Hair Benders Internationale owner Bobby Fairbanks puts the finishing touches on a holiday hair style for Keya Trent.One of the year's biggest party nights is New Year's Eve, and many women will be visiting salons in coming days to get the perfect "do" for a big night.
"The styles are going back to glamour," said hairstylist Voula Fairbanks, who co-owns Hair Benders Internationale, a salon/spa on Gunbarrel Road in East Brainerd, with husband Bobby Fairbanks. "The new styles have more movement and curl."
For a formal look, long hair can be pulled up from the sides and loosely secured with bobby pins or an accessory, Fairbanks said.
"Keep it simple," stylist Jara Johnson said. "You don't want your hair to look like you're going to a 1980s wedding. ... If your hair is long you can wear it up, just keep it loose."
Johnson said a glamorous look is to pull hair up and then pin just one side.
"You can add a hint of bling or the accent of a braid," she said.
"We're doing a lot of styles that are half up and half down with the hair being soft, loose curls that are a little messy. It's a very feminine look," said Hair Benders artistic director Mark Copeland. The look can be achieved with straight or curly hair, he said.
Short hair can be styled with a "swept out" look on one side and subtle full curls on the top, Fairbanks said. "You want short hair to appear full to get the glamorous look."
While a flat iron can help achieve this look for short hair, the new and improved curling irons are a must-have for sculpting today's glamorous styles, Copeland said.
"Many styles are possible with these instruments," Copeland said, explaining that curling irons have been improved allowing more versatility for all hair types.
"You can make beautiful bouncy curls with a double-barrel iron or a wavy look with a triple-barrel curling iron," he said.
Mastering a curling iron, though, may take professional instruction followed by lots of practice, Fairbanks said.
"Once you learn how to do it, then you'll be able to style your hair at home," she said.
Other new styling tools popular with professionals are a cone-shaped iron that gives a loose effect at the top of the hair, and a clampless curling iron, Copeland said.
"With the clampless iron, you wear a glove and wrap a strand of hair around the hot barrel," he said. "This allows you to completely control the curl with the results being a very natural look."
Ladies with natural curl should use a diffuser to achieve a rich, frizz-free full curl, Copeland said.
"Diffusers are great," he said, noting that one particular diffuser, the DevaFuser, has a hand-like feature that dries, curls, gives body and minimizes frizz to naturally curly hair.
Instead of using your hand to crunch the curls while drying, the "hand" on the DevaFuser does it for you," Copeland said. "The key is the less you do with your hands, the less frizzy the hair will be," he said.