Romy Raves

According to Kim Donovan, Marketing Director of Aloxxi, “Women know the color their manicurist puts on their nails, the product their esthetician uses on their skin, but if you ask a woman the color their hairdresser puts on their hair, most don’t have a clue.” So true, right? Even me, a self-professed beauty junkie who has her hair professionally colored every couple of months, leaves the hair color selection and formula to the pros. Well, Aloxxi is fixin’ to change all that with their brilliant category busting approach to professional hair color by creating a hair color experience that engages the consumer and even makes it fun for them. I just love this concept!

Actually and not surprisingly, George W. Schaffer, the Founder of OPI, who turned the nail care industry on it’s head with amazing nail color formulations with catchy and memorable names, has recently acquired Aloxxi and wants to create a new blueprint for professional hair care with this line. It starts with having an amazing, high quality product that offers intense, pigment rich color and ground breaking technology that emphasizes the overall health of color treated hair. And second (and here’s the game changing innovation), Aloxxi has designed an approach that allows the professional to  engage their client in the hair color process by collaboratively creating a statement making color that showcases their personality. Basically, Aloxxi is shining a light on the mystique of professional hair coloring and making accessible to the consumer. Kinda cool, right?

So here’s what to expect from an Aloxxi Hair Color Consultation & what mine was like:

• First, you and your stylist spend some time perusing the Aloxxi Hair Color Consultation book to explore a variety of color personality possibilities. Skin tone, eye color, lifestyle, commitment to maintenance, as well as your starting color are all taken into consideration in order to determine the best color for you. This book is fabulous, sorted by shades, and within each shade there are hair color swatches with amazingly catchy OPI-esque names like Don’t Prosciutto The Messenger & Expresso Yourself. These names make it easy to see what color resonates with you. So once you pick your color, next time you can request it by name, and with fun names like these you are not gonna forget it.
• I had the pleasure of working with celeb stylist Marco Pelusi (whom I hit it off with right of the bat) and based on my washed out brown/blond balyage color and highlights, Marco and I collaboratively decided that I needed to go darker and richer to freshen me up and highlight my features. I just loved the rich deep warm brown color and catchy name of Steamy Porcini, so we decided on that. I really enjoyed being part of the color selection process, it was certainly more fun and it empowered me to know more about the color that was going on my hair.
• After this fun consultation, Marco applied the Aloxxi ColourPrime Pre-Color Treatment to get rid of buildup and prepare the hair for a more even color application and then he put the color on my hair. I sat and caught up on celeb gossip for 20-30 minutes (not under the dryer) and then as the final step he applied Aloxxi’s ColourLock Post-Color Finisher which cleans, conditions and treats the hair with antioxidants and closes the cuticle all in one step. All these products work synergistically to give you gorgeous shiny silky hair with color that lasts.
• As an added bonus, I was treated to a chic haircut from Christy Pacifico at Marco’s West Hollywood Salon.

And here are several shots of my finished look:

I love the rich dark color, shine and how healthy my hair looks and feels. And the modern cut just ties it all together, what do you think? Am I rockin’ my Steamy Porcini or what? (FYI-The top two pics more accurately reflect the rich dark color and the last picture showcases the chic cut.)

So, I have also been using Aloxxi’s ColourCare products at home for several weeks to preserve this color and protect the health of my hair. I am very impressed with the how long the color has lasted and how well these products support the Aloxxi system. I am especially loving the Leave-In Conditioner which revitalizes my hair and the Dry Shampoo which sprays on clear, gives my hair volume and smells like grapefruit, yum!

Disclosure: Aloxxi and Marco invited me to experience their new color system for editorial consideration. All opinions and sassy Steamy Porcini hair are my very own.

Hello Beauty Mavens and fans, so sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but I have been super busy with a whirlwind of activities and exciting events the last few weeks that I plan on sharing with you here on my blog. First up, one of my favorite new unique discoveries from the International Beauty Show New York: PaperSelf Paper Fashion Eyelashes! Super fun, hip and statement making paper eyelashes that I fell in love with! Watch me trend hunting at the IBSNY show and then discover and try out this exciting new product, and let me know what you think

Disclosure: The Paramount Hotel in New York City graciously offered me a three night stay at their awesome centrally located  hotel during my visit and they also provided me with a delightful videographer to accompany me  on my beauty trend scouting mission. This videographer also complied this slick video that you just watched (and personally I think he did a great job!) The opinions, trends, and insights are all my own

For those of you that know me, it probably will come as no surprise to you that I love being on camera and I will always jump at the chance to put myself in the spotlight. With the recent boom of vlogging, my opportunities are increasing (although my techie skills leave something to be desired) and I am very much enjoying sharing my thoughts, expertise and insights on camera. Now, I just need to learn how to edit and put those snazzy videos together!

Well, that’s where Your Little Film comes in! I was delighted to meet the Hales (an adorable husband and wife duo) and discover this wonderful company at the Live The Dream Expo in Pasadena, CA in January. Your Little Film takes your photos and videos (you know, all those hours of unused video clips or all those great photos in your smart phone) and edits them into a slicky produced and polished “little films” that can easily and instantly be watched and shared with all of your friends, family and even your twitter followers

I, of course, jumped at the chance to do a Little Film of my own at the Expo (thanks to the Hales!) and here is the finished product. I just love the look and style of the film and it is a perfect little video bio for my blog because it really showcases my personality, niche, and comfort on camera. I hope it encourages you to make a Little Film of your very own, Let me know what you think!