Mia's Blog

June 2010 - Festival Season Fancy Dress!

Festival season is upon us and the fancy dress themes couldn’t be funkier! The secret garden Party is hosting four themes all derived from “ Fact or Fiction”. Bestival has themed its Saturday with “Fantasy”. These couldn’t be better here at Mia brown as our extensive Party wig collection would be an easy adaptation to either of these themes!

Liza in Turquoise is a very aquatic colour and could easily make a mermaid/ merman look very authentic. Mimi in tipped red with burgundy would make a fantastic mythical fairy so much more exciting. Moda in Orange The Mad Hatter from the new Alice in Wonderland. Liza in White, paint yourself blue and go as the smurfette. The possibilities are endless.

With the lack of showers and hair becoming limp and greasy it would be wise to invest in a wig or two to keep yourself looking glamorous. I’m taking the Liza in Pink and Red as red is a top shade for the season. Celebs seen in the red include Florance Welch, Beth Ditto and Ashley Simpson. I also thought it braver to go with the tonal red wig as I love the two tone look worn by Lady Gaga and Pixie Geldof.

May 2010

The first wedding is quite a posh do in a country hotel grounds. I’ve bought a fantastic black and white maxi dress and a massive black and white corsage type fascinator to go with it. I’ve decided to pull all of my hair back into a fantastic off centre pony tail. With the use of the Honey pony I can have a beautiful cascading ponydown one side of my head with a huge flower high and centre – fantastic!

The next do is a short week away and as it is only an evening do, I thought I would try my luck with the “Super quiff” which I have seen Paris Hilton showing off. As it is quite “Rock chic” I thought I would contradict it with a very pretty oriental printed dress. For the Quiff I used our synthetic hair extensions, in a colour which matched my hair.

The super Quiff

To achieve the “Super Quiff”, you need to separate the hair into thirds. First, you need to push as much hair forward as possible, to build into the quiff. Take the sides, by the temples, and scrape them back and secure into a pony tail at the back of the head. Then attach the hair extensions so that they sit over the pony tail. With the hair which has been sitting on top of the head, work section by section using back combing, hair spray, and grips to build the quiff. Secure the grips overlapping the grips holding the hair extension in. Style the extensions how you would like. As I was sporting my super quiff at an occasion I curled mine with the straighteners. Everyone else I have seen wearing it has had a messier look, which is also easily achieved with theThermo style extensions.It looked amazing and I felt like a super model with my high hair!

For the final wedding I thought I should wear a hat, but being me, I had to do glamour! The hat was a huge cream sourcer like number, which teamed with some of my Human hair extensions curled and cascading down one shoulder, had the desired effect. My friend came to mine to get ready for the day and was so jealous of how alluring the look made me she ended up donning the Sheba in light blonde wig. She looked amazing – like Marilyn Monroe. In fact I think we upstaged the bride.

April 2010- Madonna inspired Glee

After the recently Madonna inspired Glee episode. I became quite nostalgic about the all those times I donned my black lace gloves and rah rah skirt and danced around to the video of her “Blond Ambition Tour”. My inspiration led me all the way back to my own collection. I began franticly pulling stock and trying to re create some essential Madge looks!

The easiest one to create is obviously, the look she rocked during the pre mention “Blond Ambition Tour”, the girl empowering high pony tail! Recreate the look with the Topaz Pony high on you head. Madonna finished off the look with an outfit design by Jean Paul Gaultier, but a Basque under a suit is just as effective!

March 2010 – Colour trends

Well frankly I am surprised! I met a lovely lady in the rest rooms of a Trendy wine bar that I sometimes go to. I commented on her gorgeous hairdo and entered into a conversation about the benefits of real extensions. She had no idea that you can get faux extensions that you can style like real hair and had paid a small fortune for her real ones! I told her all about our Thermostyle Synthetic Hair extensions which can be styled like real hair, for a fraction of the price that she paid! I gave her my card and told her all about some of the new hair trends for the summer.

It’s all about colours and layers!

Get your selves some new extensions in different shades of you own hair colour. You need to layer them in graduating tones from your own hair, and then start building the volume. Remember the Therostyle Synthetic hair can be heat styled, but we still sell the Human hair extensions. So, don’t just build volume tonging and curling, why not try crimping? If you crimp random sections of hair close to the roots it immediately builds volume. If you have dark hair graduate into lighter shades and light hair into dark shades, be bold ladies, underlying volume is the look we want!

Feb 2010 - Lady Gaga loves wigs and we love Lady Gaga

Gaga has been quoted as saying, "I have more than 20 wigs. That way, I can have a new hairstyle every day without having to run to the hairdresser, which is great, isn't it?”

Gaga picks her wigs to suit her mood, just like yours truly, I feel I have found a kindred spirit!

So to get some truly inspired Gaga style try the Slinky, for an A- symmetric almost “Posh” look. Or the Monica for a cute crop, beats cutting your hair off! Or if you want to go really Gaga get the Moda , it’s a real show stopper. Good luck finding your inner celeb. I’m your biggest fan, i’ll follow you until you love me...

July 2009 - Summer in the UK is officially pants!

Where's the never-ending barbecue sunshine the met men promised? Sure, we've had a few days of glorious heatwave warmth, but seriously - how's a girl to top up her tan in these inclement climes?

Time to get the girlfriends together for a european beach holiday, methinks! But what to pack? Ponies, ponies and more ponies. A selection of hair pieces - a simple Bun pony for the beach, long flowing Belle pony for the soirées and maybe a dreadlock ponytail for the clubs! Sorted!

Here come the girls!

June 2009 - ThermoStyle is here!

OK, so it's a little overdue - I've been promising you this since April - but they're here now. My new ThermoStyle clip in hair extensions are officially available. This new synthetic fibre can be heated treated up to 180 degrees celcius, so can be styled like human hair. It's also less expensive, too!

The feedback so far has been great! A number of regular human hair extension buyers have commented on the look and feel being so similar to human. As yet, the range of colours available is not as extensive as the human hair, but the clever people in white coats are working on it - watch this space...

Well Summer is on its way!, and they (whoever they are) tell us its going to be a hot one!

No, I am not sure I believe them either, but a little wishful thinking is good for us they say (who ARE these people!?).

In any case, now is the time to start looking at those short summer-cool wigs, and leave behind flat, limp hair and of course the dreaded frizz for those curlies among you.

Please have a look at our selection of short wigs, and remember - its always more practical to pack a few well chosen fashion wigs into your case for that well deserved summer break than a stylist and all his associated equipment - customs also goes a lot more smoothly.

Have fun!, because you know what they say ..... oh forget it.

April 2009 - Breakthrough!

It was earlier in the year... when I met Jenny; a friend of a friend really, but the conversation got around to this site and what we do. I thought I could detect a little skepticism until the penny dropped a few minutes into the conversation, and she finally plucked up the courage .. "so, is that a wig then?" she asked, gesturing coyley towards my hair. "Of course!" I blurted, a little too enthusiastically in retrospect, so I went on to explain the unique challenges faced by ladies of nubian descent

Well I am not sure if it was my evangelising about no more bad hair days, admiring looks across a room and the ease of which wig-wise-divas change their looks so easily - or, the fact that the fashion industry has gone wig crazy over the last few months; but she called me up last week for some advice on said fashion accessory for her and a friend for an upcoming wedding!

Becky opted in the end for a pony, Jazz pony to be exact, with Jenny going for the classy Asha look.

They did promise me some wedding cake.

March 2009 - I spy wigs

Angelina Jolie sports some serious wig action in her latest movie role as international super spy, Evelyn A Salt

Flipping between black wigs, brunette wigs and blonde wigs, reminiscent of Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow in Alias, Angie portrays a character "you never really know".

Interestingly, the part was originally written around Tom Cruise as the main character, but Tom and wigs - naah!

If you're keen to recreate Ms Jolie's sultry dark haired CIA agent or her sassy blonde alter ego, check out my Serena wig in black (1B) or frosted black with mahogany (4/30HE) and my Sabrina wig in mixed light blonde with warm ash brown (72H-613).

February 2009 - Wig makeover

A girlfriend asked me recently if she could try out one of my brunette wigs.  She's currently blonde and is thinking of dyeing her hair colour brown.  Her concern was that her boyfriend really likes her current look.  So we kitted her out with an Asha wig in colour 2B (darkest brown) and took her into the studio for a mini photoshoot.

What a transformation!

Suzie is blessed with looking much younger that she really is - but for her job (an account manager for a music label), she'd like to look a little more mature to convey a sense of experience.

As it turns out, Suzie's boyfriend wanted to keep her blonde tresses. But that's the beauty of wigs. She decided not to dye her own locks but invested in a couple of brunette wigs for wearing in the work place and her boyfriend, also amazed by her immediate transformation, bought her two different styles of blonde wigs to keep her look fresh and varied.

I love the fact that a complete makeover can be achieved in a matter of moments. Personally, I'm going through a hairpiece phase. I've had my hair relaxed at the salon and each morning, I choose a draw-string ponytail to suit my mood. It's all so uplifting!

So if you're in two minds (or three, or four) about how you want to wear your hair - don't worry about making that decision. Simply have an arsenal of colours and styles ready to match your mood (or your partner's) and live life in a kaleidoscope of modes and personae!

January 2009 - Wigs in vogue

For me and many black women all over the globe, wigs, hair extensions and hairpieces have been a way of life since our early teens. As far as priorities go, hair and beauty products are at the top of the list above groceries and the electricity bill.

But hey - what's happened - the world and her sister have discovered our beauty secrets. Thanks to wig-wearing celebrities like Pixie Geldoff, Lily Allen and Fran Cutler, girls and women of all ages across the full spectrum of ethnicity have embraced the empowering freedom and inspiring confidence of non-stop good hair days!

Trinny and Suzannah have dedicated a chapter of their latest book - "Who do you want to be today" - to instant tress changes. Maybe a sleek "Posh" bob wig for a sophisticated evening's dining or a full-on sensuous long silky wig for a night of romance.

Whatever your favourites - the cat's out of the bag: looking drop-dead gorgeous everyday with head-turning tresses doesn't take months of growth and huge salon bills. Wigs, extensions and ponytails have become part of everyday beauty and fashion.

So let's start the new year as we mean to go on - looking fabulous, oozing confidence and brightening the world around us with a genuine joie de vive!

Take care, have fun and be inspired shopping here at Mia Browne.