DEAR RISSA,
I just got married and we are trying to have a baby. I am not yet pregnant, but I want to be prepared. Dying my hair may harm the baby, but I do not want my dark roots to show, and worse — my white hair! How do the celebrities do it? They seem to go through pregnancy so effortlessly without their roots showing.
MILES
When I got married and knew my husband and I were ready to have a baby, I went to celebrity hairstylist Alex Carbonell, who is the master of cut and color, to change my hair color to something still flattering but more natural so my roots don’t show. If getting pregnant is something you are sure of, this is one of the best ways to prepare.
Alex Carbonell looks after the hair of celebrities, like Toni Gonzaga, Jolina Magdangal, and Bianca Gonzalez, and makes sure their hair looks beautiful — and still safe to the unborn baby — throughout their pregnancy.
“When Toni Gonzaga got married, part of the logic behind darkening or toning down her usual bright hair color on her wedding was she might get pregnant anytime soon or right after. Hence, the anticipation!” he explains. Before getting pregnant, “coloring your hair close to your natural hair color is safest,” he stresses.
But for women who get the unexpected blessing of pregnancy and were not able to prepare by pre-darkening their hair color, Alex explains you can still look gorgeous despite limited medical conditions. He firmly stresses three things for pregnant women: 1) color must be organic or ingredients must come from highly botanical sources; 2) lowest developer with conditioning ingredients should be used; and 3) color must not touch the scalp area as it’s still best not to have any kind of “touching” of the color mixture to the skin or scalp.
“For Bianca Gonzalez, who wanted to eliminate the solid demarcation, we used the color treatment that is really intended to treat dry hair with a stain of color,” reveals Alex. “When Jolina Magdangal asked for color, we used a non-ammonia, no-smell hair color but never to put color on the scalp.” For his other clients who wanted color during their pregnancy, Alex and his team opted for highlights only that were done with foils 1/8” away from the scalp.
Ultimately, it’s always best to always consult your ob-gyn before having anything done. But Alex assures that there are always safe options on how to still look chic even when we have so many medical considerations. “For the moment, Aveda Full Spectrum color is a highly botanical solution with plants and fruits as its main ingredients —which are safe for us and for the environment.”
RISSA
Concealer for pale skin
DEAR LUCY,
I have very pale skin and I cannot seem to get the right concealer shade. What do you recommend? My skin is also dry, my moisturizer is not enough.
CHINKEE
You will get better results if you blend two shades of concealer. I like YSL’s Touché Éclat. I blend the two lightest shades and it makes the perfect color for my complexion.
One of my absolute favorite things now is facial oil. My favorite is Marula, and I even use it as a makeup base. It moisturizes my skin without clogging my pores and because the purity of the oil soaks right in, it never feels or looks greasy. When I travel and the weather abroad demands extra moisture, I layer my Marula Face Oil with my face cream for
extra moisture and it works just wonderfully.
LUCY
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Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil.