By now you all know how much those of us here at A Girl’s Gotta Spa! adore spa treatments, we practically live for them.  But we can all agree that spa treatments are not always budget friendly, so I am always looking for ways to get the results of spa treatments without shelling out a fortune. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a few DIY at home (or in the sauna at the gym) spa treatments and I thought I would share two of my favorites with you.  I do have to warn you that you may get strange looks from a few people…just be prepared.

I love getting weekly deep conditioning treatments for my hair, but at about $50 per treatment and add in the  cost of haircuts and coloring–and I would be devoting a good portion of my monthly income to my hair. So instead of going to the salon for deep conditioning treatments, I cart my deep conditioning treatments  with me to the gym on the days I plan on using the sauna. While in the sauna I just apply whatever deep conditioning treatment I feel like my hair needs that week (a restructuring mask, hydrating treatment or nourishing oil) to my hair, wrap it in a towel and just sit there for 10-15 minutes and let the heat do its work.

Another treatment I do while in the sauna is a face mask (again either hydrating, deep cleansing or exfoliating.)  I wait until about 5-10 minutes before I plan on getting out of the sauna then apply the mask.  My favorite to apply while in the sauna is the Kate Somerville Exfolikate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment because I have noticed a big difference between using this in the sauna and just using it at home.  Yes, it tingles more because the heat loosens the debris in my pores a lot more than just using it at home. My skin also looks and feels cleaner and brighter after I use this treatment in the sauna.

Whenever I use the sauna at the gym I always leave feeling a lot more relaxed and cleansed…very similar to the feeling I get when I leave the spa.  So combine that feeling of relaxation with a few mini sauna beauty treatments and you’ve almost got yourself a bonafide spa experience…minus the plush robes, soothing music and so on, but you’ll have better looking hair and skin without the spa price tag.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you about  the perplexed looks might receive from a few people.

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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Just like me, you’ve probably thought that creating a ponytail is just about the easiest hairstyle to accomplish.  I mean how difficult could it be? You grab a hair tie, pull all your hair back and secure it with the hair tie and you have yourself a ponytail.  Well as I have learned (mostly from being on set and watching hairstylists) that way of creating a ponytail is just fine and dandy, but if you want to create the perfect ponytail you have to throw a few additional steps in there and I thought I would share those steps with you, our fabulous readers.  So here goes!

Step 1: Take a parting from ear to ear (from the back of the ear, across the top of the head to the back of the other ear).

Step 2: Clip the front part of the hair out of the way and tilt your head back slightly (to ensure that your ponytail does not end up saggy or buckles.)

Step 3: After deciding on placement of the ponytail (low, high or middle of the head), brush rear portion of hair into your hand loosely holding it, and with the other hand grab the ponytail tight against the head and secure with a hair tie.

Step 4: Release the top section with your head still tilted back slightly and brush front portion directly into the other ponytail (trying to avoid disruption of the other ponytail but don’t be afraid to brush the hair straight into and over the previously created ponytail) and secure with an elastic hair tie in the exact same way as above.

Step 5: Using hairspray for fly-aways, lightly smooth and spray fly-aways with hands or a fine tooth comb…only lightly skimming the top of the hair.

Bonus step: If you would like to make the ponytail sleeker or dress it up a bit, try grabbing a small section of the ponytail near the elastic hair tie and begin wrapping it around the elastic to hide the hair tie.  secure wrap with a hair pin and bobby pin making sure that the pin is not visible.

And there you have it, two versions of the perfect ponytail…thanks to amazing hairstylist Pearson Knight for walking us through creating the perfect ponytail!

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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Over the years I’ve come to learn that amazing beauty products are not only found in traditional beauty/cosmetics stores, but in out of the way places you wouldn’t normally consider.  My most recent great findis Mitsuwa Marketplace.  This place was recommended to me by Ji Cho, owner of Nami Restaurant in Minneapolis, MN and beauty product guru…seriously the woman is insanely knowledgeable about every and anything beauty related.  Mitsuwa Marketplace is the largest Japanese Supermarket in the U. S. They are mostly located in California with one in New Jersey and the one I visited in Chicago. This place is awesome and carries a wide variety of Japanese groceries, general items, electric appliances and beauty products.  They even have a bookstore as well as a food-court with fantastic Japanese food.

I went to Mitsuwa Marketplace with the intention of getting a deep conditioning treatment and a cream for my ends…I came out with shampoo, conditioner , conditioning hair treatment, cleansing face oil and brow pencil and this was after I decided to put some products back on the shelf!  The selection of cosmetics and beauty products were just amazing.  They had products for your hair that I never even knew existed.  The shampoo and conditioner that I bought were both from Shiseido and they’re absolutely wonderful, very moisturizing and an absolute steal!  I paid just $18.99 for both 550ml bottles (they were on special that day.)  The conditioning treatment is also pretty amazing, the brand is called IchiKami and that is about all I can decipher because everything else is in Japanese.  I love the cleansing face oil, it’s very gentle on my skin but still thoroughly cleans my face without making it feel dry.  I keep the brow pencil that I bought from there in my make-up bag at all times.  It has two sides, one side is your traditional brow pencil with a much finer tip for a really precise application and the other side is more like a liquid liner…but for your brows.  The pencil  fills in my brows, but they never look overdone and I have to wash my face to remove it because I’ve been to the gym a few times after having applied the brow pencil and it stayed put through my entire workout…and my workouts are pretty intense ones that produce buckets of sweat.

I regret not getting some of the other products I had my eyes on, like the liquid liner (my beauty guru Ji said that the Japanese liquid liners have a finer more precise tip than their American counterparts, she also suggested the fake eyelashes which are apparently pretty great.) I did discover that  Mitsuwa Marketplace does have an online store which made me pretty ecstatic, but the selection of beauty products available online is kind of limited compared to the store, lucky for me I will be spending this summer in Minnesota which means I will have plenty of opportunity to try every product  I had my eye on. Have you been there and discovered some great beauty brands yourself?

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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It’s no secret that the Poconos has an amazing destination spa tucked away in the hills of Hawley, PA: The Lodge at Woodloch. I’ve been to The Lodge at Woodloch several times and have had the pleasure of experiencing a facial, massage, pedicure, enjoying a weekend getaway with my boyfriend golfing and kayaking, makeup consultation with Christopher Drummond in their boutique and last week for the launch of their renovated Lotus Salon, along with the newest addition of Master Stylist Christine Lafferty, I headed up for a much needed hair color and cut.

First of all, while the spa may tend to be on the pricey side (it is a luxury spa after all) the Lotus Salon’s prices fall in line with what most hair salons in the area charge. So if you’ve been hesitant to try them out, put your wallet woes to rest. Lotus Salon uses Wella hair care products for color, which I have had a very good experience with in the past when I previously went to Salon L’Etoile in Jenkintown, PA. Christine used a demi-permanent color on me with a color lock. They also use Alterna (the LOVE of my life) and Moroccanoil (love their anti-frizz and hairspray) hair products.

Christine is amazing. She listens to what you want, skillfully cuts your hair all while engaging with you like you’ve been lifelong friends. And there’s nothing fake about it–Christine is super personable and it makes you want to hang out with her. But I’ve found that of most of the staff at The Lodge; just real, down to earth people (which essentially is what the Poconos is about–a truly hometown feel.) Christine previously had an upscale salon in Boston, but came back to Northeast PA when a family member was dying from ovarian cancer.  Since then, she decided to remain in the area and landed at The Lodge at Woodloch (they are lucky to have her!)

Loved the outcome of my hair! Have you experienced the Lotus Salon, or any of the spa treatments, at The Lodge at Woodloch? To view all of their offerings see their website at www.thelodgeatwoodloch.com.

*Disclosure

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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My niece Emily is a beautiful girl, both inside and out. The last year and a half has had a lot of changes for her though: her grandmother passed away from lung cancer, her grandfather had a stroke, and my sister and her husband took in 3 of his nephews who were going to be placed into foster care (and they are now in the process of adopting them.) Her husband’s sister and her daughter also moved in with my sister. Did I mention that my sister has 4 kids already, two of which are special needs? We lovingly refer to my sister’s family as The Duggars. But joking aside, Emily, who is 10 years old, began to get depressed and with the adjustment to her new family life, lost sight of her dreams.

Me, Emily and my sister Courtney

I love my niece to pieces and she has always talked about going to New York. She’s heard me talk about my trips to fashion week and to various events and who I’ve met along the way, so I knew that for her 10th birthday I wanted to surprise her with a trip into the city. With many thanks to Jason Backe and Ted Gibson of Ted Gibson Salon and Melanie Notkin of Savvy Auntie, I hatched a plan to have Emily’s hair done at Ted Gibson Salon, as well as take Em to the top of the Empire State Building with a journal in hand to write down what her hopes and dreams were.

My sister and I were reflecting on how this in-between time has an effect on a young girl’s self esteem. Like many girls these days, puberty is hitting some younger than others. This has really had an effect on Emily and she has tried to downplay it by hiding her body under vast layers of clothes, not really taking care of her hair and overall creating a sloppy appearance. While appearance isn’t everything, it was clear to me that it was simply a manifestation of how she was feeling on the inside. She didn’t want anyone to pay attention to her body changes as girls made fun of her for looking pretty and at the same time would make fun of her if she choose to be sloppy. Either way, kids weren’t looking at what a great puppeteer Emily was or how awesome she did in the church drama group. For Em, she just couldn’t win. And it hurt her self esteem overall. You can see in many of the pictures before the pampering…Emily never smiles. But once Jill Englesen was done with Emily, check out that smile as she inspected her hair. LOVE it.

What was perfect about Jill styling Emily’s hair, is that Jill is an artist. She and Emily talked about how much they love to paint. Throughout our time at the salon, Jill kept encouraging Emily to keep painting no matter what. To keep dreaming and to know that she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to.  I know that Jill really made an impact on Em.

As my tagline says “because we all deserve a little pampering,” I wanted to show Em that sometimes pampering yourself physically can sometimes (OK, many times) pamper you mentally and emotionally as well. I wanted her to see and feel for herself what it was like to take care of herself AND feel good about it–who cares about those girls at school! I wanted her to promise to herself that she would see her dreams through, to know that they are important and that she is a very talented and amazing girl.

If there is a girl in your life, whether young or old, be sure to take time to encourage her today. Too many people out there are always trying to bring us down and take away our dreams.

I love you Emily.

Love, Auntie Shannon

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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The Austin Kyle Professional Collection is a new line of hair products created by an industry veteran with over 20 years in hair care experience.  The collection boasts superior ingredients that will leave hair thoroughly cleansed, shiny and healthy.

I tried the Austin Kyle collection all of three times. The first time I used the shampoo and conditioner, my hair was the polar opposite of what the label promised – instead of being clean and purified, my locks felt weighed down and dirty, even after blow drying straight. The second try was slightly better, and alas, the third time seemed to be the charm…sort of. My hair definitely felt better than the other two uses, but shouldn’t a cleansing system work the first time?

I will say that I was a much bigger fan of Austin Kyle finishing products – especially the Hair Balm Memory Styler  and Beautiful Styling Serum. Both products followed through on their promises, and my hair felt lightweight, shiny, and protected from the elements when I styled with lots of heat.

All of the products have an almost-fruity scent reminiscent of a tanning salon – so much so that the girl I live with actually asked me if I had gone back to my old tanning habits. Not something I want to be asked, and definitely not a place I want to smell like.

Overall, I wasn’t completely dissatisfied with the line. I appreciated the Hair Balm and Styling Serum, but I don’t think I will be trying the shampoo/conditioner combination again in the future.

What was your experience with Austin Kyle hair products?

Amanda Huggins

Amanda is a PR and communications girl living and working in the NYC area. She is a firm believer in the powers of a strong cup of coffee and fire-engine red lipstick.

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As you may (or may not) know, I often get emails from readers asking me questions regarding beauty products, skin care or hair care issues. I have to say, the number one topic that I get asked a lot about is the solution for fine hair. Many people ask how to add volume to fine, limp hair, while others ask which products won’t easily weigh down their locks or make them greasy. The John Frieda® Luxurious Volume collection was recently put on my radar, and it appears it may help with some of these issues.

John Frieda® Luxurious Volume products aim to give fine, limp hair visible, touchable lift, fuller strands, natural-looking volume, and lift that lasts all day. The collection includes: Thickening Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner, Blow-Dry Lotion Root Booster, Thickening Mousse, Extra Hold Hairspray, and Anytime Volume Refresher.

Here’s the breakdown of what each product looks to do:

Shampoo: Plumps and thickens fine strands. Works from the inside out for airy fullness and movement.
Conditioner: Targets damaged areas, providing lightweight conditioning for silky, full-bodied hair.
Blow-Dry Lotion Root Booster: Ultra-lightweight spray lotion lifts fine hair at the roots and thickens strands for natural-looking volume that lasts.
Thickening Mousse: Ultra-light formula thickens strands, giving fine hair airy fullness, body, and bounce.
Extra Hold Hairspray: Lightweight, ultra-fine spray offers the extra hold and body crucial to volumized styles. Hair looks natural and stays full and uplifted all day.
Anytime Volume Refresher: Perfect pick-me-up styler. Use this dry spray shampoo to renew volume as fine hair starts to drop during the day. This purse-sized styler can be used anytime, anywhere.

On their Facebook fan page, John Frieda® Hair Care also has a spot with tips on using the products to add volume to your hair (Beautiful Results tab.) There’s been a lot of buzz around this line, which I have no doubt about considering fine hair seems to be the number topic lately (even my boyfriend’s mom has fine hair and is always asking me for product recommendations.)

Have you tried Luxurious Volume? I’d love for you to share your experience in the comments.

*Disclosure: Sponsored

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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We’re heading into the colder months, which typically means making the switch from highlighted hair to warmer tones. My natural hair color is dark brown, but typically I lighten or highlight it in the summer months. Being that it is only 6 weeks until Christmas, getting my hair colored at the salon was not in my wallet’s vocabulary, so I opted to color my hair at home. I made my way to CVS and decided upon John Frieda’s Precision Foam Colour. I went with 4BG  (Dark Chocolate Brown.)

My highlighted hair before, colored immediately after and results 1 week later.

I have to say, I don’t typically read the warnings on home hair coloring kits because I have been coloring my hair since I was 13 and they typically all say the same thing. However, I noticed John Frieda’s included some things I have never seen before like you need to remove all accessories you are wearing and cannot use metal tools. Since there seems to be an issue with metal, I assumed that the accessories they meant were jewelry.  So I removed my earrings. It also says you shouldn’t use this product if you have a temporary black Henna tattoo, as it is likely to increase an allergy risk. If you wear contacts, you need to remove them also…however I’m not sure how you could put on your glasses since you can’t have metal around. If you’ve colored your hair previously with compound hennas, metallic dyes or color restorers you have to wait until your hair has grown out and then cut.

And don’t try to put the foam on your eyelashes or eyebrows because it may cause blindness.

So, basically, by the time I was done reading that I was freaked out. Then I went on to read how to mix the product. It says you cannot shake the mix (you need to gently tilt it 5 times,) you cannot use the pump but instead have to squeeze the bottle to make the foam come out of the pump…which is psychologically confusing because you are holding a bottle with a pump…that you cannot pump. The bottle needs to remain upright at all times and you can only apply the foam to your hands first (in gloves of course) and not directly onto your hair.

So basically I felt I was going to mess this up big time.

Application was tricky because the instructions state that you cannot get the foam on your face or ears at all. My hair is shoulder length, so good luck with that Shannon! Trying to prevent the foam from touching my skin, while trying to keep the bottle upright and not pump it was like playing a game of Twister.  Additionally your hair needs to be “frothy” with foam in order to be “done.” Ok, guess what? Foam evaporates or absorbs into your hair. Especially if you have long-ish hair and are trying to make sure you get each section equally. Wait time from this point is 30 minutes.

I rinsed my hair, applied the conditioner, rinsed that out after 3 minutes and then blew it dry. I was pleasantly surprised with the color. I loved it. Tweeted about it. My 7 year old snapped my pic for me and I was happy I was still alive with great looking hair.

Fast forward 1 week and while my hair is still brown, as you can see from the picture…the color has significantly faded. Ugh. I do not wash my hair everyday, in fact I usually only wash it every other day. I also used sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner, so I know it wouldn’t have been the culprit to strip my hair color. I also hadn’t washed my hair 24 hours before applying the foam as the instructions stated and I did not have any product build-up to prevent the color from adhering.

So was it worth it to save myself the $60-$75 of coloring my hair at the salon? Not really.

Have you used John Frieda’s Precision Foam? I’d like to hear about your experience (good or bad.)

Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson launched A Girl's Gotta Spa! in 2005. She currently works with beauty brands as a social media consultant, freelance writes for magazines and is a public speaker at beauty industry conferences.

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When it comes to my hair, I pretty much tend to limit the amount of products I introduce it to, sticking mainly to shampoo, conditioners, deep condition treatments and a shine product for when I want to blow dry.  I avoid most other products such as hairspray, gels, styling creams, etc. because I have not had very good experiences with them.  Maybe it’s because I have very textured hair, but most styling products have  left my hair feeling dry and brittle.  As great as my avoidance of most styling products have been on my hair as well as my wallet, sometimes I would like the amazing hairstyles that my very talented hairstylist boyfriend creates to last for more than an hour in the Miami heat…which is only possible with the aid of  styling products of course.

As a working model whose had my hair teased, curled, crimped and manipulated in every way possible, as well as living with a hairstylist, I’ve gained valuable knowledge about what products and brands of products work for my hair type and which I should avoid at all costs…the list of what I trust and what works is pretty short, hence I’m always hesitant about deviating from my “trusted list”.  So it was with a bit of trepidation (yes trepidation…I know it’s just hair but unhealthy hair for me could mean I don’t work for a month or so) that I decided to try Sojourn’s Firm Hold Working Spray.

I decided I would try the Firm Hold Working Spray on a photo-shoot I already had scheduled because if it performed well under hot studio lights as well as on location on a windy day without causing my hair to feel and look dry, then I would definitely have a styling product to add to the “trusted” list.  The hair for the day of the shoot was  simple, pretty, healthy looking hair that needed to stay looking pretty and  simple for a few hours.  Hairstylist Pearson Knight of PK Hair was the stylist on set the day of the shoot.  He blew out my hair with a round brushed, then set the random tousled curls with a large barreled curling iron and the Firm Hold Working Spray.  The spray performed great.  The hairstyle stayed in place for the duration of the photo-shoot (which included three different wardrobe changes and two location changes….one outside on a pretty windy day), but still had movement as well as shine.  After the shoot I did not immediately rush home to wash and condition my hair as I am normally prone to doing because my hair did not feel overly dry and as if it was going to break off if I ran my hands through it. Overall, I was really happy with how the spray performed and the hairstylist seemed excited about trying a product he had not used before and having it work so well. Sojourn’s Form Working Spray has officially been added to the “trusted” list.

Gail Lewis

Gail is at times a model, most of the time a blogger, but always a beauty junkie.

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