the fresh perspective...

With the holidays quickly approaching, it's sometimes hard to keep it all in perspective.  December will be upon us next week and we'll all be operating on auto pilot.  Just going through the motions to get through this time.  We shouldn't view December as a pain but, let's face it, most of us do.

There are family gatherings, shopping excursions, holiday parties and winter events happening all month and it makes it hard to appreciate December when it seems it's the busiest time of the year.  If you're in retail, your ears have probably been bombarded with Christmas songs already and I'm sure you seen a few Holiday displays around.  If you're fortunate to NOT be in retail (sorry mall workers...) you might be able to stave off the aforementioned Holiday preparations for a few more weeks.  Eventually we'll all be in it, spending, waiting, eating, laughing and crying with our friends and family alike.

This time of the year is by far my favorite because it helps to remind me about what's really important.  Spending endless hours with my children 'doing' things, chatting about the past year with my mom and mother-in-law,  getting into it with the boys about why the Bears will/won't go to the playoffs, and just being surrounded by love and life...

Regardless of what you believe in or celebrate, please try to accomplish December with a small amount of joy in your heart and laughter in your voice.  It only takes a minute to get caught up in the material-ness of the upcoming month and I urge all of you to try to remember that there are other ways to approach December.  That's the fresh perspective...

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the fresh perspective...

For CP- In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

-Abraham Lincoln

Abe Lincoln seems to have been an amazing man.  I'm excited to see the movie about his life and learn more about him.  It seems like he was a man who wasn't afraid to be the first.  I don't know very much about him but his quote above spoke to me.

For all of you who have lost someone and feel like you can't pick up the pieces, this Lincoln quote should be able to give some perspective on the current life that you do have.  Are you spending time with the ones you love?  Are you making a difference?  Are you happy?

That's the fresh perspective...

the fresh perspective...

KEVIN MURPHY

This product line is very, very interesting and I've been using it here and there this past week.  It has about 25 items and the prices range from $26-$40.  That's a healthy chunk of change!  Especially now with the added taxes to your services in the salon.

How much is too much to spend?  When does the 'brand' become bigger than the actual product and then is reflected in the price?  Do expensive products really work better than the cheap stuff?  All of these questions make sense and are things you should be thinking about when you do spend your hard-earned money...  My perspective is simple.  You get what you pay for.

The Kevin Murphy brand has went to extreme lengths to make sure that the ingredients in all their products are the best for your health, skin and hair.  Where they can, they use all natural and where they can't they use what's better and that may mean more money.  They don't care because they believe that the stylists using these products also have more exposure to the items.

I can go through about three products on a head.  I may have anywhere up to 8-10 heads in one day.  That's a lot of spray I'm breathing in...  Kevin Murphy cares about me too and that's well, fantastic!  This line does have many products in it and I'm sure there's something for everyone.  The questions are simple and can only be answered by you.  That's the fresh perspective...

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the fresh perspective...

TREATMENTS We're officially on the countdown to the holidays.  Every morning I wake up and anticipate my attire for the day.  I usually end up donning layers, upon layers because I love the way a fall kit goes.  I love the boots, cardigans and toques.  I love the tights and the corduroy.  I love the light film of cold that lingers in the air.

I don't like the dryness though!  Ugh!  My lips, my feet, my hair and hands... It's a trade-off I guess and I just want to prepare you all.

Treatments are the best way to keep your hairs condition during these dryer times.  You can and should definitely be booking them with any service you receive from now till March.  You can also double up and get a take home deep treatment that you can do on your own every two weeks or so.  How many times you do a 'home treatment' is something you should discuss with your stylist.  He/She would know the type of stress your hair may be under and can recommend a good schedule.

In regards to your nails (hands) and feet, you'll need to chat with your esthetician and get a recommendation here as well.  I know for me, I was told to use a scrub on my cuticles and a heavier lotion for the soles of my dry feet.  My feet are dry ALL the time so I use heavy lotion always (just a little FYI).

Regular manicures and pedicures will eliminate a lot of the guess work related to the maintenance of your dry extremities.  Getting these types of services on a regular basis will keep your cuticles under control, your callouses soft and your feet moisturized...

Treatments are just that...a treat meant for something specific.  Don't sell yourself short! While you're running around this month preparing for the impending snow and large family gatherings, think of your body and all it's dry, cracked and frizzy parts... Take good care, that's the fresh perspective...

FYI- CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK FOR UPCOMING SPECIALS ON TREATMENTS, MANICURES AND PEDICURES.

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the fresh perspective...

A Hairy Situation Guys.  I had a mini crisis earlier this week and a third of my hair vacated my head.  It was awful and I almost cried (okay I cried a bit).  I'm not going to go into the gory details, but I will say that it got me thinking about all the times I've told clients, or friends that the beauty of hair is that it grows back.  It's just hair.  It grows back.  It's just hair.

I'm starting to feel a little better about myself and I have to remember that I tell people everyday that, "it's only hair".  Funny how I'm so confident at telling people their hair woes can be rectified when the problem is not mine.  Well things got tough I cried.  It's crazy because I always make it clear to any one who sits in my chair that any hair situation always has a solution even though it may mean the solution means time.  Time to let the hairs come back because, time and time again it's proven that they do come back...

I'm almost over it.  I'm closer to being over my hair loss than I was earlier this week.  That's it.  Hair is just that.  It's hair, and it grows...that's the fresh perspective...

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the fresh perspective...

Salon Etiquette PART 2 ~ BRINGING PICTURES The last salon etiquette entry was about re-booking your appointment and this one is about pictures.

Why is it that clients are always apologizing to their stylist for bringing a picture?  I don't get it?  Whoever said it was a bad idea?  I think that somewhere down the line clients had began to feel that bringing a picture to your stylist was insulting to the stylist and his/her craft.

It seemed that the clients felt that the image would make me feel like I couldn't create something different.  Maybe I would feel too constrained with my 'vision' for my clients hair and my creative juices couldn't flow because the magazine clipping of Meg Ryan was causing me to have a tiny mental block...  Pshaw!  I love pictures!  I love magazine clippings that are worn out from years of carrying in a wallet.  Even more than that, I love actual photos that clients carry of the hairs from their past.  When they were young and wild and free...

Pictures allow me to really see what you see or what you would like to see on yourself.  Pictures allow me to see what YOUR definition of chocolate-brown is.  Pictures give me a small idea about how much time your really want to spend on your hair. Unless your stylist says to you, "DO NOT BRING ME A PICTURE. EVER!", please do.  We welcome them and only want to help you on your hair journey.  And as cheesy as that sounds, that's the fresh perspective...

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