Erika with a K

Can you tell the difference? I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA!  https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

I had such a fabulous Thanksgiving week of color and cuts for new and familar clients alike. Made me realize just how much I have to be thankful for! Here's a peek at some of the work I had the pleasure to do, on people I have the pleasure to know! Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life! xoxo Erika Family Haircuts Haircuts for Sisters! And a Dramatic Haircut! I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA! https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

Having an allergy to hair color is not something to take chances on. If you know anyone with an allergy to hair color, you already know exactly what I am talking about.  Here's a little background on my experience with hair color allergies: I graduated beauty school and was working in a salon when I first encountered someone with a hair color allergy. That person is my mom. My mom had been coloring her hair for way longer than I've been on this earth for. She never had an allergy in the past and no one in our family has an allergy to hair color. I colored her hair one night, as I had been doing for years...  She went to work the next day and was in a meeting. She noticed the then CEO looking at her in a weird way. By the end of the meeting the CEO went up to my mom and asked if she was OK. She describes the way she looked after that meeting as "the elephant man". Her face was swollen, her ears had sores and blisters. That night she rushed herself to the emergency...

A while ago on my old blog I posted about transforming your hair from summer to fall... If you remember, the post looked a little like this: In that post I mentioned how I couldn't wait to get my hands on this beautiful mommy to be's pregnancy pictures. I finally did.... I honestly think this picture is breathtaking!  Time certainly flies and this beautiful mommy to be is now a new mom! Today baby Jaxson is 1 month old! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!! I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA! https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

I have been coloring Lexi's hair for over a year now, a beautiful ombre for a beautiful young woman. With her Sweet 16 party coming up early 2016, we set up a trial for her hair and makeup. Lexi is absolutely beautiful with or without makeup on and she has a natural talent for doing her own makeup (which is so impressive to me and it's so much fun to talk about contouring, eyebrows, and mascara with her). I couldn't wait to get a chance to do a trial! This picture was taken on a camera phone, not filtered and zoomed in significantly to NOT show her absolutely stunning Sweet 16 gown. With a beautiful canvas on the outside and such a beautiful young women on the inside, there was no doubt she would look as breathtaking as she did. I can't wait to do her hair and makeup for her Sweet 16 and I am so excited to update my portfolio with those amazing Sweet 16 pictures in 2016! I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my effo...

I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA!  https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

Gloss, Glaze, Toner what's the difference? For the purpose of this post I will give you the professional answer and the actual answer. Professional world: A gloss penetrates the hair's cuticle so it will last two to four weeks. A gloss typically just adds shine to the hair but can also add color depending on the gloss used. A glaze, on the other hand, simply coats the shaft with shine or color (not permanent), it will only last a week or two. Think of a glaze as a top coat of polish for your hair. A toner, "tones" hair to bring it to the desired color. A toner should last until your next salon visit. A great example of a toner is to cancel out brassy tones in highlights. In the actual world: These three words are used interchangeably; depending on the color line the colorist chooses and the use the colorist needs it for. Any one of these words can be used to add shine, temporarily coat the hair with color or cancel out unwanted undertones. Additio...

This Fall I had the privilege of coloring my sister's hair. I haven't colored her hair in years, probably since I graduated beauty school... Oh my goodness when I think back on all the hair I wasn't really qualified to do but did anyway because I thought I knew everything fresh out of school... it's no wonder my sister hasn't had me color her hair since! But time has been kind... So here we are present day, close to a decade later and my sister, Tara asked me to color her hair. She had some grown out highlights and wanted to cover them for Fall. Here's a little background on my sister. Her name is Tara and she is a new mom (very loving). She is a dental hygienist (very smart) but when I saw her hair brush matted with hair.... She said "I don't know how to clean it." It occurred to me that many smart, loving and talented women are probably faced with the same issue. After all, I probably wouldn't know how to clean a round brush if I weren...

Did you know a color cape can also be used as a bib? This literally happened yesterday. Talk about royal treatment.  👑 When was the last time you ate crab legs while getting your hair done!? I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA!  https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

I think it is so important to have your one "go to" outfit for each season. Having a "go to" outfit has literally been life changing for me. I can recall times in my early teens when I literally wouldn't go out because I "had nothing to wear". Let's be honest, our closets are packed and if we looked hard enough we can always find something to wear. Still, sometimes, we just want the getting ready process to be mindless. For those kind of days I have my "go to" outfit. So far this Fall, I've already worn my Fall "go to" outfit a handful of times.... To a dress fitting for one of my best friend's wedding... followed by brunch with the girls On vacation with my future in laws to Salem... and it transitioned perfectly from walking around town to dinner Every time I wear it my fiance compliments me and that alone makes me feel like a million bucks. But it's also super comfortable and versatile which are...

The greatest feeling is when a first time, second time or 100th time client loves my work as much as I do. This shared love of my work is most obviously shown through returning clients and referrals; and there is no greater referral than a referral to a close friend or family member. I met Stephanie over this Summer and we immediately clicked! She wanted highlights, her roots colored and a cut. I absolutely loved the final product and so did the men in her life (her husband and son). Soon after her husband and son came in to get hair cuts. The entire family is amazing but I didn't really expect much else than an awesome family! We've since gone even lighter with Stephanie's high lights just in time for her vacation! Here are some picture's I've taken (with permission) off Stephanie's facebook page that I absolutely love! I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my effor...

 Last month I had back to back weddings for friends and family. Not only was I attending the weddings but I also had the honor to be a part of one of the special days by doing the hair and makeup for the maid of honor, a bridesmaid and the aunt of the bride. Sometimes wedding parties scatter and find their own accommodations for hair and makeup. Often times people are just comfortable using stylists they've used in the past. Believe me, I get it. Weddings are not the time to live or think outside the box. As I always tell my brides, if you're not comfortable wearing your hair down, your wedding day is not the time to do it. And if you're not comfortable wearing it up, again your wedding day is not the time. Your wedding day is not the time to be someone you're not comfortable being. It's a time to be the best version of yourself, in the beauty department at least. In my opinion, same goes for your stylist. If you have a stylist you're comfortable with, do a tri...

From box color to fabulous color, a perfect example of a #TransformationTuesday done right! There are is so much to tell about this hair transformation, so I am going to jump right in! I took this home box colored hair of brown, red and bleached blonde, to a beautiful soft ombre. Instead of giving the step by step of each thing I did (let's leave that kind of work to the professionals) here is a break down of any word that might sound like salon jargon so you can have a better understanding of what you might want or what to ask for at a hair salon. What is a color correction? In the most general way, while understanding every single hair situation is different, a color correction is (again in general) taking a very dark color and making it very light or vice versa. It's basically completely changing the current color during multiple visits or during one very long appointment. It is important to be honest with you colorist during the time of consultation about...

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to do hair and makeup for a women I went to high school with. She wanted her hair and makeup done for a wedding she was attending. Since she wasn't in the wedding party, she was looking to have her hair and makeup done- without drawing too much attention to herself. What can I say? It's hard to not draw attention to yourself when you look this good! I absolutely love this silly picture and of course it was great to catch up with an old classmate! 10 years sure flies by. I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA!  https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

TBT to the days I used to do the hair and makeup for all Empire City Casino mailers, calenders, print work and website images! TBT to the begining years of working on photoshoots. I love what I do! I have had some amazing opportunities in my career. I've met some amazingly talented people and made some great friends along the way. Never lose sight of where you are going and never forget where you have been. #LifeIsGood xo Erika https://youtube.com/c/erikawithak Continue to show support for me by checking out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA!  https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/

Many people wonder about the life of their makeup. If you are anything like me you have a real expiration phobia (I don't know if that is really a 'thing' but for me it is.) I check expiration dates on EVERYTHING and won't go near things that are even coming close to expiration. So obviously my makeup products aren't any different. To find out when products expire is easy, most products have an expiration on the bottom, it will look like this:  That number represents the amount of months you have, once you open the product, until it expires. In this case, 12 months. Unopened, well-formulated cosmetics can remain stable for a few years if kept at room temperature. But once air hits the formula, certain ingredients start to oxidize and degrade. If you can't find the expiration on your makeup products, here's an outline of when makeup should be tossed, once you open it. Face makeup: Six months for liquids, two years for powders. Mascara...