Some women find DIY too intimidating to try, but coloring your hair at home with the right product can help you achieve professional results at home while giving yourself to an instant makeover. Nevertheless, you might wonder: Will a drastic color change be too hard to pull off? Will you get the shade you see on the box? Will it damage and dry out your hair? Will it cover dark roots or grays?
Everyone may be buzzing about lobs and pixies, but one hairstyle that's perpetually trendy? Braids. From pretty, plaited buns to structural cornrows to fabulous box braids, we've rounded up our favorite braided African American hairstyles. We scoured Pinterest and Instagram to find the trendiest, most-liked ways to braid your hair. Check out the swoon-worthy braids you need to try this season. Bonus: Some of these braids you can leave in for weeks to give your hair a break from damaging heat styling.
The quest for shampoo-commercial-worthy hair is often driven by the mantra "lather, rinse, repeat" and gallons of shampoo. But in a cruel twist of fate, some experts believe that shampoo is the very thing that's holding us back from the hair of our dreams. Normal shampoos are designed to remove dirt and oil from the hair, by way of detergents and chemicals called sulfates. Sulfates give us that rich lather and squeaky-clean feeling we all crave. However, says New York-based dermatologist Marnie Nussbaum, MD, FAAD, they're also stripping our hair of natural oils that keep it shiny and healthy.
As excited as we get about changing leaves and fall fashions, the colder temperatures in fall and winter certainly have their downside. Brittle temperatures dry out skin and hair, and can be particularly damaging to natural hair, causing shedding, breakage and greater difficulty in growing hair longer and stronger. To lock in moisture to your natural hair, opt for twisted hairstyles with hidden ends. These protective hairstyles from our favorite natural hair bloggers will keep your hair long and strong throughout the cold seasons -- with zero shedding.
Summertime hats are built for covering up -- those floppy hats and fedoras shield your face from scorching UV rays, and hide those sweaty, salty "beachy waves" or your chlorine-crunchy mop. But when cool weather hits, hats are all about keeping your noggin' warm. Problem is, the minute you set foot inside and take off that beret, the damage is done: Your hair looks like it's been run through a turbo engine.
My grandfather was the first to point out my baldness. Unlike most women, who begin to notice their hair loss in the form of a concerning number of hairs on their pillow when they wake up or a shower drain clogged with hair that's falling out faster than it's being replaced, I didn't realize I was going bald until a handstand game gave it away. At the back of my head underneath most of my hair was a bald spot. My grandfather recognized it as the beginning signs of alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes anywhere from a few patches of hair loss on the head to an entire loss of hair (everything -- including eyelashes and eyebrows) all over the body.
The schoolgirl fashion trend -- plaid kilts, collared blouses -- is going strong, so it's only fitting that hair ribbons are also back in style. The problem: Unless you're Alexa Chung or Brigitte Bardot 50 years ago, you feel kind of silly wearing a hair bow.
We are more excited about the hair color ideas our favorite beauty icons of color have been debuting for fall 2014 than we are about Pumpkin Spice Lattes -- they're that good.
If you wear hair extensions, chances are you're pretty picky about what type of hair you wear. You know if you prefer Remy or non-Remy hair, Indian or Brazilian, synthetic or human. You may also believe you can simply look at hair extension packaging to find out its origins. But the truth is, it's pretty difficult to tell where your hair extensions come from, and there are plenty of manufacturers who are deliberately misleading about where they source their hair from.
"It's been two years since my first BC, and although my TWA is packed with gorgeous 3AB curls, I can't help but think my transition to long hair will take little more than a protective hairstyle and pineappling."
How many times have you heard that you should only put conditioner on the bottom half of your hair? It's a tip that hairstylists often give to those of us with finer hair, and it's one that I used to follow religiously. A few years ago, however, I noticed that my hair was getting thinner and finer. Every time I talked to a hairstylist, I asked him or her what could be causing my hair problems -- and I heard answers that ranged from hormones to pollution.
As a woman, you've probably debated the following at some point in your life: Is all that hair clogging my shower drain a sign that I need a cleaning lady or a sign that I'm going bald?
Hairstylists, makeup artists and manicurists get their inspiration everywhere -- from the local farmers market to the gardens of Tokyo. Lately, it seems like the trend is leaning towards the latter -- the more exotic and far-flung, the better.
There's nothing better than just-home-from-the-salon new-color euphoria. But unless you're the Martha Stewart of color care, three weeks later, blonde highlights are brassy, rich chocolate browns become muddy, and that sassy, vibrant red is practically nonexistent. (If you've ever gone red, you know what I mean.)
A lot of things happened this summer: Kimye made it official, we all realized how handsome soccer players are and virtually every celeb decided to ditch their old hairdo. We don't blame them. It's hard to snap out of summer mode and get back to reality refreshed and recharged for the new season, but a new haircut, hair color or hairstyle (or all of the above) usually does the trick. Take a cue from these celebrity hair makeovers for a sharp, new look this fall.
Just in time for its 60th anniversary, Dessange Paris is teaming up with Target stores to bring the salon's legendary French glamour right to your shower … and for a super affordable price.
You can't get the clothes from the Spring '15 New York Fashion Week runways right now, but you can walk away with something from the whirlwind week of beautiful fashion. That's right, we're talking about the hairstyles. We got the inside scoop from the stylists behind fashion's best hair styles. Try your hand at DIY-ing the best hair trends from Fashion Week.
Let's be real: Many of us don't have the time or money (or both) to keep up with hair trims every six to eight weeks. At the same time, no one wants to sport fried, limp hair that's overrun with split ends -- an inevitable side effect of skipping salon visits for too long.
Unless you have an army of stylists like Kate Middleton or Beyoncé, chances are you use the same hairbrush for all of your styling needs. Maybe you have the travel-sized version of your paddle brush or a round brush buried in your bathroom drawer. But do you really consider buying different brushes for styling your hair? No? Well, you should.
Switching up your hair color is tricky enough. ("Will it be flattering? Will I hate it? Will it fry my hair?") Factor in fragile curls, relaxers and the naturally dark shades that come with African American hair, and the difficulty skyrockets. Still, coloring your hair at home can be done -- you just need to know what to look out for before heading to the store and which products to pick up once you get there.
