Gone Squatchin'

The shop'll be closed 'til Wed June 2nd while we are on our staff getaway. See you on the other side!

Pre Sasquatch sale at Still Life!!

+

= fun

Check it out here

Hairapalooza Vancouver

Hairapalooza was Matty's first platform gig since joining Schwarzkopf's Essential Looks Artistic team. Here are a few snapshots from his big night.

" Model prep starts around noon on the day of the show.There are two of us responsible for styling and finishing 18 girls as well as putting together choreography for the show."

" Each model is selected to represent a specific trend direction from the seasonal collection. This one was for PUNK GODDESS"

"This shot was taken about 2 minutes before showtime. I was trying to not look nervous... I think it worked?"

"Once the show starts we pick models on stage to style up for the crowd of approx 600 hairdressers"

"I learned very quickly that stage work is a lot about improvisation.... and wishing you had more hands"

" You have only 8 minutes to style the models hair into something that looks amazing and has what the bosses call Wow Factor"

" What does you hair look like after 8 minutes of styling?"

"This was just a little trick I like to do. Basically you sew the updo together, it gives the hair a loose unintentional look... You can't tell from this picture but they all seemed pretty impressed."

"The key to a great stage show is music, lighting, and lots and lots of hairspray...next stop Calgary."

Where the heck is Matty?

The most common question we hear at Lab these days: "Where is Lab's fearless leader?" The answer: everywhere... he's been everywhere.

This season, Matty was named to the "Essential Looks Artistic Team " for Schwarzkopf professional, a team made up of 10 of their best stylists from across Canada. This means that Matty spends many of his weekends travelling and teaching hairdressers at salons around the country the latest and greatest in hair design. He has also ended up on stage in front of hundreds of hairdressers in Vancouver and Calgary.

As if this wasn't enough to keep our resident workaholic busy, he has also been involved in forming the ASK Business academy in Toronto (also a Schwarzkopf project). He has worked alongside some of the biggest names in salon business, helping to develop seminars for salons and salon owners to better improve our industry across the board.

I know it's been hard to book with him but we promise he does still work here...

Here are a few photos from his travels:

"Toronto has become my home away from home. I have travelled here about ten times in the last 18 months. It's kind of surreal when the people who work at your favourite restaurant in a city you don't live in remember your name."

"This is my dear friend Celidh Costello. You might recognize her from superstar hairdresser challenge... she's kind of a big deal. We've managed to stay in touch since her early days as an assistant in Victoria. She lives in Toronto now as a member of the Marc Anthony Artistic team. We are hair nerds together, big time!"

"I love a restaurant on church street called Guu. In my opinion it has the best japanese cuisine anywhere on the planet and I am regularly the only white person in there. Which means I feel like a giant every time I go."

"The Ask Business academy is launching this fall for Schwarzkopf professional and they have enlisted my help as a kind of consultant/seminar speaker. Very interesting stuff that has been put together by industry legend Antony Whittaker. This guy is the real deal and personally knows everyone that's important in hair ."

"He had however never met my friend Tim Horton. We introduced him."

" Anyone who knows me knows that I hate line-ups which means that I hate Pearson Airport and WestJet (which you can see at the end of this 500 person line). Next stop Hairapalooza, Vancouver."

Sasquatch "must-see" checklist #3

LCD soundsystem

200th post !

Well kids it has been almost a year since we started our little cutural attache know as the lab blog and we are already at our 200th post. We first started blogging about our adventures at the Sasquatch Music festival and here we are all packed up and ready to head down there again.

Thanks to all of your feedback and positive support we have seen this little phenomenon grow and grow to be a very well read and respected piece of the local pop culture.

Thank you for loving us

And for those loyal followers out there...get excited! The tech geeks at Lab are currently programming and designing a whole new lab blog that promises to be more exciting and interactive than this current dinosaur that you are reading .

here's a sneak peek

New man-product from Kevin Murphy

Looky what just showed up in the salon. Awesome Packaging, even more awesome product. It has a nice citrus scent and a good amount of hold. Come try it out!

Brazilian Blowout... Real world results.

This is Amy, she works at lab. She is a natural blonde, but has gone dark in recent years. Her hair is damaged from color, a perm (we know, we know) and from heat tools so she decided to see katie for a Brazilian Blowout. Check out the before and after!

Sasquatch must see checklist #2

The National

Sasquatch "must-see" checklist #1

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

2 weeks...

sasquatch 2010

New Music you should love.....Blitzen Trapper

Your favorite salon now has 2 Brazilian Blowout™ certified stylists.

So if you're cynical about things you see on the internet, this next-big-thing in hair might have come off as a little hard to believe. Brazilian Blowout™ claims to take the most unruly of mops and transform them into the shampoo commercial worthy locks. We thought it was too good to be true when it first came across our plates in the form of a Hollywood trend piece so we decided to investigate.

After thumbing through about a dozen videos and checking out the business end of brazilianblowout.com we decided to take the next step and send Katie and Vanessa for training and boy are we impressed. Results may vary depending on hair type but this will likely be a bit of a god send if you have the kind of hair where you've tried everything to make it behave. The result is similar to hair that is freshly flat-ironed and moroccan oiled. Here's a couple of key info-nuggets for those that dont love reading.

• Lasts up to 12 weeks. We still need to have a few more trial runs to give you a more accurate Idea of the longevity of a treatment but this isn't a once a week thing by any means.


• Beneficial for all hair types. Crazy hair or not, it will add smoothness and shine. If you do have chewbacca-like locks, the videos dont lie. In real life, it performs as advertised.


• Doesn't take all afternoon. We are expecting the treatments to take about 90mins depending on the amount of hair you have so we can usually find a spot for you within the week.


• Stop by for a consultation. Like I said above, we have 2 stylists that have done the training course and they should be around most days to talk to you about our new favorite thing. This really is for all types of hair, no joke.

We are taking bookings for Brazilian Blowouts starting now so give us a call and we can talk price and appointment times. 250.386.6183

new tunes!

Here's a nice new light mix by lab preferred DJ TOUCH BASS.

Getting warmer by TOUCH BASS

If you like it, check out what else he's got on the stove.

soundcloud.com/touch-bass

Customer love.

I thought this was a nice email to have land in our inbox this morning...

I just wanted to pass on a great big thank you to Katie. My hair cut is absolutely fantastic and I am getting nothing but compliments. Thank you soooooo much for giving me my hair and femininity back and it is wonderful that I was able to leave the house today without wearing a baseball cap or bandanna.

I just wanted to pass on how truly great your new cut has made me feel and I will be passing your name onto any and everyone that asks.

D'awwwwwww.

Style by definition

Planning the perfect wedding? Book your hair NOW!

Spots for wedding updos are becoming severely limited already. If you need a date saved give us a call and we can book it now. If you're new to the salon, or you are booking with someone you've never seen before here are a couple things we suggest:

• Do a background check. If you dont know our stylists here at lab on a first name basis, why not get to know them? We have stylist profiles on our site to help you pick the right fit. If you are the kind of person that gets a better gut feeling in person you should stop by and meet them. If you have someone in mind that you'd like to get to know better try step 2.


• Book a consultation. There is a huge variety of what we can do and how fast each of our stylists will do it. Leah can bust out a 4 hour magnum opus on top of your head, but we need to know thats what you want.


• Bring reference material. Not everyone can speak stylist and sometimes its hard to tell someone what you want without a picture. We have a selection of hair magazines in the shop that will give you a small variety, but if there is something out there that makes your tongue loll out and your eyes roll back, email it to us! (info@labsalons.com).


• Know your party. If you and your three best friends are all coming in for four matching masterpieces, help us out and take a few notes about their hair and tell us at your consultation. Things we would like to know: length, texture, color, styling preferences. These particulars will help us book the right amount of time and give you an accurate quote.


• Prepare your hair. We need your hair to be washed and completely dry when you come in. Before your appt do NOT flat iron your hair, we cant curl flat ironed hair. Also, recently washed is best, excessively dirty hair will be really hard to work with. Ideally your hair should be washed the night before.


• Cut the stress. Book early. the sooner we talk to you and see your hair, the better chance we have of booking for your date.

We look forward to talking to you soon!

www.labsalons.com