First up is Hairdresser on Fire (love the name!). This blog follows the life and adventures of a fun and stylish hair dresser. There are great hair tutorial videos and a lot of humour and wit. There’s also a great retro edge to her styling and some excellent DIY projects for hair accessories.

Next up is Bangstyle. This site delivers a cheekier side to the hair industry while keeping tabs on what’s cool and upcoming in fashion and pop culture.  They also have a fantastic ‘Hairstyles from Around the World’ section where you can upload your own stylish coif or browse through their extensive collection of photos.

I’ll finish things off with Hairbrained. This site is much more industry based with an emphasis on tutorials and education. They have a great selection of ‘Behind the Scenes’ and ‘How To’ videos as well as product releases and industry secrets!  Hairbrained helps you keep up with the latest on hair shows, industry favourites, and salon business survival tips.

Check out one of my previous posts for more rocking cool hair blogs to help keep you inspired and in the loop!

There are a lot of great sites out there for the hair and beauty industry, I’d love to know what your favourites are.

The Chromatics latest release “Kill For Love” is the perfect anecdote to pump up the energy in your salon!

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, this band’s moody synth pop sound personifies the West Coast. Great vocals, punchy beats and they even throw in an amazing Neil Young cover.

Check out their latest video below:

I was really impressed when I came across the branding and design of You Stockholm. This wonderful hair salon in Stockholm, which happens to be the brainchild of famous stylist Steve Terry, has done a fantastic job of creating a fun modern identity through their branding.

Their brand platform and interiors were created by Koncept Stockholm and the design studio of 25AH.

Photos: 25AH Design

Yeah the bus is full! You have lots of clients in your chairs, your stylists are predominantly booked 80+% of their time, yet that bottom line is still not healthy, the average ticket price needs to grow and you have no more stations to add service providers. What do you do? Where do you go when there is not enough time to upsell services?

Some may think this is a great problem to have but it can be a dilemma as you look at those Profit and Loss statements and the growth is just not there.

There are really only 2 ways to grow in this situation. Either you upsell specific items, or you increase your prices.

“But”, I hear you say, “we are fully booked with back to back clients, there is no time for extra services.” Okay, I heard that, however now is the time to get creative and figure out services that can be done at the same time as the appointment with little product outlay or time needed. Get your team together and start a list of all those little things that can add up to big dollars.

• How about an eyebrow tint, done at the same time that the color is processing. Mix a demi permanent formula using the same formulation as the original tint. It will take a tiny amount of product, about 1 minute to apply with either a Q tip or angle eyeshadow brush and “Voila”  a $10 add on.
• A color glaze between those foils – it will all be done at the same time and give that great bright new look that your client saw in the picture.
• Face framing with a few foils around the front hairline – once again, takes about 5 mintes, maybe 1/2 oz of lightener with a low volume developer, but can add $25 to the bill.
• Again, treatments to the ends of the hair while a color is processing,  add $15  -  $20 to the bill.
• A 10 minute glossing treatment, once again, between foils.
• If you have someone to do eyebrow shaping, (or get fancy and call it sculpting) that’s a great add on. Little product, little time, $15  -  $20 on the bill.
• Ear and Nose piercing, fabulous money maker for the salon, also brings in lots of new clients if you are using the right system, (e-mail marion@busybus.net and I’ll tell you which one to use.)

Are you getting the picture.

So, the second way to increase the bottom line, of course, is to raise prices. Hopefully you have my pricing project – if not, go to the www.salonbizessentials.com website and pick it up, that will give you a starting point, so you can go up from there. Think about your market – where is your price point right now? As beauty professionals, we are masters at underpricing ourselves. We get so afraid that all of our clients will leave us if we increase our prices, when the fact is that is you raise your prices by 10% you will lose a few clients, however statistics tell us that you will still be at an 8% increase if you do not increase your client base. Also, if  clients leave, then that gives you time to upsell more services with that extra time.

Another way to increase that bottom line is to grow your retail. This is your most profitable department in the salon and needs to be constantly promoted, tweaked and updated. Are your stylists recommending product to every client? Do they know how to close a sale, and if they are not comfortable with it, can your front desk person close it for them. There are always those who can talk about product, but just can’t ask. Make sure you have a system that they can communicate the information and product that has been discussed with the client, so that they can be asked to purchase before they leave. A prescription pad system works well for this.

There are always ways to grow. Think of all the services you could be doing, all those little niche products, simple add ons. It’s just a case of focusing on what you have or could offer and get your team on board to increase their average service ticket. Being stuck is not fun. Being profitable is!

Have a great week.

P.S. check out the “SHOW ME THE MONEY” program in South Surrey, British Columbia. Monday, May 14th. Everything your stylists need to know to be more profitable and productive behind the chair. Register now by e-mailing marion@busybus.net.

 Marion Shaw is a salon business coach and consultant with  Salon Biz Essentials and owner of Busy Bus Publications. Also check her out on Facebook and you can read more of her blogs at www.mariongshaw.com

Check out some of my favourite below!

Floraswirl Hair Clip

Sweet Merriment headband

Twinkled Scallops Headband

Printed Fabric Bobbies

Vinaya Headband

Photos: Antropologie

I know I’m a little late to the Downton Abbey party, but I finally bit the bullet and started watching Season 1 last week and have become immediately hooked.  I can’t believe it took me so long!

Aside from the riveting story lines of intrigue, romance, and betrayal, it’s the hair styles that I’m most obsessed with. The extravagant finger waves, pin curls, and hair jewels are breathtaking.

Not to knock the elaborate hats that were worn in that era, but I’m always blown away when the fancy hats come off and the beautiful hair styles take centre stage.

Between the hair and the fashion, the visual eye candy on this show is remarkable and the rich and lush layering of style is enchanting. I’m starting Season 2 this weekend and I can’t wait!

For some added fun, check out this neat post from PaperMag which shows the actors in both their Downton Abbey looks as well as their modern day style. Some of the transformations are amazing!

What happened:

Our primary Web host experienced a hardware failure on the equipment that hosts salonMonster. They were unable to move us off that hardware onto functioning equipment when this failure occurred.

What we did to rectify it:

We were very concerned about this downtime and after a discussion with our primary Web host we decided to move salonMonster over to our backup Web host. salonMonster is configured so that there is always a redundant host with backups of all the salonMonster data and application. We were able to move our systems over to our backup system in under 30 minutes and then proceeded to change the settings to point everyone to the backup system.

What we were unhappy with:

When we changed the settings to point everyone to our backup system it took between 5 minutes and 24 hours for everyone’s different internet service providers to update their systems and switch things over. Each internet service provider deals with this differently. We found the time it took for this change over to happen unacceptable. This variance between how internet service providers handle the changeover also meant that when we then switched back to our main host some people switched back quickly while others took a whole day. Because of this we had to synchronize your data back to our main host from the backup system throughout the day to ensure that things were up-to-date.
What we are going to do to improve things in case this ever happens again:

We want to make sure that if this ever happens again we can switch everyone over to the backup system much faster. To make this happen we are adding a new setting to our system that will manage which Web host to send people to. This will eliminate the problem we experienced with some internet service providers taking up to 24 hours to switch things over. In the future we should be able to switch everyone to our backup within 5 to 10 minutes. We also want to avoid any problems with re-synchronizing bookings made on our backup system with the main system when we switch things back. To resolve this we are going to make the backup version a “read only” version of the application. In the case of downtime you will still be able to access and view all your bookings but not add any new bookings to the system.
We want to thank you for your patience throughout this process and offer our humblest apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

The salonMonster Team

Japanese architects seem to take great delight in creating wonderful, innovating hair salons!

Lodge Salon is located in Hiroshima Japan and was designed by Suppose Design Office architects.

The main focus of the salon is the band of mirrored glass which envelops the cutting area. It’s mounted at the clients’ head height and is frosted everywhere except in front of each stylists chair.

Bare wooden furniture and concrete floors finish off this minimal but stylish salon.

Photos: Suppose Design Office

I’ve been on a bit of an accessory kick lately, there’s just too much great stuff out there!  My newest obsession is ban.do.

Ban.do was created in 2008 by two friends living in Los Angeles. What started as a venture into creating handmade vintage headbands has turned into a full blown online accessory business.

These hair treats are fun and flirty. Here are some of my favourites:

Ahoy Head Wrap made from golden sailing rope finished with elastic.

Perfect Bow Bobbi made of faux leather atop a bobby pin.

Glitter Bobbi Set

Mini Pom Pom Flower made out of silk satin with a dual hair clip/brooch back.

Sunburst Bobbi Set with coloured crystals on a gold plated bobby pin.

Photos: ban.do

Created by Chris Thornley and entitled “Beard”, this compilation of awesome famous beards has it all.

Can you name all the bearded beauties?

My favourite is Bill Murrays!

Poster Image: Chris Thornley

Troove Beauty Salon, located in Gifu Japan, has a gorgeous minimilist style that evokes a calmness which I love.

Designed by architect Hiroyuki Miyake,  this space has Japanese oak floors, a stunning concrete reception desk, and extremely comfortable looking simple chairs.

The real showpiece of the salon is their large 2mm thick steel screen which encompasses the shampoo area.

Inspired by the traditional Japanese folding screens, this metal structure has a small gap in the middle to enter and exit through and the bottom portion has been painted to create a more reflective surface.

This definitely looks like a salon I’d love to visit!

Photos: Hiroyuki Miyake

I am an avid crafter and love supporting hand made goods as well as independent businesses, so today I thought I’d share with you some of the fabulous hair pins found on Etsy!

First up and hailing from Australia is kookinuts Sleepy Bird wooden bobby pins which are priced around $15.00.

Next is a cute vintage book flower rosette hair pin from The Sunny B. These are made in California and cost $5.00 each.

These fun princess rose pink paper flower pins from JewelryByJLy come in a set up 5 and cost $25.00.

If you’re looking for the perfect bridal pins check out these vintage style pearl hair pins from Treasured Adornment. Based in LA, these beauties come in a set of 2 for $10.00.

To add some springtime to your coif, these blue flower pins would work great!  Made by Kriya Design out of Missouri, these come in a set of 4 and sell for $22.00.

So don’t forget about Etsy when you’re looking for unique affordable hair accessories. You’ll be wearing gorgeous hand made pieces and supporting independent artisans at the same time. What’s not to love!

We were able to catch up with the event’s organizer, Jim Dreichel, to ask him a few questions about the project.

So, what is Hairy Jam?

Hairy Jam is a non profit, nonpartisian social for hairdressers and their friends.

What format does the Hairy Jam event take?

The format is simple, an “open mic” concept if you will. Presenters sign up the day of, do a 20 min power set. It can be talk, Q &A, show/practice skills or just come hang.

How many presenters will there be at the event?  Are there any presenters that you are particularly excited about?

There is a lot of talk about who is coming…

Katie Johnstone
Tara Main
Anthony Crosfield
and many more …

The line up is not set until the day of.

If someone is interested in presenting how do they go about it?

Bring a model, products and your show kit. The idea is to allow a safe practice, for presentations of ???  All to do with hair.  No limitations. Could be a business info presentation, or other info.
or if ya want to rant?

Is Hair Jam a one off or can we look forward to future events?

The plan is to have a monthly set date.
What is your beverage of choice for Hair Jam?

Ceasers
When and where is Hair Jam happening?

The first Hairy Jam is April 15 noon til 6 at the Anza #8 west 8th Ave

Entrance is by donation, suggested $5, not mandatory!
Monies directed to operational costs, (paying for staffing)
any additional monies collected will be donated to Friends for Life

A big thanks to Jim for chatting with us about this exciting event.  We wish them every success with the project.

Make sure you check out the event’s Facebook group for more details.

Founded in 2005 in the UK, butter London creates nail polish products which contain no formaldehyde, no toluene (which smells like paint thinner and works as a solvent), and no DBP (toxic plasticizer).  These are the “Big 3″ toxic ingredients found in most nail lacquers.

Butter London were also the first company to sell non toxic nail polish in the United States.

If you like to paint your nails but would rather do without all the harsh chemicals, put some butter London on them, your nails will thank you for it!

I did a little happy dance when I read that Marc Jacobs is teaming up with Sephora to launch a line of cosmetics!

Things are still in the early stages of development but I can’t wait to see what trends emerge from Marc Jacobs makeup line.

salonMonster made the leap to Pinterest recently and we have all been going pin crazy – cool hair accessories, envious hair styles, inspirational makeup and art, we’re addicted!

Take a peek at our collection of eye candy at www.pinterest.com/salonmonster

How cool is this barber USB key from imm living!

You can carry it around in your pocket like a hipster, comb your swanky hair with it, and then go all tech and plug it into your computer.

The comb stores 2 GB of data, has a 1 year warranty and is way cool!

When I came across these super cute hair pins made by Sunny Garden, they totally screamed Springtime for me!  What’s not to love about fun bright colours and whimsical crocheted flowers.

Sunny Garden has a wonderful shop on Etsy where they sell their unique handmade knitted and crocheted accessories.

The pins can be ordered in either black or gold matte and retail between $10.00 – $15.00 depending on the set. To see more of these cute designs check out Sunny Gardens Etsy site.

Photos: Sunny Garden on Etsy

With bridal season gearing up check out Ruche for fabulous headpieces to impress any bride!

Ruche is a beautiful online store which is described as a”vintage inspired boutique with a modern touch”

These amazing headpieces are very reasonably priced ranging from $25.00 – $70.00. There is something for any budget here!

To see more go to Ruches online shop and browse their bridal hair accessories, you won’t be disappointed!

Photos: Ruche

Victoria BC is home to the fantastic Victory Barber and Brand. Located in the city’s downtown, Victory brings old school greatness back to the barber shop.

The shop was built using reclaimed materials from old Victoria homes while the classic barber chairs were restored by hand giving the whole place an authentic “Canadiana” feel, complete with a moose head on the wall!

Victory Barber specializes in men’s grooming services which include the original straight blade shave and hot towel service right alongside high end hair styling.

Their finely curated collection of men’s grooming products will soon be available from their online shop as well!

Check out the video below to learn the story of the shops infamous moose head:

Photos: Victory Barber and Brand