X-Men

Wolverine is coming out on Friday!!  I've already watched the first two films again, still have the third one to go.  I better watch it soon.

Anyway, has anyone else noticed that Halle Berry (Storm) and Famke Janssen (Phoenix) switch hairstyles between the second and third movies?

Here they are in the second film.  Famke has the short hair flared out, Halle has the long hair.

Third film, Halle has the short hair flared out.

Famke gets the long hair now.

Weird.  I guess the hair stylist got lazy.  And for the record, the third film hairstyles work better for both women, because Halle has a more delicate face and the shorter hair shows off her features better, while Famke's longer, rougher face are better framed with long hair than with short edges.

Featured Fan of the Day

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've talked about guys' hair.  No worries!  Back to guy stuff today.  These pictures are from Glen:

Here you can see one of the basic rules of Asian male hairstyling:  simple bangs.  Focus all of the wildness to the back (and top), but let your bangs hang to one side to better frame your face.
I like the colour job.  I'm not sure if he had the tips highlighted or if it's from before and he let it grow out.  Either way, it works.

Curls are in

Curls (for girls) are always in, especially for the summer.  What better way to add volume and flair to your look?  Perms are handy and long-lasting if you can afford one, but curling irons are a common alternative.  Get yours out now!

The Four (TVB)

So, on Sunday night I just finished watching the HK drama "The Four" (少年四大名捕).  It was so good; I'm sad it's over.  Anyway, in my refusal to let it go I've decided to post about the female hairstyles from the show.  Those ancient Chinese hairstyles were really pretty (though obviously impractical for everyday use), and often very intricate.  Also, you need really long hair.

You can't really see her hair too clearly in this picture (I haven't been able to find any good pictures for anyone), but if you look at the top you can kinda make out those little braided loops.  I'm not an expert on female hairstyles, but braids can be so cute if you throw in an ornament.

This one just makes me laugh every time.  It's the bangs.  And it makes her already round face look even rounder.  Mind you, she's a Princess in the TV show, so I guess an up-do is mandatory.

Here's Kate Tsui--she kind of scares me (it's her eyes/eyebrows).  Her character in the show was so awesome/frightening, too.  She belongs on AFI's list of top 100 villains of all time.  In the big picture at the top of this post, she's the girl second from the left.  Both long and short hairstyles work on her because she has an oval face, and her facial features are neither too sharp nor too muddled together.  Her hair in this picture looks really choppy though.

 

It's Selena Li!  She was my favourite character from the show.  Unlike Kate, she has a really skinny, long face, and this long and simple hairstyle perhaps wasn't the most flattering for her.  The tiara thing helps to diminish her forehead, but towards the end of the series they used to braids across the forehead in place of the headband which worked much better.  

Here she is with modern hair.  The one-way bang things work a lot better for her face shape.

I like this one the most, though.  Big curls for volume, but most importantly, the straight-cut bangs make her face look smaller and her hair look bigger.  Very pretty.

Dear faire.Hair,

I have trouble with keeping my hair smooth.  I wash it in the morning every other day, and then I air dry it.  On the second morning I brush the tangles out, but by then I'm plagued by frizzy hair and I look like a mess.  Help!

From, Frizzled

Dear Frizzled,

The root of your problems is that you wash and then air dry.  Since washing dries out your hair a bit, even with conditioner, blowdrying is an important step in your morning routine.  First of all, drying your hair all at once means you get to control the shape that it dries in.  If you air dry, however, your hair will dry in all sorts of weird positions--which is why it ends up frizzy.  Secondly, the heat from the blowdryer adds a bit of shine and gloss to your hair, kind of like what a good hair straightener does.  Some people have trouble with frizzy hair even if they do blowdry, and this is usually a sign of damaged and/or weak hair.  There are products available that you put in after washing and before blowdrying that contain nutrients to replenish your hair while at the same time minimizing frizziness, but this of course takes time and money, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're having major problems with your hair.

From, faire.Hair

Some Pictures

Sorry, it's been a while.  Busy week.  My roommate got Soul Calibur 4 for his PS3 (finally) and that's taken up a lot of time.

For today, just some pictures of awesome hairstyles.  Faces are pixelized since I didn't exactly ask for permission first.

Interesting use of colour.  Be forewarned, however, that the colour fades within a week.

Hair doesn't always have to be wild to be effective.  Tame and textured is often the way to go.

Bored

Man, I had to wake up at 6:30 this morning to line up at 7:30 so I could sign up for a class for next semester that only has 16 spots.  No one else showed up until 9...  And I don't have class until 12...

So here's a quick post for today, the video tutorial I mentioned yesterday.

He is a funny guy... But definitely worth watching.  Enjoy!

Free stuff

Yesterday was the Sakura (Cherry blossom) festival in Little Tokyo, so I went with some friends.Of course, I couldn't go to Little Tokyo and not go to the Marukai to buy some Gatsby.  It went up in price to $9.49, up from like ~$7-8 last year...Tada!  Yellow Gatsby.  This is the newest colour, "Nuance Motion".  It's not even on the gatsby.hk website yet, but it is on the gatsby.jp website.  Speaking of which, the jap Gatsby website has new hair models, new videos, and lots of new instructions.  If only I spoke/read Japanese.

Back at USC, Springfest was on.  Since it was outside my dorm I figured I'd go check out the vendors for freebies (yes, very Chinese of me).  Well who would have guessed, got2b (there's an umlaut on the "o", I can't figure out how to type it) had two tents with lots of freebies.

So I got two little tubes of hair gel.  Not that I even use hair gel (a post for another time).  But basically, this stuff is only good for spikes, which is only used in J-Rock, caucasian, and poorly done Jap/Twn styles.  got2b is a good brand (I used the yellow one before when trying to cosplay as L from Deathnote) because it really does hold quite well; it just makes your hair too shiny and stiff.

This is an example of what not to do.  What's wrong with it, you ask?

1)  Hair is uneven.  This kid needs a haircut, because when you stick your hair up straight like that you can see longer hairs here and shorter hairs there, and overall it produces a very messy effect.  But not a good messy, like the simulated bedhead hair, but more of a "I squirted gel in my hair and then let it dry in a wanna-be cool position."

2)  Hair is too shiny and the texture is too clumpy.  In LA weather, you sweat.  So if you choose to use shiny hair gel, you don't want your strands of hair to be in thick, wide clumps:  otherwise it just looks like you're sweating really hard and your hair is soaked in sweat.  This kinda brings us back to step 1:  get a haircut.  If you want to use gel you need shorter hair that will produce small, neat spikes.

That's all for now, next time I'll be posting someone else's Youtube video tutorial that's an "intro to Asian hairstyling."

Product Review: Hairspray

First off, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to my friend Frank, whose constantly fabulous hair was one of my biggest inspirations.  I still can't believe he used to cut his own hair, too.

Anyway, a can of hairspray is one of those styling essentials that every woman must have, though perhaps not every guy.  Guys with short to medium-short hair will probably never need hairspray, but medium and longer can make use of it.  Today I'll be discussing Pantene's hairspray from its texturizing line of products.

Price:  ~$5 regular price, $3 on sale

Value:  269 grams

Type:  Ultra hold aerosol spray

Where to buy:  London drugs, Superstore, any old supermarket that carries Pantene products will *probably* have it, though I'm not making any guarantees.

The Fab:

I don't use a lot of hairspray, but for the price of this one it's a great deal.  It's a huge can that will last forever if you don't use it every day.  It holds amazingly well without making your hair harden into a helmet or making it feel all crispy-fried.  In fact, when used properly this hairspray will leave your hair quite flexible, maintaining that all-natural look.  Flexible, but not floppy, though.  Your hair will have some fantastic elasticity that will allow it to spring back up into place if the wind pushes your hair around.

To quote the website:

"Its fast-drying Pro-V formula has a lower water content than other Pantene hairsprays and is great for use with our wax-based styling products."

What this means, especially for guys, is that after you've painstakingly sculpted every strand of hair with your expensive Gatsby or other wax/putty, this hairspray isn't going to wash it all out and make your bold 3-D style collapse on itself.

I would absolutely recommend this hairspray for guys, it's a great investment that will save your hair on windy days and whenever you plan on going out for a long time and don't want to think about your hair all day long.

The Drab: 

The huge can can make it a little hard to wield and maneuver around your head.  Also, the nozzle is super-strong:  when it says "hold at least one foot away," you'd better listen or suffer.  If you hold it 6 inches close (which is about normal for other sprays), then the hairspray will saturate your hair and you'll get the rock-hard effect.  Or, if you're unlucky enough that it clogs, it'll just shoot a wad of hairspray onto your carefully coifed head and ruin your style while also making it look like someone blew their nose at you.

Remember that this is hairspray, not hair wax.  You can't spray it and then style your hair after and expect it to look like you used a dollar's worth of Gatsby.  This is just for giving your hair some extra durability (like if you have 6 hours of school and then you're going clubbing afterwards).

This stuff also dries really fast, so don't mess up yeah?  Spray and Stay.  And like with any hairspray, don't touch it too much.  It's flexible, but it will flake if you run your fingers through your hair, and you don't really want to create your own dandruff now, do you?