The best part of the holidays? Holiday Hair Up Styles!

I can remember as a young girl my mom would take me to the salon as she got her hair done for our big Christmas Party. Then one year (I was around 8yrs old) I went with her and a woman called out my name & told me to go with her. Mom looked at me and winked, so off I went! I had my hair pulled back into a version of a French twist suitable for a young girl.   Little did I know this was the start of a lifetime romance with traditional holiday style and glam.

Vicki working her magic on a holiday up style.

As years went by every “Christmas Party” salon trip was with my mom. It became as big of a tradition as my parents’ Christmas Party. Every year a new stylist got to tackle my long, thick hair. Then I reached high school & I thought that I could go without my mother, after all it’s just hair, right? Well those were the worst three up styles I had ever gotten done and mom made me wear them. Ok, lesson learned!

When I went to college Mom and I were back to our old routine with the two of us sharing the day of beauty together. And now we had the DAY SPA!!!! A FULL DAY of beauty. Everything from a massage, mani/pedi, hair and make-up. Oh yeah that was the way to go! Then I got married, but the mother-daughter tradition lived on.

Shortly after that the biggest thing to happen to my holiday hair transpired. I WENT TO BEAUTY SCHOOL!!! Talk about putting a “tease” in an up style. The fun was just about to start!  I was put in charge of doing my mom’s hair and my hair for the party. My mother became a saint over those first few years of my career because let’s face it, my up styles were less than good (they pretty much sucked) but my mother wore all of them with pride because I had done them. Only a mother’s love! I would love to share some of the pictures from that era but that is “classified information.”

Years have gone by and many a bobby pin has passed through my hands. Now the up styles are lovely. Many have been high fashion. But my favorite will always be doing that special style for the woman who wants to turn heads as she walks through the door of a friend’s Christmas Party.

So this year when you are picking out your very best holiday outfits don’t forget the hair and let the girls at dsparada color salon bring back that little girl excitement for each one of you! Treat yourself to a wonderful holiday style. You know your mother would approve!

*this one is for you mom. I love you – Vicki

Key to Sucess: Inspiring Hair!

This past weekend the team at dsparada Color Salon ventured to Charlotte for the Annual Fashion Focus Hair Convention. This is a convention full of education for the latest trends in haircutting and color.  The show is full of the biggest names in hair combined with the biggest hair companies internationally. When you walk on the floor you feel privileged to be a hairstylist and to know that you have the support of the some of the biggest names in the hair industry.
The best part was we were able to sit in, watch and learn from one of the best colorists in the nation….Beth Minardi. She talked about color placement and how important it is to get that right, once that is achieved than you can’t go wrong! Beth Minardi is a colorist in New York City who has been in the hair industry for over 30 years. She also won the most prestigious award in the nation called NAHA. What a great achievement! Her color is very glamorous and placed to look very natural. This was a very inspiring class! Be on the look out because we will probably be using some Minardi techniques on your next visit!

Beth explaining her Color Formation

Dsparada Color Salon attends these functions because we feel it is vital to stay on top of the latest trends and techniques. You can never learn too much and the hair industry is ever evolving, which is why it is so important to stay in the know. You can learn so much by just listening. Every stylist does things slightly different so it is always very fun to see a different perspective on what we do, sometimes we as hairdressers get stuck in a rut and hair can be very mundane, doing the same thing over and over to each person each time you see them, so perspective is key!

Beth explaining her ombre technique.

What do we attribute this to? Success!!!! This is the key to success if you ask me. So many times you see other stylists’ work that just looks old school, and we have people tell us all the time, the reason I left that salon was because the stylist would never step outside the box, not with dsparada! You know what you get every time and love it! You can change or stay the same because we know what is hot and what is not and we will always honor you as the client, because truly and honestly the client is why we are business.

Don, Vicki, Christine, Jen & Arturo after a great weekend at Fashion Focus in Charlotte! Watch out for inspiring hair coming soon out of dsparada!

Peachy Keen's Fashion Show Hair

“First model ready? Music, lights… LET’S GO GIRLS!!!”

This is the last thing you hear when you are back stage at a fashion show. But what really goes on before those words are said?

With every fashion show comes weeks of hard work. Not only for those doing the fashion but for the stylists doing the hair as well. The past few weeks the girls at DS Parada Color Salon have been working on hair styles for the Fire and Ice Fashion Show at Peachy Keen Boutique of Cary, NC.

It started in the salon with the announcement that we were doing the hair for a fashion show. Vicki & Jennifer went straight to the mannequin heads and started to mess around with many different up styles, not knowing what the boutique wanted. Jennifer did a cool Mohawk and Vicki did a tornado looking thing on the top of another head. Then the fun started with colored hair spray! We sent pictures over to the girls at Peachy Keen to get their opinion.

Mock hair ‘dos for the fashion show.

What will they like, what will they want…? Are we even close? Yes we were! To fit their theme the boutique chose the Mohawk and a crazy cool side upsweep for us to fine tune. The day of the show, Vicki and Jennifer pack their bags and were off to twirl some hair!
On their arrival, they set up check in with the fashion team and split the models in to groups of fire and ice. With 9 models and boutique staff to do, time was ticking. Now you would think piece of cake for two such accomplished stylists but wait for it…we have to share space, time & models with the makeup artist. That is the norm for any show set up, but it stills adds just a touch of stress. No worries we are professionals!

Jen & Vicki pause for a picture in the middle of hair and makeup.

So off to work the girls go. Irons, pins and spray at the ready. The hair looked FABULOUS!!! The timing with the makeup artist was wonderful. When did I ever work a show
that ran so smooth? Thinking back I cannot think of one. After 20 years of doing hair have I found a team that I can work with and no troubles?? I, Vicki Holt, can truly say that it was a pleasure working with Jennifer and the rest of my team on this fashion show. We all look forward to doing many more projects with everyone in the future!

DS Parada Color Salon Staff at Peachy Keen’s Fashion Show

We are still in process of getting the final runway pictures back from Peachy Keen’s photographer… we’ll put an album together on our Facebook wall when we do. But here’s a peak at the final looks…

Hair by DS Parada. Fashion by Peachy Keen

Pretty in Pink in October

At dsparada Color Salon, the month of October is a very important time of year where we recognize those we love and those we have lost to breast cancer.  We feel it is very important to help those in need succeed in their fight against breast cancer! That is why for the entire month of October, dsparada Color Salon will be donating $2.00 from every sale to the Pretty in Pink Foundation to provide those with breast cancer, who do not have great health insurance, gain some financial support!
Pretty in Pink is a local organization that serves people diagnosed with breast cancer, who have limitations with their health insurance benefits, or cannot afford health insurance. When breast cancer is found, many times these people have to go without treatment, or delay their treatment, causing the cancer to get worse. Getting your hair done at dsparada during October is a great opportunity to support an amazing local cause!
Another way you can show your support is by adding a little pink to that beautiful hair and telling people that you support a great foundation!  We could color a small section of your hair, or we have great pink hair chalk that washes out with water! Call us and make an appointment today to show your support, and help us fight breast cancer!

    

Interested in getting involved with Pretty in Pink Foundation in more ways? Check out their website here: http://www.prettyinpinkfoundation.org/Get_Involved.aspx

Check out all the Fun from our VIP Night

We had an amazing turnout at our First Annual Client VIP Night. Thank you to all who came out to enjoy the evening and to those who didn’t make it, we hope you can join us next year! Wanna see all the fun? Check out our portfolio here.

The night was filled with delicious food and wine courtesy of Vinos Finos Wine Bar, tons of giveaways and goodies from our great friends at Peachy Keen and Joint Venture Jewelry, and of course fabulous hair thanks to Kevin.Murphy styling products and our incredible stylists here at DS Parada.

The stylists focused on creating looks based off of Kevin.Murphy’s “Kits”. Each kit is inspired by the idea of taking a celebrity or runway style and introducing a take-home kit that allows you to recreate that style at home with ease. The styles created with the kits were absolutely fabulous and we are so excited to be selling them here at  DS Parada! The whole month of November all kits will be on special, so stop by to purchase a Kevin.Murphy kit and receive $10 off!

You Can Do What We Do

 Ever see those pictures in (every!) fashion magazine of the pretty girl? And not only does she have a great smile and body, she also has the most beautiful hair you have ever seen? And you say to yourself there is NO way she can be that happy and I know that hair is photoshopped!!! But your curiosity gets the best of you, and you  go out and buy everything you think you need to recreate that same beautiful photo shopped look, including the products, clips, comb, curling iron and whatever else the salesperson feels you need that day, only to go home and burn your hands and make a rats nest out of your hair! All because you saw a picture in a magazine and thought you wanted to be happy with great hair too!!!

 

Now it is possible to have these great salon looks at home and do it in only 15 minutes. Kevin.Murphy has designed kits that are easy to use and include everything you need!  Each kits comes with product, rollers or clips and a comb. All conveniently sold at ds parada Color Salon.

First you apply your product to dry hair, then put the rollers in and let them sit for 15- 30 minutes. After you take the rollers out let the hair sit for about 5 minutes and then tousle the hair to desired look. It’s really that easy, I promise!

Take a look at the podcast so you can see for yourself how easy Kevin.Murphy Kits really are. We made it so easy we had a free demo event at our salon on Thursday August 30^th for our first Annual Client VIP Night! The Party was a ton of fun with a wine tasting from Vinos Finos Wine Bar and Kevin.Murphy stylists helping out. Be sure to check out all the event photos, and keep up with future salon events, specials and more stylings tips our Facebook page.

We feel it is our responsibility to help our clients look great and feel great about themselves everyday. If you couldn't make it our party, please don't hesitate to give us a call. We will answer any questions you may have about styling your hair and show you how to do it too, just like the stars!

Fall 2012 Top Hair Trends

Fall is up and coming and so are new hair trends. This fall look for shimmery shades of copper, bronze and silver as a top color choice. As usual auburns and chestnuts and beautiful rich color choices, great for green eyed beauties. Copper shades are also very popular, there is nothing more beautiful than a rich vibrant head of copper shimmer, that will bring out those gorgeous baby blues.

Styling has evolved this fall to the messy pony as a top pick. This look is great for a fun day in the city or a wonderful night out, for shorter styles messy deconstructed looks are a must!

America’s TOP hairstyle is short pixie cuts as seen on Michelle Williams.

We also really like the long hair layered slightly with a blunt fringe going straight across the forehead. This look is designed to enhance your best features and really bring out the beauty from with in.

Elie Saab and Antonio Berardi Fall 2012 Runway. Blunt Bangs

No matter your color, cut or style. Fall brings a change is style. How are you copping?