hair by Salon Evol.

Stroudsburg, Pa

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Allstar kid Andy!! Sits still in the chair and never moves his head…He looks like an adult.

“Keep your head straight, Andy, so u get an even haircut,” says Sean Henry.

A tip for stylists and dealing with children’s first haircuts is try to talk to children prior to cutting their hair; gradually introduce them to the tools you migh use so they fell comfortable and know it’s harmless.

Tips for parents and you child’s haircuts is to have your child attend one of your haircut appointments so they can feel comfortable in the salon and with your stylist.  Then they can see mommy and daddy do it too ..it doesn’t hurt.   Honestly who can blame a kid for screaming and crying at their first hair appointment when all they see is a pair of scissors coming at their face from a complete stranger!

Anytime a girl is feeling down, whether she’s got money or not, Nikki and Olivia say go take a trip to Sephora!  Nicole Regan, a holistic life coach, recommends that every woman should go out once-and-a-while and have a absolute guiltless beauty purchase. Whether it’s getting your hair done, buying a dress, or browsing through Sephora sometimes you just need to treat yourself to a little one-on-one girl time for peace-of-mind.  So on Nikki’s recommendation, Olivia, Nikki’s adorable four year old angel, Nikki and I decided to treat ourselves to a Sephora day and lunch in Allentown, Pa.  It’s nice to have gal pals to just waltz into a store with without any expectations other than just plain old browsing!  Well on top of our holistic approach to boost our self admiration and love we also thought we’d give you a little insight on what these three gals found as the best gifts to give from Sephora.

We arrived as Sephora in the Lehigh Valley Mall around 11 am and two hours later and $200 later we walked out looking and feeling like princesses and smelling good enough to eat!  We hawked that shop and the staff could not of been more courteous or helpful!  Here are some of our fav’s we found browsing around:

First stop was SMASHBOX to check out the eyeshadow!

These eyeshadow’s rock!  I decided with my Hazel color eyes and carmel hair (heheh) to try an bronze shadow.  I actually bought this shade, flare!  It really popped my eyes!

SMASHBOX Eyeshadow NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH -approved!

Nikki said she is always drawn to BENEFIT’s products because of the packaging.

They had an awesome Velvet eyeshadow that really seriously felt like velvet on your skin.  It’s super shimmery.  Perfect for highlighting or for the casual look!  Plus they have names like Leggy… Leggy Blonde- we bust into a little Flight of the chonchords song and dance.

Benefit’s Velvet Eyeshadow NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH -approved!

Then we move onto Urban Decay, known for there alternative color palate.  There we found out you can purchase an Awesome gift box of some of their top selling and new shadows.  Some of the new shades that are exclusive in this gift box are Jinx, Mushroom, and Ecstasy.  Super cute, super shimmery.  The assistant also said these boxes fly like hotcakes during the holidays!  For $48 we understand why.

Nikki’s favorite Urban Decay Product is their Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  You apply this before your shadow and it keeps you shadow in place all day.  No creases, no smudges, NADA!!  She even admitted to sending her husband in to buy some before she ran out again!  What a lucky gal!

Here’s Olivia with her three favorite lip gloss colors by Urban Decay!

Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH -approved!

This is the worst gift to give, a 10 pack of lip gloss!  What a waste!  Nobody needs 10 soda pop lip glosses!  Please save your money and time!!  These are just asking to be lost or pushed way back into the cave of the make-up drawer.

Any huge pack of Lip Glosses  NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH - NOT APPROVED

My Sister and many others have raved about Bare Minerals products and how amazing they are.

For $60 you can get at full Bare Minerals gift set!  A $174 value!  Whoop, Whoop!!

They also have these great tutorial kits, like Smokey Eyes or Rocker Eyes, that come with a brush, make-up, and how-to book!  At a whopping $32 this is a creative must have for your gal pal (or self)!

Bare Minerals NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH -approved!

I have a love for a good black solid liquid liner.  Although lately I’ve had a hard time finding a true, true black liner, and if you’ve had the same problem then try Kat Von D’s black metal liquid eyeliner!  There is no softness, no transparency!  These liners as bold and pure as the names.. BLACK METAL!

Kat Von D Black Metal Liquid Liner MEREDITH -approved!

We then were introduced by our Sephora Make-up artist to Givenchy Phenomen Eyes Mascara, $28, and Mr. Light corrective stick, $32.  OMG!  OMG!

Let me tell you or show you!  The right eye has the mascara applied to it:

Can you see the difference?  The wand is a little scary looking.  It reminds me of one of the weapons you could use on the Road Rash video game.  The end of the wand is just a spiky ball.  There is a trick to applying it, you look down and tap it lightly against your lashes.  Our artist instructed that it takes about two times to get used to it.  She lightly dabs the lashes here on Nikki.

After she applied the Mr. Bright stick around my eyes, nose, and outlined my lower cheekbone, she blended it in with a sponge!  This stick, if used everyday, can last up to 3 months!  The difference was seen right away!  It even drew a crowd, as some other ladies tested and approved Mr. Bright too!  I’m seriously going home to throw out my make-up bag!  This is all I need, Givenchy Phenomen Eyes mascara, Mr. Bright, Smashbox eyeshadow, and some gloss!  Look at me now!!

Givenchy Phenomen Eyes Mascara and Mr. Light corrective stick, NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH – Seriously approved!

Next was time to check out the perfumes!

Nikki was giving Olivia a 101 lesson on how to test the perfumes!

“First you spray it, wave it, sniff it!”

‘Liv went straight to testing out the scents for ya!

“Harjuku lovers perfume smells like when you were a teenager on the beach, very suntanny,” according to Nikki!

But Harjuku Lovers scents are OLIVIA approved

Tocca Florence eau de parfum

This picture represents our approval

yuck! For $68 pass on this gift!

‘Liv liked La Vanila Labratorie natural perfume with antioxidents.

Their bottles are even recyclable.  No Animal Testing! $56

The Vanilla-Coconut was pretty Fab.  The Vanilla-Lavendar not so Fab.

The Vanilla-Strawberry was sweet and yummy!

La Vanila Labratorie strawberry and coconut scents are  MEREDITH, OLIVIA approved

Wandering around it is hard to miss this display for Dylan’s Candy Bar created by Ralph Lauren’s daughter.  MMMMmmmmMMM!  The chocolate cupcake body butter is to die for!  We wanted to eat our hands after testing this out!  Some other great scents were Coconut Bon Bon and Ice cream Dream Sugar Body Cream $35.  The Strawberry Licorice was a little over-the-top sweet.  I probably wouldn’t buy it or wear it. The coolest thing was their gift sets.  The Piece of cake gift set comes with a yummy lotion, shower gel, and lip saver!  Great for Ladies, great for Teens, great for Girls!

Dylan’s Candy Bar NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH -approved!

Since we were then back at the perfume section once again after Philosophy Nikki squirted some Burberry Brit.  It has a hint of vanilla.  Nikki describes it as ” Firey, spicy, airy, and fruity.”

Burberry Brit Perfume NIKKI - approved

Another “OOOooooooh” was heard down the hall when Nikki tested Versace Versense $49-65.  The scent consisted of: Bergomat, Green Madarin, Sea Dandelion, Cardamon, Jasmine,  Sandalwood, Cedar wood, Olive tree, and Musk.

Versace Versense Perfume NIKKI MEREDITH- approved

Then Olivia surprised us with an all around winner, Masaki, Masaki Paris

Warm, sensual, and light!  Any girl can wear this scent. MMmmmm, I’m smelling it on my wrist right now, and I’m still lovin’ it!

Masaki, Masaki Perfume NIKKI, OLIVIA, MEREDITH – Seriously Approve

I’m not much of a perfume fan, but I was really impressed to see that Sephora offers a ‘Sephora favorites’ $50 sampler of fragrances for her!  I then wondered if they had a “For Him” sampler.  We walked over to the small men’s section and found Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Eau de Toilette.  $50 of heaven.  This is the kind of scent that makes a woman rip a man’s clothes off!!!  Heheh, Nik brought some home for Dennis

Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male Eau de Toilette NIKKI, MEREDITH - Seriously Approve

Want to get laid?  Buy that.  Want to be all over you hubby;  buy that.

Last but, not least ‘Liv and I tested out some great roll-on perfumes.  These would be excellent stocking stuffers, or great to keep in your purse for last minute ’smell-ups.’

Poule de luxe  made in France $18  yummy!

Nuts scents have Eco friendly packaging and only $20

Ylang Ylang D’ Amore smelled tranquil and floral!  It’s our pick!

Mimosa Bouquette melon smelled, well, this is a quote, ” yuck!”
The Mango smelled okay, but not necessarily a winner.  It was kind of bland.

After we checked out we headed over to the bakery next store for lunch.  Nikki hesitated as we walked up to the counter to check out the menu, turned to me and said,

” You sure you don’t want to head over to Olive Garden?  We’re too beautiful to not be waited on today!”

How could I argue with that!  I hadn’t been to an Olive Garden in ages, but have to say I was impressed with the all-you-can-eat soup and salad.  We didn’t engorge ourselves, luckily, and saved some room to share a lemon cake.  Delish.  It was like coffee crumbles and cake with lemon pudding in between!  It went perfect with my latte.  Olivia couldn’t stop eating it!  She said I could quote her on that too!  After lunch we look at each other and decided what to do next…. hmmmm, more shopping?  Maybe.  We get into the car and Olivia shouts out, “Oh that blue and black car is pretty.  I like it.”  We bust out laughing.  She doesn’t understand why, but you will….

She’s something else… ain’t she

After the prep work the team moved over to the shooting locations in Tannersville, Pa.  The Loft is the Pocono’s hottest spot for all Winter and extreme sports gear.  They have everything from snowboards to skateboards.  Bikes rentals to ski rentals.  Uggs boots to a hanging assortment of 100’s of hats for Winter!  I went around and tried on a few coats myself as, Molly went straight to the racks with Sean and Jordana to begin styling the shoot.  A lot of the colors were chosen based on the colors Eileen felt were best for shooting, and would stand out from the fall colors.  You’ll notice you won’t see too much white here today.  It’s all about color today

Lucky for us Sean is an expert skier and was able to pick out the best fit skis for the shoot.  I managed to hide in between some racks of clothes, camera and laptop in hand, and stay outta his way.  When he’s onto something, he’s on full force.  After Eileen took some test shots to get her lighting correct Fawn busted out her bag of tricks and applied her expertise to the models.

Fawn was hawking those girls with lip gloss  What a talented and dedicated artist.  We sat and chatted for a while on the sidelines, and this girl has passion for the entire creative collaboration.  It was inspiring to see someone from a smaller rural town shining like a city star!

Brusha, Brusha, Brushes  This is every girls dream right here in a bag!

And here is our blogger here, me!  I had a major challenge finding wifi!  I had to squat near the road on a rock.  Spiders and ladybugs had some major attraction to me and my mactop! You can see The Loft in the background.  I almost broke my ankle when my feet fell asleep from sitting on a fence uploading the previous post. When I stepped down I nearly lost my balance.  Needless-to-say it only added to the character of the day  I do whatta I gotta do my friends.  That’s just my way!

After an intense, but fun, setup Team Evol is ready to meet the the heroic ladies who are donating for a change! One of the requirements for donation from Locks of Love is 10 in. of hair! Remember, your locks are being made into high quality hair prosthetics for children with medical conditions that have effected their hair. If your around come on’ down!

LOCKS OF LOVE AT ESU visit HERE

The stage is set annnnnnnnnnnnd Team Evol is OFF!!!!

Let’s take an up close and person look at the first cut:

Yeah, this is why your head feels so much lighter!

Another 10 in. for a good cause!

Tanya poses with a happy donator,

Thanks for the support!  You ladies are looking lovely for a good cause!

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1:45 pm we are on the way to Hair Symmetry for Model Call.  Everyone is excited to have us.  The feelings are mutual all around.  Now is the time where we  consult our game plan before our models show up.We chat with the rep, the stylists, and  the owner of salon.  Two models show up!  Two models show up that don’t want their hair cut!  Time for some Plan B action!  Things get a little crazy , but this is where the fun begins.   Always an adventures, as life should be.  Team evol is off to the local beauty school to find girls willing to rock their hair.  

We’re racing against time for Haircuts.  We have only two short hours until the demo.  Two short hours to find great girls with great hair to chop off!  We’re on a mission!  The jag is speeding down rt.79 thank god for our apprentice, Marina and her iphone with GPS.  This has saved her so many times in the past. Sean nearly misses the exit, swerves across 3 lanes, and gets off just in time.  We now have a second mission.  SURVIVE THE CAR RIDE!  We arrive at North Hills Beauty Academy. ** Sean jumps out of the car with his seatbelt on!  He is so anxious he can’t even pace around so he just keeps inhaling Listerine mint spray every two minutes.  We walk into the beauty school and completely take over!  We immediately hawk the place for ambitous students and begin pitching to all the beautiful girls the newest and up-and-coming hair styles we have to offer.  We have to sell it to these ladies, it’s our only  hope for models, and We Want THESE GIRLS!  They’re beautiful, cool, confident, and ambitious. Finally, a group agrees to meet us later and allow their locks to be chopped off.  Sean switches into motivational speaker mode and stands up and preaches about how these girls have passion and that’s why these girls are doing what they are doing.  They need to and will keep at it and in turn succeed!  We pass out evol t-shirts, and spread the word about BeautySmack (represent).  The Professor thanks us warmly and generously offers an open invite anytime we’re back in town for teaching or motivational speaking to the class .  We leave with ear to ear smiles.  Sean’s anxiety is recognized as a useless endurance as we now can say mission accomplished!!  Our stomachs start filling back up with excitement, and just then Jesse realizes Sean gave a student his t-shirt for the show!! ACK! It’s the only one he had!  Luckily, Marina takes control of the situation before any panic spreads.  She grabs the shirts, runs back into North Hills, explains the situation, exchanges the shirts and all is still calm on the eastern front:-).  Nada de nervious!  You have to love the compassion and aloofness of Pennsylvania Chicas!  Meanwhile, Sean is rolling in the parking lot hysterically laughing.  Marina comes out of the school with a look on confusion?  WTF is so funny?  To her surprise Jesse had taken on his own plan of action and squeezed himself into seans shirt.  Which I may add is only two sizes too small!  LOL … Our stomachs now aching from laughing, our moods soaring, our endorphins running we’re back in the car racing to the hotel.  The show must go on!  Thank goodness for beauty students!  The direction of change is in our favor and we have models!! Wooooo!!!!

Luckily Sean was on point with driving while passing the logging truck!

The North Hills Beauty Academy 

WTF is he laughing about?

He kinda is giving off a Super Hero look with that tight-ass shirt!

Calm down the apprentice saved the day.  My shirt is back!

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**A side note from our apprentice, Marina, about Northhills Beauty Academy.

As a current beauty student, if I lived in Pittsburgh I really would consider an enrollment at this school.  I found the staff incredibly knowledgeable, flexible, and overall amazing.  They are allowing their students to explore a path of a realtime Salon and Hair fashion Careers.  The recognize the fact that we are involved in a creative environment and encourage it  For more information about this school please visit the yahoo link for contact information

Everyone is resting before showtime.   45 min. until model call, and we can’t wait!  The wheels are turning in the minds of the masters, and Miss Marina, our apprentice, expresses gratitude towards her mates. She feels a great privilege to be here, and  to witness all the effort it takes to do this kind of thing. After a brisk walk around the hotel we settle in the lobby.  Marina and Tonya find the candy dish good company while the boys are  napping in the lobby on a sofa.  Luckily, the same angry girl overnight is not at the front desk.  Marina, jokingly tried to persuade her that crackers were free between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m..  She didn’t find her sense of humor amusing. So the girls settle into a big comfy chair and enjoy the calm moment before the storm of the show with a bite sized Twix bar.

They find the vacuuming soothing, like a lullaby.

Good company for a ladies’ nerves.

The Autumn leaves of Pennsylvania

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It was an early morning.  Check out was at 9:30 a.m..  We spent a good part of that morning laughing and reminiscing of the previous night’s travels over breakfast for sometime.   Tonya then whips out a powermom move, and decides to turn the conversation deep.  She has the ability to immediately shut two people up that never shut up!  Note, this isn’t seen as a bad thing.  Now we’re rested, showered, and fed.  It’s 12pm we are the road again with 2 hrs to kill.  Jesse is quoted, “I am ready to do some bad ass colour!”

The team’s excitement rises as we just found a way to kill two hours:  $4.99  All  you can eat Pizza!

CHEEEEEEEEeeeeeeSeeeeeeeeee Pizzzzzzzzzzzzzzza!

Jesse is hungry like a wolf.  He looks upon this child as a mentor for lunch.

Maybe he’ll write a song about her.

She knows what’s up, lip smackin’, mouth fulla  pizza, and she sports a bowl cut!

Great Style.

The staff  here is also very kind and courteous.  We hang out a little longer with them, rocking out to Duran Duran!

Jesse turns on his charm and wit.  

And this Chica is down with Team Evol and BeautySmack!

Only if Jesse doesn’t burn the damn place down with his fire power.  AYE!

Where was that on our camping trip, huh? 

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