from Elissa

The Long Hair Design course was awesome! Interior layering fringes, and slight asymmetry. Took long, heavy, lifeless hair, and changed it into sleek, airy shapes. Suitable for ladies with curl or without.

from Caitie

The Long Hair Design course I attended at Zinc Academy was intended to enhance our technical skills and provide new inspiration.

After the course, which focused on both curly and straight hair designs, I felt exposed to new concepts, trends and techniques.

Specifically, in reducing bulk in our long hair clients that need Mane Control. I also learned new creative ways of layering hair for clients with Thinner Strands.

This education for me, and the Maude Team provided a ‘Breath of Fresh Hair’ (pun intended) and further developed my skills in the profession.

Book a cut & colour or cut & highlights and receive
15% off*any Moroccan Oil Product

V. to judge others solely on their hairstyle (or lack thereof)

~ Shape Magazine March 2011

In the past few months, several government agencies have stated that Brazilian Blowout – which not long ago became popular among curly-haired folk seeking to smooth out their locks – contains unhealthy levels of formaldehyde. While Health Canada straightened things out, there are thank-fully other options in the fight against frizz. Brie McInnes, a stylist at Maude Hair Salon in kits, provides a safe ionic-straightening service to calm her client’s curls – permanently. Often referred to as “Japanese hair straightening,” the process involves applying a chemical to the hair to break the disulfide bonds that make it curly, and then setting it straight again with a flat iron.

“Once we’ve got it bone straight we apply a neutralizer to re-form the disulfide bonds, and that’s how it stays,” she says. “Basically, we’re opening the cuticle and restructuring the bonds of the hair. Think of it like a perm, except reversed.”

Of course, as your hair grows out, the roots will come in curly. To maintain your sleek look, you’ll have to have the process redone – but only on the curly portions – every six to eight months.

“There are other smoothing processes available, but none are permanent like this,” add McInnes. “You have to be fully committed to losing your curls, but it’s a great timesaver for people with inconsistent curls or if youre going to be flat-ironing your hair every day anyway. In this way, it actually promotes strong and healthy hair, since you’re not stressing it on a daily basis.”

This is a Cinderella story.

Fairy tales really do come true once a year for lucky Lower Mainland high school graduates.

That’s when the Cinderella Project lines up less fortunate graduating students and turns them into princes and princesses, set up with tuxedos and gowns and all the personal-grooming attention others take for granted.

“A lot of these girls don’t wear makeup, and for many of them this is the first time they’ve had a professional do their hair,” said Elissa Heisch on Sunday, styling Sofie Peraza’s hair to go with her stunning graduation gown. “It’s a big self-esteem boost for a lot of them.”

Four years ago Heisch, a senior stylist with Maude Salon, learned about the Cinderella Project from one of her clients, and every year since she’s brought up to half a dozen colleagues to give a bit of cover-girl glamour to girls who don’t usually get that sort of attention.

“It takes an army to get the girls in the magazines to look the way they do,” said Heisch, helping Peraza in a total instant makeover.

“It’s great to get pampered for a day.”

Peraza was beaming after her pauper-to-princess transformation.

“I came here in my jeans and hoodie, and now I have a dress, jewelry, shoes — it’s amazing,” said Peraza, a bubbly 18-year-old Grade 12 student at Vancouver’s Pinnacle Secondary.

Josh Paquette of Burnaby’s Moscrop Secondary was also pleased as punch, especially when he learned that all the grads get to keep their fancy duds.

“It prepares you for grad, but you can keep it forever,” said Paquette, 17. “I’ll use it for lots of things, for interviews, whatever.”

Founded in Vancouver in 1999, the Cinderella Project lines up ‘Cinderellas and Cinderfellas’ with a fairy godmother or fairy godfather to customize their graduation-day look from a wide assortment of clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, and hair stylings, then to a photographer for an instant grad photo.

Students come with references from teachers, counsellors, principals or social agencies, with the goal to have a diverse group facing some form of hardship, whether it’s financial, medical or developmental.

Over the years the Cinderella Project has helped out about 1,800 students, making sure the boys and girls truly have a ball.

For more information, email info@thecinderellaproject.com

0% Formaldehyde Release before, during or after treatment. Starting from $350*. Clients must book a complimentary consultation before appointment.

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*Book your Brazilian Blowout and receive a FREE BB Product of your choice.

Offer valid til March 31, 2011.