​One of the best things about hair is the ability to experiment with style whenever you like. So, when it comes to making a major change, like getting a short haircut, it’s important to know what to expect. Your local hair salon, like Legends Salon of Hillsborough, has some tips to help you decide if short hair is right for you.
To really get the most out of your haircut, it’s important to take your hair texture and hair type into consideration.

If you have thick, wavy hair
​Women with naturally thick hair texture should go for a short haircut that makes their hair feel lighter and less weighed down, like a shaved A-line bob. This cut can be styled a number of ways and is perfect for those who want to try out a short hairstyle without the commitment of a pixie. To get the look, ask your stylist for a deep part with asymmetrical layers on one side, and shaved hair on the other. Add side-swept bangs that hit at the brow for a layered fringe that requires minimal upkeep.

If you have straight, fine hair
Embrace fine hair with a bold pixie cut. While it might look intimidating, it’s possible to pull off with a head of fine hair that can cooperate with the piecey texture this cut demands. To get this short hairstyle, ask your stylist to cut your hair into an undercut in the back and with longer, fuller pieces at the crown that fall into a layered bang.

If you have curly hair
Super curly hair types benefit from a chin-length short haircut. When talking to your stylist, ask for a part down the side with layers that are longer at the chin and shorter in the back. This type of style helps balance curls without adding bulk. If your hair is curly without coarseness, you can also play around with curly bands. Ask your stylist to keep the cut above the shoulder and cut hair into layers starting at the eyes. This will help create a shaggy, wispy effect that gives curls movement.

If you have dry, frizzy hair
A short haircut can do wonders for hair that is on the dryer or frizzier side, by it’s important to keep it on the longer side and avoid tons of short layers so that the hair can sit nicely without going too poufy. Ask your stylist for a long bog with a few longer layers throughout and blunt ends. Have your stylist go the traditional route and cut the ends with scissors as opposed to thinning shears or a razor, which can leave unwanted frizz behind.

To discover if a short haircut is right for you, reach out to your favorite stylist at Legends Salon of Hillsborough today. They will give you a consultation and help to give you the best cut for your hair type and texture.

Give Legends Salon of Hillsborough a call today!

Going to the hair salon can mean many things. You could be getting your routine maintenance at the salon, transitioning your look for a new season or dramatically changing your style. Whatever you plan on doing, there is one thing you should be avoiding: a bad hair appointment. If you live in NJ and are looking to change to a hair salon that gives you what you want, scroll down and make an appointment with Legends Salon in Hillsborough NJ.

For the salon experience to be a good one, there are a few things to look out for when it comes to your stylist. Below are some signs that you should break up with your hairstylist because no one wants to leave the salon looking worse than when they went in.

A trim means a trim
You know you have been to the salon looking for a trim and left with four inches of hair missing. This could be due to miscommunication because everyone has a different idea of what a trim means. Or it could be that your stylist simply disregarded what you asked for.

The lines of communication are not open
Following the miscommunication of a trim is the miscommunication of everything else. The best hairstylists wills it down with you before they even wash your hair and ask about what you hope to get out of the appointment. They should ask about your style preferences, your daily maintenance, your texture and everything else that can affect your hair. If you don’t have this conversation, there is a lot of room open for interpretation.

Socializing takes priority over hair
When you are getting your hair colored, this tends to be downtime for the colorist. No one expects them to wait on clients hand and foot, but if your hairdresser gets to the point of socializing, reading magazines and eating where they forget about your hair, it’s time to dump them. Leaving color in for too long can be damaging plus it’ll ruin the color you actually wanted to leave with.

Your example picture is disregarded
Showing an example of what you want is highly recommended as it makes for much easier communication. But when that picture is completely tossed to the side and you leave the salon with the opposite of what you asked for, your hairstylist will never give you what you ask for and you’ll be continually dissatisfied with your style.

Blow drying becomes damaging
Even if your cut and color went fine, you still have to get through the blow dry without damage. Whether it’s not putting a heat protectant on your hair or it’s using a heat styling product on way too high of a temperature setting, be sure you’re out of the line of fire when it comes to heat damage after an appointment.

While most of these things don’t happen often, they do, in fact, happen. You can be certain that the professionalism at Legends Salon of Hillsborough is superb. If you are dissatisfied with your current hairstylist, consider a move to Legends. We have some of the best hairstylists in New Jersey.

Call us today.

Load up on protein, bananas, and dark green veggies. Your locks will thank you.
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The pursuit of beautiful, shiny locks starts with fish, beans, bananas, and lentils. A healthy diet is as good for the 150,000 hair follicles on your head as it is for your body. Having a balanced diet, while putting extra emphasis on things like protein and iron gives your hair a boost.
Protein is the building block of hair. If you don’t get enough your hair will grow more slowly and strands will be weaker. Include a small dose at each meal and your hair follicles will stay strong. Safe bets include poultry, lean beef, fish, beans and nuts. If you start a healthy hair diet today, you will likely see improvements within six months to a year, depending on how fast your hair grows.

Try these ten foods to help your hair:
Lean red meat
Too little iron can cause baldness. Treating iron deficiency can help hair grow. Other iron reach foods include turkey, egg yolks, whole grains, dried fruit, and beans.

Eggs
Eggs are full of biotin, a B vitamin that promotes hair growth and overall scalp health. A deficiency can cause brittle hair. Other high biotin foods include peanuts, almonds, wheat bran, salmon, low-fat cheese and avocados.

Bananas, beer, oats, and raisins
These contain the mineral silica, which is thought to improve hair thickness. Emphasizing on foods rich with this miner helps make hair stronger and more durable.

Dark green vegetables
Load up on spinach, broccoli, and Swiss chard. They are packed with vitamins A and C, which help produce sebum, a scalp oil that works as a natural hair conditioner.

Oysters
Opt for these to get plenty of zinc, a mineral that helps regulate the production of androgens. These are hormones that, in low levels, are associated with hair loss. Other zinc-rich choices include crab, clams, liver, lean beef and wheat germ.

Sweet potatoes
These are packed with beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, a nourishing agent for your hair and skin. Vitamin A protects against dull hair and dry skin, a leading cause of dandruff. Other choices include carrots, kale, butternut squash, asparagus, and pumpkin.

Beans
Legumes like kidney beans and lentils are great sources of iron-rich protein. Lentils, in particular, play a role in hair maintenance and support.

Fruits and veggies
They’re full of vitamin C, which helps the body absorb iron. Getting too little vitamin C makes hair dry and week. Try broccoli, leafy greens, green peppers, citrus, and strawberries as your best sources.

Omega-3 fatty acids
They support scalp health and a deficiency can lead to dry scalp and dull hair. Good sources include salmon, sardines, flaxseed, and walnuts.

Vegetable oil
If your diet is too low in fat you can get dry, lackluster hair. Healthy oils like olive, peanut, safflower, and sunflower can restore the shine. About a teaspoon a day will do the trick.

Keep your hair healthy with a good diet, regular trips to the hair salon and good hair products that will keep your hair clean and healthy. For the best in hair care, visit Legends Salon of Hillsborough and let us help keep your hair happy.

The selection of hair shampoos seems so complex. Why are their clear, green, blue, cheap, expensive, thick, thin, fragrant and unscented varieties of shampoo? Why can’t the whole cleansing process be simplified by using the same bar of soap on our hair that we use on our body? Does the shampoo selection really make a difference?
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A shampoo is technically designed to clean the scalp of sebum and prevent the development of dermatitis. Shampoos are intended to rid the hair of sebum, sweat components, styling products, and environmental dirt. The idea of beautifying hair is really a secondary concern that is primarily addressed by a conditioner.

Beautifying the hair is really quite a complex task. Bar soap was used to clean hair until the mid-1930s when liquid coconut oils became available, which allowed the formulation of liquid soap that lathered and rinsed better than bar soap. At present, bar soaps are not recommended for hair cleansing because they leave behind a soap scum when mixed with hard water that is difficult to rinse from the hair and scalp. There really is a need for well-formulated shampoos that both clean and beautify the hair.

Shampoos are basically liquid cleansers based on synthetic detergents blended to achieve the desired amount of cleansing given the condition of the hair. Some ingredients are added for actual hair and scalp cleansing, while others are added to impart desirable aesthetic characteristics to the shampoo.

All shampoo formulations contain the same basic ingredients. The variety of shampoos in the marketplace might be rather confusing, but the ingredient categories are standard to a large extent. The categories of shampoo ingredients are foaming agents, thickeners, sequestering agents, PH adjusters, conditioners and specialty additives. How these categories are added to shampoos are what makes each brand different.

Shampoos are a complex formulation of ingredients selected to clean the scalp, as well as beautify the hair. This is a complex task leading to a wide variety of shampoos currently in the market. Selecting the proper shampoo for you means understanding the various ingredient functions and the unique attributes of each shampoo type. It helps to talk to your hair stylist about the type of hair you have if you don’t already know, and what would work best for your hair type in order to achieve the best look for your hair, not to mention, keeping it healthy.

If you aren’t sure what shampoo is best for your hair (and there are so many on the market so confusion is nothing new), experimentation is important but also asking what brands your hair salon uses as well. You leave the salon with beautiful, happy hair, you might as well shampoo with the same thing!

For the best in hair care, contact the experts at Legends Salon of Hillsborough and come see why we are an award-winning salon. We offer the best in hair care products as well as having the most experienced hair stylists around.

Bad hair days can happen to good people. Instead of trudging through the workday with lifeless locks or tons of frizz, use your best beauty products to tame your mane once and for all. Here are some reasons that you might be having a bad hair day and how to recover.

The struggle: “My hair is so flat and boring!”
The solution: Turn to texture
Flat hair can be the worst. From limp to lifeless, sometimes our hair can be totally unreasonable. If you need an instant styling boost, turn to a texturizing spray to help perk up your roots and give your hair a sexy vibe.

The struggle: “My dry shampoo isn’t working”
The solution: Perfect your technique
We’ve all been there. Spraying gallons of dry shampoo onto our roots in hopes of miraculously salvaging our hairstyle. You may have noticed that this method doesn’t always work. When it comes to using dry shampoo, the fastest way to refresh your scalp is by spraying the product in small sections throughout your roots, waiting 30 seconds for the product to work its magic, and then combing the product through with a brush. You’re using less and getting more out of your dry shampoo.

The struggle: “My hair just looks so dull”
The solution: Enhance what you have
Despite our best intentions, sometimes hair color can just look dull or faded. For days when your hair is looking lackluster, use a shine-enhancing spray to add some luster back to your look. Simply spray your ends for a quick pick-me-up or use on dry hair after heat styling for an added “wow” factor.

The struggle: “My curls aren’t that bouncy”
The solution: Get (Re)Active
Despite what you see on TV, curls aren’t always big and full of bounce. Instead, there are days when the texture of your hair can be totally bland. To give your curl some extra oomph, try using a curl reactivating spray. Used on either dry or damp hair, this spray helps to revitalize the curl and bring it back to bouncier times.

The struggle: “My up-do/braid/general hairstyle keeps falling out of place”
The solution: Mattifying Hair Powder
Misbehaving braid or up-do? Keep your style in check by prepping your hair before you even think about reaching for a bobby pin. By using a mattifying hair powder before creating an intricate style, you can actually give your hair extra grip and grit that allows the hair to stay in place as you work. For ladies with fine hair or locks that are hard to style, it’s a must-have in your beauty routine.

For the best hair care, visit Legends Salon of Hillsborough and consult with an expert today.

​Hottest haircut for summer
Right now the look of soft, shaggy layers with a textured bang is the hottest cut for summer. It is a great way to transition out of a shorter cut or hide grown-out roots if you have them. Tell your stylist you want a lot of movement and texture, especially towards the ends and in the bangs. It also helps to show your stylist screenshots of looks that you like, as long as they are of someone with similar texture and length to yours.

In order to get your hair ready for summer, try these tips. Ask your hair stylist at Legends Salon of Hillsborough if they can help you get your hair summer ready. They will give you the best advice and give you tips about how you can treat your hair at home, in between salon visits.

Visit Legends Salon of Hillsborough and get your hair summer ready!

Whether you are struggling to take your bob longer or just want super long mermaid locks, there are tips and tricks you need to know in order to grow your hair faster and longer.
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Diet
The old saying, “you are what you eat,” couldn’t be truer. Diet is very important for hair growth. You need to be eating sufficient levels of iron, B vitamins, zinc, and protein. Greens like kale add iron and iron is a very important mineral that if not introduced to your diet can cause hair loss. Taking a supplement can also help contribute to the maintenance of healthy locks if your diet isn’t well-balanced.

Stop clogging your follicles
Dirt, oils and product build-up can clog your follicles, hindering healthy hair growth. To avoid this, try to give your hair a rest from overloading the root area with styling products.

Exfoliate your scalp
If your scalp is the gateway to healthy hair, it makes sense that exfoliating it helps promote growth. Use a detoxifying shampoo or a scalp scrub once a week to thoroughly cleanse and remove excess sebum from follicles.

Get a caffeine hit
Caffeine has been found to stimulate the hair shaft by blocking the effects of DHT, a chemical known to damage hair follicles. Drinking caffeine may not be the best way to hair growth, however. Try hair products with formulas that encourage hair growth.

Massage your scalp
Massage stimulates blood circulation, supporting the tiny blood vessels that feed the hair follicles. Gentle pulling of the hair and doing a rhythmic tapping technique are two massage methods to try yourself. Alternatively, try a professional head massage, which will help with stress-relief. This can help your hair grow too!

Wash less
Daily shampooing can compromise the scalp’s natural essential oils that stimulate growth, while excessive heat-styling, backcombing, brushing and chemically processing the hair can leave it brittle, appearing to shorten the length from the bottom-up when it breaks.

Loosen tight hairbands
Another common cause of breakage is the hairband. Tight elastics, worn repetitively in the same place cause wear and tear on the hair which is not what you want when you’re growing it out. The wrong band can snag and damage strands, so pick the right type and keep them loose.

Get regular trims
This is not because cutting your hair makes it grow faster but when hair is freshly snipped the ends will appear coarser without their damaged, tapered points. Plus by trimming it regularly and managing damage you’ll have to cut off less hair in the long run so indirectly, you are speeding things up!

To help your hair along in the quest to grow it out, try these simple tricks and follow good hair and body health. Hair that grows relatively quick is a sign that your body is healthy and well taken care of. When you are looking for the best hairstylists to help you during the transition from short to long and everywhere in between, visit Legends Salon of Hillsborough and know that you will get the best possible treatment for your hair’s overall health.

Is “sulfate-free” a good thing? What’s up with parabens? What are the ingredients we should be avoiding completely? Most of us don’t read the entire list of ingredients in our hair products but these labels raise more questions than answers. We are going to take a quick run through of common hair product ingredients, what they do, and what we know so far about their harmful effects if any.
Here is a list of common ingredients with the basics of what we know about each one.
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Diethanolamine (DEA)
DEA acts as a thickening agent in shampoos and conditioners and allows them to form a foamy lather. Based on studies, we know that cocamide DEA can cause cancer under certain conditions. This is based on testing on rodents and using high toxicity of DEA.

Formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals
Shampoos may contain preservatives that release formaldehyde. The primary health concern is skin reaction, skin sensitization, or an allergic reaction to something after it comes into contact with skin.

Fragrance
You’d be hard-pressed not to spot the word “fragrance” printed on a hair product label. “Fragrance” can include a mixture of ingredients that makes your conditioner smell like coconut or “morning dew”, but regardless, the FDA doesn’t require companies to specify them, since this information is often proprietary and therefore outside government purview. If you have an allergic reaction to a product, fragrances are probably responsible.

Mineral oil
Mineral oil, also listed as paraffin oil or white mineral oil, forms a protective coating over hair that locks in moisture. Some worry that it could cause cancer since it’s distilled from petroleum, produced during the refining of crude oil—and mildly or untreated mineral oil is known to be a carcinogen. But highly refined, cosmetic-grade mineral oil and other cosmetic-grade petroleum distillates, like petrolatum, are generally of low concern.

Parabens
Parabens such as methylparaben and propylparaben prolong the shelf life of hair and other beauty products by preventing bacteria and mold growth. Some evidence suggests they may contribute to breast cancer development, but most of what we know from parabens come from either animal studies or in vitro studies—cell cultures in the lab. It’s not entirely clear how parabens affect breast cancer risk in humans. If you’re concerned, choose products labeled “paraben-free.”

Propylene glycol
Propylene glycol is an alcohol that helps hair absorb and trap moisture, and can function as a solvent for other ingredients. Compared to other common ingredients, there’s not a lot of concern about toxicity or hazard for propylene glycol.

Sulfates
Often in the form of sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate, sulfates give shampoo its sudsy-ness, and cut through grease and dirt. But they can also strip away natural oils in the process, which can lead to frizzy, dried-out strands, and an irritated scalp. There are not any large hazard concerns with them, but the trend seems to be to find less harsh ingredients.

Silicones
Silicones—whose names often end in –methicone or –oxane—form a waterproof coating over hair that keeps it from soaking up humidity, making them common in straightening and smoothing products. The coating also seals moisture inside the hair and makes it shiny and easier to comb. But some silicones, like dimethicone, can also cause heavy buildup that leaves strands limp and dull.

To state the obvious, whether or not you buy products with the ingredients mentioned below comes down to personal choice and how comfortable you are with the potential risks outlined. For instance, while the connections between parabens and breast cancer risk aren’t clear yet, you can choose to avoid products that contain parabens if you’re particularly concerned about them. At Legends Salon of Hillsborough, we want you to feel safe with our products. We will always disclose the ingredients and recommend products that are safe for you, your hair and the environment.

Visit or call Legends Salon of Hillsborough today!

​Just like your skin, your hair can get dry in the winter also. Like flaky skin, parched strands suffer in the cold. It’s pretty easy and necessary to keep your hair looking radiant even in the winter. Here is some practical advice from your hairstylists and hair salons, along with updates on hair hydrating technology.
Treat your hair delicately

​Hair may not be alive like your skin cells, but you still have to treat it right. You wouldn’t throw your cashmere into steaming hot water, so look after your hair and treat it the same way. If you have a dry, itchy scalp it is because you are using hotter water when it’s cold outside. Try lukewarm or even cold on your locks.

Deep condition your hairbrush
Get a natural bristle brush and after you clean it, deep condition the brush regularly with a hair serum, oil or leave-in conditioner. This way, when you brush through your hair, it gives it extra shine but without weighing it down.

Humidity counts
The main cause of dry winter hair is not the temperature but the lack of moisture in the air. Use humidifiers and avoid space heaters as they suck out moisture in the air. Switch to ionic hair dryers because they use less heat to get the same effect.

Coat your hair
The trick is to trap moisture, which is essentially how hydrating shampoos and conditioners work. Traditional creams don’t adhere well to hair so make sure you are using something that is more oil based.

Keratin
In salon services can now hydrate and soften but leave hair texture intact. Keratin can be used as a long-lasting conditioner, not just to straighten unruly hair. This essentially will help your hair stay hydrated in the winter.

Read the label
There may be hidden drying agents lurking in your styling products. Stay away from styling products with alcohol, as they tend to dry out hair even more. If you have a favorite conditioner that contains silicones, you may want to switch for a silicone-free version. Silicones can build up with repeated use and coat the hair too much, making it dull and lifeless. Use pure argan oil before blow-drying to prep the hair and again afterward to finish the style.

There are so many ways to keep hair hydrated and healthy during the winter months but we hope these few tips will give you some ideas. For even better protection against old man winter, visit your local hair salon in Hillsborough for best results. Your hair doesn’t have to be dry in the winter months, it can remain happy and healthy all year long. You just have to have the right tools.

For the best hair care in winter and beyond, visit the experts at Legends Salon of Hillsborough. We have the right treatments for dry lifeless hair and tips for after you leave the salon to ensure your hair remains hydrated and healthy even after you walk out our door.

​Hair exists in a variety of textures. There is no rhyme or reason as to what we were blessed with in the hair category. It is important, however, to know what kind of texture we have. This will allow us to understand how to take care of it. When we think of hair texture, there are three main aspects to consider: curl pattern, strand thickness, and density. There are other aspects to consider as well.
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Regardless if your hair is straight, wavy, curly or kinky, we all have 3 basic textures: fine, medium, and thick, which can also be called coarse. Texture is not how the hair feels but describes the thickness of each individual strand. The comparison is typical to a piece of thread. If your hair is fine, it’s thinner than the thread. Medium hair is usually the same width and thick or coarse hair strands are thicker than the piece of thread.

Hair texture
Fine hair
Fine hair is the most fragile texture and can be easily damaged. People with finer hair tend to have more hair than people with thicker hair strands. Fine hair can tend to be oilier than other hair types. For those of you with fine hair, you may find it difficult to hold a style. Your hair is light and can fall flat against your head. Volume is not often attained. Structurally, fine hair has two hair layers: a cortex and a cuticle.

Medium hair
Medium hair is the most common hair type and often covers the scalp very well. This hair texture is not as fragile as fine hair and can be manipulated into styles easily. Structurally, medium textures have two layers: the cortex and cuticle and may contain the medulla.

Thick or coarse hair
This hair texture is strong because structurally it contains all three hair layers: the cortex, cuticle, and medulla. The medulla, the innermost layer of the hair shaft is pretty much a series of empty spaces. It’s an area filled mostly with air and protein. This hair texture usually takes longer to dry than others and can be resistant to various chemical treatments. It can tolerate heat well and resist breakage better than the fine or medium hair.

Hair type
In general, there are 4 basic hair types: straight, wavy, curly, kinky curly. This is based on the shape of the hair fiber.

Straight
Naturally straight hair is the strongest of the types and reflects light to the eye the best giving it a glossy appearance.

Wavy
Wavy hair has s-shaped curls down its length or much of the hair can appear straight with slight bends towards the ends of the hair. Wavy hair can frizz fairly easily and requires care to achieve perfect waves.

Curly
Curly hair tends to do so down the entire length of the hair shaft. Strand thickness can range from fine to coarse but is most often fine. The greatest challenges for curly hair are frizz, lack of curl definition, shrinkage and dryness.

Kinky-curly
This hair type has the tightest curls ranging from fine to coarse with S-shaped and z-shaped curls with everything in between. It is the most fragile of the types. If curl definition is a challenge for curly hair types, it’s almost an impossibility for kinky-curly hair.

This is a quick tip sheet to help determine the kind of hair you have. Once you know and understand your hair, you will know how to take care of it better. For more tips, contact the experts at Legends Salon of Hillsborough.