Glamorous Photo Shoot By Don Stacy

On November 19th, I had the honor of participating in one of the many photo shoots dsparada holds. At first I was nervous about being a model for Don. I’ve never had professional pictures taken before, and all I could think of was please don’t let me make the duck face or look like a goofball on film! After a couple minutes behind the camera, I loosened up and it was actually really fun! Our nighttime receptionist, Caitlyn, was a model as well! We took some fun pictures together. (you guys get to see the pretty film, but maybe we’ll post some outtakes, they were definitely funny!)

Caitlyn and Christine. Hair by Don Stacy

There was a lot of preparation behind the scenes by the stylists. Don and the staff hand picked models that best suited their aesthetic. The stylists looked for specific attributes in their models; hair length and texture, skin tone, facial features, and a willingness to do whatever the stylist decided to do with their hair! (The last one narrows down the field quite a bit!) All of the models involved were incredibly professional and I would bet that a few of them would have a chance at being on ANTM (Americas Next Top Model).

Hair by Don Stacy

Overall the experience was incredibly inspiring, especially as a young woman working her way in to the hair industry! I can’t wait to be the one behind the chair creating my vision, instead of being the vision.

Be sure to take a peak at all the final photos from the shoot on our Facebook!

Love,
Christine from dsparada

What Really Goes on Behind The Chair

When all you guys and gals come into the salon for your appointments, you probably just see me as the girl behind the desk doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing, but I’ve been extremely curious the past 3 months I’ve been here, as to what really goes on behind the chair! I’ve never worked in the hair industry before, so all of this is very new to me and also very interesting!

Of course Don and Arturo are amazing at cutting hair, so it’s always a mind blowing experience when I watch them from afar; all the minute details, the sections, the angles – everything necessary for a great haircut.

Arturo cutting and styling one of his clients

But everyone here specializes in color, and trust me, just from watching them mix and apply color and trying to listen into all that technical talk, it is not something that is easy to come by, and I’m a fast learner! The formulas, all the different shades and hues – So. Many. Colors. To say the least!

I never really knew what actually went into the whole process of coloring hair, it’s more than just applying the color! You have to consult with the client to understand what they want, and also let them know what you think would look great on them – then you actually have to formulate the color and get the precise amount of each shade to produce a product that will look great on the person in the chair. The process of applying the color isn’t an easy job either. There are different ways of applying it and foiling hair, and the stylist has to perceive which way will work best for the color, the cut, and the client!

Check out my new do by Don Stacy

Each and every one of the stylists at dsparada, make sure this is all done correctly, and that’s what makes all our stylists so high quality! They don’t just slap some color on your head; they actually care about their clients and love what they’re doing! So even as the receptionist, I have a much greater appreciation for what they’re doing for all of you that come into the salon!

Hope to see all of you soon at your next appointment or dsparada’s Christmas/Birthday Bash!

Love — the evening receptionist, Caitlyn!

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!