Styles by Claudia Blog

Archive for October, 2009

This documentary film was made by Joseph Kellner, a friend of who works in Orlando area. This documentary film is entitled “The Real Hair Truth”

Joseph interviews several well know individuals and gives a brief history of their professional careers with the goal of answering these two questions;

1) Why do these individuals succeed and what makes them climb to the top of their industry and personal lives?
2) Why do so many give up when they’re so close to achieving true success?

It also talks about the pros and cons of the beauty industry while stressing education, perseverance and ambition. This is the first trailer…enjoy!

The saying “its not what you know but who you know” is ever more true in this day and age. Those who are successful know they are not a lone island but a network of people made up of different skills all working together for a purpose. I wanted to list people and sites that have helped me get to where I am.

Sir Isaac Newton said – “If I have seen father than others it is because I have stood on the shoulders of Giants.”

Here are some links to my giants that I could not have done without:

HairFlix.com and HairFlixSociety.com - Great for Haistylists networking & information

Nanimation.com - These guys are incredible for web design and animation graphics!

MerchantCircle.com - Great local area networking

CitySearch.com - Another great site for local networking

ModelMayhem.com - Excellent for meeting photographers

Inovagent.com – These guys are in the DC area and are great for computer repairs & amp; smartphone problems

and of course FaceBook and Twitter – who could do with out these two clasics!

To see what people are saying about Claudia click Merchant Circle

Come on! Here we go again. Its better, faster, stronger, bla bla bla. We hear it all the time. Try it….its better. But what usually happens is that it turns out to be the same thing and some of the time the newer version isn’t close to the caliber of what you’re replacing.

Its good-ol-American marketing; cars, phones, TV’s and everything in the middle.
And the beauty industry is right up there with “the latest”. The latest shampoo, brushes, flat irons, etc. For those who don’t know me, I’m a realist. No matter how much I liked a company, I never drank the “cool aid.” if you know what I mean. Everything I hear I take with caution and do a little research myself.

Recently a friend gave me the Glam Palm Flat Iron to try. He said its better. Ok, I don’t know about those who are reading this but for flat irons I have some pretty high stands to use as a benchmark. From Babybliss to FHI. From $50-$400, I’ve used them all. For a while GHD and Croc were irons I really liked. Some were better for up hair and editorial work and others more for Keratin.

So here’s my two cents. Right from the start the first thing I actually felt was less resistance when the iron passes through the hair! It glides with no pull. Second was the extra long cord, 3 meters. Nice feature whither on set or working between chairs in the salon. Third is the 360 swivel cord. Love this feature. Again, no cord biding while you’re working. Forth, I travel allot. It only takes a couple time of burning out your dryer and flat iron in the UK or France before you refuse to buy any equipment without this feature.
Also great if your clients travel allot like mine do. Fifth, 30 min auto turn off. And sixth, easy to see lighted gauge to read the temperature.

Now aside from the first feature, many well made irons have these other features but they’ll run you over $100 more than the new Glam Palm! In the beginning I loved GHD but I noticed that many of the newer models were constantly being returned because of malfunctions. I personally do not have time to waist running back and worth to the post office wrapping and retuning irons! Turns out, the Glam Palm is made by the same factory that originally made the GHD but GHD decided to go with cheaper manufacturing. Same with FHI. I was always returning that one also. What’s interesting is that the mine in Korean that makes the unique stone used for the Glam Palm heating plates, liked the product so much they bought into the company.

The packaging of the Glam Palm is second to none. The case is beautiful and looks more like a black leather evening clutch than a holder for an iron.

All I can say is I’m impressed. But don’t take my word for it… I wouldn’t. I will suggest you give it a try. You may find that this time the marketing backs up instead of hypes up!

SPECIAL GIFT FROM CLAUDIA DIESTI RECEIVE $25 OFF ANY GLAM PALM IRON
(Use promo code – Claudia25)

To see what people are saying about Claudia click Merchant Circle

During the dark times of modeling, runway shows in the 70’s and 80’s were hosted in lofts and restaurants spread out across the city. These events were generally unregulated and a few downright dangerous. One event in particular was a Michael Kors show in a loft in downtown Manhattan. With loud bass music pounding, parts of the old ceiling began cracking and crumbling and plaster pieces started falling onto the audience and models as they walked down the runway! Another famous near miss was a show in the early ’90s. This time a Soho loft was packed as a generator blew. The crowd of editors and buyers used cigarette lighters for half an hour while others worked on the generators.

The general thought at that time among designers was that small events with one or just a few names were an artistic and individualistic way to display their designs. To many the idea of one large venue with several known names might hinder an artist’s creativity. On the other hand no one could deny that if large enough, the event would dramatically increase a designer’s exposure. What to do???

The lofts and restaurants were about to go the way of the dinosaur. Enter the fashion industries “white knight” Fern Mallis. This native from Brooklyn was at the near disastrous Kors ceiling show and so began to reinvent what we now know as Fashion Week.

And all the models could now sleep knowing they were a little safer…The End

To see what people are saying about Claudia click Merchant Circle

Wigs are nothing new. Our human nature and large egos have allowed us to come up with almost anything to save or pretend to have a healthy head of hair. And as today the wealthy and powerful usually lead the way when it comes to fashion, the early Romans were no different. The wealthy members of Roman society, developed by a rich lifestyle, focused much attention on their clothing and looks. In a culture where baldness was perceived as an ugly deformity, men and women made the use of wigs and hair pieces popular to hide the lack of free follicles.
For the most part hairstyles for men remained short and quite simple. Those who suffered from socially unacceptable hair loss were unwilling to have their lack of it openly exposed. Julius Caesar, the famous general and leader of Rome, frequently wore a laurel wreath to hide his baldness and others even glued hairpieces onto their scalps.
Although earlier Romans wore relatively simple styles, as the Empire grow in power and wealth hair styles followed our egotistical homosapien pattern and changed to the bold and ornate. Where as the earlier Republic styles were simplistic curls done with flat irons, now came corkscrew curls stacked high. This particular style became popular with Messalina, wife of Emperor Claudius. Messalina was Rome’s Jennifer Aniston, what she did other women copied. The women who didn’t have the locks necessary to copy those styles turned to wigs and hair pieces to achieve the in looks. Of course as fashion takes its destined evolutionary path, colors and styles that were once taboo became the rave. Blondes and reds gained a following. These human hair pieces were many times taken from salves or war prisoners from northern areas such as Gaul (modern day France) and Saxon and Ostrogoths tribes (modern day Germany)
Although early Romans associated blondes with prostitutes the color became very popular even leading the way to a trade where these hair pieces could even be used as currency.
Something really interesting was that do to the frequent and dramatic hairstyles of Roman women, sculptures sometimes created wig-like pieces. This way, women who had busts or full body sculptures could change their immortal stone styles to keep up with the latest fashions!
Hey ”When in Rome ……..

To see what people are saying about Claudia click Merchant Circle

“It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.”
Cicero

To see what people are saying about Claudia click Merchant Circle