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Sideburns are a very important part of a haircut. Some guys may not put enough thought into this, but the length, thickness, and shape all help develop an image that defines an individual. We all know that unfortunately with Asian hair, most guys sideburns don't really grow through much, but for those lucky ones who’s burns do grow then alot of fun and expression can be had.I would like to go through afew basic choices in shapes and give you my thoughts and opinions on them.

Lets start with NO sideburns: This image (below) is usually sported by the military. Hair is shaven so close that there is no stop or start to the hairline. On the right person, this look can be converted from stiff and formal to a trendy hip look, i.e. Beckham

Beckham

But be warned, on the wrong person, this could happen:

Asian Shaven

Then there’s what I call the Forest Gump, where the hairline is taken high on the sides, usually the guideline to where a sideburn should start is by following the corner of the eye, it should not go higher unless you want the Gump look, not too hot I might add:

Forest Gump Nic Cage

Basic Men's Length: This is what I call the business mans length, safe and normal with just the right thickness.

david Archuleta

From there we have the slightly longer lengths, which I think make a normal haircut look slightly trendier:

Asian with basic Basic Asian basic

Onto slightly different funkier sides, I chose to keep this quite basic as I could've very easily found some CRAZY looks but didn’t want to go there, so from ultra thin and long to ultra thick like Elvis’s (very renowned for his sideburns):

And finally, for those of you who’s sideburns may grow and grow, here’s some fancy dancy looks of Ludacris:

Ludicrus 1 Ludicrus 2

Davines – Defining Invisible Paste:

This product is one of my favorites right now and I constantly go back to it because of its reliability to give me a messier chunky texture in short to medium length hair. This is a soft creamy paste that is very easy to distribute throughout the hair, although I tend to put it more towards the ends of the hair and I leave out the roots (as it may make it look greasy) My method of application is to rub it into both hands and with the hair hanging forward or sideways away form the scalp, I grab a clump of hair and roll it into the ends.

Once the product is evenly distributed, I dry it with a dryer, either with or without a diffuser and slightly squeeze the hair to give the hair a messier look.

DSC05767

Sometimes we get the odd clients who come in for a haircut and then we don't see them for almost a year, meanwhile their hair is down their back and they come in, cut it off and start all over again.

Personally I really don't mind this, because it shows that a haircut can be so well done that it can last such a long time, and it can be enjoyed throughout the various stages of growth.

Here’s Karen, coming into Dekko after about 9months, she trims her own fringe in between haircuts to keep the front looking fresher. The curls were made more definite as she had her hair tied up all day.

We decided to cut the hair almost back to shoulder length, put alot of layers into it and framed the face with alot of movement and layering. We cut the hair using scissors as Karen’s hair is on the finer side and we then blow dried it straight but bouncy using Prive Weightless Amplifier.

Thanks Karen, really appreciate it. (Didn’t mean to chop the top of your head off, it just happened sorry.)


Love this look so much, it's a good show of short and long layers with the most extreme kind of blending, leaving the longer hair much wispier and thinner as the top layers are taken away.
Great haircut.

Have you ever wondered what type of layers to ask for when you go to the hairdressers?
Here are some ideas and facts to think about before you decide.
There are not very many combinations to think about when talking about layers. There are afew variation of things like - thickness, length, fringe, and messiness.These range from long heavy layers, medium length layers with heavy bottom, lighter short layers with wispy edges, rocker edgy very short layers with wispy ends or ultra funky disconnected layers.
Each one can then be combined with either a long fringe, sweepy fringe, blunt, soft, shorter fringe, or even chunky funky very short fringe.
From there you would need to decide whether to have blunter ends (cut with scissors) or wispy ends (cut with a razor) From these few options you can safely decide which one is more suitable for your needs.

Long Heavy layers (as seen on Angelina above)– this one is good for people who like their hair to look abit neater, the heavier layers are good for keeping waves weighed down, therefore the blow dry stays longer and hair stays in place longer.
This one is also showing long layers but done on shorter hair but again notice how the hair is neater looking because the weight of the layers weigh the hair down. Both were cut with scissors.
On Jocelyn (above) the layers are taken shorter but still quite controlled and heavy, still cut with scissors but this time the layers are chopped into abit to show more wispiness towards the ends. Jocelyn’s layers were combined with a longer side swept fringe.
Here we have a combination of a long fringe and short layers, cut with the razor to bring out the waves as much as possible, this is ideal for people who prefer their hair to look messier, hence all the weight taken out and the wispy edges.
Lastly, here's Livia cut by Joni, with her razored short rocker layers, hair is made more extreme by taking the top layers very short, this is for the ones who love alot of texture and enjoy their hair standing out more from the crowd.
So hopefully, armed with these facts and ideas you will be able to go into a salon and describe your dream layers more.

My own personal opinions on metal brushes are not very favorable, throughout my career, I have seen some of the damage that a metal brush can do to finer soft hair.

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Granted, most Asian hair can handle almost anything, so the typical coarse Asian hair could handle the way the the brush heats up while it is styling the hair, but If you don't have the heavy coarse hair then do yourself a favor and avoid it. As the metal heats up, it is too extreme for finer hair textures to handle especially on a regular basis, It can cause damage, snappage and split ends throughout the hair shaft.


If you can ignore and close out the silly ads that have appeared above, you'll see..

Another round of cool hair around town, thanks to all you gals who posed for me.

WEN – Cleansing Conditioners

This line of products was developed by Chaz Dean, who specializes in color in LA, he developed them without any harsh chemicals which normally leave the hair looking lifeless and limp.

I’m recommending this line as I had just posted an article about not shampooing hair and just using conditioner, this line of products are based on this whole idea.

I have tried this product and have found it to leave the hair with a great texture. I tried a couple of the different types, one being perfect and the other being a little on the heavy side. So the secret is to find the one most suitable for you. They even have a trial package of all of the different types which is great so you can try them all out before deciding.

WEN 2Wen’s line of cleansing conditioners…..

Not Shampooing Hair…..

Did you know that if you stop shampooing your hair and just either wet it or simply use conditioner, it will eventually ‘self cleanse’, the smell with go away and you will be left with non frizzy, healthy textured hair?

This works particularly well with textured hair, whether wavy or curly. Shampoo takes away natural oils and therefore leave the hair slightly frizzy. By using only conditioner or water, this helps keep the hair ‘together’ eliminating frizz.

So, if you can handle the itchy, smelly initial 2 weeks,(without losing your friends) then congratulations for having great hair.