Thinking Of Going Blonde This Summer

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kate upton

Thinking of going blonde this Summer?
Thought I’d point out the different versions for you :) There are three main categories: warm (red spectrum), cool (blue/green spectrum) and neutral!

Varieties of Blonde:

  • Ash-Blonde: technically ash means green! However, green counteracts and neutralizes red. A cold and very natural looking blonde.
  • Bleached Blonde, Peroxide Blonde: an artificial, yellowish blonde that is trying to be a platinum blonde, but it’s not.
  • Dark Blonde: when natural, it looks a shade of light brown in the Winter and lightens in the Summer. If your natural colour was brown, but is now grey; go dark blonde.
  • Dirty Blonde, Dishwater Blonde, Grey Blonde, Mouse: a natural dark blonde that is the perfect background for highlights. Naturally includes flecks of golden blonde and brown, but is often a flat and dull hence the need for highlights.
  • Flaxen Blonde: the original neutral, natural blonde. Very light but not white blonde.
  • Golden Blonde: includes pinks and yellows to create a slightly darker, rich, warm, golden-yellow blonde.
  • Platinum Blonde: often extremely light, a whitish looking blonde; almost all natural platinum blondes (towheaded) are children. Technically, a platinum blonde is blue-ish and therefore a cold blonde.
  • Sandy Blonde: a beige blonde, a greyish-hazel or cream-coloured blonde – naturally warm. Makes beautiful, natural looking highlights.
  • Strawberry Blonde, Venetian Blonde or Honey Blonde: think of red then add it to what you think of as blonde! It’s a reddish blonde. There is a wide spectrum here with strawberry red one end and honey (golden) the other end – Includes the infamous brassy blonde.
  • Yellow Blonde: obviously a blonde with a yellow hue – slightly gold maybe, hopefully! Yellow on its own is pretty gruesome!

Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne

BTW, Hunger Magazine have released a little preview of an upcoming article, thingy, featuring Rita Ora & Cara Delevingne. Love their chignons (beautiful blondes), hate the photograph!

Whatever Happened To Charlie Kemp

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Maril Kemp, Laraine Ashton, London
Maril Kemp’s Z-card

I was trawling through a pile of old Z-cards when I came upon Maril Kemp’s – Whatever happened to Maril’s husband, the fashion photographer Charles Kemp? The last time I saw Charlie was in 1989-1990, he was walking down Grafton Way towards Tottenham Court Road, we stopped and talked for about five minutes (I think he’d been to University College Hospital?); I was in a hurry because my car needed moving, “You’re looking old” I said. “Fuck off” he said. “I’ll ring you later” I said, but sadly I didn’t.

I’ve got a bad feeling about Charlie!

© Model: Maril Kemp, Photographer: Charles Kemp Friday 24th July 1981, Hair: Ian Robson. London
Maril Kemp July 1981

At the end of a test session with Debbie Benson, Maril, Charlie and I did a session at his studio on Friday 24th July 1981 (so my diary tells me. A strange coincidence: Greta Almroth the Swedish actress died on 24:07:1981 (aged 93) in Stockholm, Sweden). I’ve a feeling I did the make-up as well, but it doesn’t look like my style so maybe I didn’t. The idea was to give Maril a more edgy look! BTW here’s a styling tip, wearing your hair pulled back helps to highlight the cheekbones and elongate the face, which can either make your face look thinner and/or more balanced.

It was around this time that Maril became a dangerous distraction for drivers as she lay semi-naked on a billboard on the A4, West Cromwell Road, Earls Court (I think she was advertising Bergasol tanning lotion) – Charlie and I drove past it, flat out at about 35 mph, in his Renault 4! Happy days – are you out there Charlie? :) xxx

Hair Colour and Cancer – Part 2

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Model: Kate Doweson. Photographer: Chris Roberts 1982. Hair: Ian Robson. Deauville, France

Hair Colour and Cancer again! Have you read in the Daily Mail, Hair dyes used by millions of women are linked to chemicals that can cause cancer? Well, you can call me an old sceptic, but I’m always extremely suspicious when a company, in this case Green Chemicals – who are about to launch a new ‘ultra-safe’ range of permanent hair tints, uses sound scientific evidence to gain a competitive advantage. Still, fair play to them, it’s a difficult world!

Being a sceptic doesn’t mean that I am not concerned about hair colourants and cancer, on the contrary, I’m very interested, which is why I wrote Hair Colour and Cancer ~ an important message for all my clients who colour their hair – ages ago (it reads a little out of date now!)

Obviously I am very interested in offering my clients the very best products, and to that end I’ll be keeping my eye on Green Chemicals and wishing them well with much success. Looking at Green Chemicals’ list of benefits, see Permanent Hair Dyes, I’m interested to find out about lifting the hair colour – and BTW, what’s all this about ‘Hair Dyes’; for as long as I’ve been in hairdressing we’ve called them ‘Tints’, semantics? Yeah, there’s more to this than meets the eye me thinks!

I firmly back the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association’s (CTPA) and the National Hairdressers’ Federation’s "Colour With Confidence Campaign." If you’re thinking about getting your hair tinted, whether it’s the first time or the hundredth, make sure you get an Allergy Alert Test 48 hours in advance – Please Get In Contact For More Details.

Especially for Rachel: the CTPA’s consumer website, thefactsabout.co.uk, holds a wealth of information about the science behind products, explaining about safety assessments, ingredient issues and the strict rules governing the safety of such products as toothpaste, hair colourants, sun protection, make-up etc.

A Long Shaggy Bob Hairstyle – for Kate

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Marianne Faithfull

A new hairstyle always starts with a journey and this long shaggy bob starts in the early ’60s with Marianne Faithfull – it does for me anyway! Apart from The Beatles, Marianne’s was one of the first hairstyles that entered into my consciousness (later, in the mid ’70s while working at Ricci’s I would get to do Marianne’s hair. This next picture was taken in 1976, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of my haircuts, certainly looks like it – I couldn’t find any others ~ it was a difficult period for her).

Marianne Faithfull 1976

And then there was Jane Fonda in Klute (1971)…

Jane Fonda in Klute 1971

…a hairstyle that came out of the late ’60s and was to influence me for years to come. There’s no perpetual best hair style, even though a particular hairstyle may suite you better than any other, there are always a number of different looks that are absolutely perfect for You. All that exists in the world of fashion is a perception in the mind, and that perception is the reality – everything else is an illusion.

Suzi Quatro 1973

So, then we’ve got Suzi Quatro, here she is in 1973. Another massive influence on me; actually I hated her haircut, but I loved her genuinely authentic rock-chick look, so I redesigned the cut in 1974 to fit my style of flowing precisionist hair-cutting technique and created a style that would later be called “Coupe Savage”.

Meg Ryan

Meg Ryan…

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz…

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham…

Kate Moss

…and Kate Moss all follow in the same vein – It’s a hairstyle that keeps reinventing itself!

Jade Jagger

Jade Jagger’s hairstyle is my current favourite of this genre.

Kate's new hairstyle?

A Slightly Shorter, Shaggier & Softer Version Of This Hairstyle? I almost love this long shaggy bob (I’ve no idea who it is though!?), but the finished look needs to take an element from each of these different styles!

I’ve said this before, but I think it’s worth repeating here now, “There are many diverse influences that go into creating a new hairstyle for you, the three main ones are: 1. You and how you are influenced by fashion. 2. Your hair. 3. Me and how I am influenced by fashion – I am strongly influenced by my roots within hairdressing @ Ricci’s & the Chelsea scene, by my years as a session hairdresser in London and by Vogue Magazine ~ mainly!”

Looking forward to seeing you soon ;) xx

Walking Down The King’s Road, Chelsea

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1976 - London - Kings Road, Chelsea

Hey @lesleybell55, I came across an evocative gallery by Klaus Hiltscher entitled, 1976 – London – 36 Years Ago – In a hot and dry August 1976. Take a gander – it’s very nostalgic.

King's Road Blues part two By Dave Walker

And then I stumbled upon this absolute gem, King’s Road Blues part two By Dave Walker, OMG.

Saturday was always the best day to walk down the King’s Road to Sloan Square underground station because it was so unbelievably colourful and frenetic. I was often the last one out of Ricci’s (151 King’s Rd.), I’d lock-up and then poke my head into Quincy Jones next door, giving the boys a metaphorical "Fuck Off" as they still had another four hours of work. I’d cross over the road and go into the Trafalgar (pub) to see if Natasha, one of our models, was striping; maybe I’d have a grapefruit juice and slimline tonic – not very rock and roll!

Sometimes I’d walk straight down to the Picasso Cafe (127, now called Black & Blue) and have a cappuccino and toast, sit outside and watch pretty young things walk past, while behind me some mad witch of a waitress was shouting CHINO – took me ages to realize what she was doing!

As I walked down towards the Chelsea Potter and the Chelsea Drug Store (Now Maccy Ds), I’d be disappointed if I didn’t see a skinny old man dressed as Tarzan (in only a loin cloth) KP nuts tucked into his thong-like belt; he’d beat his bare chest and yodel for his mate, sun or rain he rarely let me down.

Happy days.

What do I do when my hair colour came out too dark?

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I’ve been contacted by someone from Westminster, California, who’s had a problem with her hair colour after going to a cheap hairdresser in Little Saigon! “How do I lighten hair that has been died too dark?”

Firstly, I’ve got to say, I don’t even talk to my own clients over the phone about hair colour because, colour is almost impossible to talk about behind its back, it needs to be there in the room with you, face to face. Colour changes its personality according to the person who’s looking at it, so when colour’s involved it’s ménage à trois and loads of conversation!

I’ll start off with the quick and slightly unrealistic fix:

Wash your hair and scalp thoroughly with a clarifying shampoo (like: Pantene. maybe: Head and Shoulders) twice, don’t apply conditioner. Comb it through very carefully because it will probably be knotty – take your time, no tugging. Blow-dry your hair really, really smooth and straight (don’t use too much heat. don’t use straighteners). O.K. now you’re going to repeat that, wash your hair and scalp thoroughly with a clarifying shampoo twice but, this time use a good quality moisturising conditioner (comb the conditioner through, leave it on for a couple of minutes). Apply a miniscule amount (1 ml) of oil to the scalp (via fingertips). Blow-dry as normal!

What you will then have done is remove any excess tint stain that’s sticking to the scalp and hair shaft. It will make it slightly lighter, but it will not change the hue – you wanted a light cinnamon/ auburn and got a dark brown/ purple, they are two different types of red, one’s a yellow red, the other is a blue red!

Don’t be tempted to go down the Sun-In or bleach road, and lemon juice will only lighten it fractionally and uncontrollably.

All permanent hair colours lighten with time and sun; a tint normally lifts up a shade after about two weeks (BTW Semi-permanent hair colours are almost gone after about two weeks). You can repeat the hair-washing regime for a week – max.

Just thought I’d better mention a product, One ‘N Only’s Color Fix. It’s a gentle way to remove permanent hair colour! However, I’ve no idea what it’d do to your hair colour?

I would recommend that you go back to the hairdresser in Little Saigon and complain A.S.A.P. Then wait for two weeks for your hair colour to lighten and for your hair and scalp to return to its normal state. Then go to a reputable hairdresser – it’s the proper way to get your problem sorted out – don’t try to do it yourself!

I hope that helps a little Eddie, please feel free to ask if you need more help :) xxx