Hair

Q: Where are you from? What made you move to Las Vegas?

A: I lived in the Quad Cities, which is on the border of Illinois and Iowa. I moved out to Vegas because I wanted to establish a name for myself in the hair world, and where I was from you weren’t going to grow very far as a stylist.

Q: What brought you to The Hair Lounge?

A: I posted on Las Vegas Hair and Lisa [the owner of The Hair Lounge] reached out to me on Facebook. I fell so in love with the salon when I helped out with the photoshoot and didn’t even consider for a moment looking into any other salons.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to pursue beauty? When did your passion for beauty begin?

A: It’s funny– there’s actually pictures of me as a 4 year-old with those cheap, kid makeup palettes doing my friends hair makeup. At 13, my aunt gave me a clipper set and I totally jacked up my little brother’s hair, so he had to go into kindergarten with a skin fade because they couldn’t fix it.

Q: Favorite, go-to makeup palette or product?

A: Oh that’s so easy! The Fenty face makeup and the Jaclyn Morphe collab pallet.

Q: Favorite makeup look you’ve done on yourself or a client?

A: My fave is dark, dramatic makeup, especially coming from a small town I didn’t ever really get to experiment much. Everyone wanted the “virgin at her wedding” look, but me, I’m all about lots of highlight looking like glazed donut with beautiful, bold lips and eyes.

Q: What hair product(s) is/are your fall obsession?

A:  The UNITE U Oil mixed with the LAZER Straight Relaxing Fluid is my ultimate hair cocktail.

Q: What beauty trend do you not want to see come back in 2018?

A: OMG! Chunky highlights back home are such a big thing…I don’t know why…they’re just not a cute look. Oh, and hairy eyebrows, braided eyebrows, etc need to go! Just stick with filling in and defining your arch and leave your eyebrows alone.

Q: Who’s your beauty inspiration?

A: That’s such a hard one! Rihanna is always an icon, and she’s all for us brown ladies.

Q: Where can we find you on social media? How do we book an appointment?

A:  @balayage_by_najlv and you just shoot me a text to (309)798-7161!

It’s that time of year… hair in salons are being chopped into the trendy long bob faster than the seasons are changing. If your hair has some damage from summer styling, this cut is perfect to restore healthy, thick locks. Here at The Hair Lounge, one of our stylist Dimitri Papakalos is famous for this signature haircut. To accompany the look, his clients transformations wouldn’t be complete without the Unite Texturiza Spray to add bouncy volume and texture.

Image Source: @dimitripapakalos on Instagram

The technique of color melting has been one of the hottest trends going around salons right now. It could be described as the love child between a balayage and ombre. Color melting is the blending of two or more shades through seamless gradation. Ashley Tisdale’s stylist, Chad Kenyon, describes the process, “I can simply do a color melt, which melts the root into the top part of the balayage–The deeper root also is a nice, soft, alluring look for fall-winter.” Since there are limitless color combinations that can be achieved with this method, it allows you to show-off whatever your personal style is. The style is the perfect transition into a new chic, fashionable fall style.

Image Source: @dimitripapakolas on Instagram

Who says you have to go dark for fall? Platinum blonde with cool blue undertones is the perfect winter look! This color has been insanely popular among celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, and Cara Delevingne, who have been sporting the ice princess style. However, you don’t have to be on the red carpet to recreate this look, channel your inner Elsa and go to your local colorist for a frosted winter hairdo.

Image Source: @hairbylisaortiz on Instagram

Bored with your summer pastel hair? Add some smokey dimensions to make your color pop! Balayage isn’t just for blondes, take on a fresh modern take by transforming your rainbow hair into fall. Brands like Jocio Color Intensity have taken the mermaid hair trend to a whole new level of striking, colorful shades. Express yourself this season with some eye-catching semi-permanent hairdos! At The Hair Lounge, Heather Jean is our go-to fantasy color expert! Her bold, fairy-tale looks will 100% guarantee you with #hairgoals.

Image Source: @beautybyheatherjean on Instagram

From rust to ruby– fall is the perfect time to go red. Celebrity stylist, Guy Tang, has had the color flooded all over his Instagram page from fiery, vibrant rose to warm, copper red and we are totally obsessed! Local Vegas hairstylist, Stacey Clouse, is just as in love with the color and posted a pic of one of her beautiful redhead clients with the caption, “when you give your clients the hair they should have been born with…”