Northern Virginia Hair Salon

August 4, 2018  by

Ingredient Spotlight: Kakadu Plum

by Kyrsti Ashmall

Wave goodbye to dry hair with our HYDRATE regimen, which is formulated with a blend of powerful antioxidants and vitamins to nourish and moisturize your hair. Our ingredient spotlight this month is on Kakadu Plum, a super-fruit native to the Northern Australian Territory.

Rich in nutrients, Kakadu Plum contains a blend of powerful antioxidants and is known as the world’s highest source of Vitamin C. To the taste, this fruit has a sweet flavor with a pleasant bitterness at the end — but please don’t eat our HYDRATE-ME.WASH, RINSE, or MASQUE!

In addition, the Kakadu Plum found in HYDRATE-ME.WASH, RINSE and MASQUE is considered eco-friendly, as our source of this ingredient has developed innovative practices that ensure a sustainable approach in the extraction and manufacturing of this super-fruit. Our source practices green chemistry innovation, including a sustainable extraction process with friendly solvents and waste limitation. In addition they work on biotechnology processes to offer renewable sources so as not to disrupt biodiversity, and they use bi-products from the food industry to limit waste. Among many other practices, they also protect endemic species by using harvest cultures and encouraging replanting.

Together with the other ingredients in our HYDRATE regimen, Kakadu Plum helps to smooth the surface of the hair and lock in moisture. To learn more about our HYDRATE regimen, click here.

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July 7, 2018  by

Summer Chlorine Conundrum

We were recently asked by one of our long-time clients, “what do I do about the CHLORINE?” She recently signed up for a charity Sprint Triathlon, Tri 4 Love, and has been getting in a lot of pool time. She’s noticed a build-up of chlorine on her hair and some drying of her highlighted ends. Here’s the chlorine-busting regimen we recommend to keep your hair healthy.

  1. Go into the pool with wet hair. Those signs that ask you to rinse *before* you enter the pool have a lot of wisdom. Not only does it give your body a pre-rinse to rinse away any sweat that may be on your skin, but it can protect your hair from chlorine absorption. When your hair is dry, it’s porous. When it’s wet, it’s not. If the hair is wet, it will absorb less chlorinated water than dry hair.
  2. If you couldn’t pre-wet your hair, use a little conditioner on your ends before getting in the pool. Don’t go crazy, just a light covering of your tresses will do. This follows the same theory as a pre-rinse: if your hair is saturated with good clean water or a good conditioner, the less likely it is for chlorine to enter the shaft of your hair.
  3. Rinse your hair as soon as you can after swimming. We aren’t talking a full-out shampoo, although you should do that as soon as you can, but rinse the chlorinated water out of your immediately after getting out of the pool. Yes, even at breaks.
  4. Use Kevin Murphy STAYING.ALIVE, an amazing leave-in treatment that moisturizes and protects the hair. This stuff is miraculous!
  5. Pre-wash your hair once or twice a week with Kevin Murphy MAXI.WASH. This detoxifying shampoo contains anti pollutant ingredients that removes build-up, such as chlorine. Apply to wet hair, massage in, leave on for one minute then rinse and wash with your favorite Kevin Murphy wash.
  6. If your ends have had it, use Kevin Murphy REPAIR.ME once to two times a week. This reconstructing shampoo has powerful proteins from Bamboo and Silk amino acids that will strengthen your hair while gently removing impurities.
  7. Come in monthly for a Kevin Murphy TREAT.ME hair treatment. Our fabulous, customized, in-salon treatment is just $29 and will be mixed at the bowl specifically for your hair-type.

 

 

 

 

You can still have awesome summer pool fun and not worry about the summer chlorine conundrum. Our amazing team at our Fairfax salon or Loudoun salon is standing by to help you LOVE YOUR HAIR.

 

 

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July 7, 2018  by

Providing Hope through Living MS: Our July Community Outreach Partner

In 2011, local Loudoun resident, Beth Donaldson, was given news she had long feared: she had Multiple Sclerosis. A mother of two and wife of a police SWAT officer, Beth was no stranger to the disease as her paternal grandfather and two paternal aunts had the disease.

Beth undergoing an OCREVUS infusion in December of 2107.

The grueling treatments began right away — treatments that would help to keep the disease at bay, but which also brought on other debilitating symptoms. Beth has been through multiple treatments, infusions, has seen lesions, fatigue, nausea, brain cloud, but endures it all with grace and a smile that would melt even the Grinch’s heart. In 2015, from osteoarthritis caused by the multiple sclerosis, Beth underwent her first hip replacement, and in 2017, a second hip replacement.

Beth’s husband, Mike, an amazing supporter to Beth, began immediately raising money for research. From 2012 through 2016, the two raised approximately $17,000 for the MS Society through Mike’s bike rides for the MS Society. It was in 2016 when the two decided to create Living MS, a 501(c)3 charity focused on raising money for MS research and awareness.

 

In 2017, Living MS hosted their first annual Bike Ride, called Gravel de Loco, and raised an impressive $6,000. On November 8, 2017, the couple and their two children drove to The James Q. Miller MS Clinic at UVA and donated a check for $5,000 to be used to fund research for a cure for MS. Beth and Mike are planning a second Gravel de Loco, tentatively scheduled for October 13, 2018. Please be sure to follow the Living MS Facebook page for updates on this amazing and *beautiful* ride through one of the most scenic counties in the nation!

Living MS is planning another bike ride this year, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 13th in Loudoun County. The ride will have a 25 mile loop and a 50 mile loop.

This July, we are honored to partner with Living MS and will be donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Loudoun locations to this local non-profit whose mission is to end MS.

A little side note that we love: Beth originally found Salon Khouri by winning a gift card she won through a fundraiser in 2013 for the Isabella Santos Foundation.

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June 5, 2018  by

This little light of mine …

Kate Olivia Rhoades’ light shone brightly on all who were lucky enough to meet her. Kate was diagnosed with high risk, pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was 26 months old. She underwent two and a half years of treatment, including chemo, steroids, port surgery, and spinal taps. After four months of being treatment free, Kate relapsed and was taken from this world just 15 hours after her parents, Lindsay and Mike, learned of her relapse.

Lindsay and Mike promised Kate that they would continue to fight in Kate’s honor for less toxic treatments for children battling cancer with the ultimate goal of finding a cure. They formed Kate’s Cause, a non-profit aimed at raising awareness and funds for less-toxic childhood cancer research. Another important mission of Kate’s Cause is to give back to the childhood cancer community, which they beautifully do through toy drives and activities at The Pediatric Specialists of Virginia Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and her treatment hospital, Inova Children’s Hospital.

We are honored to be partnering once again with this amazing, local non-profit as our Community Outreach Partner for June. For every haircut we perform in June, $1 will be donated to Kate’s Cause.

Lindsay wrote a beautiful post remembering and honoring Kate today and we wanted to share it here:

Seventh Heaven

For the third year in a row, you nudged me awake right at 4:04am, the very moment your beautiful face entered this world. For the third year in a row, it’s bright and beautifully sunny outside instead of the forecasted gray and dreary. For the third year in a row, I have walked to your room and wished to the heavens I’d find you there. But for the third year in a row, you are gone on your birthday and I’m celebrating for you instead of with you.

It’s your 7th birthday today and I’ve found the words “seventh heaven” rolling around in my mind over the last few days. Not even knowing what it meant, I thought it a good title for a birthday post. It sounded right – afterall, you’re spending your 7th in heaven, so it felt to me to be a good fit.

Seventh Heaven: the highest heaven, where God and the most exalted angels dwell. A state of intense happiness; bliss.

Well now, Kate. If that doesn’t just embody who you are. If that doesn’t just describe in perfect form WHERE you are. If that doesn’t just explain in 17 words the very nature of your time here on Earth – the gift you gave those who knew you, then surely no words exist that can.

You are my seventh heaven, angel, and I love you more than words. I miss you every day and while I struggle to celebrate a day such as today when you should be bouncing off the walls from too much cake….celebrate you, I will. Your life was my life’s greatest joy and I would do it all over, no matter the outcome, just to be near you. Just to share our own personal brand of seventh heaven.

Happy 7th birthday my precious girl. I love you. I miss you. Best friends forever. I promise.

 

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June 5, 2018  by

COLOURING.ANGELS have arrived and blondes across Northern Virginia are giddy!

Meet our newest blondetourage: COLOURING.ANGELS. Our four new color-enhancing treatments add a lip-gloss like shine and tone to the hair to enhance existing tones, neutralize unwanted tones, and improve color longevity without building up on the hair. Packed with hair-loving ingredients such as Olive Leaf Extract, Green Tea Extract, and Grape Seed Oil, our newest ANGELS moisturize your hair while improving flexibility and adding protection for your locks.

Our newest BLONDE squad includes four color enhancing shades – AUTUMN, COOL, CRYSTAL, and SUGARED – to add subtle hints of color and incredible, illuminating shine and are $39 for an 8.4 oz bottle.

Our AUTUMN.ANGEL adds a soft, apricot rosé hue for natural, rose gold, or apricot-toned blondes, while our COOL.ANGEL magnifies cool, ash shades while removing stubborn orange hues from the hair. Use our SUGARED.ANGEL for a creamy, vanilla beige to mute unwanted warmth and create luminous toffee tones, or stick to our CRYSTAL.ANGEL to enhance your existing colour while illuminating your strands with this unique clear, top coat.

Following our cult-favorite BLONDE.ANGEL treatment, our four newest ANGELS fit right into our BLONDE regimen for your at-home color care to moisturize, enhance, restore shine, and refresh colored or uncolored hair. To use, simply cleanse the hair with the WASH of your choice and apply your desired COLOURING.ANGEL, leaving for 3-5 minutes before rinsing. You can use your ANGEL as often as you wish, as the pigments are designed to never build up on your hair!

Through June 30, 2018, we are offering an at-the-bowl, COLOURING.ANGEL treatment for just $5! 

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May 1, 2018  by

Keeping Teens Safe on the Road with The ART of Driving: Our May Community Outreach Partner

Ashley Renee Thompson lost her life in a singular vehicular accident on June 10, 2003 — she was just sixteen years old. She was an advanced placement student, a competitive gymnast, and loved by her friends and peers. Her mother created The ART of Driving in memory of her daughter to increase awareness among teens and parents of the unique risks faced by young, novice drivers and to impress upon them the need for improved training, increased supervised time behind-the-wheel, and increased parental involvement. The ART of Driving is also advocating for improvements in driver education for our youth and seeks to change the mindset of teens and their parents that tragedies like this “won’t happen to me”.

We are proud to once again partner with The Art of Driving as our May Community Outreach Partner. This is our sixth year supporting The Art of Driving through our Community Outreach Partner program. We will be donating $1 from every haircut this May to this wonderful, local non-profit whose mission is to keep our children safe.

We would love for you to learn more about teen driving, particularly during the most dangerous driving season for teens: prom and graduation season. What can you do as a parent, grandparent, Godparent, Uncle, Aunt, friend to help save a child’s life? The Art of Driving has various resources to help. They can assist with starting a Teen Task Force at school or in a youth club or group. They will come speak at PTSA, Teen Night, Driver’s Education classes, SGA or any other interested group to help educate and enable our local youth to be more responsible and aware drivers. Other things you can do to help your children and to support The Art of Driving:

  1. Have your child(ren) sign The Art of Driving Pledge.
  2. Purchase a copy of How the Firefly Got Its Name, written by Ashley when she was just twelve. (If your kids are too old for this book consider a purchase to donate to your local school library).

How the Firefly Got Its Name

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April 10, 2018  by

Deva Curl Certified!

Stylists Jonathan Elkhouri and Kamen Leung recently completed training in Deva Curl certification! Ask a curly girl about her hair and she’ll tell you it’s curly, it’s complicated. Through the Deva Curl certification, Jonathan and Kamen learned the Deva Curl cutting technique. They won’t just give you amazing curls, they’ll teach you how to create them on your own.

Call us at 703.273.7878 to schedule a complimentary, Deva Curl consultation today!

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April 10, 2018  by

Help our April Community Outreach Partner Break a World Record! #Twenty4Alex

We would LOVE for you to help our April Community Outreach Partner, Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation, break a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™! Yes, be a part of history on June 10th and break the record for the most people doing push-ups! If the record is broken, all registered participants will be able to order an Official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ certificate. This is a FAMILY FRIENDLY event and will run from 2 pm to 5 pm, with the push ups taking place at 4 PM. Make a team at work or your gym and help this amazing, local non-profit in a fun and unique way in spreading awareness for childhood cancers.

Step 1: Register (it’s FREE)!!!

Step 2: Tell your friends and help spread the word!

Step 3: Practice your push-ups!

Step 4: Come to Salon Khouri the month of April for a haircut and we will donate $1 from every cut to AACCF.

There will be some powerful guest speakers plus music, food trucks, kids’ games, entertainment, and of course the push-up attempt itself!

This event is FREE to the public but registration to participate in the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ attempt is required.  We will have a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ judge onsite so that the determination will be made that day on whether we have officially created the new world record!

ALL proceeds raised by push-up participants or sponsors of this event will be put toward the Alex’s Army 2018 research fund.

You may be thinking, “why push ups?” Well, Alex Green was a sweet, local boy diagnosed with Stage IV Wilms tumor when he was just 5 years old. Alex fought for five years: through 17+ surgeries — one of which left him paralyzed from the waist down — through 30+ radiation treatments, multiple chemotherapies, and various clinical trials. Alex also had tremendous faith, was a fierce competitor and athlete. One of his favorite verses was Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Even through his treatments, Alex played various sports (wheelchair-bound, even!) Despite the harsh treatments, he committed to remaining strong and set a daily reminder on his phone to do 20 push ups. When Alex went onto hospice care in 2016, the community started doing push-ups on his behalf using the hashtag #Twenty4Alex. Alex passed away in June of 2016, but his legacy of strength and encouragement lives on.

 

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April 10, 2018  by

What’s Inside KILLER.CURLS?

Killer Curls
Kevin Murphy recently shared some of the ins-and-outs of what makes the KILLER.CURLS product so great! We love sharing knowledge with you about our favorite products, and are excited to share these tidbits on KILLER.CURLS!

As you guys know, we love to talk about the natural ingredients in the Kevin Murphy line — ingredients such as honey, pomegranate and shea butter. You may scratch your head, though, when you run into words like Polyurethane-14, AMP-Acrylates Copolymer and Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate found in KILLER.CURLS. These are, shall we say, rather geeky names for substances which are actually extremely gentle and super beneficial for your hair! In fact, Polyurethane-14 and AMP-Acrylates Copolymer are “anionic ingredients found in many hair sprays, gels, mousses, lotions, pomades and other styling aids” which provide very strong, yet flexible hold. Sodium Polystrene Sulfonate is a high molecular weight sodium salt — versatile and used in many hair and skin products. SPS creates a “clear, flexible film that shrinks upon drying, quickly dissipates electric charge, remains stable among temperatures exceeding 300°C, and helps to reduce surface tension.” All of those amazing qualities equates to enhancing curl in your hair while allowing the curl to remain flexible with a lasting hold.

Curious about KILLER.CURLS? Ask your SK stylist for more information or pick up a mini on your next visit to Salon Khouri!

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March 3, 2018  by

Giving hope to children battling cancer with HopeCam

The mission of Hopecam is simple: to overcome the social isolation experienced by children in treatment for cancer. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it is important to keep the child connected to school and friends. In fact, research by Suzuki and Kato in 2003 shows that children who felt more supported from their classmates during cancer treatment were “less depressed, less anxious, and had higher self-esteem” than children who did not feel supported by classmates.

Hopecam is a local non-profit who gives hope to thousands of children across the U.S. by keeping them connected to their friends and teachers during treatment. And, in November of 2011 when Ava Buhr, the daughter of a dear client, was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Hopecam brought smiles and joy as it connected Ava with her teacher and classmates.

We are honored to partner with Hopecam this March as our March community outreach partner and will be donating $1 from each haircut at both our Fairfax, VA and Dulles Landing, VA locations. It brings us so much joy to be a Northern Virginia salon able to give back to our community in this way! Also, be sure to sign up for the 18th Annual Hopecam 5k on Sunday, May 6th.

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