When I was recently asked to be a hair model in a contest for hairdressers, I was game, I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to my hair, I mean - it's just hair, it grows!

I was excited to find out that the contest was being run by INOA - the newish L'Oréal Professionnel haircolour to introduce their new red shades.  You may recall that in the summer, I had my hair done by the lovely Susan at Taz Hair Co. with INOA, but in a copper since that was the closest there was to red at the time.

It sounded easy, I didn't have to do anything but show up, have my hair coloured, cut and get my picture snapped.  That just goes to show what I know!

I showed up at Beauty Concept Salon and met Shirley and Maggie Wu who are so lovely and seemed to have a clear vision for what my hair was going to look like!  Three different red shades of INOA, a whole lot of foils and the best part, no smell later - I had this beautiful vibrant colour!

It was then cut, and something to keep in mind if someone ever asks you to be a hair model, the cuts for these photos are often a bit avant garde - my hair looks pretty normal in this picture but it's actually very asymmetrical and quite a lot longer on the other side so it's the kind of cut that really needs to be styled in order to look good, and since I'm more of a wash and go kind of girl, it's not the kind of cut that works with my everyday lifestyle.  After killing off the ozone layer with hairspray and having a full face of makeup applied it was picture time!  This is where I discovered that modeling is as hard as it looks on America's Next Top Model!

Of course you want to know if there's something in this for you - well along with the hairdressers contest is a voting contest - vote for a picture and you also get to enter the contest to win a year's worth of free INOA hair colour services!

To vote, go to: http://inoa.reminc.ca/transformations.php - if you want to vote for my picture, it would be most appreciated by Shirley and Maggie - just look for the above picture with their names below it and click on the picture and then push the "like" button at the bottom - just don't laugh at the before picture, it is awful on purpose! You can vote once a day - and enter the contest every time you vote.  Contest ends December 3rd.

If you want to visit Shirley or Maggie at Beauty Concept for your own revolutionary red (or other colour) you can find them in Mississauga or Markham - check it out at www.shirleybeautyconcept.com

In the meantime, I won't be quitting my day job to become a model!

Is there anything better then a day of pampering?  I can't think of anything so last Saturday I spent the day in Yorkville going from salon to spa, it's a rough life but someone has to do it!

First stop was the Mark Anthony Salon at 38 Avenue Road - it looks exactly the way I would imagine a trendy Yorkville salon should look: white and polished with glass and chic people everywhere!

I filled out a form, was offered a drink, a complimentary manicure and then it was off to meet the person who would have my life (okay fine, hair) in his hands...

The very charming Byron was my stylist - he sat me down to have a look at my hair and chat about what I was looking for and then he sent me off with Silva to get washed - and all I can say is OMG!  There has only ever been one other place where I have had such a great shampoo (a little Asian place in Markham where nobody spoke English and I finally had to stop going to because we didn't understand a single word the other one was saying and I kept ending up with weird haircuts because of it, but damn, I miss those shampoos!) Silva used the perfect amount of pressure, gave the most wonderful scalp massage and didn't get any part of my body wet that wasn't supposed to be!  It was also quite luxurious because while I was being washed, Mizuki the manicurist was doing my nails, and continued to work on them during the cut - that's what I imagine it's like to be rich, you just laze around while teams of people work on you!

So here's my issue with hairdressers, and I've had this problem constantly since moving to Toronto - you go, they ask you what you want and 75% of the time you leave with something entirely different then what you asked for.  I think the problem is they either don't listen, don't understand, can't do what you want or are drunk.  Options 1 and 2 are most likely but I won't discount option 4 in a couple of instances...  For this reason my favourite part of my cut with Byron was he really listened - I told him that I needed a cut that was low maintenance and didn't require any styling to look okay and that's exactly what I got - it's almost disappointing how well he listened because he didn't even style it fancy like they usually do at the salon, you know the style you can never replicate yourself at home?  I both hate and love that they do that!  The other great thing is that the styling product that he used was the same as the Marc Anthony products that you can buy at the drugstore, which is nice because then no one is hitting you up to buy fancy products when you are done! 

If you are shopping for a new hairdresser, I would totally recommend Byron, not only is he a good stylist, he's cute, he's straight and he flirts (not that there is anything wrong with gay hairdressers but flirting with them is like giving a blind man a subscription to Playboy - it's a nice thought but it's pointless).

Hair cuts for women start at $65 or $45 for men, colour starts at $70 and I was very interested to notice that they offer INOA for a $10 service charge.  They also offer extensions, highlights, perms, a blow dry club where you can purchase a package of blow outs for a reduced price, formal up-dos as well as bridal services.  You can get the full price list and info at www.markanthony.com  and if you're more of an uptown girl, Mark Anthony has another location at 1918 Avenue Road - 416-789-1212.

You can contact the downtown salon at 416-413-1521.

Then it was across the street to 41 Avenue Road to be pampered at Pure + Simple which is totally serene and relaxing inside and of course it smells amazing, just the way a spa should!

I was there to have the deluxe sea salt microdermabrasion.  I have never had it before but knew it was good for refining your skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines, pores, scars and pigmentation. My esthetician was Tahlia and she assured me it wouldn't hurt - which it didn't, it's an unusual sensation, a combination of light suction and a cat licking your face! Along with the micro, there is also a more traditional facial with cleansing, steaming, extractions, lotions, potions and my favourite part - facial massage!  Tahlia was great, even the extractions didn't hurt and most importantly, she did them by hand, not with something metal (which you should never let them do during a facial - fingers only)!  By the end I felt thoroughly cleansed, refreshed and relaxed.  And here's the really great part - my skin looked terrible the day I went, I was all broken out on my chin and around my mouth - by the next day I had started to clear up and within 4 days, my skin was beautifully clear.  Tahlia did warn me that I might see some flakiness right afterwards, which I did, and now that it's a week later, my skin really does look great - I will most certainly be going to have another treatment.  Some places recommend you have a series of treatments a couple of weeks apart but Tahlia recommended it be done once a month.


Once you are done your treatment, you can check out their Aladdin's cave (room) of products - Pure + Simple has their own line (made right here in Toronto) and an extensive line it is!  Every product for every skin type/issue you could think of, it probably has!  They also carry lots of other lines including: Dr. Hauschka, Jurlique, Jane Iredale Mineral MakeUp and Kiss Me.  Better yet, they will make you a sample of anything you want to take home and try!  Right now I am totally in love with the Pure + Simple Collagen + elastin Serum, it goes on silky smooth and makes my skin feel that way too!

As well as the microdermabrasion, Pure + Simple also offers facials, Intense Pulse Light Photo Facials, LED Light Treatments, LumiLift Facials, Skin Renewing Peels, Intense Pulse Light Hair Removal and waxing.

They also have 3 other locations if you aren't a downtown girl:  2375 Yonge Street - 416-481-2081; 725 King Street W - 416-366-8558 or 348 Lakeshore Rd. E, Oakville - 905-844-4900.  You can contact the 41 Avenue Road location at 416-924-6555 and if you want more info and pricing check out the website at www.pureandsimple.ca.

A couple of months ago I told you here about an event that I went to held by L'Oréal Professionnel to introduce their innovative new hair colouring product - INOA. Now it's all well and good to watch a slick presentation and admire the colour on a bunch of models but as someone smart once said - the proof is in the pudding!  Not that I wanted pudding on my head but I sure was up for trying some INOA hair colour so off I went on Saturday to Taz Hair Co. in Yorkville to have the full INOA experience.  Taz is located in a funky lower level shop on Yorkville Avenue and looks exactly like you would expect a salon in this super trendy part of town to look but at the same time I found it very warm and friendly.

I was sitting in the waiting area when I saw a girl with bright red hair show up.  Her arms were covered in tatoos, her shirt kept slipping off her shoulder and she was wearing a skirt so short, I was praying she wouldn't drop anything.  Of course, this turned out to be my colourist - Susan!  Now really,  is this what you expect a Susan to look like?  Susan's are mousy haired, wallflower accountants (no offense meant to any other Susans out there)!  They are not tattoo sporting, Bret Micheals loving, award winning colourists,  - but there you go - all my preconceived Susan notions have gone out the window!  On with the colour!

Here's a before so you can get an idea of what she started with - a dark auburn.  We decided to go light for spring.  I would have liked a strawberry blonde but INOA doesn't have a full range of reds yet so we decided on a light copper with a few highlights thrown in to lighten things up.  I had the best time with Susan while she coloured my hair and I'm pretty sure she is certifiable.  She warned me if Bret Michaels came up on the playlist that she would have to stop and slow dance - it never did happen so I didn't find out if it was me she would have been dancing with...  I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Taz has some great eye candy... just sayin'...

And here's the after - beautiful no?!  Lighter, brighter and much more springlike!  Now let me tell you, the INOA really is better than any other dye I've used or had used on me.  There was NO smell and no scalp burning to it whatsoever.  Even the semi-permanent colour I usually use at home smells terrible and stings a bit! INOA is like having conditioner on your head - if it wasn't for the colour (mine was purple) you would never know you were colouring your hair!  So if you've been avoiding hair colour because you hate the smell/pain you are going to love this stuff!

Even better, the INOA shampoo they wash the colour out with smells amazing!  All fresh and fruity, I'm going to have to find out if this stuff is sold separately!  After the blowdry I could not get over how shiny and soft my hair was - this is so not your usual damaging hair dye!

Do I love it?  Yes!  Would I do it again?  Absolutely!  Do you need some INOA hair love of your own?  Why are you still asking me crazy questions?! - get yourself to Taz immediately!  

Colourist prices are $50-$70 and up.

Stylist prices are $50-$100 and up.


They also have a full array of esthetic services from Esthetics by Eva including facials - from $50, manicures - from $24, pedicures - from $45 as well as waxing and tinting.

You can find Taz at 11 Yorkville Avenue - 416-922-6060  If you aren't lucky enough to have Taz near you, INOA is available at all L'Oréal salons, you can go here to find yours.

Still on the party circuit, Christelle and I took ourselves down to Cheval in the entertainment district of Toronto for a L'Oréal Professionnel red carpet event to launch their innovative salon haircolour - INOA!  We were greeted by delicious electric green drinks and an excited crowd.  After watching Christelle eat her weight in cured ham (which was very worrying as the ham was served on very sharp sticks and she was already well into her first litre of electric green drinks) and drip dipping sauce all over the floor and her person it was time for the presentation!

Now I am a long time hair colourer so I have pretty strong opinions about the process.  The things I don't like about haircolour are the same for at home colour as well as the salon:  it burns, it smells, the colour fades too fast and my hair looks damaged afterwards.

L'Oréal's INOA has addressed all of my concerns.  In permanent haircolour, ammonia has always been the ingredient of choice but INOA contains no ammonia.  Instead they have created a system rich in oil, used for the first time in haircolour.  It maximizes the efficiency of active colouring ingredients, including the alkaline agent, by boosting them into the heart of the hair, for greater respect of the hair fibre and unprecedented colour results.  This makes it possible to use an alkaline agent other than ammonia, providing it with lightening properties and no smell!

So let's recap: ammonia-free, odourless INOA will lighten your hair up to 3 levels, darken hair and perfectly cover grey, while respecting the scalp and the hair fibre.

At this time there are 50 shades available including 10 natural basic shades, 6 golden shades, 10 brown shades, 12 copper and red shades, 9 beige shades and 3 ash shades.

Next step of course is to get myself to a L'Oréal Professionnel salon and try this stuff out for myself.  I will let you know how that goes!  If you want to give it a try and are looking for a L'Oréal salon you can go here to find one near you.