT, it has a great collection of sunglasses and eyeglasses. Actually for me the best are the frames for eyeglasses, very colorfull, different styles and shapes, there are fun glasses.  You can find the store in Mexico, Argentina, Spain and Uruguay.

See you soon!

Fabiola


Magical underwear


Yesterday the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show took place in New York. This is a very expected show because all the people (specially men) are waiting to see the “angels”, a group of very selected top models.

The show was divided in different sections with specific themes and the outfits where specially designed for each model (obviously all of them with wings). The invited artists were Kate Perry and Akon. Here is a  backstage video you can watch it on TV on November 30th.

And since we are talking about underwear, I would like to talk to you about the IMPORTANCE of using the right one for your body. It is incredible, but if you don’t wear the right undies, your outfit could be a total disaster.

Here are the typical mistakes choosing underwear:

Panties: if they are not your size they can be too tight and create love handles. It is wrong if you can see them or define the shape through your pants, or if they are too small and don’t hold what they need to hold.

Bras: not wearing any (very few people can do that), don’t wear your correct size so you literally have and “overflow” all over the place, wear the wrong type for the kind of top that you are using, showing the stripes when you don’t want to show them because they fall from your shoulder (too big).

As you can see all the mistakes are because either is the wrong size or the wrong cut for your body, so … how can we choose the right one?

It depends on each person because we all have different bodies and shapes, but here are some tips to consider:

Bra – the size varies in each country for example, in Mexico the size is 34B being 34 for the back and B for the cup; meanwhile here in Argentina, the size goes in centimeters that measure the whole bust and the back 85, 90, etc. So, in order to be sure you have the right size, your MUST try it before you buy it, that is the only way to be sure that it will not be too tight and that it holds all what is needed to be hold. Of course we are talking about the everyday bra, if you want something sexier the search will be different, but for now let’s stick to the everyday bra. Remember that it’s very important that you get the right size not only because esthetics reasons, but also because healthy reasons, that is a very delicate area.

Panties – doing shopping could be more difficult because usually you cannot try them, so you have to analyze your body and your current size. For example, if you are using a medium size and you have love handles then it could be that they are too tight, so you might want to change to a bigger size. Be careful with thongs and bikinis if you have a tummy, the low rise will emphasize your tummy.

I know … the best is to get sexy underwear and look great, I totally agree, but your priority should be always to wear what is good to your body. So, the challenge will be to find the right underwear and be sure that is sexy! At the end we all want the same thing, get the underwear that holds what is need to be hold and look amazing, agree?

See you soon!!

Fabiola

Clothes from Victoria’s Secret.



Let’s go shopping!


What a day, it was so hot! During the last week we had almost every day around 30 degrees (centigrade), and believe me,  that temperature plus the humidity of Buenos Aires is not the best combination.

So, in order to avoid the weather, I tried to do something with AC and no humidity so …  I decided to go shopping! Don’t you think it was the best solution? But I don’t want to be selfish so I am going to share with you some of the things that I saw in the stores here in Buenos Aires; there are great designers and fun cloths.

In addition to the weather, last Thursday it was my birthday, I turned 39 years old … ouch! Only one year before turning 40, any suggestion about what to do in this last year of my 30’s? I am not sure … but meanwhile I will continue shopping so at least I will be very well dressed!

See you soon!

Fabiola

The stores that I mentioned are: Paula Cahen D’anvers, Chocolate, Ayres, Maria Cher, Wanama and Rapsodia.



How to wear orange without looking as a pumpkin!


Since we are in the Halloween season, I am going to give you some tips to be able to wear orange with out looking like a Halloween pumpkin! Even though, you will be very ad-hoc for this season … after this moth everybody will look at you in a very weird way, so it is better not to risk.

Since orange symbolize creativity, enthusiasm and exaltation, you shouldn’t be afraid to use it. The best colors to match it are brown, white, pink, blue, violet and green. Obviously it match with black, but this is exactly the combination that you might not want to use, so you don’t get the Halloween look!

If you want to match it with a dark color, you can use gray, brown, blue or green. My favorite combination is orange with military green or dark brown. Here is an example of an outfit where the color orange is on the pants.

Another tip is that if you don’t dare to use orange as it is, you can always go safer with ochre tones that are less bright.

As you can see, you don’t have to be afraid to colors, try them on and have fun while getting dress!!

Happy Halloween!!! (if you celebrate it!)

Fabiola