The Before:
“Hummmmm… hummmmmmmm… ” This is the sound of me meditating on what to do for one of Grand Rapids’ premiere Yoga instructors. Michele Fife is owner of Seva Yoga Studio in East Grand Rapids, where students not only seek her out for yoga expertise, but also as a resource for a healthier lifestyle. Michele’s makeover is one of my favorites. Not because it’s super dramatic, but because we tailored it so realistically to her lifestyle. We didn’t make her a blonde or cut all her hair off—we didn’t have to. Subtle change can have huge impact, and I think we showed that really well.
The Plan:
I wanted to use haircolor to add some dimension to Michele’s hair. Since Michele is low maintenance, we didn’t want her to have a ton of commitment with color. Listening to Michele talk, you pick up on a lot of her passions: organic, healthy, local. I wanted her color to reflect this, so we used a very safe technique of lightening I call “teasy-lites”, which focuses color towards the ends of the hair. This adds movement, but she could choose to grow it out rather than maintain it and it would still look beautiful. For makeup, we used my bridal theory: “putting a ton of makeup on to make it look like you don’t have any makeup on.” Makes sense, right? Michele has beautiful clear skin so this was pretty simple. I’m all about having makeup do double duty, so you’ll often catch me using blush as an eyeshadow, and foundation as an eye primer. Why have 15 products that accomplish the same task?
The After:
Michele’s new color reflects her personality beautifully. There is more dimension and movement in her hair, and the hydrating system of hair color makes her almost glow. I curled her hair by wrapping it around a curling iron rather than actually using the clip, giving it a more natural appearance and showing off her gorgeous “organic caramel” highlights. Her makeup is simple but effective. It was gratifying to hear her say “WOW…..this looks so natural….so ME!!” when I was done, since those were our top two goals.
Monthly Challenge:
Michele inspired me to start thinking a little greener and living a little healthier. Let’s face it—we could all live a healthier lifestyle. What subtle changes could you make in your daily routine to make it happen? This month I challenge all of our readers to make some healthy changes. Of course, I never want you to forget….there IS such a thing as healthy hair!!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lauren Cole owns Ecouter: A Paul Mitchell Focus Salon, is a National Educator for John Paul Mitchell Systems, and when not making people beautiful, can be found in the boxed wine section of your favorite supermarket.
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