Glossy Hair

The question we are always asked by clients is “how can I get more shine in my hair?” The answer is: shine enhancing services, heat protection, and conditioning.

Shine enhancing services include glosses, smoothing treatments and conditioning treatments. If your hair looks dull and lackluster, a gloss treatment is the remedy. Glosses are technically haircolor, but they act like a conditioning treatment by smoothing the surface of your hair, adding depth and richness to your color, and extending the life of your hair color and highlights. It’s also a great introduction to hair color for those who never have.

Sometimes it’s the texture of your hair that is making it look dull and fuzzy. Keratin smoothing treatments are the perfect solution for those who struggle with frizz in heat and humidity. Keratin treatments use heat to fuse protein into the hair strands, leaving hair smooth and shiny for up to 3 months.

If you heat style, you must use a heat protectant on your hair- heat styling can damage your hair leaving it looking dull and lifeless. Each product line that Fringe carries has a heat protecting option- ask your stylist which is the best option for you.

Add a conditioning treatment to any service for a dose of moisture and shine. Fringe carries options from Moroccan Oil and Olaplex.

Dewy Skin

Fringe carries Glo skincare, a mineral based approach to facial treatments and make up. The end of the summer is the best time to start addressing sun damage and rough texture. Book a facial to asses what your skin’s specific needs are.

Peels are an awesome way to reveal smoother, clearer skin. Ask your technician what peel series is right for you.

The best way to maintain smooth, glowy skin is sunscreen. Even on cloudy days, sunscreen is a must for maintaining a healthy, smooth complexion. Glo Minerals make up all contains naturally derived mineral sunscreens to protect and perfect your skin.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and come in to Fringe to shine into fall!

Summer is in full swing here in Chicago, and with it comes festival season! Chicagoans love our festivals- from neighborhood block parties to food fests to all out days long music events.

Festivals have quickly become a place where new hair, makeup and fashion trends are born. This year is no exception.

Braided romantic looks still reign the scene from Coachella to Lolpalooza and all in between. To enhance that free spirited feel, add a flower crown or even cat ears for a touch of whimsy.

Makeup has taken a decidedly ethereal look with holographic unicorn finishes on the cheeks, lips and eyes. Add a dose of glitter and you’re ready to glide into the weekend!

Nails are making the ultimate statement this summer with bright colors and fun finishes including chrome, glitter, cat eye and ombré. The only nail don’t this season is an unpolished nail.

Nothing makes you feel summer ready like a body wax. Hit that beach feeling smooth and confident!

A visit to Fringe will get you festival ready! Schedule a braided style, manicure, makeup and wax all a time the same location and leave feeling like the beautiful goddess you are!

What is Balayage?

       Balayage is a hair color technique imported from France. Inspired by naturally sun kissed hair, the Balayage technique intends to lighten hair where the sun might naturally touch it. In essence, the look features chunky highlights beginning subtly near the root and expanding through the length. Balayage translates literally to “sweep”, reflecting the way in which this technique is performed.

Unlike traditional foiled highlights that are placed evenly in a pattern on the head, Balayage highlights are painted on by hand in a sweeping motion moving from the base to the tip of the hair. Color is applied lightly to the base and generously at the tip.

Differences between Foils and Balayage:

If you are looking for an all-over lightened look with the same color running from root to end, highlights are your calling. Just remember that highlights require routine touchups every 4-6 weeks depending on degree of lightening.  

Balayage results in a more subtle, less all-over lightened style. Since the root typically remains untouched & strands become lighter toward ends, the grow out process is less obvious & only requires a touch up every 3-6 months.

Note the differences between each technique below:

Traditional Highlghts:

Balayage:

The benefit of highlights are that they provide an all-over lightened look, allowing for a more natural, consistent & organized effect in achieving a blonde hair color. Foil techniques can be used for colors other than blonde, but lighter locks reign in popularity.

The ease of Balayage has been popularized by models and actresses all over the world. The technique lends a gorgeous, healthy finish that looks sun kissed, glossy and expensive.

Taking care of your skin is a necessity often overshadowed by hair and nails in a salon setting.

Two ways to refresh your skin without injections or crazy blood facials are with Microdermabrasion and Peels. Both of these treatments are non-invasive, relatively quick, and improve the skin by sloughing away dead skin cells to reveal and generate new ones. If you have any of the following issues with your skin, one of these treatments is probably right for you:

• Acne or acne scars
• Aging skin
• Fine lines and wrinkles
• Freckles
• Irregular skin pigmentation
• Rough skin and scaly patches
• Scars
• Sun-damaged skin

Microdermabrasion is a non chemical, non invasive procedure that uses a spray of microcrystals to remove the outermost layer of dry, dead skin cells and reveal younger, healthier looking skin and even texture and tone.

A Peel is a technique used to improve the appearance of the skin on the face, neck, or hands. A chemical solution is applied to the skin that causes it to exfoliate and eventually peel off. The new, regenerated skin is typically smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin.

At Fringe, our preferred product line for treatments like these is Glo Therapeutics. Glo contains higher levels of pharmaceutical grade active ingredients. All Glo peels contain skin friendly acids that gently remove old skin cells to reveal young, fresh skin. Glo Therapeutics deliver results without skin trauma or aggressive peeling.

Though the aforementioned treatments can certainly have a drastic and instant effect on one’s overall look, receiving regular skin services are just as important for maintaining healthy, youthful skin. Unlike hair and nail maintenance, the benefits of these treatments are much more subtle and tend to improve gradually. Below are some before and afters  to demonstrate the amazing results of these processes.

The first 3 images are demonstrations on the anti- ageing benefits of peels

These 3 images show the acne and scar diminishing benefits of Microderms

The month of September at Fringe was about texture. From a salon perspective, texture is something our professionals work with and manipulate daily to help whomever may be in the chair achieve their desired look. The most obvious and variant form of texture is hair.

Hair texture can be broken down into 6 different types:

Taming each mane is unique and requires different forms of maintenance. While hair on the coarse & curly side requires product to weigh it down, hair on the fine and straight side requires more dry shampoo and volumizer to make it look more full and bouncy. In the diagram below, we have chosen a few products to complement each hair type:

1. Badlands dry shampoo and styling paste from R&Co. This stuff is great for adding next day texture while reducing grease from second day hair. PLUS it smells amaze.
2. For super straight hair, we recommend Moroccanoil Texturizing spray. Holding a style with straight hair is particularly difficult because it can hang heavily, forcing gravity to take away the hard work one has put into it. The Texturizing spray will provide more grit to this type of hair, allowing it to last longer.
3. To bring out and amplify hair’s natural wave, we recommend the Sea Salt Spray from Aquage. It contains salt from the Dead sea, giving hair that effortless “beach to chic”look.
4. Turn down the static with Pureology’s Smoothing Serum. It helps eliminate frizz while protecting hair against the elements and heat damage.
5. OK coming from somebody with crazy curly hair, it can be SO unpredictable and has a habit of changing shape with every wash. Twister from R&Co works WITH your curls so they can be more consistent, less frizzy, and not crunchy at all.
6. Thick, coarse hair becomes dry and damaged more easily than other hair types on this list. To protect this hair from all types of damage and becoming brittle, try the Treatment from Moroccanoil. This Oil helps hydrate and repair hair so that it can stand up to whatever style you decide to rock.

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