Archive for the ‘Helpful Hair Hints’ Category

Curly Hair Battle! Mousse Vs Gel:

Who Wins the Ringlet War?

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Mousse or Gel?

ISO Bouncy CremeOur kids hair products are pH-balanced just for children, so baby hair mousse really is for baby and hair Spiker can fix a toddler’s Faux Hawk–without finding the two of you in tears! Nevertheless, there are products that promote promising effects but can actually leave users wanting more. Mousse, for instance, is an expanding product by definition, which can actually be bad for your little one’s still-growing follicles as it gets inside the hair shaft to expand (and eventually break) it. We carry an all-natural foaming mousse that is ideal for course curls and has a fantastic fruity frangrance–but we have found the bounce creme works with all hair types, so we recommend it above all others! Meanwhile, gels are too difficult to properly proportion when hair is fine or thin (or both), and tend to leave locks laden with layers of lackluster goop.

For this reason, we urge against hair gels or mousses for your little ones. Even our educated child cosmetologists can sometimes get crumby results when creating curl concoctions with chalky gels and goopy mousses. Which is just one more reason to bump up your bounciness with our curl boost cream! Because the Eighties were great, and perms were perfectly punk – but in this century, kids’ hairstyles are darling (and daring) enough without that dusting of white residue or wet-looking ringlets.

Whether you are naturally wavy or bottled to bounce, tousles all across time have asked the same tress question: Which is best for curly hair?

Bouncy Créme!

As a children’s hair salon, we have put the testimonials of tons of tremendous hair products to the test and one result reigned supreme:

Our Bouncy Créme!

This light cream instantly rejuvenates curly, wavy or textured hair by separating and defining–everything you want and need in a curl-whirling product–while leaving hair full of shine without flaking and stiffness! The easy-to-pump bottle dispenses this silky smooth serum to be worked through clean, damp hair.

The different looks of styling cream hairstyles.

When added to wet hair, a cream can work wonderfully just to condition and strengthen hair by adding that extra layer of protection from the elements. However, this kid-friendly, mother-approved hair-tonic defines curls and controls frizz. It is great for blow drying for volume, but has been used most by scrunching for definition.

Why use styling cream?

Like all our favorite products, there are natural ingredients making them just right for your little one, and the Bouncy Créme is no exception. This texture energizer contains emollients to soften hair, retain moisture, prevent frizz and flyaways, while providing a smooth feel and adding shine. There is also a “Bounce-Back” polymer that protects the hair against thermal damage, as well as conditions and defrizzes curls. Possibly the most recognizable are its humectants that moisturize hair without weighing it down while controlling frizz for smooth curls. These special ingredients replenish moisture for body and luster! To complete your look, after scrunching this product through the hair, simply spritz your loved one with Vanilla Freeze Hairspray for a finished look and Voila! Your MADtastic ‘DO is MADsmermizing!

Click here to see more of our MADtastic Styling Aids!


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Do you need Texturizing Products?

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Grape Jam Texturizing Hair Wax

Having a hard time handling your handsome’s head of hair? Freak out his fellow fifth-graders with a fun and funky Faux Hawk!
Want to wow your friends and family at that next formal function? Dazzle your Diva with one of our UPROARIOUS UP-DOOS!
How can you get those MADtastic looks without scheduling daily appointments at one of our salons? EASY! Here’s one of our amazing hair secrets: Grape Jam Texturizing Hair Wax!

What is HAIR STYLE WAX?

This alcohol-free styling aid is one of the most popular (and most versatile) in our line of kid-friendly, mother-approved products. Made from Glycerin (which happens to be naturally sweet-tasting, low in toxicity, and water soluble) to eliminate frizz, Grape Jam hair styling wax keeps hair soft and supple for restyling all day long! And it smells great, too – like you should be spreading it all over your toast each morning, instead of dolloping it on a head of hair to wake up that style!

One of the best short hair styling products:


Although we boast about this medium-hold, grape-scented texturizing hair wax for its uses in all lengths and types of hair, we especially love to use it for spiking SHORT HAIR STYLES with its matte finish! Grape Jam separates, contours, and shapes hard to hold hair into MADtastic styles without leaving hair heavy or covered in product residue. This flexible fixative forms and shapes unruly or hard to hold hair, without drying it out or leaving locks looking lathered in lotion.

How can girls use hair texturizing products?

Another important Helpful Hair Hint for all you MAD Mamas out there: Put product in your princess’ hair the night before she plans to get that Prom updo! It may sound silly, but we are MAD serious that this product provides a soft, flexible hold for boys AND girls, and that it calms down those straggling strands while providing necessary piece-ability for producing UPROARious UP-DOOS!

Texturizing Hair Products How-To

Simply slather some of this great-smelling jelly into the palm of your hand and rub it around until you have given your hands a nice wax-y finish. Next, pull your fingers through the clean, brushed hair you are going to style the next day – making sure to coat as much of the mane as possible! Brush, braid, or bun-up the hair for the night (to prevent unwanted tangles tomorrow) and find yourself facing a wondrous wig of waxed and ready hair when she wakes with the sunrise!

For Girls’ Short Hair Wax Styling

Just like preparing for updos, girls use this texturizing hair wax by applying first to their palms or fingertips, then working the wax through the hair by pinching up pieces they want to pull out and up from the rest. From that Seventies’ Shaggy Style to the Punk Rock Pop Star Pink’s Pixie – girls of all ages and hair types can benefit from this vine-ripened hair variable. So stop in and sample some. Then try to wipe those cheesey grins from your fruit-smelling little ones, because this wax not only attracts – it works!

Click here to see more Youniquey Boutiquey products!

How to Get Rid of Static Hair – Our Secret

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Sweet Static Hair Solutions -

Don’t Sweat the Smell-Good Stuff!

From mini-makeovers to daddy-daughter dances, many of our moms have asked us to help hone in on the how-to’s of keeping children’s coifs beatifully styled (without adding billions of hours to the style time).

Our number one secret?

Vanilla Freeze hairspray.

This medium hold mist not only perfumes those precious pigtails with a scent as sweet as cupcakes, but it also controls fly-aways and staticy strands, keeping them smoothed and in-place — as if they were frozen in time! Our products always provide pliability and piece-ability, so never fear, that horrible helmet head will not be made here!

Day-to-day Fly Away Solutions

Getting all dolled up isn’t the only time for teasing their tresses and testing this hair-tonic of sweet-smelling tundra! As an ultra-fine styling mist, this houdini hairspray is great to use right after blow drying! Since this candy concoction naturally gives hair the lift and direction we used to get from the aerosols of old, spritzing in some style and scent with this sweet best-selling solution will add control to your child’s strands while making the start of each school day shorter and sassier!

how to get rid of static electricity in hair

Related Kids Hair Products

Depending on the texture and style of your little one’s mane, hairspray might just be the icing on the cake, as it were. Make the most of your shorter styles by pairing with our Grape Jam, meanwhile the waviest styles will curl up nicely with our Mango Mousse. Read our blogs for more info on how to appropriately distribute each. Because at Shear Madness, haircuts for kids are just the beginning! We pride ourselves on a great experience, kid-friendly atmospheres, and MADTASTIC style!

Click here to see our Youniquey Boutiquey products!

What Exactly is a Bowl Cut!!!

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Surely the bowl cut came into existence by default; as parents across the globe chose the path of least resistance when shearing the heads of their no-longer-precious children. Neither masculine nor feminine, this style borrowed its name from the family bowl unilaterally placed on the head of each child as all visible pieces of hair were snipped into submission. Though adults would never consider such a style for themselves, they remained unsatisfied until their children resembled a cluster of unisex mushrooms scurrying together across flower covered meadows. This practice served to keep the cute factor under control for as long as possible, ensuring that older children would not escape the daily chores of working on the farm by marrying too early.

Perhaps the motives of these parents were considerably more pure, and it was simply a covert operation to protect homely children until they fully grew into their oversized ears. Or, perhaps it was an early version of the No Child Left Behind Policy; ensuring there would be no winners in the school popularity contest.

But the cute factor can only be refrained for so long. The head bowls became bigger. The locks grew longer. And in the 1960’s, the Beatles added a little fringe and Rock’n’Roll to the mix. The dreaded bowl cut was transformed, sought after and mimicked. And parents were forced to relinquish the keys to the Cool Bus once and for all.

This May Sound Mean – But, Please, Don’t Go Green!

Monday, May 9th, 2011

How can you make your Goldie Locks gleam and keep the chlorine from making Blondie go GREEN?!

Picture yourself in head-to-toe swim gear. Cap, goggles, nose clip, ear plugs, arm bands, inner-tube, flippers, and all. Embarrassed yet? When it comes to swim season, we all want our little ones to stay safe AND bronzed. We dowse them in sunblock and cover them with capuchins every time they go out of the house! Swim caps aren’t the most popular fashion accessory, so even though we can cover fair hair and scalps to prevent over-exposure and sun-damage, the burning and breakage still tend to go hand-in-hand during the summer months. We can do better to keep our little ones’ HAIR safe and manageable without humiliating them.
Swimming pools are highly-chlorinated waters, and our hair shafts are as porous as sponges. Allowing all those microscopic gaps in its texture to be filled up with (sometimes over-)treated water dehydrates, discolors, and dreadfully damages hair!  Like turning hair lemon-lime in color and causing the texture to become as brittle as straw (and as easily snapped in two). However, there are ways to keep yours and your loved one’s luscious locks looking luxurious, while leaving the limeades to be sipped and not worn.
One of the easiest tricks is as simple as hopping into the shower before you jump in the pool! All you have to do is soak dry hair with clean, un-treated water BEFORE getting into the pool. This quick, easy step will allow those sponge-like shafts to soak up good, guiltless gulps of guaranteed hair-honey (the water, that is, we like to make it sound as good as it really is for your hair and body) so you won’t be rushing in for any GET-THE-GREEN-OUT treatments this season!

If you suspect the pre-swim shower jump-in is not really convenient or going to go down, rest assured that there is an equally preventative (if not extra-SCENT-sible) alternative to this practice. Shear Madness carries Emma Pre-Swim Coconut scented Conditioner! It is a fun and easy to use spray that helps protect children’s hair from damage caused by swimming. Just spray in hair before you hop into the pool or waves!  A natural way to boost your hairs’ defense against those awful chemicals we pump into our diving waters, it not only SMELLS heavenly, it coats and seals the hair follicle, shields hair shaft, and hydrates hair with non-greasy “oil-free” conditioning, protecting hair from turning green, breaking and overall drying caused by pool chemicals or salt water.

Our Splish Splash Swimmers’ Shampoo removes chlorine and gently lifts out dirt, dust, pollution, and other surface build-up, while moisturizing and untangling the hair.

And the most important hair practice for you to remember when exposing your kids’ hair to such intense chemicals is simply: Condition, Condition, and Condition! Our Maya Papaya Conditioner is specially formulated with over six conditioning agents to add softness, strength, and shine to all hair types. Our Detanglers are available in Rosa’s Raspberry, Bonita’s Banana, and Pia’s Pineapple, and they will add a layer of conditioner throughout your day while keeping the hairs manageable and smelling sweet!

What happens if the hue has already started to make its way from strawberry sunshine to swamp monster? The answer is easy! There ARE kid-friendly treatments that can be administered. Just remember that with every heavy-duty hair-stripping, you must also complete it with an equally-hydrating deep-conditioning. We have a special in-store Get-The-Green-Out treatment that will strip your hair of all chemicals and color, but advise against it for most little ones unless the situation is dire. There’s no need to use harsh products on your kiddos unless those strands are already Chartreuse!

Need an expert opinion?  Ask one of our MAD-tastic Stylin’-tists about just the right prescription for your hairs ailments today!

Helpful Hair Hints: SPIKER

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Spiking your strikingly good-looking son’s super-spooky Studly-nstein spikes got you spattered with hair glue? Here’s some help.

If you’re like me, becoming the mother of a monster boy means having to learn all the tricks of the trade from scratch. Luckily, (for all of us) the ladies at Shear Madness have been styling hair for well over 14 years now and know that standing hair on end can come from stress, or just from how you comb your tress.

Michelle Hurlbut, of our South Leawood location, gave me her best tips on getting tousled, prickly, or Mohawked dos. First, she encourages getting the proper styling aid for the type of hair you are attempting to mold. For the lucky Dennis-the-Menace types whose hair sticks up naturally, you would only need a gentle gel or whipped wax to texturize and style the already MADtastic MANE. On the other hand, there are those children whose hairs are so straight the style (albeit limp like it has been weighted down with lead) holds on its own - even on the windiest of days! These stick-straight-strands are no match for the ICE Spiker hair glue, with which you can spike a faux-hawk that can go up the tornado and bring Toto back with it.

For children needing this ultra-strong styling glue, take a deep breath, Mom (or sip some chardonnay, whatever works best) and get out your most trusty comb. Michelle encourages dampening the top of the hair with a spritz of water. Without saturating it, you want to moisten the hair, but if you spray it down too much, you will have greater difficulty in getting it to stand up.

This next step is crucial. Are you ready? Cause this one totally made me slap myself on the forehead! You must apply the glue to the COMB! I know, right? I never would have thought of that on my own!

Hold the comb so the teeth are sticking up, making it resemble the lower jaw of that scary monster your two-year-old wants to be for Halloween. Looking at the comb, one side has fine teeth (or thinner prongs that are set closer together). Using this end of your monster jaw, squeeze the styling glue across the lip from the end of the comb in (toward the middle), like you would apply toothpaste to a toothbrush. There is no need to squeeze more than an inch’s worth at first, since you can always add more if necessary.

Comb the product into your child’s hair starting right at that hairline. Comb from follicle to tip (scalp to ends) leaving the hair standing up until you have the styling glue applied to all the hairs you intend to style. Once the product is in place, you get to FINALLY get messy! Pinch together your thumbs and first fingers to make the best Mommy-claws ever and use these to shape the style of your choice.

While you wash the product off your styling comb and pinchers, watch your child’s face light-up as he admires mommy’s amazing handy work! Take another deep breath (or sip of chardonnay) and relax until you need your next Helpful Hair Hint.

The Lowdown on LICE!

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Just hearing the word “lice” can make your skin crawl, so as a mother, the idea that they are out there circulating the school systems – makes a girl paranoid! So why are so many families having to RID themselves of those tiny bugs each fall? The answer is simple. Gymnastics mats. Football helmets. That cute scarf you tried on at the store. Headphones on an airplane. Just because we don’t see the person in front of us set something down, doesn’t mean they weren’t there. Luckily, we have been working with children for over a decade now and have a pretty good idea of how they are communicated and how they can be prevented from entering your home.
We, as people, get a very specific form of lice that feeds only on the hair and scalp of humans, without which they can barely survive. You see, lice use a glue-like saliva to attach their eggs to the hair shafts of their host, then once the eggs hatch, those babies grow and shed skin over the period of ONE MONTH before reaching their own adulthood and repeating the process.
The key to getting rid of them once you have been exposed, is to wash your hair and scalp with a special shampoo that will kill any live bugs or eggs, as well as un-glue the eggs that have been attached. For those of you who have been through this process, we are talking hours (if not days) of combing through every one of the 250,000+ hairs on a human head for our own peace of mind! Not fun. However, there is a silver lining.
Lice CAN be prevented! Have you ever heard about using marigolds to surround your precious flowers to keep rodents at bay? Much like a citronella candle does for a back patio, tea tree oil does for your and your kids’ heads! Since lice cannot survive very long without a host, in theory we can nip this epidemic in the bud (or nit) by simply getting them off our heads long enough to wipe out their parasitic little race!
The great news is Shear Madness actually carries LICE PREVENTION haircare products from the Circle of Friends line that are pH-balanced for children. They are gentle enough for daily use, but have those key bug-repelling ingredients in them to also be strong enough to keep your child’s head safe! We recommend the shampoo and conditioner for anyone who has children in elementary school – and specifically if they have heard of a lice outbreak in their area. The styling products are a great way for that extra protection for children in sports, too. By using the hairspray to hold a little girl’s bun, or the gel for a boy who wears a ball cap, the repellents will keep your children active AND bug-free. So give your kids that added security, and you’ll be able to sleep tight–and NOT have the bed bugs bite!