Hair by Brenda at Hair Asylum

Lost some inches for the summer.

It's that time of year again friends. Collecting Easter baskets through the month of March for The Hope Mission.

Mermaid hair don't care! Brought this girl back to life. 5 hours of blood, sweat, & tears. Ok there wasn't any tears or blood. But I had my work cut out for me & we rocked it.

It's been a year in the making... I'm out of the studio this week enjoying much needed R&R time & fun in the sun for the week with my little spawn on vacation for a friend's wedding. If you've reached out, I'm not ignoring you. My service is spotty. I'll be back this coming weekend & responding to everyone next Monday.

Hope you all had a fabulous Halloween!

Our entrance got a face lift yesterday.

Little bit of yesterday's pop of fun.

🐣 This year we have 2 weeks to get Easter Baskets in! Last year everyone ROCKED and we were able to donate almost 200 baskets to kids in need in Anoka and Isanti county. 🙌🏼
Please help get the word out and share this post with your community, friends and family 💗

GOOD NEWS ALERT!
Went in for X-rays today & my surgeon said I'm healed up enough to apply 100% weight on the leg. He was impressed & says I'm ahead of schedule mobility wise. Of course this does not mean I get to just throw my crutches in the garage to collect dust just yet. It'll take time to get the strength to walk without them & stand long periods of time.

I've opened up my books beginning March 1st & will have a limited schedule for awhile so I get time for sitting & icing. I'm watching my schedule as people book so I know where to add in breaks.

I've missed you all so much & am super excited to get back behind the chair. I thank you all so much for being patient with me & appreciate those who have reached out to check on me.

Brenda

Was able to move my X-ray appointment to today instead of waiting until next week. I get to put 50% weight on the leg!!!!
I go back in 3 weeks for the next X-rays & hopefully that means more weight & back to the salon beginning of March like I've been hoping 🤞🤞🤞🤞.

Just wanted to keep you all in the loop. I go in next Monday Feb 7th for my next set of x-rays. If they are content with my bone improvement I can finally start putting weight on my leg. I'm assuming I'll require a couple weeks of PT before ditching the crutches & having the ability to stand for hours doing hair. But I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel & hoping I get the green light to return back to work in a few weeks.

I've missed you all so much & have missed doing hair just as much!

“She just cuts hair"

She uses intense trigonometry to figure out the exact angle to cut your hair in order for it to lay correctly.

She uses scissors sharper than knives very closely to her hands and fingers with centimeters to spare moving them quicker than your eyes can follow.

She puts her body in odd positions to make sure she is level and can see each strand of hair she is moving, causing major damage to her body while she’s standing and bending for 12+ hours straight.

She buys pays to sharpen her shears and gets new shears yearly that cost anywhere between $50-$2,000 with no payback, just to make sure your hair isn’t damage from the tug of dullness.

“She just colors hair.”
She uses chemistry to create a special formula to work with your hair, that most likely won’t work with someone else’s.

She uses time that works against her, as two minutes too late will blow the cuticle in your hair and/ or fry it off.

She strategically places mixtures to blur lines and create a subtle blend and/or dimension.

She changes the combination for each client as mineral build up and pollution from water/environment/ products will react differently.

She changes the color of your hair without knowing exact genetics which play a huge part in reaction to chemicals.

She spends 3 hours moving her arms and bending her body into awkward positions to ensure perfection.

She copies an image from the internet that was a 12 hour session with 5 stylists working, by herself in 3 hours.

“She just plays with hair.”
She spends 50% of her work day using tools as hot as your oven.

She styles your hair exactly like that Pinterest picture that’s actually a wig.
She constantly breathes in fumes from hair products and she can’t tell you the last time she didn’t have a hair splinter.

She squeezes you in for a last minute style as she’s already been on her feet for 10 hours straight.
She has her arm above your head moving it back and fourth for an hour to blow dry it flat.

“She just does hair.”
She spends an hour doing a 4 year olds hair because she can’t sit still but it’s mommy’s wedding day. Mommy cries when she’s done because her daughter looks beautiful.

She spends 3 hours with a teenager who tells her every single person messes up their hair and she doubts this one will get it right. Suddenly brunette isn’t her color, she needs it back to blonde next week.

She colors a 35 year olds hair who has been using box color for 15 and didn’t tell her beforehand, so the chemicals reacted and caused it to smoke making this process 6 hours that could’ve been 2. She’s now being yelled at by her next client for running behind.

She wraps a 80 year olds hair in rollers for an hour to ensure she looks beautiful for her husbands funeral. Her daughter calls week later to thank you for making her mother feel beautiful.

She works when she’s sick because there is no calling off when you work with personal appointments.

She works when a family member is desperately ill in the hospital because her clients have gray showing and they have a meeting tomorrow.
She misses her best friends surprise birthday party because it’s prom day.

She works until 10pm because her clients hair reacted differently and nobody can figure out why.
She gets woken up by texts at 3am asking if she can get someone in the book soon.

She makes extremely close connections with her clients and spends all of her social energy on them.
She doesn’t get “vacation days” because people need her in order to feel beautiful.

She missed her child’s first soccer game because she was already scheduled two colors and cancelling would just be “silly.”

She doesn’t work 8-4 or 9-5, she works first client to last with no real promise if she can make it home for dinner tonight.

She also hasn’t eaten lunch the past three days because she’s had no time between clients.
She spends hours researching new techniques and finding educational classes to attend on her one day off.

Her life revolves around hair. Her brain constantly goes from math to science to social to psychology to client and back to math. She works hard physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically. Every day. With no breaks and definitely no silence.

But I must remind you, she’s just a hairstylist. She just does hair.
I did not write this. I do live a lot of this!

Just a little update: My surgical wrappings & staples were removed on Monday (I'm going to have a pretty wicked looking scar & now look like I was shark bait). & I had 2 sessions of physical therapy this week. Besides aches & pains from mostly bruising things are going & feeling really good. Still advised I'm 6 weeks no weight bearing & most likely 12 weeks before I'm A-okay to stand for several hours at a time. I still have no exact time frame as to my return to work, but I will keep everyone posted.

Spoke with the orthopedic surgery place today. Am getting the doc a bunch highly recommended. He's a busy guy so I won't get in to meet him until this coming Wed. Should know the game plan right when I'm done with my appointment & then I'll re-update you all. Hoping he'll get me in by the end of the week this week still but could be early next.
Thanks to those who have reached out & kept me in your thoughts & to everyone who has been understanding & flexible with my schedule. I so appreciate all of you.

Dear wonderful clients. I just wanted to inform all of you that I took a pretty good fall yesterday & am out of work indefinitely. I'll be hearing from my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow & should be getting more info as to how long things will take to heal after surgery.
Hope you all have a very merry Christmas & a happy new year.
I'll update as to what's going on as I find out. Thank you all for understanding.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, friends, & clients. I'm always thankful for each & every one of you.

Please share ♥️ just a few more days to drop off your blankets !!

Still collecting blankets at my location. Donations in my area will be going to the Alexandria house & hope for Youth. Don't want to make a tie blanket? No worries, just bring in a newly purchased one.

Looking for a way to serve as a family? Do you like making Tie blankets? We would love your continued support by providing a new blanket to homeless families,teens and individuals….along with domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors staying in a shelter.
Check out our drop off locations!
Now until November 12th!

Yesterday was a great day. It was so much fun being able to spend it with these ladies & getting some kids some fresh back to school cuts.

Just wanted to say hi & touch base with all of you. I've been a little MIA on my social media for the studio. I've been up to many things as usual & apologize for my busy salon schedule. Things seem to be finding a balance finally. But I wanted to give everyone a heads up I'm in the process of lash extension training & will be adding that service soon.

As some of you know I joined forces with my good friend Jess who is also a hairstylist. She had a vision to help those in need & decided to take the leap & start a nonprofit. She's worked diligently to get this up & running from finding volunteers, working with programs, helping those in need, & jumping the hurdles to become nonprofit.

The goal is to tell a story through a haircut of people in need or that are struggling & to get them resources & other things they may need. We also want to help our community with donations such as we did for our Easter basket collection in which we collected 200+ baskets that we distributed to the women's shelter, hope for Youth, a couple transition houses, & churches.

We finally have a donation page set up & are a little over half way to our goal. I'm reaching out to family, friends, & clients for help in reaching that goal. Even the minimum is appreciated & beneficial. If you can't donate in a financial way please share, share, share. Help us spread the word. & if you don't already follow The Hope Mission please do. You'll see our Mission & there's amazing stories on there.

https://gofund.me/ee7de726

The Hope Mission, organized by Steven Shidla The Hope Mission is an organization of licensed stylists using their talents to show kindness to indivi… Steven Shidla needs your support for The Hope Mission

With a higher demand of clients wanting "fun colors" & the process involved to achieve them to the best of my ability I added a service on my books specifically in regards to this. It's under Fashion Colors. I have time blocked for 4 hours for this service but that can vary. & I've adjusted my pricing for this service to $100/hr.
Please keep in mind it's a time consuming process that involves many steps typically, lots of product, & it's not 100% it'll turn out exactly like you anticipate.
I love doing them, I just want you all to be aware of the price adjustment as I didn't typically charge much differently for this service vs a normal color service in the past.

Today's fun

We will start taking Easter basket donations March 1st! We know so many of you in our communities have expressed wanting a way to serve. Well here is your chance! There are children/youth experiencing homelessness right here in our own towns. Let’s provide them with a smile this Easter ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
We ask that you drop off Easter Baskets during hours of operation. Please wear a mask when entering our facilities and let the front desk know you are making a donation.
Thank you!!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜