The Return Of Short Healthy Strands

Introduction

Lucy Liu

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I caught up this morning by phone with Celebrity Hairdresser Robert Hallowell who is holding court with the hair and beauty media in New York before heading off to Europe for an extended trip.

Now that his favorite long term hair client - Geena Davis - is on what may be a permanent hiatus from Commander In Chief, Robert is playing catch up with meetings that have been put off until the end of Commander's filming season.

I asked Robert what new hair trends he was seeing at the present time.   He reported "short hair is definitely on the way back in fashion".  Robert remarked that "bobs, pixies or anything that falls into the gamine category" is becoming extremely popular in the current hair fashion landscape.

This craze for short styles has been building since Sienna Miller, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley appeared for various film roles with super short locks.  Lauren Holly went very short - for her role as the NCIS Chief in early 2006.

Robert reported that during his current weeklong stay in New York he "cut long time client Lucy Liu's hair above her shoulders into a classic bob that is very short at the nape of the neck with longer strands extending from there in a traditional Bob". Robert noted "Lucy's new bob has lots of texture and is worn around her face - which is how Lucy prefers to wear her hair".

Lucy uses Robert's fabulous hair care line - Prawduct - which was recently enhanced with lots of new goodies to make the already great hair care line even more spectacular.

Although long hair is still very much in fashion, with no signs of it losing popularity anytime soon, Robert noted that long hair fashions are more and more "tied to embracing natural textures". 

Robert pointed out that "hair consumers are no longer willing to risk damaged strands due to chemical treatments just to create bigger curls or waves".  Instead, as Robert noted, "the trend is to take natural hair textures - both with long and short styles and crank them up with hair friendly styling techniques such as finger scrunching, wet roller sets and other healthy texture creating techniques".

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Lauren Holly NCIS Appearance - CBS Pixie Short Cut - 2006

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With the huge popularity of add-on strands, half wigs and wigs Robert noted that "any consumer can instantly have a wavy hair style without risking harsh chemical treatments that may leave carefully grown strands with long term damage".

Robert also said "he is against strong chemical hair treatments of any kind".  In fact, his signature hair care line was specifically created from "all natural ingredients".  The trend, according to Robert is to eliminate as many chemicals from the hair as possible - which starts with harsh texturizing or straightening treatments of any kind.

"You can't really have it both ways - chemicals and all natural products".  Robert agreed that "consumers are much smarter about avoiding chemicals that will ultimately damage their hair simply to get waves or curls".  In fact, as he explained, the reason that the natural hair care marketplace is more popular is because both hairdressers and consumers are moving away from chemical hair treatments as much as possible and going with healthier alternatives.

Keira Knightley The Jacket Longer Gamine Short Cut - 2005

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What other hair trends did Robert comment on for the current period?  He told me that at a recent hair show in LA he was amazed at the huge popularity of hair accessories.  If he didn't see someone wearing headbands they were wearing silk hair flowers. 

Since Robert is a fan of utilizing hair accessories when he works with his many celebrity clients, it was great to hear that the hair accessory fashion cycle is still going strong.

Although there are talks that Commander In Chief may return in a slightly different format for the Fall, Robert is looking forward to "getting lots of rest" in the interim. 

After all, he said, when you do hair on a TV show, you basically work seven days a week, 18-20 hours day.  This I can vouch for.  During filming, Robert is impossible to catch up with.

Summary

The current hot hair trends include a rising popularity of short hairstyles like a deconstructed bob (very short at the nape) with long styles holding strong.  One new shift is to healthy, chemical free styles that embrace more natural products.  Hair consumers are shunning chemical hair treatments in favor of preserving healthy tresses.  Hair accessories, especially headbands, silk flowers, and jeweled clips and barrettes are still very popular and look to remain so into 2007.

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For additional hair care articles, tips and product information check out the following links:

• Hair Boutique Tips & Articles section.  Check out the over 10,000+ different hair care and styling tips at HairBoutique.com

• The New York Post Warns Against Hair Perms:  Especially The New Hair Perms The New York Post warns consumers not to be fooled by the new perms that are being touted by stylists as "softer, more gentle"  "Frizz city" the Post warns. 

• Perms & Related Chemicals Being Shunned In Favor Of Natural Texture. The Charleston Post Courier reports on the fact that maintenance of natural styles costs less than chemical perms and is less damaging.  The Post Courier reports that people are dumping perms and related chemical treatments in favor of natural texture.

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