Feather Fever.

Feather Hair Extensions are at the heart of some of this season's most popular fashion.

FEATHERY FACTS

• High quality natural feathers in a range of colours and lengths
• Can last from one to four months depending on care
• Leave-in, sleep-in and very comfortable
• Can be washed, brushed, blow-dried, straightened and curled on a low heat
• All you need is a loop or threader and pliers to tighten the bead and attach the natural feathers to the hair
• Are quick and easy to apply

Feather Hair Extensions are the latesthair fashion accessory and a dream come true.
its all the rage in the US, where celebrities like Jenifer Love Hewitt, Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, Bella Thorne and Cassie Scerbo have been seen sporting the feather look, the trend has really taken flight and offer salons an attractive an additional revenue stream.

Distributed in the UK by The ICON consultancy, awesome feathers come in a variety of lengths and colours from subtle natural-looking shades of caramel, brown, orange and beige to vibrant shades of pink, purple and green.

Academy Collection Clippers.

These are our new clippers we have in the Salon and we're dying to try them out!

Professional? The Wahl Academy Chromstyle cordless hair clippers are very similar to the the top of the range cordless clippers (the Wahl Bellissima). Ergonomically designed, the Academy Collection Chromstyle cordless clipper fits very comfortably in the hand. There is a minimum of vibration and the clippers are very quiet.

Specifications

• Professional cordless hair clippers
• 90 minutes clipper time on full charge
• Wahl Magic blade set
• 6 attachment combs (3mm, 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 18mm and 25mm)
• Wahl Clipper oil
• Cleaning brush

Anything Else?
The Wahl Academy Collection Chromstyle Cordless Clipper has the Wahl Magic Blade set, which is among their most hard wearing of blades. As a cordless clipper the Academy Collection Chromstyle cordless clipper comes with its own charging bay. A full charge will give around 90 minutes of cutting time and there is a LCD scale battery display indicator, so you know how much power you have left. Charging time is 2 hours.

Accessories include 6 comb attachments (3mm, 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 18mm and 25mm), clipper oil and a cleaning brush. The Wahl Academy Collection cordless clipper comes with the Standard Blade Set - which is excellent for most hair cutting jobs. For texturisng and razor cut styling jobs there are particular specialist blades. All blades for the Academy Collection are easily changed by snapping them on and off. Hold the clipper with the blade side away from you and press firmly and evenly on the part of the blade you can see. The blade will snap off its mounting. The blade sets and attachment combs for the Wahl Academy Collection Chromstyle Cordless Clipper can also be used with the Wahl Bellissima and Moser Genio Plus cordless clippers

Young Hairdresser Of The Year 2011.

The Clothes Show Live Young Hairdresser of the Year 2011 competition, presented by Hairdressers Journal Interactive and supported by Your Hair magazine has launched.

The Clothes Show Live Young Hairdresser of the Year is a nationwide competition that aims to recognise up-and-coming British hairdressing talent.

The competition is open to hairdressers who are qualified to NVQ Level 2 or equivalent, who are under the ago of 30, and who have a minimum of three but a maximum of five years' experience.

As well as being named the brightest young hairdressing talent in the UK, the winner will also receive a trophy, £1000 in cash and a front cover shoot for Hairdressers Journal and Your Hair magazines.

 

Judging of the photographic entries will take place in November by an esteemed panel of hairdressers and industry experts.

The 20 finalists will then be invited to compete in live final on stage at Clothes Show Live, NEC, Birmingham on Sunday 4 December where a winner will be chosen

Love, Peace & Planet - ECO Friendly!

The mission at Love, Peace & The Planet is to allow you to make another small change that makes a big difference, not only in how you look but in how you live. TIGI has built a reputation for high-quality, professional products and with the addition of Love, Peace & The Planet they have set the bar even higher. Each formulation utilizes natural and organic ingredients combined with a minimal amount of synthetics to produce a product that maintains high performance expectations. They pledge to continue this momentum by refining their formulations and packaging through research and testing as they move forward. Any change is a good change; this is only the beginning of their sustainable, eco-conscious journey. We recycle glass, plastic, paper, card and foil. At present all our business cards are printed on recycled paper. We are working on using recycled paper for all other stationary; in the meantime we are donating to The Tree Foundation, a charity committed to replanting trees all over the world.

Winter Hair.

Winter weather has arrived so wrap up warm and look after your hair this season, this is a lovely hair product!

We all need a quick pick me up at times and so does our hair. That’s why Goldwell have produced this wondrous and ultra fast working product for dry, damaged hair. Dualsenses Rich Repair 60 Second Treatment is like chocolate for your hair!

Goldwell Dualsenses Rich Repair 60 Second Treatment contains a specially developed Repair System with pashmina silk proteins that acts quickly and effectively on your hair to leave it silky soft and smooth with an enviable healthy glow. Experience ultra fast and effective results on your hair with this amazing, quick-working treatment for your hair.

Colour Zoom Challenge 2011.

The Goldwell Colour Zoom Challenge is designed to find the most creative colourists and trend specialists worldwide. The challenge set is the creative interpretation of Play Strong. All the national winners took place in the international finale in South Beach, Florida. International category winners will work with the Colour Zoom Master Team to develop and create the Colour Zoom 13 Collection.

There are THREE CATEGORIES.
A national winner will be chosen for each of the
following using Topchic, Colourance and/or Elumen:
CREATIVE COLOURIST
Open to all GOLDWELL stylists who have more than five years professional experience.
NEW TALENT COLOURIST
Open to all GOLDWELL junior stylists who have less than five years total professional industry experience.
PARTNER COLOURIST
Open to all stylists who already have worked for GOLDWELL as a freelancer, trainer or guest artist.

Each year, the GOLDWELL Colour Zoom Challenge
seeks out the most creative colourists and cutting
edge trend specialists in the world. They show you their
colour competence and ability to interpret the
Play Strong world and then they are on their
way to South Beach, Florida to represent your
country in the live, hands-on competition with the
best in the stylist community and the opportunity
to join GOLDWELL’S Colour Zoom Master Team
in developing the 2013 Collection.

Salon International - Sunday 16th.

Today the Retreat Team were really happy to be attending Salon International 2011. With nearly 200 exhibitors taking their place at Salon International this year, there was plenty to see.
We made the two hour trip to The Excel Exhibition Centre, at the historic London Docklands. When we arrived the hall was full to bursting with hundreds of hair professional, not only from the UK but Italy, France, Spain, Iceland and even The USA.
It was great to be amongst the first to see the latest industry innovations and exclusive product launches being unveiled at the show.
This year we were all excited about the much anticipated return of the HJ stage!  We were greeted firstly with the BaByliss Pro Stage. Chris Appleton led the show with some great hair up work, showing some great techniques that Emma can’t wait to use on her next photoshoot.
The Fellowship for British Hairdressing stage showcased some amazing hairstyles delivered by some of the most creative, influential and esteemed names in the business.
The Team spent a lot of time watching the Wahl Stage, I’m sure it was all creative research and nothing to do with the very dishy male models!
Emma spent a long time in the British Hairdressing Awards Gallery, where you were able to see work from the finalists of the 2011 British Hairdressing Awards; it was sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional. Such an inspirational collection, it has given us inspiration to bring forward to our work on a daily basis.
We also enjoyed The New Exhibitor’s Zone. This is the opportunity to see the freshest products and services available from first time exhibitors. We tried out some of the most creative innovations and product ranges around. 
We stocked up on our favourite brushes and combs at Denman International. They are the UK’s foremost supplier of professional hairdressing equipment. We also loved the demonstrations by Mark Woolley.
Free business and training advice, e-learning demonstrations, books, training manuals, DVDs, health and safety were being provided by Habia, as they were celebrating 25 years of raising standards.
There was so much on offer this year. It was great to soak up the amazing atmosphere and mix with the many thousands of like-minded hairdressing professionals.
Emma got stopped every two minutes to have her photo taken by enthusiastic stylists! 
Despite all being tired from an action packed day we managed to squeeze in a yummy offering from the chocolate fountains on our way out of the centre!

Salon International.

Sunday 16th October was the day we had been waiting for, SALON INTERNATIONAL!

Emma & The Team had a fantastic day and was so fasinated by all the different hair shows they had put on throughout the day.

It was very inspiring and we all can't wait to make our hair more exciting like the ones we saw at Salon International.

They had lots of cool hair gadets which we hadn't seen before which were also amazing.

Emma purchased a lot of products for her photoshoots which she's looking forward to doing.
All the girls spent waaay to much money :)

We shall be doing more blogs about the shows from Salon International so keep reading! :)

Facebook.

As some of you may know who are friends with us on Facebook, we are closing 'Retreat Bexhill' down and just keeping our fan page 'The Retreat, Hair and Beauty'.

We are doing this at the end of October but of course we don't want to lose any of our fans and would love it if you could 'Like' our fan page to stay in touch and find out all the info and gossip!

If you would still like to book through Facebook that's not a problem. All you would have to do is write on our wall :)

So fans, get 'LIKING' to receive all The Retreat gossip!

All about Libby!

Libby has had a dramatic change in her life...

She's gone COPPER!

Libby was blonde but she's been brave and absolutely loves the change and so do we!

Have a look and see what you think yourself, give us your opinions on what you think of the hair colour.

BEFORE... 

AFTER...

Suits her so much! :)

Libby has also done a gents cut this week which went very well for her.

She took off about 2 inches of his hair. She first clippered it then textured the top for him.

Libby is really enjoying the fact she is getting more hands on in the salon and can't wait to qualify as a Junior Stylist. Her apprentice is going fantastic for her!

Salon International - 9 days!

So it's only 9 days till Salon International 2011 starts.
We are very excited about it and we want to tell you all what it's about.

Salon International will be returning to ExCeL London this October for what promises to be it’s biggest and most exciting show ever. For three action packed days, it will host a non-stop programme of amazing live events showcasing the new season’s styles, cutting techniques and colouring trends. Make a date to experience the glamour and drama, inspiration and education that make Salon International the greatest event in world hairdressing.

Salon International '11 will present demonstrations from some of the biggest names in hairdressing, provide extensive resources for information about the industry and definitely leave everyone's jaws on the floor with the creativity and glamour that so far has proved to be a distinguishing feature of the Salon International London.

We have also had a very busy day within our beauty department so don't forget guys we're open Monday - Saturday!

Autumn/Winter Colour Collection.

Be ready this winter with the new 3D Natural Colour Effects hair colour.

Natural colours are a big seasonal trend in Autumn/ Winter 2011: By using simple principles in colour combination, application and placement you can create natural colour results that “pop out” and naturally come alive, from subtle enhancement to transformational natural looks. Different colours are exposed depending on the light reflection and perspective so you cannot tell where one colour starts and where it ends for incredibly natural looks!

A NEW 3D TECHNIQUE FOR COLOUR TOUCH
A free-hand brick technique for a soft graduation of shades on different levels.

INSPIRING FOR YOU, WEARABLE FOR YOU
The looks- inspired by TREND VISION 2011 trends Glamazon and Polaris- demontrate premium-looking 3D Colour Effects on a range of rich natural, pure natural and deep brown shades styled to perfection with the Wella Professionals Styling range.

TIP OF THE DAY - Hats = less frizz in the winter!

WorldSkills Wonder.

WorldSkills London 2011, the largest international skills competition to date, will be at ExCel London, on the 5-8 October. It's 20 years since the UK last hosted the event and an estimated 150,000 visitors will witness 1,00 people from more than 50 countries competing in 46 skill areas, from hairdressing to cabinet-making, catering to plumbing, over four demanding days of action and assessment.
Adele Simpkin knows all about the privilege and pressure of representing the UK hair industry from her experience of taking part in WorldSkills Helsinki 2005.
As a third-year trainee at Central Sussex College, Crawley, with an impressive track record of competition success, she was among a handful head-hunted by Robert Rousseau of WorldSkills Team UK to battle it out for selection.

Finishing an credible 8^th place, Adele received the WorldSkills Medal of Excellence.

Adele is one of the young hairdressers featured in the L'Oreal Professional Products Dream Career film and brochure that will raise awareness about a career in hairdressing at this year's WorldSkills event.

TIP OF THE DAY - When you're starting out, success at competition level can fast-track your career and provide opportunities that you might otherwise miss out on.

KeraStraight.

KeraStraight KS Complex is a 100% Formaldehyde and Aldehyde free keratin smoothing treatment which has been independently certified by Intertek. Transparency is paramount to KeraStraight Ltd and full date sheets are available online and on request. The well-being of our salons, their teams and their clients is central to our philosophy.
Following the recent media exposure reguarding Brazilian keratin treatments, KeraStraight is determined to ensure all its partner salons, and the industry as a whole, is kept informed and assured of the company's stance on this matter.

Holly had her first attempt at KeraStraight.
She loved how good the treatment worked as she tried out a product called La Brazilana which she was very disappointed in.
So when she completed her KeraStraight today she was highly impressed with the quality of the product and how it does what it tells you on the packet.

Blonde Are Back In Fashion!

Here's a cool example of what you could do with blonde hair...

The blue will fade fast, but is easy to touch up in its location. We love this look!

If you feel like going blonde but don't want that yellow look you can always use some purple shampoo & conditioner which can help take that away. The opposite of yellow is purple/violet and using a purple shampoo/conditioner will effectively neutralise all the yellow 'tones' in the hair. It DOES work honest. In fact there are a number of products specifically designed for this problem and what they do is deposit a tiny bit of 'purple-hued' pigment in the hair to calm the yellow tones down. It also works for natural blondes in need af a bit of a boost, as well as highlights.

So if you fancy going blonde this year, maybe spice it up a bit!