What Is Pulp Riot?

By: Tia Tocci

If you have been following our social media, or any hair-related social media, you've probably been hearing about "Pulp Riot." There is some amazing buzz around this amazing hair color. Pulp Riot is the latest addition to Verde's color stock. This is a direct dye line of 16 vibrant and pastel semi-permanent shades. Let's clear up what a direct dye is: this is a color that you don't need to mix with peroxide, so it is pretty gentle and generally lives on the outside of your hair strand or stains your hair cuticle. Traditional permanent color opens the cuticle and crams the color molecules inside your hair shaft. (Just a little bit of science for ya :)) Compared to other direct dye lines we have tried, Pulp Riot is easier to apply, more vibrant, lasts longer and fades better. Also, Pulp Riot stays true to Verde's eco mission as it is 100% vegan, ammonia free, cruelty free, and powered by quinoa! So cool.

Ocean inspired blues by Tia

Home Maintenance and What to Expect:

Your color will bleed. These beautiful inky colors will spread their vibrant selves whenever wet. Be mindful of light colored shirts, pillow cases, towels, shower curtains, etc. After a few washes this should subside, but continue to use caution!

Your color will fade. Pulp Riot is not permanent, so your color will definitely fade. How quickly it will fade depends on MANY factors.
1- The condition of your own hair. Depending on the porosity and health of your own hair, sometimes it grabs and holds great, sometimes it rinses through like a sponge.
2- How many times has it been applied? Generally if you apply the same tone over and over it holds a little better.
3- How often you are washing? Temporary or semi-perm colors live on the outside, so each shampoo takes a little more off. As stylists we will push it to (don't judge us) one or two shampoos a week. I mean, the less work the better! So grab yourself a KEVIN.MURPHY FRESH.HAIR dry shampoo and stretch that style.
4- What products you are using. I can't stress this enough. This can honestly make or break your color longevity. For any color line. When you do wash be sure to use a color safe, sulphate free shampoo and conditioner. And no, I don't have a recommendation for CVS. Your best bet is to invest in professional products. Especially if you want to protect your color investment! The best color saver trick? Use KEVIN.MURPHY STAYING.ALIVE leave in treatment after each time you wash. This is a spray in treatment that actually helps lower the pH of your hair to close the cuticle.
5- How much are your heat styling. Using a heat protectant is imperative. The KM YOUNG.AGAIN, LEAVIN-IN.REPAIR, or ANTIGRAVITY will do the trick. Also, keep that tool under 400. I'm gonna guess if you have Pulp Riot you have had some bleaching done as well, in which case, 365 should be your max.

Pink and purple swirl by Shannon

You may not be able to get rid of it. Now that I scared you about fading, let's talk about something else that happens. Occasionally the cuticle gets really stained and it can be difficult or damaging to remove the color. Your best bet is to let it fade on its own then your stylist has less to fight with.

Candy Girl by Taylor!

Results can be inconsistent. We all see the countless amazing pics on insta, and try as we might, sometimes the results can vary. Because the color is very gentle and not damaging, it sometimes doesn't have the power to cover 100%. In this case various applications can be needed. Chances are this is no fault of the stylist, it-s hard work creating a unicorn masterpiece!

Some fun Pulp Riot by The Verde Girls!

Now that you know all the pro's and con's- we hope to see you in Verde for some fun vivid colors!

How to Achieve the Perfect Hair Style!

By Sophia Abi-Kheirs

As a stylist, many clients like to ask "what's your favorite thing to do, coloring or cutting?" I usually tell them I don't have a favorite because, honestly- I love it all! But if I HAD to pick what I'm most passionate about it would be the art of styling hair. You can perform an amazing haircut and a beautiful multi-dimensional color but it all comes together in the final styling. Using the right styling techniques and tools you can create endless looks from piece-y and textured (so in right now) to bounce or sleek and smooth. It's the icing on the cake! 

The key ingredient to a good style is prepping your hair with the right cocktail. Decide what you want your hair to look like (sleek, volume, waves), then what does my hair need (hydration, fullness), then consider the finish (shiny, textured, soft). Choose your perfect products off of those guidelines and you're ready to create! KEVIN.MURPHY calls this method Prime, Prep, Finish. 

A few of my favorite products to start with are (all KEVIN.MURPHY) STAYING.ALIVE, ANTI.GRAVITY, and SHIMMER.SHINE. First, STAYING.ALIVE is going to help detangle and balance out your pH for longer wear, and condition your hair. Next once your hair is 80% dry I'll spray in ANTI.GRAVITY, (Pro Tip: Dry your hair 80% before adding your styling product for the maximum effectiveness) this is an oil free volumizing product, it has beautiful hold so it's a great go-to for a blowout or some wand styling. It also has heat protectant in it, which is very important. Finally, once you've got your desired style you can finish with a light spray of ANTI.GRAVITY for some hold and a few spritz of SHIMMER.SHINE for that perfect sparkle.

I'm a big advocate for KEVIN.MURPHY products, not just because Verde carries them, but because I truly believe KEVIN.MURPHY products work and my clients love them. In a Yelp review we received a guest wrote “I usually get 2 inches cut off for a "healthy" trim, but after using the shampoo and conditioner Sophia recommended, I now only need to trim off a half inch! My hair has never felt healthier!” As a session stylist, Kevin wanted to create products that were high performance, and man did he deliver! KEVIN.MURPHY uses skin care technology in his hair care which means all the products are rich in anti-aging ingredients that make the integrity of your hair feel amazing over time. We brush our teeth every day so that we have a beautiful and healthy smile, we should also take great care of our hair! KM products are also loaded with other natural ingredients like lavender, Beeswax, and pepper. 

Want to know the exact KM products perfect for your hair?! Check out this fun little Product Matchmaker !

Great Lengths Hair Extensions at Verde!

By: Kendra Goodwin

Do you have questions about hair extensions? You're not alone! As a recently certified great lengths extension technician, I am excited to share with you all things extensions. Hair extensions can be used for several different effects. If you have thin hair that just won't get volume no matter how much product you use, have no fear. Add some extensions that are the same length as your own hair for the maximum volume !  Did you cut your hair and hate the awkward phase of the grow out? Throw some extensions in and pretend like it never happened! Have you requested silver Balayage and your meanie stylist said it wasn't possible without bleaching your hair past its breaking point? We can create that look with great lengths extensions. The options are seriously endless!

There are many misconceptions about hair extensions.
1. Hair extensions will damage my hair: NOPE. As long as you have a well trained technician, you take great care of the extensions, and your hair is healthy enough for attachment then you should have no problem. In fact, at Verde we have seen people be able to grow their hair longer and healthier wearing extensions because you put less heat stress on your hair.
2. The hair was unrightfully taken from someone: Not our hair. While this is unfortunately a common practice, all the hair used in Verde Salon is ethical, meaning willingly donated and fairly compensated for. It's also traceable, meaning we know exactly where and when it came from. We proudly use Indian Temple hair: after women shave their heads for a religious ceremony, the Temple is paid for the hair, which in turn helps to support the local community. So you can feel, like, real good about it.
3. I can't style or color my hair while wearing them: Oh yes you can! You are able to wash, blow-dry, curl, color, etc! You just need to be mindful of the attachment site.

Being able to provide these amazing high end hair extensions has given us the power to perform amazing transformations. For more information on them we gladly offer complimentary consultations to answer questions you may have! Check out some before and after photos from the Verde Team!

Benefits of Brow Shaping!

by: Samantha Snowdale 

@Samanthasnowdalestylist

Sculpted brows are so on trend right now and I'm loving the attention women are giving their oh-so-important brows these days! 

I've always paid close attention to my brows since I have such fair skin and light hair color. Without shaping and adding a little makeup to my brows they are virtually non existent! I personally love to use a brow powder with a thin angled brush to start, Glo Minerals Brow Powder Duo is my favorite, to sculpt and fill in any sparse areas using small light strokes to help give a more natural hairlike effect. Then I finish with clear Glo Minerals Brow Gel to hold all the hairs in place, giving my brows a flawless finish! It's such a quick and easy way to help this busy mom on-the-go feel a little more put together!

After helping many clients over the years sculpt the perfect brow I highly recommend seeing a professional for all your brow needs. I've seen too many woman with over-tweezed skinny brows from at home grooming. Not only is this not the “in look” right now, sometimes they don't grow back! To see the power of properly sized brows, check out this article!

Adele's eyebrows before and after, what a difference!?

There are many ways to tame your brows. Waxing is the most common, and probably least expensive. At Verde salon we use a hard wax, as it is very gentle on the skin. Other popular techniques are tweezing and threading. Either way, chances are once you shape then add a little sculpting with your favorite brow product you will be looking fabulous! 

Most importantly, your eyebrows show emotion.  From the mouth of babes- my own four year old said to me one day "look mommy I have eyebrows, that means I'm mad!" 😂 At four years old he's already noticing how eyebrows help express how we feel! So why not have the perfect brow to not only help us look polished and more awake, but to help express how we are feeling!

When brows are sculpted properly they can help soften your facial features, bring out your eyes, and give you a more youthful appearance. Great news… getting a brow shaping is a much more inexpensive way to look and feel like you've had an eye lift! 

Even if you prefer a more natural look to your brows, a small amount of grooming to those few stray hairs will drastically improve the balance and symmetry to your face and brighten up your entire look!

And ladies this isn't just for you... Pass along the benefits of brow shaping to your husbands, boyfriends, or any guy in your life!  A little eyebrow grooming on a male can mean the difference between a scruffy looking guy and a well-groomed man. 

So next time you are at Verde please ask your stylist to show you our Glo Minerals brow products or ask for an eyebrow wax-shaping! 

DIY Pallet Wood Wall!

 Hey there! Recycling is a big part of our business so we were thrilled to get to breathe new life into sad, forgotten wood to build our own wood wall! We get a lot of compliments on it and people ask how we did it. I'm going to take some time to walk you through our pallet wall journey. I will say upfront this was probably not the most professional job, but we think it turned out great!

The first thing we did was collect a bunch of palettes. Deanna's aunt works at a store which happened to have a whole bunch of them up for grabs. The great thing was some of them were very old and some of them were new so there was a lot of variation in color on the different pieces of wood. 

 After this was the hardest part: separating the pieces of wood from each other. Because some of the pallets are old, the nails were quite rusted and imbedded in the wood. Also the wood gets super fragile. Deanna worked her butt off and got this all done, on a 97 degree day mind you. Some pieces could be pulled apart by hand while others needed the help of a handsaw.  After a lot of work and one nail in the foot we got a whole mess of wood to work with. 

 The next step was where a little math came in. I organized all of the piles of wood by height so they would line up in a row together. I then measured the dimensions of the wall to figure out how the square footage of what we would need. With that number I started to arrange my rows of pallet wood. I actually arranged it on the floor first to make sure I liked the color layout.  Also some of the wood was pretty scuzzy so I gave it a spray with a disinfectant cleaner and a light sanding just to make sure there's no mold or weird things! 

 Once the wood was all organized and ready to go we started to write on the wall.  Here is where you have some options on prepping. These are things we did not do but I saw on other DIY blogs and they seem like a great idea. To prep your wall you can either A: paint it black or brown so the white doesn't shine through (Because the wood is so irregular it's virtually impossible to get a tight fit everywhere). This way you would never notice the wall behind. B: if you plan on hanging heavy items on the wall I would suggest anchoring plywood to the wall in the studs.  You can create a really strong base to screw your pallets into if you use plywood first.  We knew we were not hanging anything heavy, just a simple sign, so we skipped this step. 

The next step was to start applying! We decided to start at the bottom and also start at the edge.  This way we made minimal cuts to the pallet wood. We basically just needed to cut each end piece on the right-hand side.  We used 3 to 4 inch sheetrock screws and screwed the wood right into the wall. Pretty simple!

Once finished, we found this great sign on Etsy for cheap! We just sent them our logo and they cut metal and painted it for us. 

And bonus, with the left over pallet wood we made these cool shampoo shelves!

We are so happy with our wall and we wish you luck building your own! 

6 Amazing Small Businesses in MA

By Deanna Murphy

As a small business owner, I am proud of who I choose to support and do business with.  So when we started our journey of molding our salon I was more than thrilled to find some local businesses to team up with. I'd like to highlight some of my favorites!

1. Jarmak Wood- Oxford, Massachusetts
We found this super cool company as we were searching for the perfect reclaimed wood.  Jarmak collects timbres, beams, and flooring from historical buildings that are between 200 and 500 years old!  Being able to work with them was such a cool experience and their warehouse and lumberyard in Oxford are unbelievable. Our beautiful wood retail shelves are made from reclaimed floorboards from an old school house in Edgartown Martha's Vineyard, thanks to Jarmak.

2. Restored Salvage- Hopedale, Massachusetts
Design has always been such a  huge part of my life, just ask my dad who graciously painted my  bedroom walls black and ceiling navy during my teenage years. Yikes!  Once I heard of this store I was so excited to check it out!  One beautiful wooden  bench and two metal storage bureaus later, I was in love with this place! They have everything from old navy shipyard crates to handmade metal furniture.  For anyone with a love for recycled items or reclaimed vintage flare this place is a must!

3. Simpson Spring- Easton, Massachusetts
I am always looking for ways to improve what I eat and drink so finding Simpson Spring in Easton was like winning the lottery! Simpson spring is family owned and operated. Their facility is gorgeous with old wood beams, an original lab where the famous natural soda was created, and of course the spring where they source the water. The spring itself dates back to 6000 BC. They leave all the natural minerals in the water giving it it's undeniably great taste. They also have the water available in glass jugs and glass bottles which is great for someone like me who is trying to remove plastic from their life!

4. Baking with Joy- Rockland, Massachusetts
No who doesn't love treats?! This girl definitely does! Baking with Joy in Rockland makes everything fresh with no preservatives and they also have a gluten-free section! Being of Swedish descent, my favorite treat they make is the Swedish almond cake. It literally melts in your mouth  with a sweet almond taste that fills you with joy, no pun intended! I bring this to almost every event I go to and everyone always asks where this delicious cake is from. Stop in for a treat and you won't be disappointed!

5. Animal Protection Center of Southern Massachusetts- Brockton, Massachusetts
Dogs!  Where do I begin for my love of dogs?!  Since the beginning, Verde has been a huge supporter of the APCSM in Brockton. Our relationship with them started when I used to run a pitbull rescue. It had just turned over from the MSPCA to the APCSM and seeing all the hard work and dedication the staff and volunteers put in to help these animals made me so excited to work with them. One way we help out with this organization is every time we purchase on Amazon we shop AmazonSmile and select Animal Protection Center of Southern Massachusetts and a percent of the sales goes to help the shelter! The biggest way we help support the APCSM is our ongoing fundraiser of candle sales in the salon. We donate 100% of the proceeds right to the shelter. And where do we get these candles? Thats right, they are local from Green Koala!

6. Green Koala- Marshfield, Massachusetts
We love having Green Koala soy candles for sale at Verde, and we always have our flavors of the month burning making the salon smell amazing. This super cute small business sell candles, soaps, lotion, lip balms, and more! They use all natural ingredients and nice essential oils.

Holiday Make-Up 2016!

By: Jessica McNeil

Can you believe it's almost that time of year where we are all walking through the mall filled with Christmas decorations and children sitting on Santa's lap?   It feels as though each year goes by faster than the last! Aside from the fun of holiday shopping and the family dinners that come with the season, my favorite part of this time of year is being able to switch up my make up look!  As soon as the first day of fall hits I am ready to darken my color palette, especially when it comes to my lips. Fall and winter are the one time of year you can really pull off a rich red wine or even plum tone lip!  Here are two of my favorite go to holiday looks.

This photo is my festive everyday look, featuring Glo Minerals Matte Suede Lip Crayon in Bombshell. When it comes to an everyday red I absolutely love the color Bombshell, it's a classic pinup red. I feel it's really a shade of red just about everyone looks good in! Glo Minerals has the best matte lipstick I've come across yet!  They are very moisturizing and do not dry out your lips, which is even more important when wearing a bold color (Who wants to see flaky, dry, peeling lipstick?! )

 In this next photo I'm wearing a richer, deeper lip color, Glo Minerals Matte Suede Stick in Port,  which is something I'm more likely to wear to a holiday party.  For a more dramatic night time look I love this shade.  This product, like the crayon, is also matte without any of the yucky drying effects! It's a beautiful sultry color that lasts.

If both of these shades feel a little too bold for you and you would like something gorgeous but more subtle, I recommend lining your lips in with Glo Minerals lip liner in color Vino. This is a wonderful in-between color of red and plum and still carries a rich tone with a softer effect. Another benefit of filling in your lips with a lip liner is it stays on like a dream!

 One last thing! Glo Minerals has made it even easier to achieve these looks for the holidays this year with great gift sets! In particular the "Bold Pursuit" kit has a black eyeliner, cream eyeshadow stick (in the same shades as my photos above!)  end it also comes with a gorgeous limited addition "Date Night" lipstick which is a beautiful rich berry tone. Stop by Verde salon to see the colors in person and have one of our artists try it on you!

A note about the author: Jessica is one of Verde's most talented up-and-coming  makeup artists. Keep and eye out for her fabulous work! - Ashley Sexton, Verde's Co-Owner

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