Category: Haircare Advice

Taking Care Of Your Salon Tools.

~ Joseph Kellner ~ Leave a comment

Tools in the beauty industry are not cheap and are really made for the professional. Keeping them clean and dry are very important and also clean from all the oils, gums and alcohols from hair care products. Here are some tips to make your tools last longer.

  1. Good tools can be quite an investment, but if you take good care of them, they’ll return the favor. Keeping your tools properly stored, cleaned, and maintained will save you time and money and make your endeavors that much more rewarding.
  2. Keep your tools in a dry place.  Enclosed spaces can have humidity issues, especially if they are not heated or air-conditioned. If you keep your tools in a location like this, especially if you keep them out on hooks or bags, consider investing in a dehumidifier to keep the dampness down. They’re not terribly expensive, especially compared to your investment in your tools, and most let you set a humidity level so the dehumidifier turns on only when it needs to.
  3. Use silica gel packs or rust collector. The silica gel packs that come in lots of packaging are great at keeping moisture at bay. Toss them in drawers or bags and they can help keep rust away.
  4. Cleaning your tools may be the last thing you want to do after a day of work, but it’s essential for keeping your tools in good shape. And it really only takes a few seconds per tool unless you’ve got something really nasty on your hands. It’s well-worth the time spent doing a little cleaning to save the time spent repairing a tool (or the money spent replacing it) later.
  5. Hand tools: You can clean most hand tools by simply wiping them down with a rag. If they’re dirty, don’t be afraid to give them a good wash with soap and water. Just dry them well afterward. Spritz metal with a light coat of WD-40 and wipe with a clean rag (you really just want to leave a light film on them to help keep the rust away). Wipe wooden handles with a rag dampened with a little linseed oil. Give it a try every one.!

Trim Your Hair

~ Joseph Kellner

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: You cut a sleek lob as the temps got cooler, and you really loved it for a minute, but now you’re ready for something new. Suddenly, you’re imagining long, flowing strands that will trail behind you in the wind on beach this summer. In other words: It’s time to grow out your hair, but can the whole process hurry up already?

By and large, the rate of growth for your hair depends on genetics, but you can expect around a quarter- to a half-inch growth per month. Giving hair a trim won’t help it to lengthen any faster per se, but doing so will save the hair from splitting and causing breakage that then translates into inches off your progress report. There’s a fine line between giving your hair a chance to grow some length and letting it go too long before that length needs to be cut off. If you get your hair cut too often during the grow-out process, you are just cutting off the new length.

I always tell my clients to come in every 12 to 16 weeks if they’re trying to grow they’re hair out, but adds a caveat to this recommendation. There are exceptions to every rule. The less stress you are putting your hair through on a daily basis, the longer you can go between trims. So, the more you bleach, color or utilize styling tools (including your blow-dryer) the more frequent your trims should become.

Your hair may not flow down to your knees by summer, but if you’re diligent (and lucky) you’ll get a few inches worth of growth by the time the season’s first flower-crown-appropriate events commence.