Best Hair Extensions in Chicago

Hair Fusion Bar

For bright and natural hair extensions, Chicago salon Hair Fusion Bar uses Great Lengths—which come in vibrant, long-lasting colors, both natural and brightly-hued shades.

Chicago Hair Extensions Salon

Using human hair always, these experts make hair more lush with three different types of extensions: fusion, micro bead, and tape-in.

Jasmine Milsap Hair

With a knack for styling natural hair, Ms. Milsap specializes in traditional sew ins, as well as quick weaves, ponytails, and silk press.

Three Ways to Get Straight Hair

Back in the 1960s, women resorted to using a clothes iron to achieve pin-straight locks. Today, we’ve got options to make hair straight and sleek. Here, we explore three of them.

Flat Ironing

A temporary solution, hair gets gripped between the metal plates on what looks like a pair of tongs. The iron is then moved down the lock of hair to straighten it—it’s like a curling iron, but with the opposite effect. One caveat: it might not be as effective on hair with tight curls, and it only lasts until the next wash.

Keratin Hair Straightening

Also known as a brazilian blowout, in this two- to four-hour chemical process, hair is steeped in keratin, which fills in gaps in the shaft and coats it. The stylist then sets it with heat to keep it smooth and straight. You’ll only have to avoid water for 72 hours after the session and switch to keratin-kind shampoo and conditioner. This treatment can keep hair straight for up to six months.

Thermal Reconditioning

Also called Japanese hair straightening, this process can take up to eight hours, but lasts until the hair grows out. The curl structure of the hair is broken down with chemicals, then hair is rinsed and flat ironed. Be sure to mention any past hair treatments to your stylist, because even henna can affect treatment.

Best Colorists in Chicago

Siren Salon

These color-savvy stylists use products from L'oreal Professional, Kevin Murphy, and Redken to brighten clients’ locks in their sleek, North Center digs.

The Colour Room

Since 1996, these colorists have added vibrant shades to clients’ tresses, specializing in glossing and balayage, among other color treatments.

Edit Salon

Its industrial steampunk environment belies these hair experts’ artistic touch, for which they employ Wella Professionals hair color.

Three Ways to Get Color in Your Hair

Expertly applied color can be a makeover in itself—but understanding the difference between ombre, balayage, and standard highlights can be daunting. We’re here to help.

Ombre Highlights

Taking its name from the French word for shadow or shade, this technique gives hair a soft transition from dark roots to lighter ends. A balayage technique is often used to achieve this look, but we’ll get into that in the next section. Depending on the color you choose for the roots, this technique may require frequent touchups.

Balayage

As mentioned above, balayage is a technique by which the stylist applies highlights by hand-painting them. This gives highlights a more natural and dimensional look, especially when they’re growing out, as stylists start mid strand and sweep the color toward the root or tip. This is best for those who want vibrant color without the laborious upkeep—it’s pretty low maintenance. It’s also great for those who only have sparse gray strands to cover.

Full Highlights, Partial Highlights, and Babylights

Basically, highlights are used to lighten isolated strands of hair. The three main types are as follows:

• Full highlights: applied evenly throughout the entire head
• Partial highlights: only applied on parts of the hair, typically the strands near the face
• Babylights: made to mimic the way the sun lightens kids’ hair, and applied to teeny tiny sections all over the head—a longer and more expensive process than full highlights

For more information on these techniques, click here.

The Best Barbershops in Chicago

Handcrafted Barbershop

A honed slate countertop and eagle crests at each station give this barber shop an old-world appeal. Sipping on a beer or soda before their appointments makes clients feel right at home.

Irving Park Barbershop

This modern shop has an old-fashioned appeal: it’s cash only and takes no reservations—and the shop dog Bob will greet you at the door.

The Public Barber

The spare decor of this shop—white subway tiles and brown leather seats—keeps the focus squarely on the haircuts. Although being offered a finger of bourbon to sip doesn’t hurt the shop’s charm.

9 Types of Barbershop Haircuts

Your “high on the sides” might not be your barber’s vision of “high on the sides” so we’re here to help with some definitions of some very basic barbershop haircuts that will help you get exactly what you want.

• Buzzcut: Electric clippers shave the hair to a consistent, almost-bald length.
• Crew cut: Another clipper cut, the hair is shorter on the sides and longer on the top.
• Quiff: Hair is combed forward and—most prominently—the hair in front and on top are combed upward.
• Pompadour: Elvis made this cut popular—the hair is slicked upwards and back, so it almost comes to a pouf on top.
• Low fade: For this look—where the hair is cut shorter and shorter as it nears the bottom, so it looks as if it gradually fades out—the fade starts just an inch or two above above the hairline.
• High fade: The fade starts higher, almost at temple height.
• Medium fade: Just as it sounds, the fade starts somewhere between a low and high fade.
• High top fade: This cut has faded sides, and long hair up top, cut so it looks square and flat.
• Side part: Short hair is clearly parted on one side.

For photos of these haircuts and more barbershop FAQs, click here.