Tag Archives: st. louis

Fall Must Haves all under $50

October 28, 2017

The challenge of shopping on a budget is so much fun! My friends at Here Today equipped me with a $50 gift card to shop for Fall. Here Today stores have everything from clothing and home goods to beer, wine, and a frozen food section. One stop shopping is my weakness especially when there are insanely good sales! Check out this impressive list of Fall goodies all for under $50!

O F F I C E S U P P L I E S

Brown leather padfolio 3.99 compared to 9.99

2 Medium candles 1.99 each compared to 7.99 each

M A N T L E D E C O R

Frame 1.49 compared to 9.99

Pumpkin 1.99 compared to 3.99

F A L L F A S H I O N

Sweater T-Strap dress 1.49 compared to 36.00

Curved bar gold earrings 1.49 compared to 9.99

five pack crew socks 4.99 compared to 9.99

P E T S U P P L I E S

Olive loves her cozy Fall blanket! It’s the perfect size for covering her crate for nap time.

Blanket .49 compared to 19.99!!

D I N I N G D E C O R

There’s nothing quite like the glow of candles to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Dining table Statement piece 3.99 compared to 33.99!!

K I T C H E N S U P P L I E S

This bakeware is perfect, unlike my attempt at Zucchini bread. Let’s just say I need a bit more practice in the baking department. haha!

Baking pan 4.99 Baking knife .99 Tea Towel 2.99

O U T D O O R D E C O R

Mums for my mum!

three 8in Mums in purple, orange, and yellow 3.99 each

Needless to say, I saved big time on this shopping adventure! I can’t wait to go back for my holiday shopping! Thank you so so much Here Today!

What is Dimensional Haircolor?

July 12, 2016

Ever feel confused when booking a service at the salon? These days there are so many different names for the same techniques. Babylights, balayage, highlights, lowlights, color melting, all over color, and the list can go on and on.

Let’s simplify this for you. You have two choices when it comes to color. You either want dimension or you don’t. All over color is one solid color all over the head and Dimensional color means just that, adding dimension throughout the entire look. I highly recommend booking a consultation before booking a color appointment, especially if it’s your first time with the colorist. Most colorists offer complimentary consultations. This allows them time to look through your hair and see if there needs to be any corrections made before creating the color of your dreams. I feel safe saying about 80% of new clients who come in for color and show me their “balayage pinterest board”, need a corrective service before their color dream is even possible. Haircolor is complicated people! You can’t just slap something on and expect it to not only look exactly how you envisioned, but also magically styled in long flowing waves when in reality your hair is shoulder length and you can wrap a hair band around your ponytail 20 times.So please. I beg you. Book a complimentary consultation 🙂 Your colorist will help you find the most flattering placement for you and your hair type.

Now let’s talk about the different levels of dimension. It basically ranges from subtle/ low contrast to bold/ high contrast. Leave the actual technique up to your stylist to achieve the look your going for. Just because you think you want balayage doesn’t mean that’s actually what it takes to get there.

Here are a few pictures of my clients to help you understand the difference..

Low/ Subtle Dimension this was a mixture of balayage, base color, and foiling with a glaze aka toner

Low/ subtle dimension this was a balayage application on virgin hair (hair that hasn’t been colored before)

High Contrast Dimension this was highlights and lowlights in foils followed by a glaze/toner

High Contrast Dimension this color took two sessions to achieve. 1st session was an all over balayage with glaze aka toner. 2nd session was a mixture of foils and balayage application over the same pieces we did previously followed by a glaze/toner.

Do you feel like you have a better understanding now? Leave your questions in the comments below! I would be more than happy to answer any questions for you 🙂 If you are in the St. Louis area and want to book with me visit my website http://www.KristenLinares.com

Growing is Learning to juggle.

February 23, 2016

The past year has been quite a blur for me. I hired my first ever beauty assistant, bought a house, adopted a dog, started dating a great guy, took on a new role as a social media manager with Product Club in addition to teaching nationally, did some TV appearances as a Beauty Expert, all while running both my hair & makeup business and managing Thirteenth and Washington! Phew! I’m exhausted just typing all that!

With all that change there comes a learning curve. I call it “learning how to juggle”. I have had moments where I just wanted to quit everything but also moments of pure gratitude. For me doing hair behind the chair is just a very small piece to my big dream puzzle. I see so many people in all industries not just hair, literally going to “work” and then going “home”. That is honestly a nightmare.

I truly believe in order to live the life you want and have the experiences you want to have you must learn to juggle to keep it interesting. Do a lot of different things that challenge you and put you out of your comfort zone. It’s the only way to grow at a steady pace. Those folks going to work and going home have many plateaus and unfortunately for some their plateau is their whole life.

It’s important to take continuing education no matter what industry you are in. Davines has become one of my favorite brands to work with. They offer amazing classes that inspire as well as contest to push you to be your creative self. This past Fall I entered their Beauty Harvest contest because it looked fun! The idea was to create a look that incorporated the colors of Fall. So this was what I came up with…

“Pumpkin Spice meets the Pink Lady Apple”

ONE: This was SO much fun to do. It forced me to think of color in a different way. It made me better.

TWO: I freaking won 2nd place in a national contest! I literally did not expect to win anything! I was just excited to play around with some color and try something new. My grandpa always says, “You can’t win if you don’t play!” Those are words to live by.

If this past year taught me anything, it would be to keep on learning as much as my brain can handle! Which is a lot since my brain is huge. 😉

Golden Globes 2016 Beauty Forecast

January 10, 2016

This is one of my favorite red carpet events, due to the fact that it is super classy. This year a few looks were very obvious in terms of beauty, hair color, and color palettes for wardrobe.

LOOK ONE: Babylights

As you can see JLo seems to have frozen herself in time protecting herself from any form of the aging process. Her hair color is flawless. It simply shimmers and compliments her skin tone perfectly. Babylights, are very fine highlights that can be accompanied by balayage creating an extremely believable result. In terms of hair color tonality in 2016, it is safe to say you will see many women staying close to their natural hair color yet enhancing it with the babylights method for soft dimension.

LOOK TWO: Bold Color with a touch of shimmer

Much like we’ve seen with hair, clothing in 2016 will have structure yet softness, compliment the undertones of our skin color, and have a bit of sparkle.

melissa-mccarthy_2_417583385d6d6a1d302478441af07bff.today-inline-large.jpg rs_634x1024-160110162928-634.Jenna-Dewan-Tatum-Golden-Globe-Awards.jpg

LOOK THREE: Tone on Tone

Everything from the makeup, hair, and wardrobe has a taste of the overall color choice. For example, Amy Adams’ beautiful Rose Gold hair shares the overall tone of her look. Her nude lip has just the right amount of peach that draws from her hair and dress to complete this tone on tone look.

LOOK FOUR: Textured Hairstyles

The great thing about this ponytail is the fact that from the front her look is very sleek and sophisticated, but when she turns around there’s this awesome textured braid that’s perfectly imperfect. Ha! Just saying that reminds me of a mullet, business in the front-party in the back. Unlike the mullet, hairstyles like this will have your friends talking about you in a positive way.

rooney-mara-rocks-fierce-braid-at-golden-globes-2016-01.jpg

LOOK FIVE: Glowing

Everything from head to toe on Cate is just beautiful. Her hair is super shiny and healthy, her skin is perfect, and her dress brings out the beautiful soft pinks in her skin. In 2016, “Glowing” will be a look that we can all achieve by combining the four previous looks we’ve discussed. This year drink plenty of water, exercise, take care of your hair and skin by keeping beauty appointments, and most importantly be happy!

Good Enough, is Just Fine.

September 15, 2015

So many women sit in my chair in awe of my ability to style their hair. They say things like, “Can I take you home” or “Now if only I could do this myself!”. My response is always the same. You can absolutely recreate this blow dry if you simply have the time, products, and patience.

Here’s the problem for most women. They just don’t. They don’t have the time because life is crazy. They don’t have the products because although their stylist will recommend exactly what they need, they buy a cheap knock off that is garbage elsewhere. Last but not least, patience. Ha! Who has that?

Just stop. Stop criticizing yourself. Stop telling yourself you can’t take time or have patience for the most important person. You.

This is the big secret. Are you ready? Good enough is just Fine. The least you can do is try. Try to recreate what you’ve learned from your stylist. Maybe not everyday but perhaps try once a week. Most people learn overtime. I know I didn’t learn how to do hair in one day, that’s for sure.

Also, these days disheveled bed-head or maybe I just had sex hair is what people are after. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I promise no one judges you more than you do. So do yourself a favor and just try your best and after a few weeks you might find yourself bouncing around with a “good” blowout that you did all by yourself!