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GLAM UP

Rejoice, fellow salon lovers. There’s a new hair salon in town. And it’s a premium one too!

Last week I was invited to the launch of JOHNNY ANDREAN PREMIUM SALON in Plaza Senayan, Jakarta. Johnny Andrean was such an iconic hair salon owner. It was 37 years ago that he built his first hair salon, and this year, he and his wife, Tina Andrean launched their premium salon due to their client’s high demand for premium hair care services. 

So they renovated their previous salon on the same spot in Plaza Senayan, to match their premium services. It’s more luxurious and comfortable when I saw it and of course, the products they’re using will be more premium. Enter: Shiseido Professional The Hair Care. Yes, they’re using exclusive range from the Japanese brand (also a favorite of Tina Andrean). Targeting to customers with lifestyle in mind, you can also purchase your favorite hair care from Shiseido Professional’s corner at this premium salon. And, they’re using Max Factor for manicure & pedicure color service for that gel finish without using the UV lamp. 

At the event, they also launched their latest hair color trend, named INSTAGLAM. Inspired by “Tokyo Blend” (a hair stylist community from 9 of the most influential salon in Japan) and coffee, Johnny Andrean teamed up with Shiseido Professional for three color trends: Rose Coffee Roaster, Mocha Espresso & Cherry Latte. Be your own ‘barista’ and choose a color from these warm brownish based colors.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

WHO HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HAIR?

Adam Reed, Celebrity Hair Stylist and one of the owner of PERCY & REED, answered: Cara Delevingne.

Of course, I couldn’t agree more with him. And I was too lucky to meet Adam personally (thanks Sephora Indonesia) this week. Surprised, surprised, they offered me if I want to have my hair cut and styled by Adam. Of course, I accepted the (too) generous offer. You see, Percy & Reed hair range products are coming soon to Jakarta, Indonesia. Precisely by late October 2014 in Sephora Jakarta’s stores. What’ll be available here? Their core products (for hair care & styling too), including (the most awaited product I supposed) their dry shampoo! For you who have been living inside the cage, Percy & Reed started from duo celebrity hair stylists, Adam Reed and Paul Percival (that’s when the brand’s name came from) with a leading hair salon in London and unique hair product range to follow. And I remember quite clearly, my first encounter with the brand was actually when I visited London about two years ago and bought Glamour UK magazine. By that time, Glamour UK was giving away free samples, and it was Percy & Reed (I believe it was their conditioner). First, I was attracted by the pretty illustration of a woman with gorgeous hair on the packaging and it blew me away when I tried it and it worked really well. 

Let’s move on to my glorious hair day experiment with Adam, shall we? Adam is just lovely, we chat a lot while he cut and styled my hair. He love Asia, he said. Especially the food, while he can’t stand the heat and the worst traffic that he’d ever seen in Jakarta. LOL. Being me, I asked lots of questions and tips. And being me, I was kindly enough to share them with you here.
Me: “What do you think differ Asian’s hair and Caucasian’s hair?
Adam: "Actually they don’t differ at all. The difference is within the weather. Your weather here is just bad for hair cuticles. The humidity and heat will make your hair cuticles open all the time. That’s what made your hair limp and lifeless. What you can do is keeping your hair cuticles closed by blow drying with cold, not hot hair. And use oil before blow drying, that should help to keep your cuticles closed.”
Me: “Should I permed my hair? I love the volumizing look it gave me.”
Adam: “Never ever permed your hair. It will make your hair look dull and lost their shine. Keep them straight. If you want to make your hair look more volumized, spray your hair brush with hair spray and brush them through. That will make your hair look volumized but still has movement, not stiff.”
Me: “You know, I colored my own hair.”
Adam: “What? Really? I mean, it was a nice color and look good on you, but you should never colored them yourself. Go to hair salon.”
Me: “What was your recipe for great hair everyday?”
Adam: “Great hair products and great tools.”

Indeed! Since my hair was colored, they used Really Rather Radiant Colour and Shine Shampoo and Conditioner on me. Frankly speaking, I was surprised that they did cleansing too (I was expecting cut and style), but hey, every great hair styling need a clean hair, no? The wonderful soft smell last long throughout my day that day. Since I decided to keep my hair long (and I thought Adam agreed too), he trimmed and layered a bit of my hair. 

And talking about tools, Adam used GHD’s products to blow dry my hair, right down to the brushes (it seriously remind me of Mason Pearson’s brush). I want! Check out the tools spread on my pic above. FYI, he only used the hair dryer and a big hair roller brush, not even straightening iron or curling iron on me to create my look above. 

It will be a perfect world if I can have all of Percy & Reed products to care and style my hair every day, but I do recommend these as a starter (and feel free to extend the list any day now):

  • Shampoo and Conditioner (for the types that suit your hair, click here)
  • Hair Oil. Their no oil, oil is super great! No stickiness, I never washed my hands after I applied it on my hair. 
  • Hair Spray. Must have. Remember the tips from Adam? 
  • Shine & Fragrance Spray. OMG, in this heat, it seems that hair got smellier easier. I have the travel size in my bag now.

 

FOR THAT SLEEK & NOURISHED LOOK

I’m in that never ending battle for super soft look and feel of long hair.

Ever since I’ve grown my hair long (and longer these days), I’m getting more serious of my hair care. Seriously, longer hair need more attention, more TLC than shorter ones. I believe in using good shampoo, conditioner and mask, as ordinary hair care products in supermarket just don’t cut it anymore (I ended with that non long lasting scent of clean hair, oily scalp & tangled long hair). 

That’s why I believe in salon quality hair products. Currently, I’ve been using the latest from L’Oreal Professionnel Innovative Serie Expert, Pro-Keratin Refill shampoo and masque. Combination of Keratin (FYI, our hair is made up of 85% Keratin that gives hair shine, flexibility & strength) and Incell work together for stronger and more resilient hair. They’ll help to strengthen weak and damage hair too! So, cleansing, strengthening & nourishing? Yup! After a week or so, I do feel my hair is more resistant to breakage. They feel softer without the oily scalp at the end of the day, easier to comb and their fresh scent last. Even without the help of flat iron, a simple blow dry made my hair looked sleek (check out my Violet from The Incredibles’ impersonation pic above #LOL). 

THINNING HAIR?

What would you say if I tell you that there’s help?

Internal & external factors like UV rays, stress & hormone imbalance will contribute to slow hair growth. They caused a situation called Normoxia (over production of oxygen), which made it harder for the follicles to produced new hair. At this phase named Dormant, hair follicles activities will stop & produced no hair for 2 until 12 months before they enter the new life cycles. If you’re unlucky, hair follicles can be stuck in this phase until 10 years!

Oh dear…But thank goodness for L’Oreal Research which found a fact that during this Dormant phase, stem cell hold a key role in the hair renewal process.

The latest hair serum from Kérastase, DENSIFIQUE, was launched last week at La Seine by Marquee, Cyber Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia.

This very innovative product can mimic the essential condition of stem cell activity on our scalp and reactivate the follicles to reveal up to 1700 new hair in three months. At the event, Caroline Dery, Group Product Manager Kérastase Paris explained how to apply DENSIFIQUE everyday. “This will be a new routine for our scalp and hair. Apply one bottle a day to a freshly cleaned (after shampoo, conditioner or mask), towel dried hair.” Currently, you can buy DENSIFIQUE in 128 Kérastase Salon in Indonesia for Rp 785.000/box of 10bottles.

 

GO GLOSS!

Are you in love with your hair color?

If your answer is no, you should run to your favorite L’Oréal Professionnel salon and try their new service, “Hair Gloss: In Love With My Color”.  At the press conference last Tuesday, Ivonne Vania, Product Manager Color L’Oréal Professionnel Indonesia said, “4.2 million Indonesian women are afraid to color their hair, based on our survey in salons. They afraid coloring might make their hair dry and brittle.” While me, (duh!) colored my hair like once a month. I believe this new service will be great for first timer aka virgin hair that never been colored before, and those who long for natural colored hair, with or without highlight. The difference with other coloring services? Hair Gloss will make your colored hair shinier and softer to touch.

“If you want to covered your grey hair and if you want to make your colored hair look more natural, this service is also for you,” said Yola Sutjiutomo, Business Unit Manager L’Oréal Professionnel.

Three different products are the key for this latest service, DIA RICHESSE, DIA LIGHT & PLATINIUM. Dia Richesse to cover grey hair and create natural colored hair. Dia Light will give extra shine and soft color. While Platinium creates a perfect, natural and soft highlight.

There are 3 looks to inspire & most probably will make you fall in love with your hair color (again): GLOSS HIGHLIGHT, SOFT COLOR GLOSS & GREY BLENDING.

As an addict for any hair color products or services available, I’d definitely try this service. I’ll keep you posted for sure. 

WHEN SKIN & HAIR COLLIDE

Seems like everything about skin care innovations, the hair will follow.

Take BB Cream for example. When BB Cream for face launched as the latest beauty trend, they created BB Cream for hair. Then they went to CC Cream, and so did hair. Well you got what I meant.

So it comes to no surprise when Kérastase created the first serum for hair. Inspired by the incontestable success of skincare serums (one of them is LANCÔME Génifique) which changed the whole skincare routine, especially for women, Kérastase created the first concentrate which generates at its source the growth of a stronger, shiner and more beautiful hair, named INITIALISTE.

You’ve probably heard about the precious stem cells? With their high regenerating power, these cells won’t be affected by aging. But, as fragile as they are, their functionality will reduced due to internal and external aggressions, like oxidative stress, pollution and UV. Guess what? Stem cells existed at the hair follicle’s level, too. Discovered by the Recherche Avancée L’Oréal after 24 years of research, the 2 stem cells pools are as precious and as fragile as skin’s. Therefore, they have to be protected and preserved, to achieve the growth of more beautiful and stronger hair at its source.

Personally, I can’t wait to try the hair serum (and dig more about it for you), which IMHO does look like LANCÔME Génifique bottle, right down to the dropper (don’t you think so too?). I’ve read from other bloggers’ reviews that it successfully made their hair feels softer and thicker, easier to style, shinier with less breakage & split ends. Now I wonder if it’s going to be love from the first use for me? Stay tune, as Kérastase and Lancôme will have bloggers’ exclusive event soon (named Super Serum Duo Pampering Day) and of course, I’ll be there.

 

IS IT POSSIBLE TO RECONSTRUCT OUR HAIR?

The answer is yes. So be prepared to say au revoir to those brittles and split ends.

The good news is you’re not alone in these damaged hair categories. “For Indonesian women, split ends, fragile and damaged hair are number two hair problem. The causes are technical aggression and chemical aggression. Technical includes: sun exposure, chlorine in water, hair styling (blow dry, ironing, combing and pony tails) and poor nutrition distribution on longer hair.  Meanwhile, chemical aggression happened due to chemical services like coloring, straightening or curling without proper treatment,” explained Hendra Purjaka, Senior Education and Commercial Manager Kérastase Indonesia.

You might not see it with naked eyes, but there are four levels of hair erosion (as seen on the pictures above):

Level 1: when hair cuticle (that’s the outermost part of the hair shaft) split with a rough surface.

Level 2:  hair cuticle is open and split.

Level 3: hair surface damaged and peeled. See the cortex layer (that’s the center part of hair which gives elasticity to our hair) opened.

Level 4: the worst condition of all when the cortex layer look very damaged with total hair erosion.

So, how to detect your level of hair erosion? I identified mine here and found out that my erosion scale is number 3. Ouch. And I thought my hair looked OK from the outside.

While highly professional diagnostic can only be done in salons, but there’s help for treatment at home. Two complete range for four different levels of damaged hair. Kérastase Force Topseal range for hair erosion level number 1 and 2, and Kérastase Force Architecte range for hair erosion level number 3 and 4.

The latest, Kérastase Force Architecte includes: Bain Force Architecte (shampoo), Masque Force Architecte (hair mask) and Fibre Architecte (hair serum). With cutting edge new technology, Cyment- cylane3 complex, the range is recommended for daily use in whole regimen to achieve revitalized and reconstructed hair at each fibre. And they’ll also help to prevent more breakage and split ends.

From now, consider any level of your damaged hair problems solved.

 

MIDAS TOUCH

Trust me, if you ever tried one of Kérastase’s Hair Rituals, you’ll forget there are cream bath or any other similar but not the same hair treatment.

It’s a ritual like no other, it didn’t just make my hair look good, it made me feel good. Gorgeous healthy hair that bounced with glory every time I walk, will definitely made my day. I bet you too.

After the marvelous launching event of Kérastase Elixir Ultime Grands Crus (see it here), Kérastase Indonesia invited me and a few other bloggers yesterday to experience their latest Hair Rituals, 24 Carats Ritual. Just like its’ name, the pure and fine gold measurement, the ritual itself is really a luxurious experience. Tailor made, just like the other Kérastase’s hair ritual, but this time using Kérastase Elixir Ultime’s range, including the predecessor Kérastase Elixir Ultime and the latest addition: Sublime Cleansing Oil Shampoo, Beautifying Oil Mask and Grands Crus.

Frankly speaking, I was being skeptical at first as I have super oily scalp and the thought of washing and treating it with oil didn’t thrill me. But, boy…was I wrong. The shampoo effectively cleansed my scalp without weighing my hair down. The mask, which actually looks like a thick cream mixed with gold flakes crushed, nourished my hair completely, leaving them with a lustrous looking shine. As for the Grands Crus, it completed the whole ritual by its’ divine scent. If they did ‘magic’ to my short hair, imagine what they can do for longer hair.
Let me share my 24 Carats Ritual’s experience at Irwan Team Hair Design, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta.

  • First the therapist applied Elixir Ultime Oil to the scalp and shafts on dry hair (pre-shampoo), and massage for 5 minutes.
  • Then, shampoo with Sublime Cleansing Oil Shampoo.
  • The therapist blend about two spoon of Beautifying Oil Mask, two drops of Elixir Ultime and Grands Crus (I personally picked THÉ IMPÉRIAL for the colored hair) and he applied them generously on the shafts.
  • Cold steam for about 10 minutes, while the therapist did hot stones massage on my back, hands and feet.
  • Rinse without shampoo and preparing for blow dry with a drop of Grands Crus THÉ IMPÉRIAL.

As you can see from my pictures above, my hair looks like they have just been revamped. Though I don’t have Giselle Bundchen’s long shiny locks, I’m quite happy with the way they bounced healthily and most of all smell incredible. “Your choice of Grands Crus is actually inspired by Chanel fragrance’s, Coco Mademoiselle,” said Caroline Dery, Group Product Manager Kérastase.

After our 24 Carats Ritual’s experience, a beauty luncheon was held and Caroline explained more about the Grands Crus line. “ROSE MILLÉNAIRE suited for the passionate moods, MORINGA IMMORTEL for the elegant in you, THÉ IMPÉRIAL for the romantics and ELIXIR ULTIME for the glamorous.” If my choice (THÉ IMPÉRIAL) was inspired by Coco Mademoiselle, MORINGA IMMORTEL was inspired by Kenzo Flower, while ROSE MILLÉNAIRE was inspired by Aromatonic from Lancome. Yes, everyone would be able to find an elixir suited for their hair type or just to suit their mood.

But, don’t just take my words for this special hair ritual. Seriously, you have to feel it yourself to believe it.

 

Crème de la Crus

If a brand expanding their previous product and providing us with new variants, it must be that good.

Apparently so good, Kérastase Elixir Ultime which was launched last year reportedly one being sold every 2 minutes worldwide, and it’s Kérastase’s number one best selling product. This exclusive hair oil is the answer for growing demand of high performing hair oil for its’ benefits and the luxurious feel.

Well, the Elixir Ultime has new families now. Kérastase Elixir Ultime Grands Crus combining the same original base formula, Oléo-Complexe (a fusion of Maize Oil, Argan Oil, Pracaxi Oil and Camellia Oil) with natural extracts of Rose flowers, Moringa and White Tea. Three variants are created with different scents and tailor made to deliver specific results for each hair needs. “Back in my country, Grands Crus means the ‘best’ for wine and such. This time we brought the best care with the special fragrance to suit every mood,” said Michel Toth, General Manager Professional Products Division L’Oreal Indonesia at the Indonesia’s launch of Kérastase Elixir Ultime Grands Crus. Celebrated at SKYE Bar, Menara BCA, Grand Indonesia, Jakarta with fellow journalists, salon owners and hair enthusiasts, Kérastase Indonesia also introduced the new hair care ritual, named “24 Carats Ritual” (which I’ll experience personally soon and for sure I’ll keep you updated).

Kérastase Elixir Ultime Grands Crus are:

Rose Millénaire (purple): Perfect for fine hair. Rich in vitamin E to protect fine hair from UV radiation and pollution. Flowery scent for those who longs for passionate mood.

Moringa Immortel (green): Made for weak hair. Rich in vitamin and nutrition to revitalize hair condition. Woody and citrus scent to fulfill elegant mood.

Thé Impérial (pink): Designed for colored hair. White tea extract will protect colored hair from fading and reflect hair shine to the fullest.

What differs the trio from the predecessor (comes in gold)? They’re lighter so they won’t make our hair limp, sticky or (worse) weigh them down. The scent reminds me of luxurious French perfumes and they’re so multifunction. We can use it before shampooing, before styling, as leave-in conditioner, as finishing touch and for retouching. From my own experience (my favorite is Thé Impérial, by the way) it is the hair oil without the oiliness, it didn’t even leave oily trace on the palm of my hands afterwards. I only use one pump for my short hair and I like to use it to retouch throughout the day. It gives my hair that shiny (not oily) and healthy bounce with fragrant hair as bonus.

Kérastase Elixir Ultime Grands Crus are now available in 127 leading salons nationwide in Indonesia. 

HEY, OMBRE!

Celebrating Spring Summer 2013 with a new hair highlight. Me likey.

Last week, I attended the launch of Ombrés Nature, the latest Spring Summer 2013 Collection from L’Oréal Professionnel in the new hotel in Jakarta, JS Luwansa. Collaborating with local fashion label, Alex[a]lexa, all the floral prints seem to fit in for the hair creations by four Hairdresser Ambassadors of L’Oréal Professionnel Indonesia (Andy Lie from Lie Salon Medan, Arie Hidayat & Bambang Harryono from Arie Harry Salon & Bridal Surabaya & Bali, Irwan Doke from Irwan Team Hair Design Jakarta and Lie Kuang from Lie Kuang Salon, Semarang). Check out their fabulous Ombrés Nature creations above.

Thanks to Gisele Bundchen (which I personally think was born with that gorgeous hair), ombré became a huge hair trend, celebrated by many (celebrities or not). From time to time, this trend evolved and become more subtle than the previous technique like those dip n dye spotted on Jessie J. And thanks to L’Oréal Professionnel for bringing this trend more applicable to us, mere mortals from a tropical country, I think I’m super ready for rocking their latest trend, Ombrés Nature. By the way, I am so into “Cool Nature”. Don’t you just love those messy bob style with warm highlights?

Very natural and very Spring Summer, it’ll reflect naturally when hit by lights, making our hair look more multidimensional as the technique is more in highlight terms rather than those bold and obvious lines. Which one is your favorite out of three Ombrés Nature trends made to life by James Pecis  and Nathan Walter (from Trevor Sorbie Salon in the UK)? Sophisticated, Cool or Pop Nature?

People, it’s 2013. Time to concentrate on the technique for hair trend, instead of just the color itself.