Northern Virginia Hair Salon Archives

March 3, 2014 by salonkhouri

Helping AFA reach their goal

The students of Ad Fontes Academy in Centreville, VA have a BIG goal ahead of them, and just about 30 days to get there. They have set out to raise $800,000 in 45 days and have just about 30 days left to reach their goal. The school would like to build a modular facility so that all students, K-12, can be united at one campus. They are currently spread across two campuses, a lower school serving grades K-4, and an upper school serving grades 5-12. Having the students at two separate locations limits the mentoring that is so inherent in the philosophy of the school, which pairs students from upper grades with students from lower grades to nurture relationships and leadership skills amongst the students.

AFA upper school student mentoring a lower school student during Dr. Seuss Week

Ad Fontes Academy is a Classical Christian School located in Centreville, VA. The classical model of education is thousands of years old, begun by the Greeks and Romans and developed through history. It’s focus is on the curriculum of trivium, meaning “three ways”, wherein a child’s learning is broken into phases of grammar, logic, then rhetoric. It is also the educational methodology followed by this great nation’s founding fathers.

Ad Fontes is indeed a small school but it has a huge community impact. Last year, 16 students of Ad Fontes delivered over 500 pounds of clothing and shoes to the Refuge of Hope in Pucallpa, Peru. They also painted, landscaped, built a roof, put of screens and telephone poles, spent time with students, and ministered to children in remote villages along the Ucayali River. This year, 26 students and adults will be taking part in the mission trip to help better the lives of these sweet children.

An AFA upper school student having fun blowing bubbles with a Refuge of Hope student in Pucallpa, Peru.

The culture of Ad Fontes, although academically rigorous, creates and instills an absolute embodiment of selflessness. The school would like to grow to accommodate more local families wanting to pursue a Classical education. Tuition aid is available for families not able to meet tuition.

Salon Khouri will be donating $1 from every haircut in March toward their effort. It may not be much relative to the total, but by supporting them in this huge goal, we hope to inspire others to donate or to make a bond investment toward their growth effort.

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January 30, 2014 by salonkhouri

Our heart knows these gals will make a difference!

For the last couple of years in February, we’ve been making a push to increase awareness of womens’ heart disease issues, and have been donating to the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign. We wanted to have a more direct impact this year, did some research and have selected the Go Red for Women Multicultural Scholarship Fund for our community giving efforts this February. We read through some of the stories from the 2013 scholarship winners and fell in love with some of these gals! We love their determination for learning and their passion for helping and serving others. They are amazing young women and we know they will have an amazing impact on others in their careers!

Whittney Work has always dreamed of being a neonatal nurse. Whittney grew up in a household with two other sisters and a single mother working hard to keep the family afloat. To help out, Work began shifts as a waitress at sixteen to help support her family. “Although it was challenging and tiring, I managed to graduate with honors, and I am now the first child in my family to attend a university,” states Work. Currently, Work maintains a part-time job, is enrolled in 13 credit hours of classes, and does clinical nursing rotations — all while maintaining a 3.8 GPA. The scholarship helps Work pay for tuition. “Because I come from a low-income family, my mother can’t contribute to my education the way she’d like.”

Jainty John also stole our hearts after we read her story of growing up in a village where “disease and medical problems were more common than medicine and doctors.” John is currently studying to be a physician’s assistant and is enrolled in the graduate physician’s assistant program at Le Moyne College. To help pay her tuition, John works two jobs at a hospital and interns at a dental clinic during the summer. The scholarship helps lessen the burden for John so she can focus more on her studies.

And Myo-Sabai Aye, who is pursuing a rigorous M.D./Master’s in Public Heath at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Aye, an immigrant from Burma, learned English by studying children’s books. She went on to graduate from the University of Virginia and greatly appreciates the scholarship as it allows her to cut back on her hours as an interpreter for the International Refugee Committee, work she loves doing, but doesn’t have time for with the rigorous curriculum of her program.

We hope that our contribution will help other women like Work, John and Aye, so they can realize their dreams of serving others.

For the month of February, Salon Khouri will donate $1 from every haircut to the Go Red for Women Multicultural Scholarship Fund. You will also have the opportunity at checkout to donate an additional $1, $3, or $5.

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May 24, 2013 by salonkhouri

The Wind Can’t Stop This Pony

The wind in the DC area today is enough to make anyone’s beautifully styled hair look like a bird was trying to nest in it. Thankfully, high winds don’t always have to mean bad hair days. Here, we give you a step-by-step on the high ponytail. Bring it wind!

Start by taking the front, top section of your hair …

Gently tease at the root to provide a little volume …

Pull top section to back of head …

Spray with a medium to heavy hold hair spray …

Holding hair in a high pony, comb stray hairs back toward pony, then spray again …

Secure pony with a coated elastic band, holding a small piece down with one hand…

Wrap strand around elastic band, then pin with bobby pin …

Spray again on a very windy day for good measure!

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March 3, 2013 by salonkhouri

Tips for Curling Your Hair At Home

Curling your hair at home without the right tools and technique can absolutely, positively damage your hair. It can even cause your hair to burn completely off. Although we love to cut pixies, we really don’t want to cut one as a result of an at-home curling iron mishap.

So, our knowledgeable and friendly stylists have offered a few of their tips for safe curling at home.

Stylist Megan Purvis says it’s imperative you start by protecting your hair with a quality thermal protection spray such as Sebastian Trilliant Thermal Protection. She also stresses the importance of not having too hot an iron, particularly for fine hair. I completely agree. My hair is thick but fine, so I keep the temp at no more than 330 degrees. Megan also gives us a tip on keeping the curl modern and romantic: “Be sure to curl away from the face and curl bigger sections of your hair for a looser curl.”

Stylist Kristin Fletcher adds a great tip on achieving the S wave curl. “Hold the iron vertical as you curl.” Kristin also prefers a larger barrel curling iron for an up-to-date look.

An extremely important tip comes from stylist Kelly Stoneberger, “NEVER use hairspray on your hair prior to using any thermal tool.” Kelly is absolutely correct. Unless you want to stir fry your hair, absolutely, positively avoid spraying with hairspray while using any thermal tool. Only use hairspray after you are finished, and I mean, unplug your iron and let it cool before spraying so that you are not even slightly tempted to try to tweak a curl after applying hairspray. Which brings us to Kelly’s second tip — be sure to use a good shampoo and conditioner that will not build up in your hair. Hairspray can be pretty stubborn and without a quality shampoo, you may have hairspray residue that will fry your precious locks once you apply heat. We love Eufora’s Pure Cleanse shampoo because it offers a unique, non-sulfate cleansing system that gently yet thoroughly cleanses the hair and scalp.

We hope these tips have helped. If you’d like to know more, please ask any one of our professional and approachable stylists for tips for your specific hair type.

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February 3, 2013 by salonkhouri

Tired of flat hair? Here are a few tips from our stylists …

Photo courtesy of TheHairStyler.Com

A common question we get from clients is, “How can I keep my hair from falling flat half way through the day?”

We’ve asked a few of our stylists for their top tip for keeping hair full of body and volume. Here’s what they shared:

Kelly recommends a quality shampoo and conditioner that will rinse well from the hair and not leave residue and build up. Try Eufora Volumizing Shampoo and Daily Balancing Conditioner. And almost every stylist you ask will tell you that it’s not a good idea to shampoo your hair every day as that will actually overstimulate oil secretions from the scalp.

Tessa recommends to her clients to always use a styling product before blowdrying hair. It seems counterintuitive to many, but using product will actually extend your blowdry and will keep your hair full of volume. “The trick is to not slather the product at the root,” adds Jonathan. Yes, this is a no, no. There are very few products that belong at the root of the hair. For most styling products, take a dime to quarter size amount — depending on the length of your hair — and work the product from mid-shaft to the ends in damp hair, then blow dry.

Orie recommends a product that you DO want to put to the roots, and that is Eufora’s powder lift. I tried this recently on my roots that were super flat to my scalp, and I was amazed at the difference just a few shakes of this miracle powder made. Powder lift utilizes unique technology that turns liquid into powder, then back into liquid during use. It provides excellent lift at the roots while leaving hair feeling and looking thicker and fuller.

Heidi’s go-to is adding a volumizer to damp hair just before drying, such as Sebastian Professional Volupt spray. “Be sure to give it a good shake before applying, though, as it also has a shine enhancer that you activate through shaking.”

Megan, who gave a most excellent hands-on Styling 101 class last fall, swears by over directing the hair when you blow dry. Sounds difficult, right? It’s not. Simply pretend that you are giving yourself a Donald Trump comb-over while blow drying, but continuously switch the direction of your comb-over to provide volume at the root.

To finish off your style and to keep your hair from falling limp, use the cool blast setting on your dryer. Yes, many a gal has wondered, “what in the heck is the blue button for?” Always finish your style with a shot of cool air from your dryer to lock in the style, tame frizzies, and to add volume to your hair.

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December 16, 2012 by salonkhouri

Tips to extend your blowdry

We hear it so often from our clients: “I can never style my hair the same at home — the blowout never lasts as long as when you do it.”

Well, we are here to tell you a few tips as well as the number one secret to extending your home blowout. Extending your blowout so that you are not washing and using heat on your hair daily is the best way to maintain healthy hair — styling your hair daily with hot tools is one of the worst things you can do to your hair. And, healthy, resilient hair is much easier to work with and will behave far better than dry, damaged hair. So read on to find out how you can achieve the same lasting salon blowout at home:

Tip #1: Product, product, product. There is a reason why one of the first things stylists do when you sit in their chair after a shampoo is to apply product. Product is the number one secret to extending your blowout. It helps shape the style but will also help your hair hold the style. A good stylist should be telling you about the product they are using and why, as well as telling you how much to apply and how. Not every product is a good fit for every hair type.

Tip #2: Use a quality blowdryer with various heat settings. These are usually available for purchase at a salon, and yes, they are higher in price than something you will find at a drug store. But there is a reason why they cost more: they work better. Their motors are better built, and will therefore last longer, but more importantly, they produce higher heat and air velocity than drug store dyers. These two elements, heat and velocity, make all the difference in drying your hair. Currently, the best dyers are professional dryers with ionic-ceramic technology, which will result in smoother, softer, and shiner hair, and in half the time.

Tip #3: Purchase a good dry shampoo. Eufora has a fantastic dry shampoo called Touch Up that we love. The best thing about this dry shampoo is that is comes in tints to help cover root demarcation. Dry shampoo is perfect to use to get another day out of your blowdry.

Tip #4: Section, section, section. This especially goes for you ladies with thick hair. You will not get staying power in your style if you are trying to dry too much hair at once. Plus, if not sectioned carefully, you could be overheating areas of your hair causing damage. Our advice is to purchase at least two quality clips and begin to section your hair as you blowdry.

Tip #5: Tossle-dry your hair 85-90% before sectioning and drying your hair with the round brush. This will speed your blowdry time but will also keep the majority of your hair from direct heat longer. The best way to tossle-dry your hair is by using a vented flat-brush and combing in various directions while drying. Once the hair is 85-90% dry, then section and use the round brush to smooth and dry small sections of the hair.

Tip #6: Use a blast of cool air to set the style. Once the hair is dry, but still using the round brush, finish off each section with a blast of cool air to set the style and tame frizzies.

Following these simple tips will help your blowout to last at least two to three days! All of these tips were covered in our Styling 101 class at Salon Khouri. Be sure to Like us on Facebook to hear about other events offered at our salon.

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May 17, 2012 by salonkhouri

Does a perm mean you will look like a poodle?

When I was young, my mom gave me an Ogilvie home perm. I should also mention that my hair was so blonde that a kid in my fourth grade class wrote that I had white hair when asked to write a description of me for a class assignment. Combine the bad home perm and Casper-like hair color and you have what looked like a dead poodle perched on my head.

Needless to say, that was the last tight perm on this gals head. Fast forward a few years (ok, maybe MORE than a few), and we now have an innovative new perm technique that originated Japan called the Air Wave. Forget tight, frizzy locks and think sexy, loose, big, bouncy, soft curls.

We are excited to have this incredible, new curl technique available at Salon Khouri. Orie, fluent in amazing hair, English, and Japanese, is available for complimentary consultations for the service. Unfortunately, the Air Wave is not for all hair types, so please be sure to come in for a complimentary consultation and hair analysis prior to booking the Air Wave. The a la carte service is $145. To a view a menu of our complete list of services, please visit our Hair Services.

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