Stone Bridge Hair Advice

Damaging Hair "Advice" From Around The Internet

2012-01-16T20:07:00.000Z

Would you take hair advice from a clown?

Like the saddo that I am, I spend my free time looking on the internet for interesting new information and styling ideas for hair.

Unfortunately I tend to discover a lot of silliness instead.

Some of it is harmless, like using mayonnaise as a DIY conditioner. It works great, but it's more expensive than a properly formulated conditioner and it doesn't smell nearly as good.

Others are damaging or designed to separate you from your hard earned money.

Don't be fooled. These are my 3 Most Irritating "Tips" uncovered on a recent surf round the internet.

1. How to make my hairdo stay without hairspray

I received this from Top Tips For Girls this weekend as my tip of the day.

"If you run out of hairspray chop up one lemon and place in a pot with 2 cups water. Boil until half of the initial amount remains. Cool, strain, and place in a spray bottle. Store in the refrigerator. If it is too sticky, add more water. Add one ounce rubbing alcohol as a preservative and then the spray can be stored for up to two weeks unrefrigerated."

Lemon juice is corrosive to hair. The only scenario in which putting lemon on your hair is a good idea is if you have fine hair and want to add a "beachy" volume to it. By intentionally roughing up the cuticle, you force the individual hairs to lie apart, which will give you a small degree of added volume.

Obviously it will weaken your hair and make it more prone to split ends and breakage.

Repeated use of lemon juice will also, as is widely known, break down the pigment in your hair and lighten it, as well as continue to eat away at your cuticle with each application.

If you seriously run out of hairspray and can't cope without it, a better emergency alternative would be to rub conditioner between your hands and apply where needed with your finger tips to your hair when dry.

The conditioner coats your hair, blocking moisture in the air from entering your hair and causing frizz. It also will have the added benefit of reducing static, which may have built up while blow drying your hair.

It also won't be eating away at your hair. Duh.

The vast majority of DIY hair tips I've seen on this site are either pointless or damaging.

2. Improve weight and fullness with a "hair friendly" diet

Josephine Fairley has recently published The Anti-Aging Beauty Bible. In an article giving advice on how to improve your hair she writes,

"No miracle shampoo and condition regime can compensate for the wrong diet."

Crikey. A wrong diet?

"I 'prescribe' to just about any wannabe-gorgeous woman ... Ideal Omega 3. The B vitamin family is also fantastic for hair, as well as selenium and zinc. (Fact: few of us eat a perfect diet - never mind a hair-friendly diet - so supplements really do have a role to play in hair health.)"

Seriously, this sort of advice makes me insane.

This information (putting aside the Omega 3, for a moment) is based on pre-World War II research into why pig's hooves were growing brittle when raised on a diet of industrially produced pig nuts.

So instead of giving the pigs food they might eat "in the wild", they just added, you guessed it, B vitamins, selenium and zinc to their diet.

And, presto! Those derned hooves started growing okay.

True Fact: The only hair-friendly diet going is one that isn't starvation based.

Basically, if you're eating your 4 food groups, your hair is fine. No food is going to "increase blood flow" or give your follicles "building blocks" for hair.

The follicle is a pretty miraculous little engine, manufacturing what it needs to spin hair. It is driven by your relative hormone levels, and messing with these is what messes with your hair.

Besides, once cresting the age of 30, most women have figured out screwing up your hormones on purpose isn't the greatest idea in the world unless your doctor really, really, really insists.

Returning to the issue of Omega 3 and fish oils and all this wonderfulness.

Back in the olden days I was lucky enough to attend a food science conference in Austin, Texas (in July for crying out loud) where research was presented on the wide ranging health benefits of Omega 3 from eating oily fish.

The evidence was so compelling, I started eating salmon two to three times a week.

It was another 10 years before I ever saw any mention of this research in the public press.

Omega 3 oils are very good for your health.

They are incredible for your heart and for your mental health.

But they do nothing for hair growth.

Indeed, the only published scientific paper I could find on the subject

was from February 2010 in Revue Medicale de Liege involving 272 individuals.

The following nutrients were found to have no statistically significant relationship to alopecia (hair loss):

calcium, copper, iron, iodine, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc, omega 3 and omega 6.

Another study (on pigs) published in 1995 looked at skin cell growth after daily oral doses of essential fatty acids. Skin thickness improved, but peaked at four weeks.

But the improvement was only temporary. By eight weeks, skin measurements returned to normal.

Other than that, I couldn't find any other peer reviewed research on the topic. If you know otherwise, please share the link in the comments section below.

I love a good research paper.

3. It is important to learn how to massage your scalp

"...because your scalp needs a good supply of blood to produce the cells for new hair growth."

This sort of rubbish is all over the internet, women's magazines, everywhere, but this particular quote comes from howy.com, another site where almost anyone can post advice on anything.

Like any good myth, there is a grain of truth to it.

The follicle does need a good supply of blood to do its job. However the big news is that massaging your head does not help increase blood to the follicle. The follicle needs to grow (all by itself, without help from you or that nice girl in the salon) a network of capilliaries to supply specifically that follicle.

You cannot manually "stimulate" a follicle. As I said above, only hormones can send the correct signals for this to happen.

If you started rubbing your chin, would you grow a beard? If you have back massages, do you end up with a hairy back? No, of course not.

The other aspect of this advice that drives me nuts is the idea that the supply of blood to your head must be insufficient if you aren't happy with how much hair you have.

First of all, the single most important organ for your very biological survival is located in your head: your brain.

Funny how no one recommends head massages to make you smarter.

Or do they? Yikes!

Anybody who thinks our body isn't organised in such a way to sustain brain activity (even if it ends up being wasted on personal insecurities most of the time) doesn't know much about anatomy and should get off the internet and go read a book on the subject.

This isn't to say a head massage isn't a good idea. They're nice. They're relaxing. And nice, relaxing things are good.

But don't have them imagining you're going to start sprouting more hair.

It's not going to happen.

Good Advice on the Internet

It does seem the tide is starting to turn on hair advice, though.

I found this article, for instance, from Good Housekeeping, which (aside from the massaging business) I'd fully agree with.

I've been writing about hair care myths for years, and you can sign up for my 5 week article series to learn more.

It costs you nothing and - don't worry - you can unsubscribe any time. Just click the ol' "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the article.

It's fine. I don't mind.

Sign up for my free 5 week series of articles and start getting healthier, easy to manage hair.

Or, visit Stone Bridge for some really nice hair clips

Desperately Seeking Women With Grit

2012-01-09T13:33:00.001Z

The Nation Needs You. Are You With Me On This?

©Amie Jones. Agency:Dreamstime

I've been reading a bunch of "new year new you" articles recently.

I've seen amazing fat-melting pills, ab-scrunchers, incredible gym membership deals guaranteeing all the ice cream I want, and feel-good recommendations telling me to send smileyface texts to people in my network.

Can I get real with you on this? Really real?

The World Is In A Mess

The world is messed up. And it ain't getting any better.

We don't need a new you. We need a new society.

The way I see it, the world needs women with grit. With backbone. With the ability to take decisions and take action.

Miraculously and to my total amazement, I get to talk to women like this all day, every day.

Women like you.

Make 2012 The Foundation Year

How about this year instead of thinking about losing weight, or meeting up with your old school friends for drinks more often, or joining a gym, you decide to do something that will just start to fix what's all screwed up in the world.

Volunteer for a human rights organisation.
Get involved with the young people in your community.
Share what you know about life with your daughters and nieces.
Run for political office (please!)

Whatever cause you feel strongly about, make 2012 the year you get in there and start really ensuring a solid foundation is being laid for a better future.

What's cool about this resolution is I guarantee you it won't involve eating more calories, sitting on your sofa watching even more X Factor, or busy-working yourself with housework.

What do you say? Are you with me on this?

Get Started. Now.

Traditionally, we'd say its time to roll our sleeves up.

I think it's more appropriate to say it's time to put our hair up and let's get to work.

Share what you're going to do this year in the comments and inspire others to think bigger!

Strong Hair Clips Inspired By A Strong Woman

The Power Clip by Mrs President and Co

Last month we introduced The Power Clip, by American label Mrs President and Co.

The brand was inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama, for her grace, fortitude and leadership.

We are delighted to share with you today more from Mrs President and Co's range of headbands, pins and hair slides.

These designs are best for medium to thick hair.

The Directional Headband, £39
A clean, new classic. Perfect for workdays.

The Urbanista Headband, £50
Lovely organic design, already selling fast ...

Navette Large Hair Slide, £39
Delicate design. Stunning in a thick ponytail.

Navette Small Hair Slide, £29
Charming for your quiff or generous half-back style.

The X Hair Slide, £39
Striking modern, slender design. Gorgeous in curly hair.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Hair Clips To Save A Bad Hair Day

2012-01-08T08:59:00.001Z

We're pretty happy with this nice write up over at Marie Claire:

5 Hair Clips To Save Your Bad Hair Day

What's your favourite Bad Hair Day solution? Share yours in the comments!

Living Dangerously So You Don't Have To

2012-01-01T15:58:00.000Z

Melissa Dances With the Devil And Lives To Tell The Tale

What do I always say?

Practice new hair styles before the day of your formal event.

Use your mirrors.

And what do I do?

Never mind about that. I made a little video for you about an updo hair style that (thank goodness) works without a lot of effort and looks pretty good.

Enjoy!

Visit Stone Bridge and see some pretty hair clips perfect for tucking into your messy bun

Business, Politics, Sex and Science: 5 Fresh Ideas For Your Hair

2011-12-19T16:16:00.000Z

I thought you might be cruising towards a few days of leisure time ... maybe.

So if you've got some time to chill out in your jimmy jams and surf the internet, here are 5 articles to get your creative juices flowing in the hair department.

Shoot, you may decide to toss your iPad aside and go experiment with some new styles. It's a great time of year for it.

Happy reading!

Corporette has a really great blog for you overachieving type businesswomen, giving fashion tips and career/lifestyle advice that is *actually* useful. In this post she opens a discussion about stylish professional women who have inspired you in your life.

Total Beauty posted this slide show of celebrities working the red carpet with hair accessories in a way that is acheivable and simple. Great ideas here for your New Year's Eve out (or in, heck!)

The Beauty Brains has been a long-time favourite online read for me. Want to know the real scoop on pretty much any beauty product? Check here first for a no-BS look at all things cosmetic. In this post she answers the question "Why is soap bad for hair?"

Sexy hair secrets. Find out what men really love about women's hair, from The Daily Mail Online.

Hillary Clinton And The Claw. The most controversial post of 2011 from the Stone Bridge blog. And my follow-up with How To Do The Hillary Style ... The *Right* Way.

Visit Stone Bridge for some pretty nifty-looking hair clips

7 Secrets To Better Looking Hair

2011-12-13T15:34:00.000Z

The classic cartoon image of a woman losing it always shows her hair going madly awry. Indeed, I once came across some guidance for (male) medical consultants on how to spot post-natal depression, with messy hair topping the list.

Hair, for women, is an important part of our self-identity. It cannot be denied that how we feel about our hair on a day-to-day basis can set the tone for the entire day ahead.

Whether you're scrubbing up for the commute or morning school run, knowing that your hair looks great provides a bedrock of confidence that will pull you through a stressful day.

Knowledge of a few simple tricks and techniques can help you wrest control back over your hair, and your self esteem.

1. Work With Your Texture

A leading cause of damage, not to mention frustration, is styling your hair against it's natural texture. If you have straight hair, accept its straightness and opt for daily styling that works best for this type. If you have curly or wavy hair, make sure you have a cut that compliments your hair's natural tendencies.

Forcing your hair into a style which is opposite it's nature requires heat, strong styling products as well as time and effort. This is all very well for special occasions, when going to town with a style is part of the fun of dressing up. But for a daily routine, your hair will be better behaved for you if you appreciate what your natural texture brings to the table.

2. Choose Hair Accessories That Aren't Just Pretty

Most high street hair clips are designed only with fashion in mind. The reality is hair clips, like your shoes, have to actually work hard and stand up to more wear and tear than a belt or piece of jewellery.

Hair clips and headbands which can handle your hair, whether it is very fine or very thick, won't have to be frequently readjusted during your busy day. Ideally you should be able to do your hair so that you won't need to fix it again at least until lunchtime, if not until cabernet o'clock.

3. Know Your Face Shape

Hair styles, like dresses, flatter different shapes. Knowing what looks best for your face and profile will easily make you look younger and more groomed than having the wrong style.

Longer hair simply worn down can be aging, so playing with updos, half-back styles and different ways of parting your fringe are very worth the time. Ask friends and your stylist for advice, as it is easier for them to see you from all angles.

4. Exercise Damage Control

Most damage to hair is caused by salon treatments, such as colouring and permanents, followed next by mishandling your hair when it is wet, such as using a brush or straightening irons on wet hair.

Your hair can generally tolerate one form of abuse, but not both. If you colour your hair, go easy on heat styling. If you are addicted to your straighteners, you should avoid any chemical processes to your hair.

If you can manage to give up both, your hair will reward you with less (or even eliminating) breakage as well as becoming increasingly easy to style as the internal structure of the hair will be stronger and more resilient.

5. Listen To Your Stylist

Stylists are usually at the mercy of the demands of clients, faithfully delivering whatever you ask them to do.

They are really untapped resources of information about current styling trends. A good stylist will keep up to date with cutting techniques and be able to help you evolve your look so you stay on trend. At least once a year, talk to your stylist for some ideas that might work for you. They'll be so glad you asked!

6. Use Your Mirror

Mirrors should be your second best friend (after your diamonds, natch). Invest in a great hand-held mirror. The best is about the size of a normal A4 size of paper as it will give you a good view of the back of your head, but not be too heavy to hold.

Check your hair before leaving the house: front, back and sides. Don't rely on how you look just face on. The rest of the world doesn't see you only from the front.

7. Broaden Your Repertoire

You don't have just one outfit in your cupboard. Why only put your hair up in the same old style all the time?

Knowing a variety of ways to wear your hair up or back means you will have more fun with your hair, but you will also have more tools in your arsenal to deal with a bad hair day quickly and easily.

At Stone Bridge, we have a whole library of videos and "how to" articles on our blog.

If you want a personalised crash course, it is well worth investing in our full-service personal consultation. We will come to you and work out a whole range of styles that not only look good specifically on your, we will take the time to make sure you can create these styles yourself easily.

Exercising these seven secrets will transform your relationship with your hair. Have you got any tips for better looking hair? Share them in the comments so we can all look and feel better!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

A Disappointing Headband

2011-12-08T19:15:00.001Z

A Call From A Disappointed Customer Who Wanted To *Keep* Her Stone Bridge Headband

Classic Tortoiseshell Headbands

I had a phone call from a new customer who received one of our Super Comfy Skinny Headbands this week.

She wanted to tell me about how it actually didn't work for her.

First, this is great stuff. We love, of course, hearing about how successful our products are for you.

We also really value hearing about "when hair clips go bad."

This helps us make better recommendations for all the rest of our customers, so we truly like to know how you and your Stone Bridge hair accessories are getting along, if indeed you are getting along.

The Disappointing Headband

This customer has a graduated bob style hair cut. This means it is layered and short behind her neck and longer towards her chin. She also has fine hair.

When she first came to us, she explained that she loves headbands but they always hurt behind her ears.

Ouch! I hate that feeling. Don't you?

Melissa Recommends ...

I explained for our fine haired customers, generally we recommend the try the Super Comfy Skinny Headband. The material is very flexible and it will gradually conform to the shape of your head as it warms up from your own body heat.

This quality is no good at all for you if you have thick hair because your headband will lose the oomph it needs to work at holding the weight of your hair back from your face. The headband will become too loose on your head and slip forward.

So annoying!

However, if you have fine hair, as you already know your hair has very little weight to push out against the band. So in general we find this design suits fine hair very well.

But, you will recall my customer commented that all other headbands hurt those bones behind her ears.

While our headbands are very soft, or our metal headbands can be easily reshaped for comfort, some people are very sensitive in this spot and the sad truth is if you have this problem you will struggle to find a traditional headband that will work for you without hurting.

Then your only option is to try bandeau styles, which are usually fabric and wrap or tie around the back of your head.

The Headband Test

My lady did decide to try the Super Comfy Skinny Headband and I assured her that if it didn't work out, she could of course return it for a full refund. No problem.

Today she rang and shared the sad news that even our headband caused her pain.

Bummer!

Send it back, I told her.

But no, she wanted to persevere with it. How long would she need to wear it, she asked, before it reshaped itself? Perhaps that would solve the problem?

Well, I'm a big believer in hard work and perseverance, but physical pain is kind of my limit.

I don't think people should suffer for a headband.

(Shoes, on the other hand, that's another scenario entirely ...)

Get The Dern Headband To Fit

So I shared with her how we reshape headbands here at Stone Bridge if and when we need to.

Cellulose, the material which is used to make our French handmade hair accessories, is easily softened by heat.

So you can reshape pretty much any of our products by warming them slightly, like near - never directly on - a radiator. You want to put the piece in the desired shape, so for flexing headbands out you can use a rolled up towel or sofa cushion.

To tighten a headband back up, lay it flat on a soft surface with a ribbon tied round to just gently pull in the sides.

For flattening a French pleat comb or U pin which may have gotten twisted in the hair, we use a heavy magazine, such as the September edition of Vogue.

Check your headband, or whatever you're reshaping, twice a day.

Again, don't put your hair clips and accessories directly on a heat source as you can melt them. We know from sad experience!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Or, check out some of our independent customer reviews ... (and write your own!)

Got Split Ends? Science May Finally Have The Answer ...

2011-11-22T14:53:00.001Z

Ooops! You caught me reading my research journals again ... doh!

I'm a bit famous for looking at the marketing claims behind shampoos and conditioners and then either smacking my forehead in amazement or tipping my head back and laughing wide-mouthed like a muppet.

But not this week.

I was an eye-popped nerd reading about a new compound being studied by Unilever that might actually be great news if you suffer from split ends.

Click to read why 2012 may be an interesting year over on my other blog

Visit Stone Bridge and see all our newest hair clips

Can You Believe Your Eyes? Not always.

2011-11-14T18:56:00.000Z

It's another headsmacking day in Beauty Land.

If you thought my review of Aveda's Colour Conserve Shampoo formula was interesting then you'll *love* this blogger's account of her investigation into a widely quoted skin cream "case study" ...

Can You Believe Your Eyes? Not always... from BritishBeautyBlogger

Have You Been Good This Year?

2011-11-07T13:45:00.000Z

Hair Accessories To Ask For This Christmas

Have you been good all year?

Well, we've got two new designs up on the website you'll want to put on your wishlist.

Oh! And speaking of wishlists ... if you've got a PayPal account you will want to know about their latest campaign.

Create a £5,000 wishlist on PayPal, and each week they're choosing 5 people to win the lot.

How good is that?

Click the video to see these babies which you can add to your wishlist straight away.

Enjoy!

Click the images to get the full scoop on these hair accessories ...

Canadian Mink Headbands

Pur Silver Hair Sticks

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Log In To PayPal And Start Wishing!

Truly Mink Hair Accessories

2011-11-05T12:49:00.000Z

Quality Materials, Luxury Crafting ... Only From Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

Russe Mink Scarf Headband

We received some love this weekend from the discerning and charming Merle at BeautyBombshells.com, with her post profiling fur hats and headwear.

Her verdict on the Stone Bridge Russe Mink Headband?

"How beautiful is the mink headband with crystal detail? Bombshell-tastic!"

Named after Hollywood siren Merle Oberon, Merle was destined for a life absorbed with beauty and fashion.

This is blogging as it should be: useful, fun and engaging. We love it.

Get your (fully informed and do-able) Hollywood glamour fix at Merle's inspirational blog, Beauty Bombshells.

... Or, check out all Stone Bridge Headbands

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories for more fun with your hair!

Hair Clips For St Andrew's Day

2011-11-03T10:17:00.002Z

Show Your Scottish Pride With These Hair Accessories

We've got a selection of headbands in tasteful tartans and perfect paisleys, spot on for your St Andrew's Day celebration.

For thick or curly hair, the Parlour Tartan Wool & Silk Headband is a brilliant choice.

The weight of the wool fabric is further supported by a stiff raw silk lining, making this a wide headband with the oomph to hold back a lot of hair.

The silk covered centre headband has just the right texture to gently grip your hair, so your hair band stays exactly where you want it without slipping off your head.

Parlour Tartan Wool & Silk Headband

Got finer hair? For you we recommend either these ultra comfortable skinny headbands, or our heavenly soft Paisley pattern scarf style headbands in a wonderful lightweight charmeuse.

France Luxe Tartan Skinny Headbands

Paisley Silk Scarf Headband

Browse all Stone Bridge Headbands

Love Must Be Hair Clip Shaped

2011-11-01T10:15:00.000Z

When Men Start Shopping At Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

Over the years we've had the privilege of meeting sons, nephews, husbands and fathers of many of our customers.

Where you do you hide these nice guys all year?

The nicest thing about these conversations is we are always struck by how much you are loved and admired by your favourite man. How do we know this?

They *always* say they don't have a budget
They know a heck of a lot about your hair
They tell us your hair is gorgeous
They will go to incredible, heroic lengths to get your gift.

We've had fiances drive through blizzards to pick up hampers of amazing hair accessories.

We've had husbands on the phone, children on their lap dictating adorable gift card messages.

We've had men in the armed forces ringing from all over the world, making sure we can get a lovely box of hair clips sent home to their wife in time for Christmas.

And of course we've had long, detailed conversations about your hair and how they like you best.

If you're cynical about Christmas, man, you need to get yourself into the hair clip business.

This is a very romantic time of year!

Have you got a lovely gift-giving man in your life? Does he know you like hair clips?

Point him towards Stone Bridge.

A Happy Christmas Guaranteed in every parcel!

Husbands Who Shop

2011-11-01T09:34:00.000Z

Hoping For Hair Clips Under The Tree? Tell Your Husband Now.

Hair Clips For Christmas?

There's a certain time of year when we get a sudden rush of men ringing up for hair clips.

That time is now, indicating that husbands are getting themselves organised for Christmas.

So if you had your eye on something Stone Bridge, today would be an excellent day to send your husband the link.

Or, if you'd rather be surprised, tell him to ring us on 01732 883820 during regular business hours and we would be very happy to guide him to the best hair clips suitable for your hair.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Hair Clips And Men

2011-10-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

Nope, There Isn't Much Of A Connection There

"You Need A Hair Clip, Lady."

The more I find out about men, the stranger I think they are.

The children, Beloved Husband and myself struggled through Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong last week.

It took a couple days.

It was hard for me to stay interested because there were literally NO hair clips in this film.

The theme was basically that Beauty can tame and captivate the Beast, so there was a lot of dewey-eyed posing going on with the heroine while slack-jawed men (and gorillas) found themselves overwhelmed and distracted by her charms.

So I asked Husband, "Is that how men see romantic relationships? The right woman wafts before your eyes and suddenly you are distracted from the grubby hurly burly of fighting dinosaurs?"

Husband replied, "No. I think that is women's view of romantic relationships. Men just go along with it and we just say you look beautiful because you seem to like it.

"Mostly we see boobs and then a sign saying either Available or Not Available."

My colleague Claire had a similar discussion with her partner, Jonathan.

He describes dating women as being like grocery shopping.

"You go in and there is so much choice, so many women. You have to look at the packaging, read the labels, decide how much work is going to be involved. I mean, do you want to do a roast dinner from scratch (which would be lovely) or will this ready-meal do the job just as well with less fuss?"

Jonathan adds, "Also some women you look at and think those are going to be past their sell-by date pretty soon."

Husband liked this analogy, but he commented that the trouble with dating from the male perspective is once you make your choice you find the women get huffy and demand to be taken out of the basket.

Aren't men weird?

I tell this story because I had a meeting with a man last week and we were talking about business stuff.

I told him that at Stone Bridge we view our job as matching the right hair clip to the customer's hair. We're totally service-oriented because we want your experience with our hair accessories to be a long and happy one.

"Do you understand what I mean?" I asked him.

"Not at all," came the reply.

His view was you lay the goods out, the customer takes a look, chooses the one she likes best and decides whether or not she wants to own it.

"The Stone Bridge approach is not commercial. You'll never make any money," he pronounced.

Hmm. Sounds like grocery shopping ... or dating from the male point of view, doesn't it?

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK for hair clips I know will work for your hair. Long and happy relationship guaranteed.

Shampoos For Coloured Hair: Do They Work?

2011-10-24T10:46:00.000+01:00

Colour Conserve, Colour Preserve, Colour Lasting ... Is It Real?

Q: Melissa, I read your article about shampoo with interest. But my stylist was horrified recently when I told her I used Pantene on my coloured hair. She insisted I purchase Aveda Colour Conserve shampoo at great cost. What do you think?

A: My first instinct is to say there is no such thing as a shampoo which can make your salon-fresh colour last longer.

Hair colour fades as the pigment molecules either wash or simply fall out of your hair with time.

Even the naturally occurring pigment in your hair degrades over time, which is why if you have very long hair you can often see a difference in hair colour between your roots and your ends.

If you truly want to make your hair colour last as long as possible, always wear it up, protect it from sunlight with a hat or scarf and never use shampoo on your hair.

That is a regime which is too draconian for me, not to mention too much like hard work.

I'm a "wash 'n' go" type gal myself.

But getting back to shampoo formulas for coloured hair, your question needled me.

I hadn't looked at a colour-conserving formula for a number of years, so for all I knew the brainiacs at Aveda had come up with something good.

Anything's possible.

Shampoo 101

If you've not read my Healthy Hair Care series of free articles, here's a recap of what you need to know about shampoo:

Shampoo should remove oil and dirt from your hair while maintaining the integrity of the cuticle

That's it.

Most main brand "normal" shampoos do an excellent job of this. In fact, they are so good, you need to use way less shampoo per wash than most people think.

About one-eighth as much as the average person uses in a single hair wash.

The Stone Bridge method of shampooing is this:

Squeeze out the smallest pea of shampoo you can from the bottle
Lather up between your hands
Wash one hand off
Only shampoo your head where you truly need it

You won't get a great sudsy head full of lather doing this. But you will get over time healthier and more manageable hair.

Think of it as eating just one biscuit instead of the entire packet. I know eating 18 biscuits is a nicer experience, but you just don't need that many.

Limit yourself, and you'll end up a healthier and more manageable person.

The Aveda Formula Inspection

For my own entertainment, I bought two Aveda shampoos to compare: Aveda Color Conserve Shampoo and Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturising Shampoo

If you're a formulator the hair issues that need to be addressed are quite different.

Coloured hair is, frankly, damaged.

Dry hair, however, has a "fingertouch feel" that is not agreeable to the customer. Often the integral health of dry hair is actually fine.

When considering coloured hair, the formulator is thinking of how to create a product that:

minimizes friction (and further damage) when hair is wet
slathers loads of conditioning agents on the hair that will stay there after rinsing
feels smooth on your fingers when your hair is dry
oh, and maybe doesn't wash out your expensive colour job

Turning to the problem of dry hair, the formulator is thinking about

adding ingredients that encourage water to cling to the outside of the hair, even when "dry"
slathering loads of skin moisturising agents onto the hair so your fingers feel nice
including heavy duty anti-static ingredients

And this is just what Aveda have done, using more expensive ingredients (some of which Aveda have exclusive license to, making then even more expensive but still probably just as effective as some of the more widely available alternatives).

Let's get down into the details.

Aveda Color Conserve

The first thing I noticed with Color Conserve is that the first ingredient is not water, but basically essential oil type water infusions of a bunch of different plants.

Why would they do this? Because normally when you pick up a shampoo chock full of magic plants the amount used is actually so small (compared to the gallons of detergents etc) that these little beauties end up at the end of the list.

Crickey, the customer might be so bamboozled by the palmamidopropyl trimonium methosulfate (and so forth) that they may never see that someone managed to squeeze in some aloe leaf juice - not that it's doing anything anyway.

But by formulating with "aqueous extracts" they get to list all the ingredients the hapless public think are beneficial in the same space that all those other, dumber shampoo companies use to print the word "water".

Phew. Clever.

Moving on to the real meat of this formula, we get to the true second ingredient which is .... wait for it ....

Ammonium lauryl sulfate.

This is a very common, very effective, not expensive detergent that cleans your hair perfectly well.

This guy is backed up by some not very unusual lather boosters and thickeners until you get down to Aveda's baby: babassuamidopropyl betaine.

Aveda has made a big commitment to ingredients derived from the babassua nut, which is harvested by a collective of indigenous people in the Brazillian Amazon. Aveda have established an extraction and processing facility in the area which allow them to source their imputs directly from this area, bypassing large chemical suppliers.

Other shampoo manufacturers should not worry about this (and I doubt they do) because I have a sneaky suspicion that the very widely available palm kernelamidopropyl betaine works just as well.

But anyway, why this particular ingredient is so interesting for shampoo for coloured hair is that, no matter what kind of palm nut it is derived from, it has good conditioning qualities, so deposits a little bit of slip into your hair that doesn't easily wash out.

I noticed this when I gave my own Colour Conserve sample a try. I didn't actually put it in my hair because I was freaked out when I tried to wash it off my hand and noticed it felt ... uh ... unrinsed.

I don't have coloured or damaged hair, so I don't need extra stuff clinging onto my hair. But if I did, this slippery coating would be a good thing.

I washed the Colour Conserve off with Revlon Flex Clarifying shampoo, a straight boring detergent with no magic ingredients, that also happens to be dirt cheap and smell REALLY good.

At least I think so.

Moving through the formula, there is no other interesting ingredient that would do the least little thing to preserve your hair colour.

I also didn't like the scent of Colour Conserve, personally. Too piney for me.

Saying all this, it is a perfectly good shampoo, with great conditioners in it. But Tresemme, for the cost, works about the same and at about 25% of the price (but with no Save The Amazon, feel-good benefits or suspicious save-the-planet "organic" credentials).

Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Shampoo

Rats! So having failed to find any exciting new developments in Aveda's Color Conserve Shampoo, I turned my attention to their Dry Remedy formula.

Ooooo, I said to myself as I noted a lack of aqueous extracts of magic herbs. These were trapped in the middle of the ingredients list.

After water, the primary detergent used is sodium cocoyl isethionate, coupled with sodium methyl cocoyl taurate. These detergents are pretty widely used, but more in body washes and that kind of thing rather than shampoos. They are more expensive, but why they may be good for a "dry hair" shampoo is because they are mild on the skin.

Which is to say they are mild on your hands.

Which is what you use to check how your hair feels, right?

Next, after the detergents we find glycerine, which is the world's best moisturiser for ... mostly skin.

When it gets used in hair products, what it does really is sit on the outside of the hair and feel moist. It also adds a bit of weight to the hair and would help to prevent static, a problem with hair that has a low moisture content.

Glycerin is a pretty good conditioner in its own right. You can buy a giant bottle of pure glycerin from your chemists for next to nothing.

But they'll probably look at you funny and want to give you advice on how to use it.

Moving on down to the ingredients included in more minute quantities are a handful of magic oils, which I would bet good money just get rinsed out.

If you want magic oil in your hair, best to put it on there yourself when your hair is dry and you've got nothing better to do for half an hour but lie around with a towel around your shoulders and a mess of oil on your head.

That was a bit offhand, but if you suffer from dry hair, this is a perfectly good and effective shampoo to use.

But it does make me think that maybe you shouldn't use shampoo hardly at all. If you want to learn more about this, sign up for my free series of Heathy Hair Care articles where I explain this in greater detail.

Inescapable Conclusions

Aveda make great hair care products. I cannot deny this.

But they've also got some smart marketers working for them, who have clearly thought long and hard about women's insecurities about their hair and the personal care products they choose to buy.

The real reason to buy any Aveda product is any single one of the following:

a. you want to help Aveda continue to be major employers of the babassua nut crackers in the Amazonian rainforest
b. you like the smell
c. you like the bottle (which is seriously unlikely)
d. you like your stylist and want to supplement her income without simply giving her a tip

Sign up for my free Healthy Hair Care articles. You'll be glad you did!

Visit Stone Bridge and check out our really nice hair clips

Free Hair Clips Storage Gift For You This Week

2011-10-13T10:21:00.001+01:00

I. Am. Wiped. Out.

I think I need a lie down now.

We've done a little redecorating over at Stone-Bridge.co.uk. Hopefully it will now be easier for you to find the right hair clips for your hair type.

Do have a wander through and let us know what you think of our re-org.

But to celebrate a job done, all this week we are giving you free stuff! Yea!

The deal is this (until 21 October, or while supplies last):

Spend £150 or more and get our Silk Hair Clip Travel Roll, totally free, or

Spend £250 or more and get our Stacking Silk Storage Box.

You don't need a coupon or anything. Just shop as normal, making a note in the little "tell us about your hair" box when you checkout with the colour box or roll you prefer.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Easy Updo Style For Formal Events

2011-10-13T09:56:00.001+01:00

Q: I've got a black tie event coming up and I'm wearing a backless dress, so I'd like to wear my hair up. My problem is that when I twist it up, my ends are a good 6 inches or more.

When I try tucking them in, it all looks untidy (more down to my bad technique, I'm sure). I'd like to wear my large sparkly barrette. Is there a sophisticated way to pile all my hair up on top of my head and secure it with a barrette?

French Pleats Are Always Reliable

The timing of this question is perfect as we are moving into the season of Black Ties now. A French pleat style is alway a reliable option if you are doing your own hair.

However, ponytails were HUGE on the runways last month in New York, London and Milan. So if you are comfortable wearing ponytails normally on a day-to-day basis, this could be a successful look for you with a little dressing up for your formal event.

French Pleat High Ponytail

An Easy Formal Ponytail Style

One updo that I love combines the pleat technique with a high ponytail.

This style has a number of advantages for you if you are doing your own hair:

It's easy. Your hair should be up and looking gorgeous in about 30 seconds.
It's sexy. As your hair moves, people get a cheeky flash of the bling you're working underneath.
It can be saved. If you need to, you can easily re-adjust your hair during the evening.
It's reliable. If you wear ponytails already, you will feel confident with how you look all night.

Practice, Practice, Practice

One tip I'd really like to stress is that practice makes perfect. I'm a big believer in preparing yourself for formal events well before the invitations appear through the letter box.

Buy your dress when you don't need one. Have your jewellery and hair accessories stashed away and ready.

And for goodness sake, practice your updos on those quiet Sunday afternoons or Wednesday evenings when Beloved Husband is watching the Formula One or something.

Following is a copy of my original tutorial on this style ... Enjoy!

Here's how you do it:

Start with a high French Pleat

Step 1: Make a high up French Pleat.

You want long ends, so unless your hair is to the middle of your back, start your initial ponytail at the centre of your head or higher.

Here, I only twisted my hair around once.

If you have very long hair or want to use extensions (so to your bottom rib or longer), start with a more traditional French pleat, making the first twist of your pleat nearer the bottom of your hairline.

To learn more about the basics of the French Pleat style, click this link and scroll to the bottom to watch my video on how to make a French Pleat.

French Pleat using the Fiori Swarovski barrette

Step 2: Secure your pleat near your crown.

Hold the style with a barrette or close-holding hair claw very high up on your head, near your crown.

Choose a hair clip that is really strong, particularly if you have long ends.

The longer your ends, the heavier your ponytail will be, so you need a properly designed hair clip. I recommend any barrette that we call at Stone Bridge a "large" barrette.

French Pleat with the Estiva Swarovski barrette

Here I have used our Italian crystal barrettes, both the Estiva Swarovski barrette and the Fiori Swarovski barrette.

The Estiva is excellent for a very formal occasion or top drawer black tie sort of event.

Hair claws are best if they can get right around and under your pleat. Here I'm using our Crystal Strand Large volume hair clamp (no longer available).

French Pleat with a Crystal Strand clamp

For a less dressy claw, try the Interlocking medium hair claw or our Cadre Rectangle hair clamps.

The downside to using claws for this style is that most types of clamp will stand proud, which kind of spoils the ponytail effect, so really barrettes are easiest. If you have enough hair and are will to experiment, our French Pleat medium comb also works for this style.

Our Stone Bridge Classic Beak clips are also good because they lie flat under your ponytail and also help spread your hair out to create more fullness.

If you have a lot of hair - either very thick or very long and heavy - I would go for a small Ficcare Maximas clip.

Back view of my High Ponytail

Step 3: Arrange your ends.

Spread out your ponytail just above the clip so the weight is evenly distributed out the top of your pleat.

This gives your hair much better movement and makes your profile more attractive.

Get experimenting, and have fun!

Visit Stone Bridge to see what new hair clips we have in this week

Cute Curly Hairstyles for Fall | Latest-Hairstyles.com

2011-09-27T12:19:00.000+01:00

To fringe or not to fringe?

This is a question many women with curly hair ask themselves at some point in their curly lives.

Don't let this be the winter of discontent!

The ever sharp-eyed folks at Latest-Hairstyles.com have gathered from all four points of the compass a collection of ideas for us curly girls for this season.

Click here for ideas and inspiration to update your look. Who knows? It might look cute on you!

Cute Curly Hairstyles for Fall | Latest-Hairstyles.com

Hair Care Advice You Won't Get From Your Stylist

2011-09-13T09:33:00.000+01:00

What You Want Isn't Always What You Need

I was having a read through one of my industry formulators' books not too long ago following up on a question about shampoo which had been bothering me.

Now, if you've signed up for my Healthy Hair Care series of free articles, you will already know that pretty much all hair care products you can buy are chock full of irrelevant stuff that do nothing for your hair.

They just get added to the shampoo or serum to sound good when you read the label on the bottle.

You will also know that chances are you don't need to use nearly as much shampoo in your usual hairwash as gets normally recommended.

However, I was still astonished to find this following fact spelled out in my formulators' handbook:

Customers ascribe a measure of overall product quality to the feel of a shampoo's lather. To clean hair in an average hair wash, a concentration of detergent of only 5-8% is needed. But to produce the type of lather the consumer prefers, a concentration of about 20% is required.

Our Brains Make Us Stupid Sometimes

We human beings can be a bit simple.

We gather a lot of information through our senses, which is how our brain is designed to function. Our brain is always busily sorting through all the sensory data streaming in about the world into two piles: "good" and "bad."

The problem with this is because our brain wants to sort the world out speedy quick, it can latch on to the wrong indicators about quality.

Just as salty food tastes nice, our brain compels us to crave more of it, even when we know it's not good for us.

Shampoos, along with a massive range of personal care products, are designed to feel nice in your hand, a quality completely divorced from their actual ability to gently and effectively clean your hair.

So when you have your shower, your brain is loving the lather. So much so, you decide to wash your hair twice through. The result is that you might be using 8 to 10 times the necessary amount of detergent your hair actually needs.

When you read the typical anti-shampoo article on the internet, saying shampoo "strips" your hair of your natural oil, this is only true if you use too much of it with too much enthusiasm.

It doesn't mean you need to go out and buy some super special expensive shampoo, with loads of organic stuff (one of my favourite cons in the personal care industry) or crushed pearls or something.

It means you can continue to use whatever shampoo you like. Just use less of it, less often.

How Much Shampoo Is Enough?

Some people actually only shampoo their hair once or twice a year.

Personally, I shampoo my hair almost every day. But this is how I get the right amount of shampoo for my hair:

I squeeze the tiniest drop of shampoo I can out of the bottle, about the size of a pea.
I rub my hands together to lather it up.
I wash one of my hands off.
Using my fingertips I target just the spots on my scalp that need scrubbing.

Working out how much shampoo you need for your hair requires experimentation over time.

Start by not shampooing your hair at all, just getting your hair wet through, conditioning and styling as normal.

When you feel your hair is too oily, then you have a shampoo. But try using only a little rather than going for that head full of lather.

Increase and decrease the amount of shampoo you use to work out how much your hair truly needs.

What's really cool about this is that your hair will reward you with better manageability over time.

Some people see results within a week, while for others it can take a few months to figure out the perfect amount of shampoo for their hair.

Want to learn more interesting industry secrets about caring for your hair? Sign up for my free series of articles. You'll be glad you did!

(And don't worry. You can always unsubscribe if you change your mind. I hate spam too.)

Healthy Hair Advice Free Article Series

Want up-front and personal advice about the health of your hair?

We accept a small number of personal consultation appointments around the country each year reviewing in detail the health, care and day-to-day styling of your hair.

The advice we provide in these consultations is backed by a 3 month guarantee. If you feel after 3 months that you learned nothing of value from your consultation, we will give you your money back. Guaranteed.

Learn More About Our Personal Consultations

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Adding Volume To Your Ponytail Style

2011-08-31T13:40:00.000+01:00

All you need is a good barrette

I've been messing around with the ponytail barrette a lot recently, ever since I saw an interesting "loose" sort of style on the catwalks for the Autumn/Winter collections.

When I was fooling around with the fashionista version, I discovered this technique where you can really alter the shape of your profile easily and quickly.

So I made a video for you to share with you this method.

Enjoy!

Barrettes Shown In This Video

Portofino Crystal barrette
Classic Wide barrette
Classic Long barrette

Browse All Stone Bridge barrettes

How To Make A French Pleat

2011-08-27T10:55:00.000+01:00

A Silly Hair Styling Challenge

Enjoy!

Hair Accessories Shown in This Video

Ficcare Maximas hair clips
(For a more basic clip, our Lune Beak clip is also very popular)

Double Scroll large barrette
(For lots more like this clip, search Stone Bridge for "large barrette")

Arpege Short hair fork

Allegro hair fork

Hair Clips: The Best Way To Cheer Yourself Up ...

2011-08-02T15:55:00.001+01:00

Whoops! Gremlins strike again ...

If you're looking for my post "Love Must Be Hair Clip Shaped" > click here

If you're looking about how to cheer yourself up, then read on fearless Internet Sailor!

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up." -- Mark Twain

A few years back I met a woman who was devastated after her husband left her for another woman.

She was still young, gorgeous with a good career. But with the sudden collapse of her marriage, she felt worthless and unattractive.

Fortunately, she had a very wise pastor who told her the best way to see out of your own problems is to help others out of theirs.

She embarked on an enthusiastic programme of voluntary work, which helped her put her troubles into perspective, gave her self-esteem a huge boost, and was also of enormous help to the community.

Small Actions Spread Happiness Too

This is a dramatic example of Mark Twain's advice about your own happiness.

But small efforts work well too.

I was reminded of this when I got an email yesterday from one of our very nice customers, Ruth from Glasgow. She wrote:

Hi Melissa, re your small business and your lovely request for your customers to spread the word. Can I suggest an alternative strategy?

I first bought one of these clips with Christmas gift vouchers. I would not have believed the difference in cost to the others was in proportion to the difference in quality until I owned one.

Sometimes you just want something new and different and I think it would be a good idea if the clips that a person had moved on from were given to someone else because a practical test is always more convincing than a testimony.

Best of luck, Ruth

Now, Stone Bridge is a small business and our success over the past few years (during one of the worst recessions in 100 years, remember) has been entirely down to customers like you being so pleased with their hair clips that they've spread the good word about us.

But I love Ruth's idea.

She's probably a marketing guru or something up there in Scotland, because this is a beautifully simple, genius idea.

Basically, you could let your friends try out your Stone Bridge hair clips.

Think about this.

1. Your Stone Bridge hair clips give you happiness.
2. Your friend doesn't know how happy a hair clip could make her. Tragic.
3. By passing on your hair clip to your friend, you are both a little happier.

Mull this over a little.

Hey, and if you want to start a Stone Bridge swap site on the internet, I'm totally okay with that.

Recycling is a good thing!

Oh, and if you have got some creative ideas that might help us spread the good word about Stone Bridge, don't hold back. Some of the best business ideas have come from our customers.

Email me! I'm all ears. And eyes ... or something ...

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

What a 6 Year Old Can Teach You About Hair Clips

2011-08-02T15:20:00.001+01:00

What Truly Makes a Hair Clip Perfect And Other Philosophical Questions

Here we are, in August and true to seasonal form, my kitchen is infested with flies.

Spoon collection, Jurgen Lehl, 2008
Good for rice. Not good for flies.

I’m stalking the house with my damp teatowel, making my husband jump every few minutes with an enormous “THWACK” pounding the furniture.

At lunch yesterday my youngest daughter, who’s six-and-a-half-and-don’t -you-forget-it, was getting herself a spoon from the drawer to finish off a bowl of rice when she got a rude fly-by by a fly.

“Oh!” she said. “I nearly whacked that fly with my spoon.”

“That wouldn’t have been nice,” I said.

“No. Spoons are no good for whacking flies.” Then she paused while she contemplated this new philosophy. “And fly swatters are no good for rice.”

This is just so true.

Things usually are only good for one job, and terrible for others.

This is true, of course, about hair accessories too.

Hair Clips That Are Good Not Good

I’m sure to you this is totally evident, but we get calls – very rarely, mind – from people who’ve ordered something from us and shout down the phone, “This clip is terrible! The WORST hair clip I’ve ever seen. WHO could even wear this?”

The WORST hair clip ever?

So obviously, the clip was not suitable for this person’s hair.

That’s fine.

She can send it back.

Not a problem.

However, what we then find this sort of person has difficulty understanding is that there is no such thing as the perfect all round, good-for-everybody hair clip.

And no, she doesn’t want any suggestions of a clip that might work better for her.

How dare we.

Good Not Good In Action

Last week I was lucky enough to visit a customer for a Personal Consultation in Oxfordshire.

She has such a gorgeous cottage style garden, absolutely alive with butterflies and bees. Wonderful.

She also has extremely fine hair, but she likes it long and being an active person she needs to be able to put it up securely.

The claw that turned out to be the great success of the morning was our new Debouche Cutout Narrow claw.

Perfect hair claw for very fine hair

Other claws that could close down securely on her hair either had teeth too long, that stuck out through her hair, or were too deep and sat proud of her head and joggled about.

But the Debouche claw had the perfect balance of design elements that made it work brilliantly for her hair type.

She also, as I expected, got on very well with our Moana Etched Beak clip, which is superb if you have very fine hair.

It is also selling like hot cakes, and you WILL want to grab one for yourself soon-ish, if you're interested.

So the Debouche claw is fantastic for fine to very fine hair.

But it is TERRIBLE for thick hair. The WORST hair clip I’ve ever seen!

See? Good, not good. That’s how it is.

Better Hair Clips For Thick Hair

I promised last week I’d stop being so darn helpful to our fine haired readers, so good news for you if you have thick hair.

I’ve got a bevy of new clips just for you today.

Volee Extra Large hair claw for thick hair.

For your days when you’re going for a swim or scrubbing the shower (I don’t know what you’re doing, you’re just not all smartly dressed up for some reason) we have a terrific basic extra large hair claw, called the Volee Extra Large hair claw, just £12.95.

This is a machined claw, but it is still French, so made properly with a strong spring and well-spaced teeth that won’t rub and snag your hair.

And if you like barrettes, I’ve got two pretty new large barrettes for you here.

Classic Narrow large barrettes, £25

Marcotte Layered large barrettes, £45

Ficcare News

Ficcare Maximas Winter Silky hair clips

Last but not least, the hair clip we always recommend you consider trying if you've got thick hair is the Ficcare Maximas. This comes in loads of colours and styles.

This week we've got three great colours from the Silky Collection for you to choose from: Wine, Dark Blue and Red.

These clips come in small, medium and large to accommodate almost all hair types (but they are NOT GOOD for you if your hair is thin and fine!)

Click here to see our full Ficcare Maximas collection in stock now.

See all new Stone Bridge hair accessories

Visit Stone Bridge

Hair Clips At The Cinema

2011-07-19T14:02:00.000+01:00

How The Latest Transformers Film Can Help You With Your Hair

We took the full Hill brood to see the new Transformers film, "Dark Of The Moon", which was the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Popcorn was consumed by all.

But more importantly ...

I learned useful new hair clip tricks and fortunately we've got a brand new little hair clamp that is perfect for the job.

First, if you have fine to medium hair, but not too thin of a ponytail, there was an interesting style sported by no less than the National Intelligence Director, played by the brilliant Frances McDormand.

McDormand has hair tending to the fine side, but a fair amount of it.

For her, and for her character, this gives her a ponytail of average size.

Click to enlarge!

The Style

McDormand had her hair in a very low ponytail, twisted once and secured by a rather cheap looking hair claw close in to the nape of her neck.

I thought we could do this one step better, of course, with a French handmade hair claw, in a colour that tones in with the hair.

Here I've used our new Classic Mini hair clamp, which is 5 cm long.

I experimented with a longer clamp and it completely overwhelmed the back of my head, so I don't recommend this style with a clip that is any larger than 5 cm in length.

Normally, I would choose for my own hair either our Silver Shell or pretty silvery Graphite colour.

Just so it is easier for you to see what I've done, I used the French Vanilla colour, which is one we usually recommend for you as a beautiful colour if you have blonde hair.

Not Only Pretty, But Also Useful

On my way out of the cinema, I passed a teenaged girl whose hair was pulled back very prettily into a half-up style.

Naturally, the Classic Mini clamp also works brilliantly for this style, again if your hair is medium to thick, or "fine but a lot of it".

If your hair is more fine and thin, this is a fantastic style for creating height at your crown, but I would choose a smaller claw in your case.

Something more like our Classic Mini claw.

How this style looks from the front ...

Again, I recommend you choose a colour that coordinates best with your hair colour.

Fortunately, we've got not 4, not 5, no not even 6 naturally inspired colours for you to pick from.

We have this clip in a whopping 7 colours for you, so you are guaranteed to find just the right colour to suit your hair.

Click here to order your Classic Mini clamp

Check out all our new hair clips

Crime Statistics And Hair Clips: A Little Story For You

2011-06-30T09:18:00.000+01:00

How Becoming A Crime Statistic Taught Me The Value Of Good Hair Accessories

"Everything's connected," as my father likes to tell me. And good quality hair clips are no exception, of course.

Bear with me on this and you'll see how small details can indeed matter. Even in an incident of violent crime.

You Can Become a Victim Anywhere

A couple weeks ago I became a crime statistic.

If you've been following my blog or emails for a while, you probably know that I am a bit keen on figure skating. I skate 3-4 days every week and I have hopes of competing in the British Nationals next year (at a low level, though - I'm not that good!)

So I was squeezing in a short practice at the ice rink during the public session in the afternoon when a group of five young teenagers decided they took a dislike to me.

They had been fooling around on the ice earlier playing a dangerous game and the management had very strongly told them off. They were actually lucky that they hadn't been banned.

They subsequently decided that I had been the one that had "grassed them up." Which I hadn't.

When I later stepped off the ice to get a drink from my bag, two girls from the group skated up and shouted at me, demanding to know why I had reported them. This became more heated, even as I explained management had CC TV covering the ice and everyone had seen them.

The girls swore at me and one then threw a water bottle cap in my face before skating off.

I figured that was the end of the matter. As they were clearly not afraid of threatening behaviour, I decided it was unsafe to return to the ice with them around. Not wanting another confrontation, I took my skates off and packed my bag to leave.

It is my habit to keep my skatebag near one of the side fire exits. This is because I can put my skates on close to the gate and it is only two steps from the bench onto the ice. This helps keep my blades sharp. Unfortunately is also a corner of the ice rink that is rather isolated.

As I stood to go, the two girls stepped into this corner and positioned themselves, blocking both exit passages.

I approached one of the girls as I made my way to leave, and put a hand on her wrist so I could pass.

"Don't you push me," she said.

"I'm not pushing anyone," I replied, and firmly holding her wrist I moved her arm aside and stepped through.

"Where are you going?" she shouted after me.

I said nothing and suddenly I was punched in the back.

Never Underestimate Your Opponent

I'm sure with my grey hair I probably appeared to this girl like a weak target. She had no way of guessing that I train to fight in both karate and kickboxing three days a week and I have one hell of a reverse punch.

I spun around, and without thinking grabbed her upraised arm. I was about to follow through on what would have been for me the instinctive and well-practiced second strike.

She was in a bad position, physically weak, on skates with poor balance, standing at the top of a set of stairs.

"What, think you're tough?" she spat into my face. And thank goodness she did.

I immediately recognised that this girl had her blood up and was only interested in escalating the fight.

The image that immediately came to my mind was a scene from the original Karate Kid film, where Mr Miagi councils his young student Daniel that "the best defence is to not be there."

I immediately released her, saying "No. I'm not tough. I'm going."

Then I turned my back to her and started walking away.

Now this was very risky for me.

Because, and this is important, I didn't have my hair up in a good hair clip.

Long Hair Can Be a Liability

My biggest worry as I turned from this girl was that she would go for my hair. When I later talked about the assault with my karate teacher he agreed that was the point when I was possibly the most vulnerable.

If she had got my hair and used that advantage to get me to the ground, with them wearing ice skates it would have gone very badly for me.

She hit me twice more in the back as I walked away, but she was fortunately hobbled by her skates as her friends called for her to leave me.

I reported the incident to the children's teachers (who were having tea and a nice chat in the cafe), and to the management. Then I left.

After getting home I phoned my husband, then the police and officially joined the massive pool of statistics recording violent crime.

What I learned by becoming a crime statistic

I have two lessons from this experience that I want to impress upon you:

1. Every woman should take up a real martial arts course. Not some girly "punch in the air" boxercise class at the gym. A proper course where you repeat "double jab, cross, duck, hook, reverse" over and over and over until you can do it instinctively both with power and speed. You might just need it. Plus your husband will probably thinks it really cool.

2. Have a good hair clip, for crying out loud. Not only does it keep your hair out of your way and looking good, whether you are battling work colleagues or feral teenagers, once you're a bit handy with your left hook punch a strong barrette or metal beak clip makes for a nasty, nasty weapon.

And I can almost guarantee your assailant will be extremely surprised to find you suddenly armed.

Shop All New Hair Clips and, uh, Weapons

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

Want to learn some wicked ways to style your hair? Sign up for my weekly emails and get all Melissa's crazy stories, styling videos and articles.

*****

Did you enjoy this article?
If you've got a Google account, please click the "+1" button below or share this with your Twitter network. This helps show Google that this is a cool article, worth reading. Thanks for the click!

Does Stone Bridge Deserve Your Thumbs Up?

2011-06-29T08:14:00.002+01:00

Tell Google You Think Stone Bridge Is Pretty Cool With The "+1" Button

Today Google launched its "+1" button across its search results. They have created this as a way for you to help Google as well as other searchers recognise good websites and content across the internet.

Over the years new customers have complained to us that Stone Bridge is too hard to find on the internet, but getting Google to recognise your website as valuable takes a massive amount of time and work.

This is where you come in.

Hopefully you feel we've done a good job for you in the past. By clicking Google's "+1" button wherever you see our Google Advertisements, webpage listings, blog posts or even product reviews helps to spread the news to people who are new to what we do.

How You Can Help Stone Bridge

Help us out right now and show Google we get your thumbs up:

head over to Google
sign into your Google account, or create a new one (it's so useful!)
do a search for "stone bridge" plus your favorite kind of hair clip (eg, stone bridge + hair slides)
vote for the Stone Bridge listings or ads by clicking "+1"

You can help all your favourite small businesses by voting for them this way. They'll be deeply grateful for your support.

The internet is still a wild frontier, so the support of great loyal customers like you is crucial to the success of small businesses.

Thanks so much for your "+1" vote. It means the world to us.

Hair Clips In Harrogate, Or How To Grow Out A Fringe?

2011-06-27T13:51:00.001+01:00

New Styling Tricks For Your Fringe

I returned Sunday afternoon, lugging my case full of hair accessories back from a personal hair consultation with a customer with a new trick for you, if you have decided to grow out your fringe.

All you need is your favourite small hair slide or side barrette.

The Client
The client has hair past her shoulders, fine but a lot of it, with long layers cut into it. She was frustrated with her hair and usually pulled all her hair back into a high-ish ponytail.

As a mother of two small children, she needed a fast and easy style that kept her hair out of the way without fuss. But she wanted to look nice and groomed, and if possible stay that way all day.

The Challenges
Even though she had fine hair, the volume of it meant that it was quite heavy.

This restricted her choice of hair accessories. The design couldn't be too open, because her hair had a definite slippery texture and the weight of her hair would just pull her hair out of most clips.

Her personal style is very clean and classic, so as Claire highlighted in her recent series about styling layered hair, you have the difficulty of your layers falling out of most updos.

This can look charming, if you have a more casual or sporty style. If you don't, then it can just look scruffy.

My client was in the process of growing out her fringe (which, with her square face shape, was the right decision, in my view), but it seemed to only be "put in its place" with a scraped back style, which didn't flatter her angular face.

The Solution

Brise small French hair slides

I had brought along one of our brand new small French hair slides, the Brise, which is a pretty waved cutout slender rectangle design.

We did a very gentle quiff, with the Brise holding the very front of her fringe all the way back towards the back edge of her crown.

This could be made more secure with a very light misting of hairspray, to make sure the style holds all day.

Another alternative which would give a more secure hold, is our new Classic French small comb.

Unfortunately I didn't have any of these with me on the day, but we have other customers with fine hair who do prefer their combs for quiffs and half-back sorts of styles.

We then made a French pleat with the rest of her hair, using either the Silk Wrapped Cutout claw or the French Pleat medium comb, leaving the ends of her hair fanning out at the top.

This mostly covered the Brise small slide so it couldn't be seen. But if her ends ever fell to the side as she went about her day, then she had a pretty little hair slide showing, which was completely inoffensive.

The Verdict
The client announced she felt like Audrey Hepburn! I think that counts as a good result.

See all Stone Bridge hair slides and barrettes

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Technology. You Gotta Love It.

2011-06-24T16:38:00.000+01:00

Bear With Me While I Work Out Our New Email System

We've had a lot of problems sharing the good news about hair clips by email over the past few months, with a lot of our very nice customers complaining that they *don't* receive my weekly message.

Surely that's an oddity, that we get more complaints about our emails NOT arriving, than folks complaining that I AM emailing them.

Well, I try my best to make them useful, interesting, helpful, encouraging or at the very least, entertaining for you.

Anyhoo, we're trying out a new email service. It might be awful. I don't know.

Hopefully it will be okay and your regularly scheduled programme of practical hair advice and tips will be winging its way to your inbox sometime soon.

Any problems or complaints (or, heck, threats of spam-related violence if you've been saving yours up) will be happily received.

Just email us at hello@stone-bridge.co.uk and we will sort it all out for you.

No problem. Promise. I hate spam too.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Fine Hair? I Have Got A Brilliant Hair Clip For You!

2011-06-13T21:40:00.000+01:00

A Hair Clip That WILL Actually Hold Long Fine Hair. Don't Believe Me?

Last year we introduced our French Handmade Beak Clip, which was enormously popular and sold out quite quickly. This clip in my personal consultations has done well in every appointment with a client who has fine or slippery hair. I think without exception this design ended up being purchased - it is just so good.

This summer, we've got a Pacific Islands inspired version for you: the Moana Etched French Beak clip.

I've got a video here for you going through which colours will suit your hair best, to give you a little help.

Enjoy!

Hair Accessories Shown In This Video

Moana Etched French Beak hair clip
Lune French Beak hair clip

Browse All Stone Bridge Beak clips

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

Styling Ponytails With Long Layered Hair

2011-06-03T08:19:00.000+01:00

Day 5 Of Claire's Favourite Hair Accessories For Layered Long Hair

Making a ponytail when you've got layered hair can be irritating, with top layers always slipping out and falling into your face.

Claire has a few top tips on creating a ponytail that works in her last video for you.

Enjoy!

Ponytails For Long Layered Hair Styles

Hair Accessories Shown In This Video

Basic Elastics

Arpege Cuffed elastic

Crystal Bauble elastic

Classic Wide barrette
Portofino Crystal barrette
Coco Bow barrette

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Headbands Perfect For Hair With Layers

2011-06-01T12:45:00.000+01:00

Day 4 Of Claire's Favourite Hair Accessories For Layered Long Hair

Welcome back! Once you've got layers cut into your hair, you can find some types of headbands get completely hidden with your hair falling forward, while other styles simply look odd.

Claire has done her homework for you and gone through all our headbands to work out which ones are most suitable and how to use them in a layered hair style.

Enjoy!

Headbands For Long Layered Hair Styles

Hair Bands Shown In This Video

France Luxe Triple Wide hair band

Ficcare Metal Mesh bandeau hair band

Super Comfy Skinny headband (NOT recommended for your hair)

Silk Double bandeau hair band

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Hair Claws Perfect For Layered Long Hair Styles

2011-05-31T20:00:00.000+01:00

Day 3 Of Claire's Favourite Hair Accessories For Layered Long Hair

Welcome back! Find the right hair claws suitable to hold both your hair up and your layers back can be a challenge.

But fear not. Claire is back again with the third in her video series looking at which hair clamps and claws will do the job for you.

Enjoy!

Hair Clamps And Claws For Long Layered Hair Styles

Hair Claws Shown In This Video

Frank and Kahn Large hair claw

Harlequin medium hair clamp

Swarovski Crystal Banded hair claw

Crystals And Silk Wrapped hair claw

Silk Wrapped hair claw

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Is This The Best Hair Clip Ever?

2011-05-31T12:19:00.001+01:00

Our New Griffe French Bear Claw Hair Clips Might Be What You've Been Looking For

*New* Griffe Large Bear Claw hair clip

I've just had a play with our brand new Griffe French Bear Claw and of all our hair clips, I am blown away by how good the hold is.

This guy has SIX really long teeth that go underneath your pleat to really anchor the clip securely and comfortably against your head. And then, all along the top clasp that slides over your hair, there are another SEVEN spikey angled teeth that go down into your hair.

For your run, going to the gym, if you have an active job like in a hospital, this could be just the greatest hair clip ever for you.

Anyway, I was so excited about it, I made a video for you about it, along with showing you a few other Nautical designs we got in just for this summer.

Enjoy!

Hair Accessories Shown In This Video
Griffe French Large Bear claw hair clip
Starboard Nautical Bow skinny barrette
Starboard Nautical headbands

Shop all our new hair accessories

Hair Sticks, Forks & Combs With Layered Long Hair

2011-05-30T14:24:00.000+01:00

Day 2 of Claire's Top Tips For Styling Layered Long Hair

Wondering if hair sticks, forks or French pleat combs will be able to hold all your layers up neatly? Claire's second video in her series just for layered long hair styles has the answers you're looking for.

Enjoy!

Hair Sticks, Forks And Combs For Long Layered Hair Styles

Hair Accessories Shown In This Video

Allego French hair fork (NOT recommended for your hair type)

French Pleat medium comb

Bright French hair stick

Ficcare Metro hair stick

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Be sure to check out Claire's first video too, all about hair slides and barrettes for layered long hair, if you missed it!

Brazilian Blowouts and "Keratin Friendly" Shampoos. Do You Need Them?

2011-05-21T14:15:00.000+01:00

It struck me as a convenient swizz the first time I heard that not only do you have to pay £200 or something to have your Brazilian Blowout (which, even if it is "formaldehyde free" is actually no safer - read my earlier post to get the facts on the chemistry behind this), you then get to buy special shampoo, conditioner and whatever else they've got going at £20 a bottle or so to maintain your treatment.

What the heck is a Keratin Friendly formula?

I struggled to get hold of any ingredients lists for these products short of buying them outright, and frankly I've got better uses for my money (nice hair accessories, for one!).

However, I uncovered a *clue* while trawling the internet.

Someone mentioned somewhere that these products are important for maintaining your treatment because they don't contain sodium chloride, or salt.

In my last post I explained why salt shows up in shampoo and so many other personal care and hair care products, and its role mostly as a thickener in liquid formulations.

In one of my books that I got in my recent thrilling parcel from Amazon, the definitive Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair by the undisputed expert Clarence Robbins (you think Philip Kingsley is an expert? Bah!), I uncovered the relationship between salt and quaternised cellulosic polymers (or commonly used hair conditioners).

I was innocently reading about conditioner formulas, as you do of a weekend when you're a saddo like me, when to my total delight I found an entire section entitled "Effects of Salt."

Salt, Conditioner and Your Hair

I've already written briefly before about how conditioner works and what it really does for your hair in my free series of Healthy Hair Care articles. Do sign yourself up to get these and give it a read if you're interested.

The presence of salt has a large effect on the ability of the frequently used conditioner polyquaternium-10 to basically stick to the surface of your hair.

If you've just used a bog standard main brand shampoo in your hair and not thoroughly rinsed your hair afterwards, it is wholly possible that some salt has remained behind, clinging to your hair.

If you then try to condition your hair, as little a presence of 0.1% salt solution (whether sodium chloride, lanthanum or calcium, to name just three) reduces "pickup" of the conditioner by at least two-thirds. That's a massive reduction.

Given that the Brazilian Blow Out has (can I be totally straight with you here?) literally cooked your hair, the only way you can "maintain" your keratin shield purchased at great expense is to cover it as completely as possible with water-resistant conditioners.

If that conditioner can't stick to your hair, your keratin coating will break down quickly and you'll probably storm to the salon and demand your money back because your hair's gone all frizzy.

Keep Your Money. Don't Get A Brazilian Blow Out

The bare fact is that the Brazilian Blow Out blatantly produces an unregulated amount of poisonous gas (whether it uses formaldehyde or any other aldehyde) so it seems a kinda not good thing to subject yourself, or your poor stylist, to it.

Second, you have to buy styling products that cost 4 to 10 times that of a perfectly good main brand option in order to get your money's worth out of the original treatment.

I could practically retire already if I got a pound for every irate email and comment telling me how "good" the Blow Out has been for their hair and made it "so much healthier," but could I just explain why they've started having a breakage problem. Could it be their shampoo?

Um, not likely.

Personally, the whole shebang is a swizz.

Just as I thought.

*~*~*~*~*

Did you find this article helpful? Keep up with my weekly articles telling you the real deal about hair care products.

Subscribe to my blog, or even better, follow me on Twitter at @stonebridgeuk. I won't send you boring stuff about my boring life. Only interesting stuff that will make your hair healthier without you buying anything. I promise.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Why There's Sodium Chloride (Yes, Salt) In Your Shampoo

2011-05-08T21:06:00.000+01:00

Sodium chloride is pretty much table salt as you know and love it. It shows up in a lot of personal care products and is useful as an astringent and antiseptic ingredient.

However in shampoo its main job is to work as a thickener and to help keep all the ingredients nicely mixed together (or emulsified).

A lot of shampoo ingredients are very fluid, which means judging the right amount to pour out of the bottle can be tricky if it just runs out and off your hands.

Thickening the consistency of shampoo (and other detergents you might use such as liquid laundry soap or dish soap) makes it easier for the average person to control to get the right "dose" every time.

There are articles on the internet promoting the idea that if you add salt to your conditioner your hair benefits. All it does is make your conditioner a bit thicker in consistency. It does not actually do anything good for your hair. And, because salt is more soluble the warmer the water, it is probably rinsing straight out of your hair again, so basically not doing anything at all.

Want to find out more about shampoo and other hair care products?

Click here to read the first in my free series of hair care articles, which is all about shampoo.

Enjoy!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

New Hair Forks in Summer Bright Colours You'll Love

2011-04-18T17:25:00.000+01:00

Last Year's Favourite Just Got ... Um ... More Favourable

Allegro French Summer Brights hair forks
Allegro French Classic hair forks

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Ammonium Laureth Sulfate: What Are These Guys Doing In Your Shampoo?

2011-04-18T16:59:00.000+01:00

Laureth ... Lauryl ... What's The Difference And Should You Care?

My first post about Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate last week caused a little bit of an uproar around here, distracting me from my usually calm world of hair clips.

Most of the activity happened by email, but there were a couple excellent comments, which will probably take me the rest of 2011 to answer completely.

To add to the thrillingness of my life, I *just this very morning* received my new book, Biophysics of Human Hair: Structural, Nanomechanical and Nanotribological Studies by Bharat Bhushan.

When I opened the envelope, Claire peeked over my shoulder and said, "C-o-o-o-o-o-l!" while my middle daughter rolled her eyes up and sighed (with love and admiration, naturally).

More About Detergents In Your Shampoo

I wanted in this post to move on to the secondary detergent which virtually always gets paired with whatever "lauryl sulfate" ends up in your shampoo formula, which is its "laureth sulfate."

Sodium laureth sulfate(SLES) and ammonium laureth sulfate (ALES) are basically detergents, which combined with the lauryl sulfates (SLS or ALS) make up roughly 8-10% of your shampoo.

The term "laureth" means that a laurel salt has been ethoxylated before neutralisation. You might read that SLES for example is derived from SLS, so therefore is "just as bad," assuming that SLS is "bad" at all, of course. In fact both ingredients come originally from palm or coconut oils and then go down different production paths, with SLES having one extra step along the way.

This process results in a detergent that has better foaming qualities and a more attractive touch feel, helping your shampoo to be more gloopy and less liquid. This characteristic makes it easier for you to control the amount of shampoo you pour out of your bottle, rather than having watery shampoo running all over and off your hand.

Some websites you will find on the internet scorn the value of these qualities, which is fair enough. But speaking as a hobby soapmaker myself, I could make a soap purely out of olive oil, for example. But pure olive oil soap doesn't lather, so it's a little unsatisfying to use. Add a little coconut oil, and then you're talking bubbles!

What Is Meant By "Harsh" Detergents?

SLES has been profiled as being milder on the skin than SLS, and that it is used as some sort of pH balancer in shampoo. This is completely misleading.

First of all, pH is what is meant by whether something is "mild" or "harsh" in personal care products. While 7.0 is neutral, deviations from neutral don't have too much to do with how it feels on your skin.

The pH of the acid mantle of adult skin is, as you can tell by its name, acidic and ranges from 4.0 to 5.5. Preservation and support of the acid mantle is important for the ongoing health of your hair and skin. For this reason, commercial skin and hair care products are formulated to fall towards this range.

In newborn babies, skin pH is on average closer to 7.0, demonstrating the importance of using soap, lotions and shampoo which are specifically formulated for babies. Within only a few months after birth, however, their skin pH falls gradually down the scale to 4.5 to 5.0, rendering these specialised products less important.

If you were to look at ALS, ALES, SLS and SLES in isolation, the pH can vary widely depending on specific formulation and solution concentrations between suppliers, but as a snapshot from Lubrizol as an example the pH ranges in a 10% solution appropriate for use in shampoo are as follows:

ALS: 6-7
ALES: 6-7
SLS: 7.5-8.5
SLES: 7.5-8.5

By way of comparison, bath soaps tend to have a pH range of 7.0 - 9.0, while shampoo in normal commercial formulations have a pH typically of 5.0 - 6.0.

A shampoo pH of between 5.0 and 5.5 is often desirable because the slightly more acidic environment promotes a tightening and hardening of the cuticle scales even before drying, which helps make hair stronger and shinier once it is dry. More typically, shampoos have a pH of 5.5 to 5.8.

Interestingly, the pH of your eye is in the range of 6.5 to 7.6, and constantly changes according to how active your tear glands are in response to the immediate environment.

When designing a shampoo, the chemist first of all wants to achieve a pH that supports first your hair, then your skin, and finally takes in consideration your eyes.

So it is a leap in logic to say that SLS is too harsh for your hair, and SLES (or either of the ammonia based sulfates, for that matter) is better because it is less irritating is not really considering the bigger picture of what you actually want to achieve by using any shampoo at all in the first place.

Further, in order for the shampoo to be "gentle" on your hair the pH must be greatly corrected to make it more acidic.

Why Use These Sulfates When There Are Other Detergents?

One of the primary benefits of using these particular detergents is that they blend very well with a wide range of other ingredients that perform well in your hair, such as anti-static agents, conditioners and chelating agents. All of these categories of ingredients help protect the integrity of your cuticle during washing and styling.

The goal in creating a shampoo formula is to design something that is easy for anyone to use without a lot of explaining, and that gives most people on average a good result with their hair.

Generally speaking, I find most shampoos pretty okay. Depending on what your goals are for cleaning your hair, you should simply use less or more as required on any given day.

I, for example, don't need to clean my hair very much because firstly, my hair is quite porous and secondly, because I don't use any styling products on my hair there's very little that actually needs washing away.

My recommended method of diluting your shampoo is to daub the tiniest pearl of of shampoo you can get from your bottle, lather it up in your hands, and then rinse one hand off. Use the lather that's left only on the spots on your scalp that actually feel like they could use cleaning.

If your hair is really oily or you've used mousse or gel that needs washing away, then use fractionally more.

Finding the right amount of shampoo to fit your needs takes experimentation, but it is worth it. Not only will you save a lot of money, but you will find in time that your hair becomes better behaved and more manageable for you.

To read more about this topic, read my earlier blog post about shampoo and what it's really for.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: Is One Better Than The Other In Your Shampoo?

2011-04-10T16:45:00.000+01:00

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) are common primary or secondary detergents in commercial shampoo formulas. Should you be looking for one or the other in the shampoo you choose for your hair?

In terms of chemists working up a formula for a shampoo, the biggest difference between the two is how soluble they are in water. ALS is more than three times as soluble in water compared to SLS, which makes it an attractive ingredient for chemists to choose for use in clear or colourless products.

As to how they perform in your hair removing oil and dirt, they are identical. Both are recognised as being very effective detergents, particularly in lifting oily dirt.

Is either ingredient toxic? Both ALS and SLS share similar toxicity and pH profiles. So if you have an urge to drink your shampoo or rub it into your eyes, both ingredients will have the same effect. Basically, they will both taste awful, are very unlikely make you sick, and sting quite a bit if you get it in your eyes.

Does Sodium Lauryl Sulfate cause cancer? No, this is an urban myth. In 2000 a report on SLS from the Journal of the American College of Toxicology was altered heavily to falsely imply that SLS caused cancer. This bogus report has since been widely copied and circulated on the internet.

This falsified report is still frequently cited by small, independent shampoo companies trying to promote sulfate-free shampoo as an antidote to female pattern hair loss, among other health issues. To date no connection has been demonstrated between the use of sulfates in commercially available shampoos and ill health or hair loss.

Shampoos that use ALS or SLS are completely safe for normal external use and are perfectly effective to use on all hair types. Provided the shampoo is rinsed thoroughly from the hair, there is no risk of irritation to even sensitive skin.

Playing With Our Hair, So You Don't Have To

2011-04-06T11:55:00.000+01:00

Hair Clip, Hair Styling and Hair Growing Experimentation: This Is Our Day

Hair clips are my life. Have I mentioned this before?

Hair accessories are my life. Have I mentioned this to you before?

Last week (and still this week!) Claire and I have been producing dozens (approaching hundreds!) of personalised videos for our customers, picking out exactly just the right hair clips and headbands that we honestly think will work for that individual woman.

This has been A LOT of fun, I tell you what.

What Else We've Been Doing

However, since the New Year, Claire and I have also been quietly working on another area, which I've not been talking about.

That's because it takes a while.

We've been growing our hair.

The Curious Project Of Growing One's Hair

Claire's hair grows extraordinarily quickly. She has seen growth of up to an inch in a month.

Okay, Claire is not normal (let me count the ways, LOL). But it does mean she can experiment quite a bit with her hair, and if it all goes wrong she knows she can grow out her mistakes in just a few weeks.

Claire's goal back in January was to grow her hair to "Classic" length, which is just below her waist.

My goal has been to get to bra-strap length. As my hair is curly, I've already reached this length when my hair is wet. I reckon I've another 3-6 months to go to get to my goal with dry hair.

As my hair is quite grey, my big concern has been that I just end up looking like an old hippie. This would be fine if I had a hippie personal style. But I don't. I look a mess if I attempt to be too much of a free spirit.

Fortunately, my personal and work environment allow me the freedom to take on goofy experiments like this without causing too much fear and loathing in the people around me.

Why Do We Want To Grow Our Hair?

Basically, Claire and I decided to go long because we wanted to experience what it is like to live with, care for and style very long hair.

It's been an interesting journey.

Here's a little recap of our mood swings:

The length starts interfering with how we normally put our hair up... Annoyed.
We learn how to adapt our favourite styles to the new length... Pleased.
We get used to how the new length feels when worn down... Feeling glamorous!
Claire's finds her hair trapped under her sleeping partner in the middle of the night.. Confused.
My hair gets caught up under my arm and in the straps of my handbag... Grrrr.
Our hair takes FOREVER to dry... Bored.
We learn how to wear our hair when outside and active, or working out... Relieved.
Our customers with long hair ask for new ideas and we have the length to play... Amused!

Where Will We Go From Here?

Claire doesn't know if she will live with her new length, cut layers into it, or cut it all right back again. Her verdict at the moment is she likes long hair. "You can do more with it!" she says.

Me? I'm liking my new length a lot, but I miss being able to style my twist with my ends fanning nicely out. I'm having to tuck my ends in a lot, which crushes and pulls out my curl so I can't enjoy being a curly girl as much.

Time will tell, but I suspect at the end of the summer, I'll be chopping my hair back to get more spring back in my curls.

But regardless, the good news is that we know what works (and what really DOES NOT) for very long hair.

So, it's all good!

Hair Accessories For Long Hair

Topaz Garland Crystal large barrette.
An extra long clasp makes this excellent for holding a French pleat, and it's wonderful for a formal high ponytail style.

Classic Long barrette.
Another extra long clasp in useful, classic colours for every day.

Classic and Coast Extra Large barrettes.
A specially designed clasp with the Umph required to hold lots and lots of hair.

Basic Extra Large hair claw.
A machined design with a generous barrel shape. Comfortable and does the job. Guaranteed.

Classic French Extra Large clamp.
Our handmade large hair clamp. Very popular, in a range of colours to flatter your hair.

Ficcare Rock Star Chignon hair fork.
A beautiful metal fork strong enough for any amount of hair. Melissa's particular favourite.

Ficcare Metro hair stick.
Use two for a super secure hold. Elegant and unfussy in the hair

French Handmade U pin.
A centuries old classic. Get the technique for these guys down, and you'll never want to wear anything else.

Ficcare Maximas hair clip.
A worldwide cult following behind this amazing hair clip. If you've not tried one yet, take advantage of our 28 Day Satisfaction Guarantee and order one to have a go. You will be so glad you did.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Some fun advice about belts you will enjoy ...

2011-04-05T13:18:00.000+01:00

Bethanie Lunn blogged some excellent tips about belts over on The Modern Girl's Guide last week.

She's working a bit of "granny chic" in her example - which if you're like me you might not want to play up your granny qualities more than really necessary.

Fear not. You don't have to dig out your bed jacket to update your look.

What I do want you to pay attention to is her spot-on advice about:

- where on your waist or hips to wear your belt

- sizes that suit different body shapes

- different ways to experiment with belts

Enjoy!

The Modern Girl's Guide: How to...wear belts to suit your bodyshape: "Many of the women I meet have ‘belt phobia’ either because they believe it draws attention to their waist or belly which they want to avoid ..."

Melissa's a Twit

2011-03-26T15:33:00.000Z

Hair Clips, Hair Styling and Hair Care - Follow Stone Bridge on Twitter

I've been resisting Twitter. I couldn't understand what I'd possibly tweet about in my boring life.

And then I *got* it. I won't tweet you about my boring life and that's a promise.

Follow me on Twitter (I'm stonebridgeuk) and you'll get links to all our tutorials, videos and articles. Just the useful stuff. None of the boring stuff.

You have my word on that.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Got Fine Hair, "But A Lot Of It?" Read Melissa's Recommended Series Just For You

2011-03-26T14:37:00.000Z

Hair Accessories Perfectly Designed For Your Hair

In January I made a promise to make more videos and tutorials helping you to choose hair accessories that I believe will be pretty much guaranteed to work in your hair, whatever your hair type.

The first week was devoted to hair clips for thick hair.

The second series was all about hair accessories if you have fine hair.

I was quite tired after all that recommending, but a few of our lovely customers got in touch (you can email us any time you like at Hello@Stone-Bridge.co.uk - we absolutely adore hearing from you!) and asked if I could please please please make a series for hair that is "Fine But A Lot Of It"

Which last month, I did.

If you missed it, no worries. Here is a round up of all my top picks just for you.

In this series, I don't just hold up a hair clip and go "this is so great you should buy it"

No.

I go through in detail why a particular clip is going to be successful in your hair. I show you in my videos what you should be looking for when deciding whether or not to buy any clip, not just a Stone Bridge hair clip.

This is important information you'll be able to use your whole life.

And the whole series is available through these links right here:

Choosing Hair Accessories For Hair That Is Fine But A Lot Of It

Day 1: Barrettes if Your Hair is Fine But A Lot Of It

Day 2: Hair Clips and Claws Perfect for Hair That Is Fine But A Lot Of It

Day 3: Important Stuff! Ponytails And The Damage They Can Cause

Day 4: Hair Accessories For Making A French Pleat When Your Hair Is Fine But A Lot Of It

Day 5: Headbands for Hair The Is Fine But A Lot Of It

Enjoy!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Want personalised recommendations? Fill out this short survey and tell us about your hair

Stone Bridge Hair Accessories - Censored!

2011-03-24T10:00:00.001Z

Mumsnet blocking our customers!

How terribly exciting!

Stone Bridge has been censored. You wouldn't think hair clips would be a topic of concern, but how wrong you are.

On Tuesday, a Mumsnet member posted the following reasonable question:

"I've had a side fringe (a longish one) cut into my hair (just under chin length). Are hairslides to hold it back on occasion quite cool, or just not? if yes, where would I find some cool ones?"

After a perfectly sensible discussion about grips, bendy clips, Boots, Accessorise (but "not Claire's"), a lovely customer of ours - and we honestly don't know who she is - posted an apparently outrageous answer.

It was deleted.

Because I'm a little bit nifty on the interweb (and thanks to the mighty power of Google), I retrieved it.

Here is the offending post:

"Try these guys. Pricey but absolutely fantastic and really good on your hair. Sign up for their blog/newsletter and you get lloads of really handy tutorials. For the first time in my life I have managed to get beyond a ponytail

stonebridge hair accessories"

(If you aren't already signed up to our email list which she's talking about, you can get yourself subscribed here ...

Don't worry, you can always unsubscribe if you change your mind, no problem.)

Let me be clear with you on this

No one from Stone Bridge posted this. Not one of our PR people, no one who has ever done any work for us and definitely not me.

To prove it, we'd even be willing to open our systems history (company and personal) for Mumsnet to inspect.

Our company policy is if someone from Stone Bridge feels moved to participate in a forum they must always declare their relationship. This way people can judge the value of the post for themselves.

We work hard to preserve our reputation as honest, straight-shooting people here at Stone Bridge.

genuine

Stone Bridge Hair Accessories Has Never And Does Not Need To Fabricate Testimonials

Our customer feedback has all been published with clear, written permission from the person quoted.

The original comments and the permissions are all kept on file, so if there is any question about the veracity of any testimonial you read anywhere about Stone Bridge, it has come from either a real customer or from someone who just likes what we're doing.

We also actively encourage our customers to review us - openly and honestly - on the independent consumer site ReviewCentre.com. We have no editorial input into any of these reviews.

But no comments - online or in print - have ever been planted by us. Ever.

This isn't true of all online companies, but it is true of Stone Bridge.

We actually have a funny problem with the quotes in that if you did a search online, there are no unhappy reviewers. I guess the reason for this is we pretty much move heaven and earth to try and solve your problem for you - as long as we know there is a problem!

We in fact have been known to refuse sales that we think will leave the customer disappointed. I've got written testimonials to this fact as well. Several of them. Fact.

The reason for this is because we have a No Quibbles Satisfaction Guarantee. You can send that sucker back for a full refund if you don't like it.

For. Any. Reason.

And we would rather you get a hair clip you love so much that you want to adore it and wear it every day forever.

The Bad Girl Of Hair Accessories

I feel quite proud of being censored.

I love the concept that if you do something SO consistently well, that you generate such strong positive feedback from your customers, you must be a liar.

If you feel you'd like to add to the discussion at Mumsnet, the thread can be found here.

Because of our strict policies, we can't speak up for ourselves over there on Mumsnet territory. But you can if you want to.

Who knows? You too might get censored.

Wouldn't that be a kick?

Click to write YOUR review of Stone Bridge at ReviewCentre.com
Click to participate at Mumsnet

Mumsnet People Are Good People

Don't get me wrong. I've not got the ump against Mumsnet at all.

Just like we look after you and take that job quite seriously, Mumsnet looks after their members and wants to protect them.

From hair clips, obviously.

I have actually met one of the founders of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, way way back in the day when they were just getting going. We were at a book launch together in London. As I recall, they wanted me to do something with them at the time.

They're good people. Total respect.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Curly Hair Styling Tip: Improve Definition With Wet Styling

2011-03-23T10:16:00.000Z

Melissa's Simple Daily Wet Styling Routine For Curly Hair

I've received a number of questions recently about how to stop curly hair from frizzing and losing definition.

Improving the definition of your curls, particularly if you have long hair, is easy. However, there is no single magic curl cream that will work for everyone.

I made a video showing you my daily routine, where I just use conditioner.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more super-simple hair care and styling techniques that are probably completely free and will improve the health of your hair?

Click here to sign up for my free five-week Healthy Hair article series.

And don't worry!

You can easily unsubscribe any time by clicking the subscription link at the bottom of the email.

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Hillary Clinton And The Hair Claw

2011-03-19T10:36:00.000Z

High Ranking Crimes Against Hair

I know I have been pushing the half-back style very recently, but I wanted you to see how it can go badly wrong.

Hillary Clinton at UN event in September 2010

The Huffington Post published these shots of Hillary Clinton last year at a United Nations function creating a sort of quiffy look with a hair claw that is:

a) cheap and nasty
b) too big for the style she's created

I encourage you to take the time to scroll through the entire slide show, as they give you a good view of her style from several angles.

From the front, the basic shape she's created works fine for her face shape.

However, her profile looks terrible. The amount of hair she's pulled up creates a "clump" at the back of her head that just sits there.

Ficcare Luminous Silver Rectangle hair slide

This is why I suggest barrettes for the half-back, choosing a clasp of greater length according to how much hair you are pulling back for your style.

Using a barrette instead of a hair claw helps spread the hair more smoothly across the back of your head, creating a much more attractive profile.

Unless you have mountains of hair, for your half-back avoid using large clasps with a high arch. This will stand proud of your head and might show the clasp, which doesn't look nice.

If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of this style, I made a detailed video tutorial about the half-back (or half-up) hair style earlier this month.

And now that I'm inspired by Hillary, I shall work up a video for you about using hair claws in this style. It's possible, but, as you can see, you need to know the facts.

Browse all Stone Bridge barrettes

"Why Don't You Have More Pictures With Hair Clips In Hair?"

2011-03-17T15:19:00.000Z

Why We Hesitate To Use Models To Show Off Our Hair Accessories

Oval Small hair slide in Tortoiseshell

The leading question, suggestion or recommendation we get on how we could do things better at Stone Bridge Hair Accessories is to "have more pictures with hair clips in hair."

This is great feedback, don't get me wrong. And I LOVE to hear your ideas and suggestions because my brain is not actually very creative and I can use all the input I can get. (Plus I just like hearing from you - it cheers me up.)

However, using models is a little problematic and I'm not 100% sure that a picture is going to help you make a good decision about which hair clips would be best specifically for YOUR hair.

Here's why:

1. Odds are, whatever model we use, her hair is not going to be the slightest bit like yours.

We've used six models (not counting me in my hair styling videos, and very rarely Claire when she stands still long enough for us to be able to focus the camera) over the years for pictures used on the blog or website.

The first had straight, medium weight hair. The next three had insanely thick, long hair. The fourth had hair that was so fine the light would shine back through her hairstyle. Our latest model, the beautiful Graciela (and her gorgeous son who's on our home page at the moment) has really, really thick hair with a loose curl.

We don't choose the models primarily for their hair - though that is important. We look first at their headshape, to ensure that we will be able to create a range of styles that will photograph effectively. Then, we match the hair accessories to the "shape" of the model.

Often, the clip chosen may not be at all appropriate for the reality of the model's actual hair.

2. Even if the models have hair like yours, we've styled the hair to make the clip look good.

For example, with Francesca (the super-fine haired model) every style was a masterpiece construction, thanks to the amazing work of our stylist on that shoot. What you see in the picture is not a style any sane person should be seen in public with. The architecture that goes on out of view of the camera is not pretty.

We've added hair, we've taken hair away. We've folded hair over and back on itself to basically create a background for the hair clip or headband being shown.

At the end of the day, the picture's job is to make the clip look good. It might mislead you into thinking that it will work for your hair too, and we would hate for you to be disappointed.

This is why we really encourage you to get in touch with us if you aren't sure if a design is right for your hair or not. We talk to literally thousands of women about their hair and which of our clips work - and DON'T work - in their hair. So we really can guide you to the right clip for your hair and how you like to wear it.

Want some hair clip recommendations specific to your hair type? Click here for our short survey and tell us about your hair!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Our Tricky New French Chignon hair fork ...

2011-03-15T09:56:00.000Z

Rubbish for French Pleats, but V. Pretty In A Bun

We just got in some new French combs and forks that look amazing. You can take a peek at some of our new hair accessories here.

However, the L'Age D'Or forks are shaped in such a way that they aren't so good for the French pleat, but brilliant for a chignon.

I made a video for you a very basic bun to help you can see if this fork might work for you.

Enjoy!

How To Use a Hair Fork In a Simple Chignon Or Bun Hair Style

Hair Accessories Shown in This Video

L'Age D'Or French hair fork

*~*~*~*~*

Pssst! Can I ask a huge favour?

Do you think Stone Bridge has done a good job helping you with your hair? If so, I really could use your help.

Stone Bridge just this very morning has been added to ReviewCentre.com and we need people like you to add reviews.

Please be completely honest about our strengths and weaknesses (I don't know why I'm asking that because we're so lucky to have such great, honest people as customers already!)

The review form is really short. Click here to give us your opinion ...

Thanks so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this for us.

Browse all our French combs, pins and forks

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

New Barrettes: Bloom Cutwork slide and Equestrian Links extra long barrette

2011-03-08T09:48:00.000Z

A Short Video Demonstration Of Our Two Newest Barrettes

We got two new barrettes in at Stone Bridge Hair Accessories that I wanted to show you.

They're a little bit different so I thought it might be helpful for you if you could see which styles they are and ARE NOT good for to help you decide whether or not they'll work for your hair.

Click to play ...

Barrettes Shown In This Video

Bloom Cutwork large hair slide

Equestrian Links long barrette by L. Erikson

Browse all our barrettes

Browse all our New Hair Accessories

... or be a Nosy Parker and see what hair clips people are buying this week

Get Your Hair Bang Up To Date with How To Do a Half Back Hair Style

2011-03-01T14:59:00.000Z

Several Variations on This Classic Hair Style Using a Barrette

I finally got this video together for you coving several different versions of the half back style which is so fashionable at the moment.

While I have been seeing this look done with small hair claws, when you consider the profile that barrettes have seen on the catwalks in America recently, I recommend creating this style with barrettes or hair slides.

It's more grown up and you can spread your hair out more smoothly which gives you more control over your hair.

Enjoy!

Barrettes and Hair Slides Used In This Video

Ficcare Crystal Garden Swarovski hair slide
Portofino Swarovski Crystal barrette
Opal Paisley Crystal large barrette

Browse all Stone Bridge hair slides and barrettes

Hate Sweatshops? Free on Thursday? Join us at the V&A in London

2011-02-26T11:29:00.000Z

Join Stone Bridge Hair Accessories in London at the V&A for a Free Evening

Join Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK in London
Thursday, 3 March 2011, from 6:30 pm

I am a closet socialist.

Shhhhh! I know. Shameful. Either you hate me because I'm closeted or you hate me because I'm a socialist.

It's tough being a capitalist business owner with deep-seated guilt about the rights of labour.

I'll tell you a story.

I wasn't always "The Hair Clip Lady" that I am today.

My work history, possibly like you, started in my teens as a shop assistant. One of my first retail jobs was working aged 16 in a fabric store (I LOVE textiles. If I could do my life all over again I'd retrain in textile design).

Later, I worked in a high street fashion chain pretty much all through university. It paid for my phenomenal monthly phone bill.

I was always aware that the products I was handling, the low priced ones, were either made in sweatshops, by women exploited because of their illegal immigration status, children working as indentured slaves, or political prisoners who were absolutely NOT PAID for their labour.

I'd sit in the stock room, surrounded by these goods, racked with guilt. Long lunch breaks meant I always returned to the shop floor depressed.

I wasn't exactly nominated for Employee of the Month very often.

Today, I am so proud of Stone Bridge and of the hair accessories we carry. We absolutely know where 95% of our products are made, and who made them.

The extra 5% are the fun little pieces we pick up for Christmas and so forth. (And because for some reason the Press seem to want to promote these guys more than our "boring" range of truly beautiful tortoiseshell hair clips.)

Sometimes you have to sell your soul to the devil to get where you want to be ... *sigh*

From our couture fabric hair accessories, to Ficcare's gorgeous metal hair clips and headbands, to our Italian and French barrettes and hair clips, these have been crafted in the traditional sense of the word by men and women properly trained and properly paid for their work.

This is why our hair clips are "so expensive," to answer one of our most frequently asked questions.

Our hair accessories are expensive to make because the materials are expensive. The work put into them is expensive. And Stone Bridge employees and contractors are skilled professionals trying to do a good job for you every day.

All that for a beautiful clip, well made, lasts for ages and fully guaranteed to make you look good and feel happy.

I think that's pretty good for £20 or so.

We even think about our packaging, like our scrumptious Stone Bridge lined silk presentation bags. You can't buy these. You only get them when you buy one of our luxury headbands or hair clips. You can read the whole heart-warming story behind our silk bags here if you want to know more.

The coolest part about all this for me is I get to share these magic, beautiful things with nice people like you every day.

I might be a closet socialist. But I'm not an armchair one. So I feel good about that.

Politics, Art, Fashion and Fun. Are You Free This Thursday?

Stone Bridge is partnering with The Papered Parlour in a open public event at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London on Thursday, 3 March.

"Ethical Fashion in the Age of Austerity"

V&A Museum of Childhood

London

Thursday Evening, 3 March 2011

6:30 - 9:00 pm

Free Entrance

A range of lectures from activists and writers (for your dose of politics) and craft workshops (for a serious serving of fun and art) will make this event an enjoyable evening out for you and your friends.

Entrance is completely free, no need to book, just turn up. How good is that?

Click here for more information about the night.

Plus, I'll be there, if you want to have a natter about your hair (or socialism ... or sewing). Look out for me - I'm the little one with the big curly grey hair talking my head off.

Show your support for ethical fashion and help send a message that sweatshops and indentured labour are appalling practices.

It's free and it's fun. And famous people like fashion designer Betty Jackson will be there and everything.

~*~*~*

Thinking of coming along? Email me at Hello@Stone-Bridge.co.uk and let me know.
(I'll tell the nice people on the door you're one of my VIP's and save a "goody bag" for you!)

Can't make it? Tell your friends and colleagues about it. They'll be glad you did!
(See that little box just below that looks like an "M"? Click on it to email them this post.)

Thanks!

Autumn Hair Trends from London Fashion Week

2011-02-22T15:12:00.001Z

The Hair Styling Trends That You Can Actually Wear to Work

Fashionising.com did a fantastic round up of London Fashion Week, and while they talked clothes, well, I just looked at the hair, didn't I?

Aside from all the fashionista top knots and girly backwards French plaits (with a squirrely messy top knot to finish, natch), there were three major themes that actual grown ups could wear:

London Hair Trends for Autumn 2011

Julien Macdonald Spring 2011

Helmet Hair.
Yup, nearly Dallas hair that you know and love. But softer and longer (hooray!)

This image is from Julien Macdonald's Spring show, but it is the nicest version of the Helmet Hair I could find.

How to get the look.
Forget the fringe. Grow it out. You've got 'til September, plenty of time.

First, rough dry your hair or partially air dry your hair, as you prefer. Then, when your hair is still damp, flip your hair forward so you are all bent over in the worst position for the health of your back and blow dry the heck out of the hair at your temples.

Flip your hair back and hair spray the bejeezus out of the front of your hair.

Job's a good 'un.

Jaeger Autum 2011

The Ponytail.
Again, no fringe and no parting. The position is mostly at the middle of the head and for some reason uses really icky elastics on the catwalk. There's no helping some people.

For nicer elastics, go for our Basic Thick Elastic, or for a really finished look try a cuffed style, like the Stone Bridge Arpege cuffed elastic.

How to get the look.
The thing about ponytails when you are over 25 years of age, they can continue to suit you no matter how old you are - IF you have the right face shape.

I know some women worry that once they've crested 30 they should "grow up" with their hairstyle, but the fact of the matter is it only looks too young if you have a round face, or if you are wearing it too high on your head to suit your overall headshape. Only a select number of women with a compact, rounded headshape can get away with a plain high ponytail.

Scraped back hair can look aging, so go for some whispy bits to soften the edges of your hair line, particularly if you have an angular jaw.

I recently pulled my hair back into a rough ponytail and my daughter (aged 12) said I looked "really nice!" Normally, if she comments on my hair, it's to say I look weird, so it just goes to show that ponytails can actually look good, even when you aren't trying very hard.

Browse all Stone Bridge hair elastics

Danielle Scutt Autumn 2011

Half-Back.
This style is HA-YUGE at the moment with real people in the real world and I need to do a whole video for you on this.

Continuing on our theme of fringelessness, the half-back on the catwalk is either scraped back close to the head, leaving your ears to blow free in the wind, or accompanied by a massive quiff.

How to get the look.
The stylistas who sorted out the models at London Fashion Week mostly built their creations using lots of grips and hair spray. Not a good look for grown ups unless you really know what to do with a grip.

Go for softness and volume around your head with the old "flip hair over, blow dry, flip back" business. Then pull back the top section of your hair, either from your temples or down next to your ears (the variations are endless) and pull back. Secure with a pretty, flat barrette, like our Classic Wide barrette, or for a dressier style, something like the Ficcare Retro barrette.

Again, depending on your face shape, you need to play with how much hair you take back and how many whispy bits you want to feather forward.

If you are a grown woman, I suggest if you are taking back the sides of your hair, leave some fullness in the style so that the hair falls slightly over the top of your ears. This will prevent you looking like a yokel.

Browse all Stone Bridge barrettes

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

Only If You've Got Hair That is Fine "But A Lot Of It" ...

2011-02-21T09:09:00.000Z

Hair Clips That Will Work For Your Hair All This Week

Learn which hair clips are perfect for you.

Last month I did a series of videos giving my top recommended hair clips for thick hair, as well as hair accessories for fine hair.

If you missed these and want to see them again, follow these links for the full series:

Hair Clips for Thick Hair
Hair Accessories for Fine Hair

However, I've had requests to make a series for women who have hair that is "fine but a lot of it"

This type of hair has it's own special problems, but we at Stone Bridge have a lot of experience with this hair type.

So this week will be all about you. Every day from Wednesday I will be sending you a new video showing you my personal recommendations for your type of hair.

These aren't me showing you a clip, saying how great it is, you should buy it.

No.

I will walk you through the design elements of my recommended hair accessories so you will know now and forever what to look for in choosing a hair clip that will be successful in your hair.

Never choose another crappy clip again for your hair. Sign up here to make sure you don't miss a single video:

I don't want to bother the entire world with these videos.

This is only for you if you've got fine hair, but a lot of it, if it gets on your nerves and you want to learn more detailed information about how to choose a hair clip that will really work for you.

Stick your info in the boxes above, and I'll speak to you again on Wednesday. See you then!

Visit Stone Bridge Hair Accessories UK

* * *

Have you got a video you think I should do? Pop your suggestions below. I'd love to hear your ideas!

New Ficcare Metro hair sticks

2011-02-16T17:09:00.000Z

Textured Finish Means These Hair Sticks Don't Slip

Metro Hair Sticks in action

I just finished having a play with our new Ficcare Metro metal hair sticks so I squeezed off a picture to show you.

These look so pretty in the hair and the brushed gold or silver finish gives a great, grown-up look.

These are metal, so I would recommend these only if you have medium to thick hair.

If you have heavy hair, you will have a better hold if you order 2 hair sticks.

Ficcare Metro Hair Sticks, £22 per stick

We've got them in silver and gold. Priced at £22 per hair stick, these guys will last you for, well, the rest of your life and make your hair look wonderful.

Don't Know How To Use Hair Sticks?

Never used a hair stick before? Using the Stone Bridge 'backscoop' method is the easiest technique. I made a little video here, showing you how to do it:

Browse all Stone Bridge hair sticks

Claire: Hair Clip Explorer

2011-01-30T17:45:00.000Z

Taking Hair Clips To Illogical Extremes

Do hair clips and snow mix?
Claire finds out ...

Remember all that snow we had last month? I know, you probably have blocked it from your memory to protect your mental health.

Well, that Siberian Cold Snap had some unintended consequences in our little world of hair clips.

The snow literally stopped your orders going out and also from being delivered for several days. It hit not only Stone Bridge, of course. Thousands of mail order companies were affected, and most courier companies were very backed up in the run up to Christmas.

I blogged about this back at the time, which you can read about here if you're interested: Snow vs. Stone Bridge

While Claire and I were dealing with delivery problems, we also had a spate of customers getting in touch and letting us know that their French Pleat combs were snapping.

As you probably know, we promise you a hair clip that holds your hair properly without breaking or your money back. We stand by our guarantee unconditionally. So if you receive a clip or headband that isn't completely perfect for you, you get your money back. Absolutely not a problem.

Now the material we use in our combs is Italian cellulose acetate, which is strong and flexible. It can become rigid and more brittle over time, but generally speaking this takes decades. So Claire and I were left scratching our heads over these broken combs.

They had come from a factory that we don't get many products from, so it is possible that we had been unlucky and just had an old batch or had received combs made from defective material.

But it didn't seem very likely.

Claire: Fearless Hair Clip Explorer

A few weeks later, Claire had a brainstorm. She took a comb home over the weekend and put it in the freezer.

Claire's family wondered if she had put it there absentmindedly (as you do, putting your personal care items in the freezer). However, they are used to hair accessories or packaging materials showing up in strange places, usually as subjects in one of Claire's complex scientific experiments.

For example, one of her recent experiments came about when she was worried that a parcel delivered in the rain might mean your hair clips arrive water damaged. So she tested various ways of packing and sealing our boxes and then sprayed them with a squirt bottle to see which method protected your hair accessories the best when they were in transit.

These are the types of things we think about.

With the heavy snowfall in Kent in December, massive numbers of parcels were being collected and then taken to sorting offices, where they would be left caged up on open docks until someone was able to sort them properly. We know this thanks to our many friends and informants inside the Royal Mail. (Yep, if your parcel is delayed, we pull strings!)

While the docks are under cover, they are left open 24 hours a day. The temperature at this particular time frequently fell well below freezing.

Claire wanted to know what effect freezing had on cellulose acetate and whether any change to the material was permanent.

Before Freezing

Cellulose acetate that hasn't been frozen is bendy. You can break it, but it is more like tearing. It doesn't generally snap.

Claire bent different parts of the comb to see how much effort was required to actually break it. The comb was really quite bendy.

Then our brave comb entered the freezer.

After Freezing

Claire froze the comb overnight for about eight hours. She then left the comb to thaw to room temperature for about three hours.

Bending the comb, the material immediately snapped under pressure.

The comb was left for another 24 hours at room temperature, but continued to be brittle, breaking easily.

Inescapable Conclusions

French handmade hair accessories are not suitable for home freezing.

Generally speaking, this shouldn't be a problem for you as a collector of Stone Bridge hair accessories. Your hair accessories will be going from wherever you do your hair (presumably at room temperature) to being in your hair, where they will be next to your roasty warm head all day.

However, if you keep any hair accessories in your handbag or in the glove box of your car, there is a small chance they could get frozen.

Something to keep in mind.

You Can't See Hair Clips on The Radio ...

2011-01-27T16:07:00.000Z

Stone Bridge Hair Accessories Receives Love From Amazing Radio Presenter Frankie Ward

Frankie Ward shows off her latest headband

You can't see stuff on radio, but Frankie Ward, presenter on independent digital radio station Amazing Radio and frontman (or is that frontwoman?) of the band Get Frank, has been blogging some love about Stone Bridge.

A woman after my own heart, she sent me this picture of her all glammed up in the studio.

Your hair looks great, Frankie!

Hair Clips for Fine Hair: Melissa's Top Recommendations

2011-01-27T14:14:00.000Z

The Complete Roundup Of Melissa's Series on How To Choose Hair Accessories for Fine Hair

Perfect Hair Accessories for Fine Hair

As a follow-on from my video series earlier this month about hair accessories for thick hair, last week I went through our complete range of over 1000 hair accessories to show you the very best hair clips and headbands for fine hair.

If you missed all the videos and demonstrations, don't worry.

Here's a roundup of what I covered:

Day 1: Hair Claws for Fine Hair
Day 2: Barrettes and Hair Slides for Fine Hair
Day 3: Ponytail Elastics Gentle on Fine Hair
Day 4: Hair Forks and U Pins for Fine Hair
Day 5: Headbands and Alice Bands for Fine Hair

Enjoy!

Hair Clips for Thick Hair: Melissa's Top Picks

2011-01-23T11:19:00.000Z

The Complete Roundup Of Melissa's Series on How To Choose Hair Accessories for Thick Hair

It was a busy week last week, going through our complete range of over 1000 hair accessories to show you the very best hair clips and headbands for thick hair.

If you missed all the videos and demonstrations, don't worry.

Here's a roundup of what I covered:

Day 1: Hair Claws for Thick Hair
Day 2: Barrettes and Hair Slides for Thick Hair
Day 3: Ponytail Elastics for Thick Hair
Day 4: Hair Forks and U Pins for Thick Hair
Day 5: Headbands and Alice Bands for Thick Hair

Enjoy!

Headbands and Hair Bands for Fine Hair

2011-01-23T09:41:00.000Z

The Last in Our Video Series about Hair Accessories for Fine Hair

I wanted to share with you just one of the lovely emails we received in response to our videos last week about hair clips for thick hair:

"Just to let you know I am delighted with my hair clips I bought following your thick hair recommendation video on Wednesday, especially the weave claw which is amazingly secure considering its relatively small size and the thickness of my unruly hair. The large rectangle claw is beautiful and feels good if slightly less secure than the weave claw. "

-Nicola S., Borders, Scotland

It's feedback like this which helps us to really know which of our 1000 hair clips will work for specifically for your hair type.

I don't want you to buy something that doesn't hold your hair. A hair clip that just sits in your drawer doesn't do anyone any good. I would rather you end up with something that does a proper job for you, that you love and love to wear.

On with our final video ...

Headbands or Hair Bands for Fine Hair

Headbands Shown in this Video

Super Comfy Entwined Tortoiseshell headband

Super Comfy skinny headband
Zig Zag skinny headband
Ficcare Twisted Skinny headband
Lambskin Leather bandeau
Paisley Silk Scarf headband
Lambskin Leather Wrapped Half Inch headband

More Headbands Excellent for Fine Hair

Couture Velvet Scarf headband

Crocodile Leather headbands (both the One-Inch and the Modern Skinny styles)

Twisted Italian Silk Skinny headband

Italian Silk Scarf headband
Classic Silk Velvet Skinny headband

Ficcare New Thin headband

Wavy Skinny headband
France Luxe Tartan skinny headband

Browse all our Scarf Style headbands

Browse some of our Super Comfy skinny headbands

French Pleat Combs and Forks for Fine Hair

2011-01-22T11:19:00.000Z

Day 4 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Fine Hair

How To Choose Hair Forks and Combs for Fine Hair

Hair Accessories Shown in this Video

Stone Bridge French Pleat medium comb
Stone Bridge French Chignon U pin

French hair stick
Stone Bridge Allegro French hair fork

How to Use a French Pleat Comb

The Combs That Work Best in a Pleat Style for Fine Hair

Stone Bridge French Pleat medium comb

Stone Bridge French Long comb

How to Use the Allegro Hair Fork

Hair Accessories Used in This Video

Allegro French hair fork

How to Use a Hair Stick in a French Pleat

Hair Sticks Best for Fine Hair

French Bright hair sticks

French Classic hair sticks

How to Use the Stone Bridge French U pin

Hair Pins For The Backscoop Technique

Stone Bridge French Handmade U pin

Sunday Rose Crystal U pin

France Luxe New Chignon pin

Tomorrow's video ... Headbands for fine hair

Great Side Hair Clips and Slides for Fine Hair

2011-01-22T11:10:00.000Z

Choosing Small Side Hair Clips to Hold Your Layers or Fringe

The bonus article I've made for you is about using smaller hair slides to hold your layers or your fringe in place.

You can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them for a better look at the hair clips.

Many of our customers with fine hair say they love our small French hair slides. Here I've used our Oval Small hair side in Silver Shell in a few ways.

Clipping Back Your Fringe
The first way is to hold back your fringe, just to the side. Our Circle slide and the Floralies slide are both very popular hair clips that work in this sort of style.

These are great hair clips to have on hand when you just need your fringe pulled away from your face, such as at work or if you're out in the garden.

Using Hair Slides to Hold Back Your Sides
With finer hair, these are also great for holding your hair up at the side. You can use one hair side on each side for a more traditional style.

Alternatively, a more modern look is to hold back just one side, leaving the other side of your hair down.

Using Hair Slides for A Quiff Style
This is my favourite use and one that works very well with finer hair because it helps create an effect of height and volume.

The first picture shows basically how a Quiff style introduces height to your face.

I guess a goofy grin like mine helps as well ... or maybe not!

Here you can see how I've used the slide to pull my fringe back, but "poofing" it slightly at the front.

Put the slide centre top of your head. These slides lie nice and flat on your head, creating an attractive profile.

You can also use a decorative grip or one of our tortoiseshell Bobbie Pins. Here I've used our Classic Bobbie Pin in the Silver Shell colour, but you can also use our Crystal Bobbie Pin in this style.

Again, the Bobbie Pin sits very close and flat to your head, which is what you want with fine hair.

Ponytail Elastics for Fine Hair

2011-01-21T07:42:00.001Z

Day 3 Of Our Video Series about Hair Accessories for Fine Hair

Bonus Information This Weekend for You about Fine Hair

I've got some bonus free articles and videos planned for you for this weekend. If you've signed up to receive your video links at work, add your home email today so you don't miss any of this useful information.

Click here to sign up for your bonus videos and articles about hair clips for fine hair

If your home email is already signed up, you don't have to do anything. Your links will arrive as normal.

Enjoy today's video!

About Ponytail Elastics for Fine Hair

Hair Elastics and Scrunchies Shown in this Video

Basic elastic

Knotted elastics
Houndstooth Cuffed elastic

Cote Cuffed elastic

Arpege Cuffed elastic
Satin Crinkle scrunchie

Browse all Stone Bridge elastic hair bands

Tomorrow's video ... Combs and hair forks for fine hair

Hair Barrettes Perfect for Fine Hair

2011-01-20T07:56:00.000Z

Day 2 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Fine Hair

How To Choose Barrettes for Fine Hair

Barrettes Shown in this Video

Marble Block hair barrette

Navy Buckle barrette
Arc Oval Classic Tortoiseshell barrette

Old Fashioned Gold barrette

Belle Long Skinny barrette

More Stone Bridge Barrettes for Fine Hair

Ficcare Swarovski Crystal Retro barrette

Portofino Italian Crystal barrette

Comtesse Pave Crystal Floral barrette

Classic Wide Tortoiseshell barrette

Browse all Stone Bridge barrettes and hair slides for fine hair

Tomorrow's video ... Ponytail Elastics for fine hair

Hair Claws Just for Fine Hair

2011-01-19T07:57:00.001Z

Day 1 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Fine Hair

How To Choose Hair Claws for Fine Hair

Hair Claws Shown in this Video

Mahogany medium hair clamp

Frank and Kahn Long hair clamp

Swarovski Pave Crystal medium hair claw

Harlequin medium hair claw

Basket Weave small hair claw

France Luxe Scalloped medium hair clamp

Silk Wrapped medium clamp

More Stone Bridge Hair Claws Great for Fine Hair

Swarovski Banded hair claw

Swarovski Fine Boned hair claw

Safari hair claw

Twist Wrapped medium hair claw

Browse all Stone Bridge hair claws for fine hair

Tomorrow's video ... Barrettes for fine hair

*** It's Fine Hair week at Stone Bridge. Never buy a duff clip for your hair again! If you've not done so already, click here to sign up and receive links to our other videos.

Is your hair fine? It's your week at Stone Bridge!

2011-01-17T14:38:00.000Z

Stone Bridge Top Recommended Hair Clips for Fine Hair All This Week

Have you got fine hair? And I mean fine and NOT a lot of it. Growing your hair long and having it still look like not very much is disappointing. Combine that with high street shops carrying clips that are too big or too heavy ... I feel your frustration.

Last week was for our customers with thick hair. But this week is for you, all about fine hair and which clips from our catalog of 1000 hair accessories I think will work for your hair.

I will go through what critical design features you need to be looking for when you choose a hair clip for fine hair. I'll be showing you in detail how these clips work and truly why so many of our customers have been thrilled with these classics over the years.

The only way you can get all these handy videos, though, is to sign up to receive them.

And you can do that right here:

Headbands Perfect for Holding Thick Hair

2011-01-16T09:31:00.000Z

The Last in Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Thick Hair

I wanted to share with you one of the lovely emails we received this week in response to our video about hair claws for thick hair:

"Just to let you know I am delighted with my hair clips I bought following your thick hair recommendation video on Wednesday, especially the weave claw which is amazingly secure considering its relatively small size and the thickness of my unruly hair. The large rectangle claw is beautiful and feels good if slightly less secure than the weave claw. "

-Nicola S., Borders, Scotland

How To Choose Headbands or Hair Bands for Thick Hair

Headbands Shown in this Video

Mimosa Etched French headband

Classic Extra Wide French headband
Safari Links headband
French Fairytale Brocade Scarf headband
Ficcare Twisted Skinny headband
Lambskin Leather bandeau

More Headbands Excellent for Thick Hair

Couture Velvet Scarf headband

Crocodile Leather headbands (both the One-Inch and the Modern Skinny styles)

Twisted Italian Silk Skinny headband

Paisley Brocade Scarf headband

Italian Silk Scarf headband

Silk Wrapped Links headband

Grecian Silk Double headband

Ficcare New Thin headband

U Pins and Hair Forks for Thick Hair

2011-01-15T09:54:00.000Z

Day 4 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Thick Hair

How To Choose Hair Forks and U Pins for Thick Hair

Hair Accessories Shown in this Video

Stone Bridge French Chignon U pin

Ficcare Moon Swarovski hair fork
Ficcare Leopard hair fork

How to Use the Ficcare Moon Chignon Hair Fork

Hair Accessories Shown in this Video

Ficcare Moon Swarovski hair fork

Ficcare Moon Classic hair fork

How to Use the Ficcare Rockstar or Leopard Hair Fork

Hair Accessories Shown in this Video

Ficcare Leopard hair fork

Ficcare Rockstar hair fork

How to Use the Stone Bridge French U pin

Hair Pins For The Backscoop Technique

Stone Bridge French Handmade U pin

Sunday Rose Crystal U pin

France Luxe New Chignon pin

Tomorrow's video ... Headbands for thick hair

How to Choose Ponytail Elastics for Thick Hair

2011-01-14T07:53:00.001Z

Day 3 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Thick Hair

How To Choose Hair Elastics for Thick Hair

Elastics Shown in this Video

Circle Bar Clasp elastics

French Knot Bauble elastics

Browse all Stone Bridge hair elastics

Tomorrow's video ... Hair forks and U pins for thick hair

Barrettes and Hair Slides for Thick Hair

2011-01-13T07:41:00.000Z

Day 2 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Thick Hair

How To Choose Barrettes and Hair Slides for Thick Hair

Barrettes and Hair Clips Shown in this Video

Arc Rectangle large barrette

Coast Extra Large barrette
Ficcare Maximas Silky hair clip in Large

More Stone Bridge Hair Clips and Barrettes for Thick Hair

Le Jardin large barrette

Rectangle large barrette

Ficcare Maximas Classic hair clip in Large

Browse all Stone Bridge barrettes for thick hair | Browse all Ficcare Maximas hair clips

Tomorrow's video ... Ponytail Elastics for thick hair

Hair Claws Perfect for Thick Hair

2011-01-12T07:53:00.001Z

Day 1 Of Our Video Series about Hair Clips for Thick Hair

How To Choose Hair Claws for Thick Hair

Hair Claws Shown in this Video

Barcelona large hair clamp
Wave hair clamp
France Luxe Rectangle large hair claw
Frank and Kahn Weave large claw

More Stone Bridge Hair Claws Superb for Thick Hair

Interlocking medium hair claw
Octopus hair claw
France Luxe Elysee extra large hair claw
Silk Wrapped large hair claw

Browse all Stone Bridge hair claws for thick hair

Tomorrow's video ... Barrettes for thick hair

*** It's Thick Hair week at Stone Bridge. Never buy a duff clip for your hair again! If you've not done so already, click here to sign up and receive links to our other videos.

Have thick hair? This week is for you ...

2011-01-10T14:43:00.000Z

Stone Bridge Top Recommended Hair Clips for Thick Hair All This Week

Have you ever visited our site at Stone-Bridge.co.uk, looked at our hair clips and wondered if they would really suit your hair?

We have loads of customers with "unusual" hair, unusually thick, unusually curly, unusually fine ... you get the picture. Chances are, if you have unusual hair, we've got other customers with hair quite similar to yours.

And the cool thing is, people get back to us and tell us which clips have worked really well for them.

This month I'm making a series of videos for you if you have "unusual" hair.

This week is all about thick hair and which clips from across our entire collection of 1000 hair accessories I think will work for your hair.

No more surfing around the site, wondering "is this right for me?" This will be the definitive short list of clips that I think you should very seriously consider trying out for yourself.

I will go through what important design aspects you need to be looking for when you choose a hair clip for thick hair. I'll be showing you how these clips work and truly why so many of our customers have been thrilled with these classics over the years.

The only way to make sure you get all these handy videos, though, is to sign up to receive them.

And you can do that right here:

Don't miss a single one. Sign up today (you can always unsubscribe, of course, if you change your mind) because the first video all about hair claws for thick hair will start first thing on Wednesday.

Now, I've also made a little tutorial video about what we at Stone Bridge look for when asking you whether you have thick, average or fine hair. Plus, I show you our easy test for getting your hair in the right category.

Do give this a little watch ... enjoy!

Make sure you never miss any great Stone Bridge hair advice again ...

2010-12-29T20:07:00.000Z

Make iGoogle Your Homepage, and get all the Stone Bridge News First!

Have you ever figured that you've missed one of our emails about lovely hair clips or hair care? There's a great, easy way you can keep on top of Stone Bridge news and events that doesn't involve your email provider.

Last year we had about four months were the email providers were very aggressive with their spam filters and almost nobody heard from us for ages. This is great and it's all for your benefit, of course. We all hate spam.

But folks on our email list actually want our emails, so blocking the easiest and fastest way we have to communicate with our very nice customers is frustrating, to say the least. We had people emailing and ringing to find out why we didn't love them anymore. We do love you! It's your email!

What to do if you don't want to hear from Stone Bridge

If you are on our email list and want to be removed, just click the link at the bottom of the email and you'll be automatically taken off, no problem.

Please don't click the "Report As Spam" button because we actually get fined and also we know you did it because your email provider has to tell us who reported us. Nothing's private on the internet!

It's a bit like throwing rocks at a local business who's dropped a little leaflet through your door who's trying to let you know they exist and are open for business. Yeah, we get the message but it would be more polite to just unsubscribe in the normal way.

Please use your "Report as Spam" button judiciously and only against nasty people who really don't care if you've got a lot of junk in your inbox.

What you can do if you DO want to hear from Stone Bridge

If you set up your personal settings with Google, you can keep a "feed" from this blog on your iGoogle page. You can keep track of all your favourite blogs this way. It's cool and really easy to set up.

Here's what you do:

Go to Google (this links to the UK site, so go to the page appropriate for your country)
Click the link for "iGoogle" in the upper right corner
Choose any interests if you want some news feeds and pick your header design
Click the "X" in the top right corner of the frame when you like your header
Click the link for "Add stuff" which is on the right
At the bottom of the list on the menu to the left, click "Add feed or gadget"
In the pop up field, paste the following: http://stonebridgehair.blogspot.com/

And then you're all done!

Now every time you visit Google you can have the Stone Bridge news "As It Happens." Good, eh?

The Queen's Speech ... except about hair clips

2010-12-27T18:23:00.000Z

Did you catch the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day? I did. I noticed she did not sport any hair clips. It may have been an oversight.

If you missed it, I had considered drafting my own rousing, inspiring message about hair. But I couldn't think of anything really good.

However, a few months ago I wrote about the 7 Steps to Building a Great Hair Clip Collection.

If you have ever found yourself with a drawer full of hair clips you never wear, always reaching for the same one favourite day after day, this is the article for you.

Stop wasting valuable drawer space with crummy clips that don't work for you.

Click here and learn the 7 foolproof ways to have a wardrobe of hair accessories that make you look good every day of the year.

Enjoy!

Browse the full Stone Bridge Hair Accessories collection

Don't Let Your Favourite Hair Clip be Discontinued!

2010-12-20T15:46:00.000Z

It's Planning Season: Tell Us To Keep Making Your Favourite Stone Bridge Hair Clips

Tell Us Your Best Hair Clips!

When you make a commitment to making a product that doesn't break like we do here at Stone Bridge Hair Accessories, you get a funny thing happening.

People will buy one hair clip and then they don't come back and buy another for a really long time. Sometimes they don't come back for a few years.

So when the end of the year rolls around and we look at which hair accessories have sold well and which ones sell a bit more slowly, well, we sort of think maybe we shouldn't make any more of the slow-moving designs.

Of course, as soon as we discontinue a good hair clip (but that doesn't sell like hotcakes), I get a lot of emails asking me if I'm out of my mind stopping such a good design.

So, if you've got an absolute favourite hair clip that would make you weep if you found out we had stopped making it, let me know! Just post a comment at the end of this post. Or you can email me at Melissa@Stone-Bridge.co.uk.

Or write me. Or lean out your window and shout. Psychic powers sometimes work too, but I'm not too reliable on that front.

Let me know your favourites - I'm all ears.

Are You Suddenly Getting Frizzier Hair?

2010-12-20T09:22:00.000Z

This weather is crazy, isn't it? If you've got any texture in your hair, whether a wave or a curl, then I'm sure you've experienced how changeable weather can lead to changeable hair! One minute your hair is doing what you want it to do, and the next it's either frizzing or falling flat.

Now, for this time of year, you might be seeing another kind of frizz, though. And this has to do, interestingly, with an annual cycle of shedding that humans go through.

Why am I losing so much hair?

Some research indicates that humans experience shedding periods in spring and autumn, when we lose more hair on average. You might notice more hair coming out on your hair brush, or generally more hair falling out in the shower when you shampoo during this period.

For some women, the shed is so noticeable you can see your hair thinning at spots, which can be quite upsetting.

Female pattern baldness does occur and it is linked to your hormone levels and unfortunately there isn't a lot you can do about it. However, often this thinning is often temporary.

Typical Early Stage Hair Growth

When a hair falls out of its follicle, normally is has actually been pushed out by a new hair growing up underneath. This new hair often starts fairly fine, like the baby hairs many women see along their hairline. But most of the time you may not even notice this new growth until the hair is about two to three months old and has a stiff enough structure to unfortunately stand up from your head.

Now, if you experienced a big shed in September or October, then your new growth will be coming in strong now. And if you've got any natural texture to your hair then you've got, yup, frizz making a little halo around the crown of your head.

How To Handle The Frizz

The best way to smooth these hairs down, particularly during the day if you are fixing your hair, is to wet your fingers and then lightly dampen your hair. Then use a very little bit of mousse, styling cream or leave in conditioner to help "stick" your new growth down.

If the hair has a very kinky texture, this might be due to the age of the follicle. Follicles collapse and rebuild themselves for every new growth cycle and older follicles can take longer to get their hair-growing act together as they reform. This can result in new hair with a slightly harder structure and uneven texture. Usually the follicle is functioning normally after about 12 weeks or so and any unusual kinkiness will have grown out.

If this bothers you, just trim the kinky end away with a good sharp pair of scissors. Don't make yourself neurotic about trimming your ends, though. You could spend all day and accidentally give yourself a terrible layered haircut!

Scarf style headbands are, of course, a good alternative to obsessing about frizz and they will help the hair around the top of your head to lie down smoothly.

Or you can disguise the increased texture at the top of your head by adding volume with either a quiff or bouf type hair style, smoothing with a light misting of hair spray.

As these young hairs lengthen, they will blend in and lie down nicely of their own accord. You just need to be patient.

Warm Stone Bridge Headbands To Handle Winter Frizz
Couture Velvet Scarf headband. Beautiful plush silk velvet with a crocodile texture.
Crushed Silk Velvet headband. A rich dark red subtly shot with gold threads.
Parlour Wool and Silk Scarf headband. Perfect whether you're out in the snow or curled by the fire.
Classic Silk Velvet skinny headband. Lightweight and comfortable. A classic.

Browse all Stone Bridge headbands

How to Do a Messy Side Bun

2010-12-11T16:30:00.000Z

An Easy Long Hair Style for Christmas or New Year's Parties

This week I kept seeing a messy side bun style sported by a number of teenaged girls. While I'm always interested in new trends that can be cleaned up and tweaked for full grown women, I thought for sure this was look that would be too young for me.

Messy Side Bun Hairstyle

But intrepid explorer of all things hairstyle related, I had to give it a go. And I was very surprised to get a good result.

This messy side bun is exceptionally easy to create and as an updo it is suitable for any semi-formal to formal event you might have in your diary.

To make this style even dressier, in the centre of the bun you can tuck a small crystal hair clip. A delicate crystal side comb at the edge of your bun can also look very nice.

Dress Your Bun with a Crystal Comb

I understand there is a little-known holiday called Christmas coming up. Maybe you've heard of it? So if you've got a party to attend, the messy side bun could be a fun new way to wear your hair.

As with all new styles, you must be willing to experiment and practice a bit as you will very likely have to adapt the method to suit your hair weight and texture.

Here's your video showing you how to make a very basic messy side bun style for long hair.

How to Make a Messy Side Bun

Stone Bridge Hair Clips Perfect for Tucking Into Your Messy Side Bun

Paris Crystal Rose small hair barrette
Peacock Crystal hair slide
Mystere Crystal magnetic small hair slide
Mini Butterfly Crystal hair clips
Dorado Crystal Fan side comb

Visit Stone Bridge to see this week's new hair accessories

Winter Static

2010-12-10T12:56:00.000Z

How Hair Clips Can Help When You've Got Static In Your Hair

In winter when the air is dry, static in your hair can become a bit of a nuisance. What is static and how can you get rid of it?

Static electricity is created when two different materials with odd numbers of electrons come into such close contact that the unpaired electrons temporarily escape. So a wool hat or scarf that has been on your hair is pulled back (or that balloon you’ve been rubbing on your hair is held slightly away – something we do all the time, I know). Your hair picks up the escaped electrons, temporarily giving the individual hair strands the same electrical charge, and they repel each other.

To reverse this, you simply need to earth the rogue electrons with a conducting material, the most conductive being steel, copper or water. So the next time you walk into a shop or work and your hair is standing on end, you just need to run your keys or a few pennies through your hair to get rid of the static.

Alternatively, go wet your hands and then run your damp fingers through your hair. That’s it.

If static is a real recurring problem for you, there are chemicals that diffuse static electricity which are commonly found in tumble dryer softening sheets. These products also contain chemicals that you find in normal hair conditioners.

You can lightly run one of these sheets over your dry hair after you finish styling it in the morning in the places where static tends to be a problem, such as the ends and along your hairline. If that is too weird or the softening sheets make you smell like a laundrette, experiment with using a leave-in conditioner just at your usual trouble spots. Many of these main brand products contain an anti-static agent in them.

Good quality hair clips can help too, of course. All our French barrettes and hair claws use steel mechanisms, placing an earthing material very close to your hair. Also, the simple act of putting your hair up so that the ends are protected will preserve moisture around your head and minimise static.

Stone Bridge Hair Accessories to Add Metal to Your Hair

Ficcare Ballerina Bow headband, £85. A very simple and understated bow that looks beautiful in the hair.

France Luxe Scalloped medium clamp, £37. The gold coloured steel teeth in this pretty claw are particularly effective with finer hair.

Ficcare Roman Circles slide, £59. Shown here in a half back style for thick hair, but stunning in a ponytail too. Great for work.

Ficcare Metal Mesh elastic, £17. An easy way to make your ponytail more posh. Classic and simple.

Ficcare Maximas Innovation clips, from £35. For medium to thick hair, if you've not tried a Ficcare clip yet you are missing a treat. Best in a French pleat style.

****

Did you find this article helpful? Share it! If you have a friend or colleague who might also find our hair styling tips helpful, please let her know she can sign up for them on our Contact page. Our business depends on people like you spreading the good word about Stone Bridge Hair Accessories, and your recommendation means a lot to us. Thanks!

Snow Versus Stone Bridge Hair Accessories

2010-12-04T13:14:00.000Z

The Ultimate Showdown Between Mother Nature and Hair Clips

Stone Bridge is fundamentally a mail order business. You phone us up or visit online, ask for some hair clips, pays your money and expect to see in short order a pretty tissue-lined box chock full of lovely silk bags carrying ... hair clips.

Most of the time that is exactly what happens.

But occasionally Siberia plays a mean trick on the Southeast of England and sends a dumping of snow that keeps us from seeing the postman for a few days.

Last week was one of those occasions. Where we process our orders actually received over a foot of snow. The surrounding roads were so dangerous the local post office did not even open its doors for three days.

I personally did my heroic best, carrying huge shopping bags under both arms, walking two miles up to the post office (and then back again, still laden) in the hopes of getting your hair clips to you for three days running.

On Friday we had a bit of a breakthrough. Claire knows someone who works in a Royal Mail sorting office who said she could get our parcels into the system for us.

So, Claire struggled into the office Friday morning, filled shopping bags and rucksacks with boxes, walked the two miles back to the main road to be collected by a friend. She then had help carrying all the orders on foot for nearly a mile to get your hair clips into process with the Royal Mail.

Hair Clips - 1

Mother Nature - 0

You can have victory over the winter weather too, if postal deliveries are at all a worry for you. I recommend virtual gift certificates, which we can send any day you like, to as many people as you like, anywhere in the world.

You don't have to pay shipping. The recipient doesn't have to go to the post office and wait in an angry queue for 45 minutes to collect their parcel. Your gift, which is fully insured by us, arrives on time, every time. Plus, they can choose exactly the item they like best.

Know someone who loves her hair? Click here to order them a Stone Bridge gift certificate!

Or, choose some nice hair clips yourself and have us do all the sending business.

Click here to start shopping

How to Learn the Best Care Routine Specifically for Your Hair

2010-12-04T12:38:00.000Z

How Does Your Hair Want To Be Treated and How Do You Find Out?

Hair comes in a lot of variety. When you consider the five defining characteristics of your hair - weight, density, texture, porosity and strength - there are something like 32 different profiles that specifically your hair could fall into.

At Stone Bridge, we sit around thinking about all these different variables all day long. Plus we mull over about other qualities that might apply to you and your hair, like how long is your hair or how long would you like it to be; do you work in a serious and conservative environment or not; do you do a lot of sport and what sort of sport is it; do you colour your hair or are you natural ...

And then throw in questions about your personal style and face shape - hang on, the back of my envelope isn't big enough to multiply all these variables together!

Working out your care and styling routine that is best for your hair is not straightforward. Plus most women only have the guidance of their mother's experience (which may not apply at all to your hair, only hers, and might be imperfectly informed anyway), the promises found on the labels of hair care products, and the 10 minutes spent a few times each year with a stylist who has an interest in selling you a couple bottles of their salon shampoo.

Throw in a sprinkling of poorly researched articles from fashion magazines and daytime talk shows and what sort of library of information do you really have?

There is only one real way to find out how you can get the best out of specifically your hair. And that is to learn a few basic facts about hair generally, and then to experiment.

What a Billionaire Can Teach You About Your Hair

I came across a story recently told by John Counsel, a marketing consultant, that was really about business, but I thought it was also very appropriate if you are in the process of trying to learn properly about your hair.

A young journalist was on a flight and had been lucky enough to be upgraded to First Class. When he got to his seat he was quite excited to see he was across the aisle from a famous multi-billionaire, who was quite intent on getting some shut-eye.

The journalist felt he couldn't let this opportunity pass by, and finally worked up the courage to speak to him.

"Excuse me Mr _______, pardon me for disturbing you but would you mind if I just asked the secret of your great success?"

Without opening his eyes, the man replied, "Correct decisions."

The young journalist thought about this, but felt there must be more to it.

"Excuse me again, but how do you know which are the correct decisions?"

Again, the billionaire barely stirred. "Experience," he said.

The young man couldn't resist, and asked "But how do you get the experience to know which decisions are correct?"

The older man replied before turning over, "Wrong decisions."

Applying Experience To Your Hair Care Routine

Once you have enough knowledge about what hair care products are really supposed to do to and for your hair, as well as information about styling that is appropriate to your real hair texture (not the texture you wish you had), only then you can start experimenting.

Even though we talk to hundreds of women directly about their hair, our advice is based on some general rules and then adjusted slightly to take account of your lifestyle and personal style. Even then we often ask for feedback a few weeks on to see how our suggestions are working (or not).

The only way you can land on "correct decisions" that are exactly right for your hair is to experience a few "wrong decisions" along the way. That means if you truly want to learn what is best for your hair, you must expect a few bad hair days in the process.

In this way you can work out the things that do not work for your hair. Make a clear mental note of these things and do not be seduced by marketing or 300 word articles in glossy magazines promising you hair that you are not capable of growing out of your own head.

The oak tree does not wish and struggle to be a weeping willow, spending an hour every morning straightening its branches. That's just silly.

Be proud of your hair the way it is. Have fun with it. Learn which qualities of your hair are envied by other women (or admired by men!) and play those up.

If you want to learn more about how to have healthy, more manageable hair with techniques that cost almost nothing, sign up for my free series of Hair Care Advice articles. You can always unsubscribe, so what have you got to lose?

Sign up and start taking better care of your hair today!

Do Hair Bands Give You An "Ouch" Behind Your Ears?

2010-12-03T14:48:00.000Z

Stone Bridge Has Designed the Perfect Hair Bands for You

A designer we work with a fair amount is Tanya Igic, who is a jewellery designer normally and she's quite famous around the world for her work with leather.

It's this expertise in leather that made us choose her to help us develop our Lambskin Leather bandeau.

We wanted to develop this product because normally the bandeaus you find on the high street can be:

the wrong size
too tight
too slippery
don't stay where you want them on your head
generally annoying

But if you have a sensitive head and find that traditional alice bands press on that bone you have behind your ears, the bandeau seems an obvious solution.

Now, Stone Bridge does carry our very soft Super Comfy collection of Classic Tortoiseshell headbands. These are very comfortable, but it is because the material we use in these is not as rigid as injection moulded plastic (like the inexpensive headbands you find at the supermarket and other places).

This makes our Super Comfy headbands more comfortable, and they are excellent if you have fine to medium weight hair.

But if you have thick or very curly hair, the Super Comfy headbands are not going to have the hold you need. The band will just flex out under the force of your hair and be basically useless to you.

So we developed the Lambskin Leather bandeau because the leather gives the hold that you need, and with our soft leather ties, you can make this bandeau exactly the right size for your head.

It lies very flat behind your ears, so if you wear glasses, it won't bump up against them.

And best of all, no more "Ouch!"

Here's a video I made so you can see how we designed it.

Enjoy!

All Stone Bridge leather hair bands

Crocodile Leather headband
Lambskin Leather bandeau hair band
Lambskin Wrapped Half-Inch headband
Leather Scarf hair band

Browse all Stone Bridge hair bands