Wedding videographer in action at Bijou

We have many weddings at Bijou. Lately over the past couple years, we see a video guy in too taking film. I've often wondered what the finished product looks like. Of course decades ago I saw wedding videos from friends weddings, they've never appealed to me, BUT this is different, less like a film and more like a movie with a story!

I have to say, I'm quite impressed and felt the need to share this with you all!

Click HERE, or HERE to see a wedding held in Skaneateles, where the bridal party got ready at Bijou. Click HERE if you want to visit his page and get more information and peak around...who know's, maybe you'll see someone you know in the videos. Heck it's a blog, spend hours:)

So glad to finally have seen some of the work from Mayer Video productions. Click here to be zoomed to his page where all his information is!

What's new in nails at Bijou!?

Getting bored of just painting your nails? Well there really is no reason for that!

People step outside of their boxes every day, more and more. Why didn't we think of these things before, it's the young people, isn't it?? They're really good at stepping outside of boxes.


Like painting all your nails one solid color, but then mixing it up on the ring finger. Sparkles, polka dots, stripes, whatever is your passion. Just do it!





And you have no longer to do just a plain french...do a combination of different ones, light on the tip, bright on the tip, all different tips - whatever you desire. The sky is the limit, not the figertip


And shatter, have you heard about that? It's nailpolish that shatters right after application. Very cool effect and the creativity you can create with that is limitless! Nail polish companies are making huge strides in offering creative new ideas and products. I heard it from a very reliable source (the owners of OPI who visited Bijou in Skaneateles) that they were making a magnetic nailpolish, that after painting, you used a tool that made an embossing mark on the nail. That sounds really neat.


And then you have the Ombre, yes you see it in hair coloring. But now it's in nails too. Look at all the examples of Ombre nails, can you say AMAZING!?



And look what you can do with scotch tape and fancy scissors! That's incredible...(remember that show?)




And lastly, holding up the train of nails, we have our dear friend - Shellac! Can I just say, I love this product!

How do you do Gizelle curls?

Last year at one of the many hair shows we attended, we learned from the stylist of Meg Ryan, Sally Hershberger, just how to make those Gizelle waves...She called them "Genius", about 13 times! We love them and teach them all the time in the salon.

Here is our first attempt at making a video, which is actually a long process, very confusing, but not for our 13 year old future Bijou front desk girl! A special thanks to the awesome teenager Chloe for helping me! And thanks to Shelly, Lisa and Jen for letting us demonstrate on their beautiful heads of hair!

Very "Pin"terest - ing!

Oh my did I find a tool that is changing the salon and consultations! We've always talked about taking old magazines, clipping favorite styles, looks, color inspirations...We're always talking about recipes with clients, but Oh where did we see that, darn it, should have clipped it! BUT seriously, who has the time to get scissor out, clip them, glue them or stick them into a book. It was a great concept I had at a meeting, but we just never had the time to do it.



THEN....my good friend turned me on to THIS. And now, it's so simple, literally takes seconds and we can collect all our pinned items here. So don't be surprised, if the next time you come in and have told us in the past, like Donna Adamo just did, "Next time I come in Sam, I'm all yours, you can do whatever you want, I'm in your hands!" (She said she has never done that with a stylist:) SO, from that appointment until her next ap
pointment, Sam has been collecting looks for her, color options, cut options and she will have her own special board!




So the concept is this, a virtual bulletin board, with different categories that you create. Please take a look and for goodness sake, make your own pinteresting board, if you need an invitation, reply back, it seems that is the quickest way, as if you ask for your own, there is a bit of a waiting list!

Have fun, browsing at ours, and it changes every day! If you need a tutorial, feel free to come in and I'll sit down with you and teach you:)

Tis the season…for frizzy hair!

Whether it’s sunny and humid or rainy and humid or cloudy and humid, summer is never good news for the silky, shiny tresses that we all yearn for, BUT don't worry, we have some products for everyone!

While as of today, chilly enough to wear a small jacket...yes, it's mid June..humid weather is just around the corner, and our clients are requesting frizz-fighting products, so I thought I'd share with you, some daily advice we give to all our favorite people!

On super hot days, avoid the blow dryer all together, especially if you have don't have air-conditioning inside. If your hair is on the longer side, use some leave in conditioners (my personal favorite one is Eufora leave-in) or Moroccan oil and braid your hair, down the back, a french braid, two on the side...when you take it out later,you’ll find yourself in happy low-frizz territory because you let your hair dry in a controlled environment.

If you want a really easy day, wash your hair in the morning, put leave in conditioner and a setting glaze (Eufora is the best one) and towel dry your hair, get some small clips to clip some big Gizelle like curls. (Ah ha...you are wondering what those are, well you will have to come into Bijou and we will show you:)

(See, like how they used to do it;)


Next, apply some sunscreen...(to your body and face silly, not your hair, you should be purchasing products with sunscreen in it, most of ours do!) Now go sit outside and relax for the rest of the day ;) oooh and sip something good too while you're at it! When you're nice and relaxed, bronzed by the sun and have had good thoughts all day, come inside, let your clips out and use some Aveda anti- humectant pomade to make your Giselle like curls smooth and shiney!




If you really insist on trying to battle the humidity and using a blowdryer, consider investing in the Simply Smooth Keratin Treatment and check out Bumble and bumble's "GROOMING CREME" and "LEAVE IN CONDITIONER" applied while hair is still wet. Then fight back humidity with Bb's "DEFRIZZ" (the ultimate frizz-warrior) after your blow-dry.

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!

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!

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?

Empowering the team using kind affirmations...

This post was actually supposed to be finished right after I did this little creative exercise at our first Team meeting of the year. I took the photos, had what I wanted to share in my head, started it in my new posts, only to let it sit in editing stages for quite some time. However, with the spirit of, everything happens for a reason and timing is everything, here it is. (It must be the right time for someone:)

We have always had team meetings, but they were not as regular as they should have been and they always revolved around dinner. While this is a very nice touch, it's also distracting. At the end of 2010 we decided one goal we would strive for was, monthly meetings. Jen got me right on task to plan them ahead of time, so we were not playing (or shall I say..she was not playing..) 'find a night we are all free, game'...a tricky task, as we are all incredibly busy.

We did it, posted the dates for one year. Perfect! Set guidelines and promised to post agenda's the week before the meeting, keeping them to one hour and taking minutes. Boy, can I say...We should have done this ages ago! The first one is always the hardest, going over the guidelines, philosophy of Bijou, tackling issues, also discussing some new and exciting benefits we were offering to the girls. It went off without a hitch, but I also knew that I wanted to also give them something special too. Somehow I came up with the idea of having each of the girls write something nice about each of their team members. Not knowing the value of this when I came up with the idea, or that my fingers would get glued together. But seeing them all take the time to write something about each person was quite lovely, I was surprised as I read such nice things...and thought, they would have never known their team members thought these wonderful things. I also could tell, it came from their hearts. This set the tone for a great year.

Thinking of my past working experiences and events that happened in those environments, I felt lucky and blessed that each girl had the other girls backs. They genuinely are fond of each other and this I know, as clients tell me this all the time. This is most importantly, what makes Bijou.

We work as a team.

Getting your haircut at Bijou and Face Shapes!

Stop experimenting with haircuts that look good on others and wear a style that looks good on you!!

To find out the shape of your face, measure it with a tape measure or ruler. You will take the following measurements.

1. Measure your face across the top of your cheekbones. Write down the measurement on a piece of paper.

2. Measure across your jaw line from the widest point to the widest point. Write down the measurement.

3. Measure across your forehead at the widest point. Generally the widest point will be somewhere about halfway between your eyebrows and your hairline. Write down the measurement.

4. Measure from the tip of your hairline to the bottom of your chin.

Oval Face - Length equal to one and a half times width.

Round Face - Your face is as wide as it is long. This may vary a little but generally the measurement is close.

Oblong - Longer than it is wide.

Heart - Narrow at jaw line, wide at cheekbones/and or forehead.

Square - your face is about as wide as it is long.

Diamond - Widest at cheekbones, narrow forehead and jaw line of approximately equal widths.

Your haircut should be as unique as you . Your face shape is a natural guideline for finding the perfect style. Our stylists don't just cut your hair ; we design a customized haircut specifically for you based on face shape,texture,and thickness!

It's our passion and attention to detail that that makes Bijou Salon sparkle above the rest! Plus we listen to what you really want and advise you on what will work best with your hair!

Nothing about hair or Bijou, But a St. Patricks treat for you!

Happy St. Patty's day! I wanted to share with you a mouthwatering recipe that I had the honor of sharing with a wonderful client of mine! If you ever need to buy a house, call her, maybe she'll cook it for you as a housewarming present;)

Thank you Wendy!

Pasta Baked with Cheese and Stout

8 oz pinwheel pasta
2 tsp butter
2 tsp minced shallots
3/4 cup Guiness Stout
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Gouda
1/2 cup shredded swiss
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
3/4 cup bread crumbs

Cook pasta to al dente, about 10 min. Drain and set aside. In med. sauce pan, melt 1 tsp butter over med. heat. Add shollots and cook 3 min. Add stout and cook until reduced by half, 5 min. Add cream and cook until reduced by half, about 5 min. Remove from heat.
In lg. bowl, combine pasta and cheeses and stoutand stir. Preheat oven to 350'. Spray 9 x 13 pan.
In sm. sauce pan, melt butter add bread crumbs and spoon over top. bake 30 min or until lightly brown.

Red Cabbage Braised in Mead

1 med. red cabbage, cored and shredded
2 onions, chopped
3 cups frozen cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, sliced
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup Bunratty Meade or Irish Whiskey
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

In lg. sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook stirring often until tender, about 50 - 60 min.

Medusa, tree-like hair

Once again we are volunteering at the Skaneateles Middle School for the play. This is my 4th year and I LOVE to do it! I wish I could (I say this every year) really bring a video recorder or energy recorder to show you how much fun backstage of a middle school play actually is...IF I would have known what I know now, I would have done drama way back when...Although the good energy and camaraderie may just be Skaneateles. Tonight when I went to the costume area to take some photos, all the kids were listening to Michael Jackson's - 'Beat it!'..and dancing, it was so contagious, I had to escape out of that room, before I started bustin' a childhood routine we used to do to that song...NOW that would have been embarrassing!

What I absolutely love the most about doing the plays is, that all the kids, no matter what their inside school personalities dictate, they all are there for the love of drama and they all are nice to eachother..no cliques..just drama students..all the same....It's really great!

So I decided to post these pictures, under this title, because before doing the play, we were told that we had 8 "tree's"...and they wanted them to have crazy..medusa like hair. Sam and I both googled - 'medusa hair', 'medusa tree hair', 'hair to look like tree branches', and didn't really get much help. We improvised and Sam being the master teaser she is, whipped up this first tree hair. Everyone loved it and we both breathed a sigh of relief, knowing we nailed it!

For those of you far away, (in the NICE warm weather) I hope you enjoy the photo's, if I ever could figure out how to get a video on this, I'll post one, I'm working on it!

Guest post by Stacy O'neal - 'My little secret time saver'

(First day hair...sleek and smooth)

I often have clients ask me how I style my hair. I have a pretty basic routine and the only real secret is that I make my shampoo last for three days. I, like so many other women, find myself without a lot of time to spend on my hair and extending the time in between my shampoos is a huge time saver.

(1st day look)

I spend the most time on day one, but it is so worth it for days two and three. After shampooing and towel drying my hair I apply a dime-size amount of the Morroccan Oil. Then after my hair is about 60% dry (either by air dry or blow dry) I blowdry my hair with a medium size round brush in sections until my blowdry is complete. I like to touch up the ends with a flat iron and then apply Euphora's Piece Works Defining Paste for separation and hold. First day look is a smooth and sleek style.

(1st day look)

Second day hair is my favorite! I can either continue the sleek and smooth look or bring out my 1-inch to 1 and 1/4 inch curling iron and take vertical sections and curl all the way around my head. I like to finish this look with Kenra's Super Hold Finishing Spray 25. Second day look is modern take of the 70's angel style.

(2nd day look)

Third day hair is the easiest of all. Curling the hair the day before sets the hair up beautifully for a quick swept up do or a ponytail! Here's a great trick I learned on TV, section from ear to ear and pony tail it, high or low - you choose - Then take the sides and pull back each one, wrapping it around your pony to cover the band! A real sexy Hollywood pony!(3rd day look, a sleek pony or a creative version of a bun or chignon)

(3rd day look)

If you need any help with any of these, stop in to Bijou Salon, ask for me, I'll be sure to give you a quick lesson in person!!