We at VAIN don’t mind admitting when we’re obsessed (Kevin Murphy hair products, anyone?), and Lady Gaga + Beyonce’s new “Telephone” video has got us there. Bright yellow curls! Pop-can rollers! Cigarette shades against a platinum updo! Beyonce’s bangs! A TELEPHONE MADE OUT OF HAIR! In the words of one of our stylists, it’s like a “visual hair orgasm.” Agreed. We’re speechless.
Check it out:
The next time you get your hair done at VAIN downtown + want to capture the oh-I-look-GOOD moment, VAIN’s got you covered. The VAIN Mirror, located near the front of the salon, is our version of a digital photo booth (behind a perfectly VAIN gold frame, of course) that lets you take your own picture + check it out on the spot on a touchscreen monitor. Don’t like your picture? Delete it + take a re-do if want to. You can also view other people’s pics + vote for your favorites. Images are then uploaded to the VAIN Mirror Flickr page where you can download them for your own use for free. Can you say Facebook profile?
If you’re camera shy + not feeling ready for your close-up, that’s ok: the VAIN Mirror pictures are worth checking out just to see the diverse personal styles + hairdos of our clients + staff on an average day. Case in point:
Who knows? You might just see a picture that gets you inspired for your next cut + color. At the very least, we know you’ll enjoy the bird’s eye VAIN view.
The VAIN Mirror is located at VAIN’s downtown salon- 2018 1st Ave. Don’t have an appointment to get your hair done with us? Stop in + take your picture anyway. It’s free + open to the public! Check out the VAN Mirror Flickr page online at www.flickr.com/photos/vainmirror/.
Not sure what to wear to your next holiday party? Try dressing your hair up. VAIN downtown stylist William specializes in party hair, whether you want a twist on the classic updo, a stylized fingerwave (pictured above), or a more fashion-forward, conceptual look (example below- we told you it’s his specialty!). Added bonus? William’s updos start at only $30. So don’t bother dropping half your paycheck on a new outfit for New Year’s Eve- perfect party hair is the new little black dress.
To schedule your appointment with William or any of our other visionary stylists who do special event/party hair, call VAIN downtown at 206.441.3441. Photos by Kaylin Rodriquez- check her out at www.kaylinrodriquez.com
You know VAIN loves a creative use of hair, and Peaches delivers (and literally wears it) in the “Talk to Me” video off her new album. Hair everywhere!
For those of us lucky enough to see the lady herself perform live at the Showbox last week, the mega-haired, platinum Cousin Its from the video made a special appearance live onstage, AND Peaches wore a set of long, glam-chewbacca sleeves that could only be described as a hair bolero. Awesome. People kept saying, “Is that HAIR?” Yes, yes it is hair, and we like it.
What’s YOUR creative hair expression look like? We can make it happen. Call VAIN at 206.441.3441 downtown or 206.706.2707 in Ballard to book an appointment.
I’m all for getting the most life out of your shampoo. 3-day hair, great. Product in layers? Fantastic! But what in dried-out murky mop action is happening on Fergie’s head right now? Just wondering.
Color me flossy,
-Rebecca P.
Our friend Laura of lauratakespictures.com celebrated our VAINiversary with us back in December, perfectly capturing our festivities with her photo magic.
Yesterday she came back to see us for this sweet cut:
Rachel did the cut - and the DIY color is by Laura herself! She’s got that gorgeous face that works with bright blonde to black and everything in between. [Ed: I think I have seen her with literally every color at least once]. The style of the cut was inspired by Marianne Faithful circa Rock ‘n Roll circus, only slightly shorter in back.
See the original cut + icon in action via youtube.
xo,
VAIN Ballard
Via NYT
I can’t even decide if I love the updo in the center or the left more. Never mind, I just love them both! Someone throw a fancy party ASAP, please, so I have an excuse to do that with my hairs.
More on Berlin Fashion Week at The Moment
xo,
Sarah Jo
Why, out of all the people in the world who could take the precious gift of crimped hair and spread its message of tiny zigzagged beauty + joy to the world, did it have to be Tyra? WHY?
Don’t get me wrong- many of us at VAIN have watched T-Banks’ hair over the years with great interest; Some of us have even tried it on. But the crimp? The holy grail of hairstyles-that-haven’t-been-given-their-due-but-surely-will-rise-again? I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right. I’d rather see it on the streets of Seattle or on a runway someplace. Anyone got a picture they can send me? Help a crimp fan out!
-Rebecca P.
Hi VAIN Blog readers, have you missed us? Sorry for going MIA- we’ve been busy doing hair, thinking about doing hair, and helping plot new looks for our clients and for ourselves for ‘09. I personally have been away from le blog because of eye trauma from Renee Zellweger’s hair + getup at the Golden Globes. I don’t even want to talk about it. Girl looks like she stuck her finger in a socket.
But I digress. Happy 2009! Hope it’s been a good one so far. We’ve got plenty of VAIN hot hair on deck to make it even better.
-Rebecca P. + VAIN
Hairdos of New Years past: plain and pulled back in 2002.
It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m not sure what to do with my hair. Magazines are telling me to go updo, I managed a decent DIY blowout this morning that could work with some straightening iron help, and you know how I feel about a holiday crimp. But what I’m thinking is this: my hair saw a lot of action in 2008- blonde, blonder, less blonde, brown, brownish, this- so maybe I should just welcome in 2009 with a little less pomp and product.
This time last year I was VAIN blogging about The Crocodile closing and how we should keep the good kinds of change coming to our hairdos. A year later I still think that (and look what’s re-opening soon!), but it has occurred to me that maybe change, or at least mine, can be back to something from years past and not necessarily brand new. One of my favorite New Year’s Eves ever was spent with my hair just plain and pulled back. It felt good.
So- I’m going to tuck my hair behind my ears and head out to celebrate the year ahead. I hope whether yours is up, down, done or not, your hair, night, and new year are full of whatever change feels best to you, too.
-Rebecca P.
Our guest blogger Lauren Hoffman is a freelance writer who recently returned to Seattle from New York, after receiving an MFA in creative non-fiction. You can read more of her words in her recent feature on babble.com.
Jack Donaghy once said on an episode of 30 Rock, Your hair is your head suit. I’m inclined to agree, and not just because Alec Baldwin is welcome to come on over and call me a little pig anytime he likes. I’ve long believed in the importance of good hair, perhaps because I’ve spent a fair portion of my life with very, very bad hair. I was twenty-one before it was brought to my attention that neither a bleached-blonde crewcut nor a chin length bob with a center part and straight across bangs were the most flattering of choices for me. The overalls and enormous glasses weren’t either, but that’s all tangential to the story at hand.
At the beginning of the summer, I had a proper ponytail for the first time in my life. At the beginning of the summer, I had a proper nervous breakdown. It’s worth noting, perhaps, that this was not the fault of the ponytail.
There’s an ultimately uninteresting story in the middle, here, about doctors and ennui and collapse and waiting and really, really good psychoactive medication. But as everything was finally quieting down, I was ready for the era of greasy topknot by default to come to an end. I wanted to start doing things on purpose.
My haircut is loosely based on Anne Hathaway’s in Rachel Getting Married. The portions of the film I didn’t spend choke-crying were spent wondering whether Hathaway had to flat iron her hair to get it to look that way. I didn’t get the haircut because I emulate Hathaway’s character, Kym. Her choices were far more destructive than anything I’d ever managed, probably by the grace of my inbred Midwestern inhibition. There was certainly a level on which I identified with her, over-identified with her, even, but I mostly got the haircut because it’s just freaking fierce.
It’s tough girl hair, messy and shaggy and dark and the teensiest bit edgy, nine inches shorter and half a dozen shades darker. For the first time in my life, I feel like myself. And thanks to Aubrie and Carissa, I look like myself, too.
Is it time for you to say goodbye to an old look? To schedule with Aubrie or Carissa, give our front desk staff at call at 206.441.3441
Spotted: cool authentic “gashapon” vending machine from Japan at Kobo at Higo in Seattle’s International District. 500 yen ($5, they give you a token) gets you a mini plastic head with a removable hairdo. Removable hairdo! Can you say “super awesome stocking stuffer” in Japanese?