Easy updo you can do at home!

Tired of the messy pony tails and buns? To me, they are getting old, I feel like the polished look is right around the corner. But still simple..

Here's how you can create one at home!

1. Smooth hair back with a FLAT BRUSH into a low ponytail in the back or off to the side, securing with an elastic band.

2. Smooth a dime-size dab of Bb GROOMING CREME throughout the lengths of the ponytail for soft, smooth control...with shine!

3. Braid the ponytail and wrap the braid around the base of the ponytail, then tuck the ends under. For a slightly messy look (start with Bb sea spray before drying), you can take your pony tail, divide it into 3 sections to get it ready for the braid and "rough" up each section with a pick or teasing brush, smooth the outer layer out gently to keep the "poof" and proceed with the braiding. Do whatever you feel like or whatever your style is!

4. Finish with Bumble's SPRAY DE MODE for perfect hold and shine!

As always, if you need help, at your next appointment, ask your Bijou girl to help you with this easy trick, that way you can wow your friends at the next event you go to!

Simply Smooth keratin treatment

How did our lovely Bijou model go from her BEFORE to her AFTER???? SIMPLY SMOOTH Keratin Treatment...that's how.

Keratin treatment is the new buzz word on the streets and in salons. Many of us have struggled with hair that just won't behave due to curl, kink, over processing or simply~age. Keratin is a protein that naturally coats our hair from birth and that over time breaks down which allows splits in the cuticle which leads us all to questions, "Why can't I have hair like when I was young?".

There has been some concern over the formaldehyde content in some of the Keratin treatments that were initially introduced to our industry but with our clients and stylists best interests (and health) in mind we did extensive research and found SIMPLY SMOOTH! It is Formaline Free!! (approved by the tough nuts at Health Canada). It is also the highest quality and purest keratin that is more compatible with human hair and actually goes deeper into the hair shaft leaving your hair smoother longer (from 12 to 16 weeks if maintained properly). Vitamin enriched apple pulp is one of the key ingredients, along with two types of keratin, that allows the molecules to sit both inside and outside the cuticle to create greater smoothness.

As if that wasn't enough.....SIMPLY SMOOTH also restructures and reconditions hair fiber, adds shine, makes hair stronger and humidity resistant. What more could you ask for!

Anyone can use Simply smooth and all types of hair can benefit. It is compatible with other products such as thio straightners, relaxers and all color, including lightners. You would however want to get this done directly after a color to LOCK the color in! (another great benefit!)

Guess what is THE hottest thing? Feathers and Tinsel

Get them both at Bijou salon in Skaneateles!

Hair tinsel is that little sparkle you see in women's hair, it's incredible how many people have been asking, I've seen it on the red carpet, we actually add sparkle (glitter and hairspray) to our littlest guests almost all the time when they come visit us, this is just like it, only lasts slightly longer and any age can wear it!

Oprah mentioned the new product on her show in January. The new hair bling goes by names such as; hair flairs, hair shimmers, bling strands, hair glitz, and hair tinsel which is the standard name they seem to go by. The tinsel has also showed up on the red carpet like Beyonce and also in Adrienne Maloof's Hair from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It's fun and hot and most important, super inexpensive, $2 per strand!

Now, the feather extensions, I saw these first on Steven Tyler on American Idol, I immediately thought, oh I remember getting those in the 80's at carnival's, I loved them, they were on roach clips...WELL, guess what, they have been improved, you can purchase them on little clips so you can wear them when you want, or you can be really daring and get feather extensions that Bijou will apply directly in your hair!

Among the celebs sporting feathers are Reese Witherspoon, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, Fergie, Cameron Diaz, Lea Michelle, Hilary Duff, Taylor Swift, Christina Aguilera and as I mentioned, Steven Tyler!

No longer the chunky clip-in style, these are thin and styled along with the wearer's hair! They look totally natural....in an "uber-fashion-way"!

Designers like Betsey Johnson, Juicy Couture and Alexander McQueen are just a few of the A-List designers hopping on the FEATHER EXTENSIONS trend!

The best thing about these feathers is they can be WASHED, BLOW-DRIED, STYLED and even CURLED just like your hair.

Durable and low-maintenance, they are easily installed, removed and reset in 5 minutes! Installation and removal causes no damage to hair, and they last up to 3 months!

Bijou will have the clip in feathers on sale for $25 starting Tuesday April 26th and the tinsel and feather extensions will be available next week!

Joelle's french bistro

Have you had the food at Joelle's french bistro?? Not the hoity toity french cuisine, where the bites are like mouse bites. BUT real french cooking and even a bit of Moroccan twists! It is truly my special place to eat, and I have a lot of places that I really enjoy, but going to Joelle's is like visiting family, they are special and make you feel that way.

Now is your chance to try it if you have not . During the week of April 25th through 29th if you visit the restaurant you will also be helping the Ootm team that is world bound! (of course I made a blog to follow their experience, won't you join us:) 10% of your check will be contributed to the Ootm team. This is why I love this village, she didn't even hesitate and even contacted me on how to help my son and his team.

We can't thank Joelle and Alain enough for being so generous. I know I will be going to have a bite to eat that week! (Wednesday to be exact, at 7pm, join us?) Be sure to get a flyer or print this one out or stop at Bijou salon in Skaneateles, I will have plenty of them there!

Thank you and enjoy the dinner, here are a few pictures just to get your taste buds watering!

Inspiration - Part two

One type of inspiration...

So to inspire my creative mind when it comes to hair designing, I mentioned that most of us find inspiration everywhere and anywhere, sometimes in the least expected places.

But there are other types of inspiration depending on what is important to you, the older and wiser I get, the things that inspire me are people.



For me, this is something that I guess has always had an impact on me, even from a young age.

Starting with my Mom and Dad, I remember my Mom always volunteering, so much at school, she was room Mom, the art lady in school, they volunteered at church and even now she has a special "senior" who she visits and takes places.
I remember my Dad and the company he ran, he was known to be really tough on his employees, and he expected only the best, but he worked really hard and fought really hard to have nice things for them.


I get inspired by good people, people who do good things, are good friends, have ethics, strong character and sound morals. I'm inspired by how they have come to be that way, rarely do people just start out that way, usually its a winding road that gets them there. I'm inspired by people's stories, by their hardships and how they came out of them. I believe that mistakes are essential in life, and when you learn from them, they are golden medals. I've made mistakes, everyone has, we live, we learn, we fall down and wipe ourselves off, we jump and sometimes build our wings on the way down.

Thomas inspires me, my friends inspire me: I thank heavens every day for those friends and new friends, even old and dear friends. (I'm not calling any of my friends old;)

In my business, we have some really great icon's and undoubtedly they inspire me. Vidal Sassoon is one of them, Horst Rechelbacher of Aveda, Michale Gordon of Bumble & bumble, Don Bewley from Eufora and Frederic Fekkai to name a few. Those are the creators of styles and products.

Now recently there is Tabatha Coffey, every person that owns a business or even just works in a hair salon should pay very close attention to this woman, she isn't afraid to tell it how it is, if you can't watch it and work in a salon, if she annoys you and you can't stand her....I would make the assumption that you are doing everything that she says you should not. It's simple basic laws of professionalism and customer service skills, she knows them and every girl in the salon watches her, we have discussions on her shows, I have pictures of her with reminders..W.W.T.S..(what would Tabatha say?) She is an inspiration!

Another woman is Beth Minardi, a color goddess, truly an inspiration.


While I have been thinking since yesterday about this blog post and a different type of inspiration, I happened to be cleaning up in the backroom of the salon, low and behold a collection of torn out magazine articles that were neatly pinned and clipped for everyone's viewing, some were pinned up and highlighted next to my signs and inspirational quotes.

I was so glad and tickled to see that, because I know...that not only am I inspiring them, but they are inspiring each other. And THIS makes me feel so good! We are a great team at Bijou, so grateful for that!

One more thing, I received this note from one of our dear clients telling me how Jen, our front desk coordinator inspired her, she wrote:

I wanted to have you let Jennifer know that her briefly mentioning her Mother-in-Law's passing has
inspired me to carryon in her place.  Jennifer had talked about how her MIL was a knitter and
that she had done charity for a number of groups including Afghans for Afghans. 
The thought that there was now one less contributor really got me thinking.
I logged on to the A4A website, and sure enough they are gathering newly knit children's items
for a early May shipment to Kabul.
I am now making as many pairs of 'bright woolen mittens' as I can before the deadline.

I thought it would make Jennifer (and her husband) smile to know that I was inspired to pick up
the torch and some little ones
will have warm hands as a direct result of her mentioning her Mother in Law's past good deeds.   : )

What or rather WHO inspires you??

Inspiration - part one

Being a hairdresser these days is so easy, since the internet arrived, it's so easy to be inspired visually. How was it done before? OH yes, fashion and hair has come a long way, since the internet has exploded..it's available to everyone who wants to search for inspiration, a good hairdresser will always be on her toe's, looking for inspiration for each guest!

So, recently as I mentioned before, I had the girls fill out little questionnaire's for our team bio page on our main webpage (they are not completely done, but if you click on each one, you can see what I am referring to). One question was, how are you inspired? All the girls answered various ways of being inspired, but I know one way is internet, this was one reason I got an ipad in the salon, to be able to when taking a break, do a bit of research as well, food for the hunger.

I was thinking about color specifically this dreary morning. (Which did I mention as I speak, it is snowing? Oh yes, big fluffy flakes. I'm not sure if anyone has told Jack Frost, but it IS April, the robin's must be so confused and cold!)

Okay color...So sometimes I'm inspired by nature, I can look at a wood grain, especially cedar...and when I have someone with red hair, I cannot resist to add some really subtle grains of blonde in it. I mean look at all the possibilities of color in nature!!Stunning, right?

Some of the other girls will just go to pictures of color, just Google things like, blondes with lowlights, dark hair with highlights, or multi color highlights. Literally it's like a magic 8 ball for inspiration, google answers all questions, gives you a fistful of answers or examples and voila, inspiration!

Not to mention blogs. I heart blogs, take a look at this one, she is a great, and I mean great fashion expert with a flair for writing, and other bloggers, even from Italy, who get inspiration from reading those other ones. Careful, they are addicting!

My point is, inspiration, I have found is, everywhere, there is no excuse for not being inspired, just open your mind and let it wander:) but my question to you is...

What inspires you?

Next I will post about what...or WHO inspires me..so the next question will be...(I'm sure you can guess:)

Bangs or no bangs?

So as I am sitting here on this dreary "spring" day...The so-called Spring day in Upstate NY. No really I prefer to be positive. (Must repeat several times to believe) I was trying to figure out what in the world to blog about. Usually, I'm blogging in my head daily, and when I sit at my computer I have plenty to say, even whipping out a few blog posts for the week. BUT today, the weather has me down.

So to inspire me, I started researching what is in style currently, on my mind specifically was bangs, or fringe, whichever you prefer to call it. I've had several clients that have worn their hair without bangs forever come and insist on me giving them bangs. And even myself, am toying with the ideas of cutting a section of bangs. BUT the dilemna is what kind of bangs, I mean it can get overwhelming to decide. I found this great blog, this girl took pictures of celebrities wearing fringe or bangs and put it next to pictures of them without the bangs/fringe. I'll have to start doing that.

While I am writing this it is making me think of the series of questions I passed around to the Bijou girls for our team bio's page, I wanted to really hone in on what people are looking for in a stylist, and ultimately while I believe it takes talent to make a client happy, it also takes a like minded individual to please them. I can see it when I think of my own clients, they are all similiar in some ways to me, so I may be wrong, but I believe it's a bigger personal connection that allows a client to see a stylists greatness. I say this all the time to new clients; I could be the best hairstylist to my client 'Judy', and she could recommend all her friends, most likely they will like me too, but her friends that are not that much like her, may wonder what the heck Judy see's in my skills. I believe (I may be totally wrong) that talent is subjective to whoever is the judge. The exception to the rule is someone who really does not know what they are doing, I've rarely worked with someone like that, but judging by some of the mistakes we fix from various places, I have to believe they exist, or it could also be a communication error, maybe they said symmetrical, but the stylist heard asymmetrical. It's so much about communication. Oh my goodness, I have to stop digressing, do people actually read all this? Ok back to the subject at hand.

BANGS or no bangs?!

So the trends still are all over the board, but I will tell you, a lot of people in upstate New York are choosing to cut those long layers shorter in the front, the side bang is still popular, but it is going shorter, some people are opting for blunt bangs and some are really going for it with short and textured bangs. I think we are passed the era of only one thing is popular, I mean really people wear bootcut jeans, capri's and skinny jeans all in the same week (when originally it was spanned over several different decades), so where are the rules and who really follows them?