Do you love to change your hair color and to experiment with different hues but are sensitive to chemicals, fumes or concerned about the health consequences of putting ammonia in your body? In this world turned green, it is not surprising that more and more eco-friendly, natural hair dyes are surfacing. But do they measure up to their chemical sisters? Susan Henry, a top colorist in Beverly Hills has developed Susan Henry’s Natural Color-Process a line of chemical-free hair color that delivers rich permanent color and holds up well to the challenge.

A hair color specialist who served A-list clients in L.A for 30 years, Henry was inspired to research plants as a basis for hair color after getting poisoined by the fumes of traditional hair dyes at work. Her line is the result of long research delving into the secrets of plants and experimenting in her kitchen for many months. The basis of her ingredients is composed of wheat germ, sea weed, flower and beet extracts. Alcohols are used instead of metals or formaldehyde.

A girl can never have too many hair products – even when she needs another closet, bureau, vanity or under-the-bed-rolling-Tupperware box for the overflow. I know that’s where I’m at. And still, I keep browsing the web and retail aisles for more, anxious to hear the latest development that will surely make my hair the pinnacle of perfection with minimal to no effort. Right. Well even if that doesn’t happen for you, these products will surely help you along the road to get there, and in the process give you a reason to buy that new bathroom vanity. Perfect hair? Maybe not today or tomorrow or ever. But pretty hair? No doubt.

Jonathan
In my mind, Jonathan products’ claim to fame was as much about the famous Dirt product as it was the founder, Jonathan Antin’s, popular TV show. He since sold the line and it has been releasing product boasting the Jonathan name and a promise of quality.

I was a bit skeptical once I found out that he was no longer with the company – but then I realized that there was nothing to fear, for the Jonathan product would endure and perhaps even surpass what it was in its former ownership.

Over the past few months, the line has released a few different products and is gearing up for a July release of its Jonathan Product Dry Shampoo in Black, an addition to the Jonathan Green Rootine Line. The new shade for dark brown and black hair gives you the ability to cleanse and refresh your hair and scalp without having to dunk your skull in the sink. Or for a more serious cleanse, condition and style treatment, there’s the Infinite Volume collection. The line was developed with Jonathan’s innovative Expansion Nanotechnology, which makes achieving lasting volume and voluptuous hair effortless. This Interpenetrating Polymer Network Delivery System utilizes chemical and electromagnetic forces to expand and strengthen the hair shaft creating volume from the inside out.

Twisted Sista
For beauty on a budget which is all too often the case these days, women can turn to a line that was originally developed in good ‘ole London town. Twisted Sista, a drugstore beauty brand from Urban Therapy for multi-cultural women, offers products for everyday styles with beneficial ingredients like Vitamin E and Panthenol.

While a quick Wikipedia search reminds us that the purpose of the hair on our head is simply to serve as a primary source of heat and insulation, a quick tally of amount-per-year spent on hair services and products begs to differ. And if you are like me, (before my trip to the curly girl safe haven, Devachan Salon, that is) reading this definition will have you logging in faster than you can plug in your flat-iron to add a curly caveat explaining hair’s secondary purpose: to make your life a living hell.

Sound overly dramatic? If you don curly locks as well, it shouldn’t. Most of us have spent the greater half of our lives searching for the remedy, be it product, tool, or stylist that would bring with it the promise to end the lifelong love/hate battle that innately comes with the territory of being curly.

A self-proclaimed former straightening addict, I felt I had tried every product on the market and visited stylist after stylist who said that their specialty was curly hair to no avail. I had given up on my curly hair and continued straightening it with blow-dryers, serums, flat-irons and chemicals – anything I could get my hands on in efforts to tame the beast that lived on top and inside my head. But growing weary in my relentless attempts to deny what nature had intended, I still longed to make peace with it in its organic state.

Boasting to “provide an inner haven of transformation for the astounding 75 percent of the population lucky enough to have a curl, wave, or swave in their hair,” Devachan Salon piqued my curiosity. After a quick glance through “Curly Girl” a book by Lorraine Massey, the salon’s co-founder and stylist, I decided to make the call.

All of my life, women have told me that they’d trade their straight tresses for my curls if only they could. To them I have always invariably replied, “Imagine waking up every single day with a do that looks like Bob Dylan.” End of discussion.

Curly hair is no walk in the park, especially on a humid day. It takes courage and solid self-esteem to resist straightening and blow-drying and come out to the world as your truest self: un-tameably curly.

Curly girls know that a bad haircut is like a failed romance: a catastrophic event that requires many, many months of recovery. And then; how to trust again? If you’ve ever had a haircut that left you looking like a) a head of cauliflower, b) a Poodle, or c) The Bride of Frankenstein, subsequent salon visits surely induced hives and hot flashes.

I am now here to tell you, relax – and I’ll tell you where: Dvir Salon in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. It’s spacious, airy and light with kind and caring people and the wonderful Leslie whose artful hair-work can do no harm.

When I visited her, I said to leave length somewhere, which she did on the top and sides. I also asked her to work with the shape of my face: long and starting to sag. Out of the wild nest I walked in with, she sculpted a chic and funky bob – tapered in the back, long and curly on top. Leslie did what all curly girls want: she got me, she got my hair, no drama, no trauma.

A social club often conjures images of rolling golf greens, polo shirts and tied-up sweater shawls, pearls and outdoor verandas. They are the ultimate venues for adult parties where status and fashion sense can be flaunted equally if one so desires. Of course, entry into such venues is not always through an open door and members who are inside are more than discriminating. Naturally, a lady who wishes to take part in such social dancing must look the part – and what better place to ensure her skin is supple, face is radiant and hair is glistening than at the club itself, where she’ll mingle with and glean fashion savvy from other wistful women with the same goal in mind?

Paul Labrecque

Cue Paul Labrecque at CORE: club, the Upper East Side social club du jour. Labrecque has become somewhat of a powerhouse brand in NYC, and the expansion with his newest spot in Core has ramped up that effort. Core is a private membership-based lifestyle community that provides curated access to individuals, experiences, properties and culture. The club, located on 55th Street, is part lounge, part restaurant, part art gallery, part library part fitness center and thanks to Labrecque, part salon, spa and barbershop.

The Core location marks Labrecque’s third Manhattan salon and spa, as well as the time for me to finally go check out one of his locations. While my plan was to visit only the new spot at Core, I was lucky enough – in a rather unplanned way – to see both Paul Labrecque EAST, at East 65th Street, and the location at Core.

Paul Labrecque EAST, on E 65th Street

I booked an appointment for a cut and color and braved a horrific rainstorm to get there. Once in the chair, I explained to my colorist that I wanted “cool” blonde highlights, thinking that would mean I’d look platinum and radiant. I don’t know how I missed this, especially considering how long I’ve been getting my hair done in NYC, but somehow I mistook “cool” for “warm,” which was what I really wanted. After a few processes, my cool, ashy blonde was unveiled, and I was horrified. What was worse was that it was my fault. The lovely colorist at Paul Labrecque gave me exactly what I wanted.