Every year I write a blog post about our unique summers here. For many folks, hair is a real problem! Red Union Salon likes to carry and keep abreast of the best hair products. Privé is how we deal with freezing high winds and rolling fog in the San Francisco summer.

Privé just launched a brand new product called Concept Vert Volumizing Froth, perfect for fine hair. It is a revolutionary non-aerosol mouse that provides incredible body, volume and definition, leaving your hair soft shiny and full of body. Go ahead blow in the volume!

For ultimate curls, mix 3 parts Leave-In Treatment to one part Shine Serum and apply on the shaft and ends. Layer hair with Foaming Styler and Curl Activating Cream from scalp to ends. Either blow dry with diffuser or dry naturally, scrunching it to create soft, defined curls.

When it comes to great curls I say product, product, product!

Edgy texture for short styles is best achieved by mixing a pea-sized amount of Extended Texture Clay with a quarter-sized amount of Foaming Styler, then apply to short hair. Style as desired. For amazing shine spray Flash Brilliance lightly to the finished style.

So here you have it! Call us if you’d like to make an appointment to come in and have your hair styled with these amazing new products. We’ll show you how it’s done in person.

Happy styling!

The hands-down winners so far have been Privé’s Concept Vert Rejuvenating Pure Shampoo & Conditioner. Like all Concept Vert products, this shampoo/conditioner duo has only natural active ingredients, and not a chemical in sight. That means none of the bad stuff: no sulfates, parabens, phthalates, gluten, PABA, mineral oil, paraffin, DEA, TEA, or artificial colors. They are completely vegan and never tested on animals.

Rejuvenating Pure Shampoo & Conditioner’s active ingredients do include responsibly sourced, Amazonian certified Organic Acai Berry and Babassu Oil (which act as healing strengtheners and antioxidants). This means that Concept Vert is about protecting and strengthening your hair… and making it look good.

Aside from simply loving the line, we are excited about carrying Privé’s products because of their CAN REUSE program. They have patented a special type of packaging that prevents their containers from getting contaminated during use. Because of this extra attention and care to their packaging, they have been able to pioneer a can return program for participating salons. When you are finished with your Privé products, you can simply drop the cans back off at Red Union Salon and we will return them to Privé, where they will be sanitized and reused.

Privé is a French line and not a lot of salons are yet using it in the States. Red Union Salon is excited to be a part of innovating a new trend in eco-cool hair products. The most important thing? As stylists, we really like using these products, and as our clients, you seem to love them too.

As Privé says: finally, a haircare line that is as good for the environment as it is for your hair.

Oh and by the way, yet another great thing about Privé as a company: they have a project called “Privé Gives Back” that is all about raising funds and awareness for fighting breast cancer and hosting other benefits. Read about it on their web site:
priveproducts.com

          

Tom’s website:
myspace.com/itsthebutcher

Erin’s website:
erinwapple.com

The artist will recall learning how to hold the pencil at 3, to create a world to escape into even early on in childhood. By the age 7 she had began to declare that she wanted to be an ‘animator’ when she grew up. She always pursued the arts and theatre realizing that animation would be the perfect opportunity to ‘act through her pencil’ so she figured may as well adapt to the concepts early on. She pursued a career in animation at age 18 when moving to San Francisco to study her passion. She has worked all over the bay for Independant Non-Profit companies providing services in graphic design, illustration and animation. Currently, she is working on an animation collaboration with local artist Alp Ozberker. Alongside multiple independent projects.

To view more examples of illustrations see:
imagineartistone.carbonmade.com

Usually by this time, women are getting their roots touched up every 2-1/2 to 3 weeks. Their question is whether or not we can simply dye your hair gray and be done with it.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as all that. The simple answer is, no. You cannot dye your hair gray. Gray hair is due to loss of pigment in your hair.

Hair that has lost pigment is technically translucent hair, meaning it has no color in the shaft. That is why as your hair continues to gray, it goes from looking somewhat silver (due to the fact that you still have a number of hairs that have pigment in them) to white, which is when all shafts of hair have lost pigment.

For those of you who may want to consider “going gray” naturally, you could consider slowly lightening your hair to a pale blonde color. This way you could go a little bit longer between colorings, and gradually grow into your new hair color.

What you’re trying to do is to transition from the permanent tint that has been applied to your hair so far, and using a temporary or semi-permanent formulation to continue covering the gray as the original permanent color grows out.

Temporary color washes out after a single shampoo. The nice thing about the semi-permanent color is that it only adheres to the outside of the shaft of hair with a little bit of the dye penetrating the hair shaft and then washes out after a certain number of shampoos. This technique works best for women who have adopted a shorter hair style. This will give you more time between applications.

Most women will either gently adapt to their natural gray color in this way, or they will decide that they would prefer to continue to show a younger look to the world, and return to coloring their hair. Most women find that going a little bit lighter matches the look of their skin complexion better. As we age, we do need to adjust the colors we wear in our make-up, our clothing, and our hair.

I am so happy I flew to Tucson for the event, to get to know the actors at the Cast party, and to meet with Ian MacNeil for the after-show celebration; not to mention the haircuts, color & styles I am scheduled to give to both Kirsten and her Mother Ginia Desmond screenwriter, painter and favorite client of Red Union Salon!

Meeting with Ian MacNeil was a highlight of the trip so far. He came specifically to see Kirsten in Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage all the way from his home in London, via Chicago where he is at work on the touring show of Billy Elliot. Ian is known for his amazing talent as Set Designer extraordinaire, and won the Drama Desk Award as well as the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Design (twice) for An Inspector Calls. He also received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Billy Elliot The Musical. In 1999, he staged the international tour of the Pet Shop Boys. Ian is currently in collaboration with the famous baritone Karl Daymond for set design on Don Giovanni the opera for the English National Opera at the London Coliseum.

You will see here a photo of me standing with Kirsten at the theater in front of the poster of Flaming Guns of the Sage. Great show, great time…wish you were here!

To see Kirsten’s resume: KirstenLong.com

- Erika Redding

Sonja Krenek, Soprano, Master of Music Recital with Mai-Linh Pham on Piano.

Free Admission.

Featuring music by Handel, Schubert, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Britten and Barber.

About Sonja Krenek:
Growing up in Eureka, California, Sonja Krenek was very involved in music, even at a young age. She studied several instruments, including piano, flute, oboe, and the alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Ms. Krenek also performed in many classical and jazz bands, and orchestras, including the All-State Honor Band and Orchestra and those at Eureka Senior High School.

Ms. Krenek attended the University of California, Irvine, where she earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in 2008. During her time there she performed such roles as Musetta in a performance of the third act of La Bohème, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and Monica in The Medium. She also performed as Christine in an excerpted version of The Phantom of the Opera for the Orange County Philharmonic Society.

After graduating, Sonja moved to San Francisco to pursue her Master of Music Degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2009, during her first year of study, she won second place in the Vocal Concerto Competition. She then went on to win the competition in 2010 and was cast as Anne Trulove in the school’s 2010 production of The Rake’s Progress.

Sonja has spent several summers participating in performance programs. In 2005 she was involved with the Opera festival di Roma where she sang La Prima Conversa in Suor Angelica as well as in the chorus for Le Nozze di Figaro. Ms. Krenek also attended SongFest in 2006 and 2009, where she had the opportunity to be involved in scene performances, singing such characters as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She has performed in many Master Classes with such great artists as Stephanie Blythe, Luana De Vol, Martin Katz, Margo Garrett, Elizabeth Futral, Amy Burton, Mark Morash, Frans Boerlager, Victoria Litherland and Angela Brown. Sonja has also been a finalist in competitions such as Tomorrow’s Stars and the Holt Memorial Scholarship.

Beowulf Alley Theatre continues its season with the shoot ‘em up, knock ‘em up, cut ‘em up comic romp, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage by Jane Martin. Performances are for three weekends only from February 26, 2010 through March 14, 2010. The theatre is located at 11 South 6th Avenue, 85701, in Downtown Tucson between Broadway and Congress. Tickets may be purchased online at www.beowulfalley.org (discount available) or by phone at (520) 882-0555.

Big 8, is facing foreclosure on the Wyoming ranch where she rehabilitates injured rodeo cowboys. The arrival of a shocking woman named Shedevil and a one eyed Ukrainian biker named Black Dog ushers in outrageous violence and horror in this comedy that roasts the cowboy mentality of western writers like Zane Grey. This bodacious and macabre play mixes horror and hilarity as it pits the code of the West against contemporary darkness. May be inappropriate for persons under 13 years old.

The funniest and the wildest…Adds still another dimension to this author’s body of work…The laughs are nonstop. – Center Stage

There is some question as to the identity of the mysterious playwright, Jane Martin. She has been referred to as “America’s best known, unknown playwright”. The name Jane Martin is widely believed to be a pseudonym. She has never made any public appearances or spoken about any of her works. Nor has she ever given an interview. No biographical details are known about her. No photographs of Ms. Martin have ever been published. Many people speculate that Ms. Martin is actually Jon Jory. Mr. Jory denies that he is the writer of Ms. Martin’s plays, and has in fact written several plays under his own name.

Steve Anderson tells us, “The reason I chose to direct this play is, first – it’s funny as hell. I don’t often laugh out loud while reading a script, but this was one of those times. Second, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage offers a particular challenge to the director as it blends two genres: “Early Cowboy Western” and “B-Horror Flick.” What director doesn’t like a great challenge, right? It also offered me another venue in which to stage shootings, stabbings, and dismemberment. What fun!!”

Steve’s directing credits include West Side Story, Pack of Lies, Rain, Life on the Rez, and Hot L Baltimore. He earned his MFA in Acting at Brandeis University, As a guest artist at Clemson University and UW-River Falls, Steve taught Acting, Relaxation for the Performer, Movement and Combat where he choreographed Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, respectively. He studied Stage Combat with, and was certified by, David Leong, Broadway’s premiere fight director at that time, as well as David Woolley (Chicago). Additional fight direction includes Tartuffe, Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe and Beowulf Alley’s Fool for Love. As an actor, he has worked off-Broadway and in regional theatre. In LA, Steve was a member of the Blue Line Theatre Company performing in several noteworthy productions, including the Dramalogue Award-winning play, The Walker Women of Willow Grove, and Telethon with Broadway and film veteran Chuck Stransky. He toured with Obie Award-winner Ralph Lee’s Mettawee River Theatre Company in New York and performed on the Summer Stage in Central Park and at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Members of the cast for Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage are Susan Arnold, Holly-Marie Carlson, Jake Chapman, Benjamin Dygert, Lucas Gonzales, Kirsten Long, and Gabe Nagy. The production team includes Tim Bremser (Lighting Designer), Joel Charles (Set Designer), Matthew Copley (Special Visual Effects and Makeup), Bill Galbreath (Scenic Artist), Alex Greengaard (Original Music Composer/Sound Effects), and Angela Walker (Stage Manager/Costume Designer).

Produced by special arrangements with Samuel French, Inc.

Kirsten Long has been a client of Red Union Hair Salon for a decade now. We’re all very excited about her show, and are please to be sharing this information with all of you.

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Tags: Benjamin Dygert, Beowulf Alley Theatre, Big 8, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, Gabe Nagy, Holly-Marie Carlson, Jake Chapman, Kirsten Long, Lucas Gonzales, Samuel French, Steve Anderson, Susan Arnold, Tucson
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