StyleUnited is a brand new fashion and beauty site that is owned and operated by Procter & Gamble. As they put it themselves: “We bring together style tools, personalized content, expert advice and support from friends to give you a fresh perspective on your beauty and fashion style”. 

Earlier this year, Style United asked me to write a few articles for their new site. The first three have been published, so please head on over there if you are interested in any of these topics: 

• 15 Ways to Hide That Muffin Top: I wrote this post because it’s without a doubt the most common dressing challenge for my clients. 
• The Best Rain Boots: I live in Seattle and know a thing or two about rain boots. Here I’ve listed some tried and tested styles in an assortment of silhouettes and colours. 
• The Best Jeans For Your Body Type: This guide serves as a starting point if you’re battling to find a great pair of jeans. Feel free to add to the list. 

The information provided by the site is easy to read and tangible. You can register and build a style profile, which is a tool that helps you zone in on all aspects of your style, from fashion and make-up to skincare and hair styling. 

We wish StyleUnited the very best launch.

Living in Seattle and doing a fair bit of traveling to even colder climates means that I can justify a fairly extensive coat capsule. As a result, I have many coats that vary in weight, length, fabric, silhouette, colour and level of dressiness. Plus, I adore coats, so it’s fun to add to my collection. 

I’ve been looking for a knee-length, single-breasted, tomato red coat with clean lines and black buttons for years. But nothing was quite right. Season after season, styles were either too short, too boxy, too lightweight, over-designed, double-breasted, ill-fitting, poorly made, or just the wrong shade of red. 

This year I unexpectedly found my coat at J. Crew (it’s the Double Cloth Metro Coat in flame). I’m in a very lady-like-style-mood lately so the simple classic lines, small collar, and flaps on the welted pockets appealed to me right away. And of course, the colour launches me into orbit. Scanning designer coat racks at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Barneys made me realize that the workmanship on this coat puts quite a few of their thousand dollar coats to shame. So far, I am very impressed with the quality of this coat, especially for the price. I hope that it stays looking good for many seasons.

I’m all over the midi coat trend, so ideally I’d have preferred this coat to cover my knees. But the length will suffice and the colour was impossible to resist. This type of red is my virtual neutral and I wear it with just about everything. From jeans and trousers, to skirts, tweed shorts and dresses across a spectrum of colours. I want to wear this coat every day because it brings my older items to life.

Despite the superhero connotations, I like matching bright red with a bright blue like cobalt or turquoise. So I’m wearing an old blue dress here. Unfortunately, it has seen better days. The colour has faded and the silhouette has stretched out a little. I no longer feel my best when wearing it, and even Greg commented that it doesn’t look fabulous anymore. I’ve given my sad blue frock a few more whirls with my happy red coat so that it can retire with a bang. It was a pricey frock, but I have worn the heck out of it and am not sad to see it go.

The rest of the outfit is as classic as the coat. A black and cream scarf that matches a colourblocked bag, and very low heeled black patent boots. The boots are about 5 years old and completely weatherproof. Some will argue that the pointy toe looks dated, but to my eye they are still in style. Furthermore, it’s going to take more than a new trend for me to stop wearing those boots because they are insanely comfortable, AND they slim at the ankle. Both tall orders for my fussy feet and narrow ankles. Unlike, my sad blue dress, I’ll probably wear these boots until they fall apart.

This is a fab little no-nonsense bootie. Clean, chunky, comfy and slightly boyish. There is little consistency in the review comments on this style, but I can recommend it based on my own fitting experience. Thumbs up! 

I did not find the leather cheap looking at all. In fact, it’s a well made shoe with neat stitching and solid hardware. The fit around the ankle is flattering and I highly recommend wearing this bootie with dresses and skirts so that you show off the shape and the buckle. I personally find it’s minimalistic look appealing.  

They run true to size and go up to a size 12. This style has the potential to be a good city walking shoe. The brown is lovely, but I preferred them in black.

My clients and members of our forum often seek advice on three slightly uncomfortable hair salon situations: First, how do you tell your current hair stylist, with whom you have developed a relationship, that you want to have your hair done by someone else. Second, what do you do after a hair cut or colour when you aren’t satisfied with the results. And third, what is considered an appropriate tip. 

It’s Not You, It’s Me

The first situation is tricky when you feel a sense of loyalty towards the hair stylist who has been doing your hair for years. Leaving them to go somewhere else would probably hurt their feelings and make you feel bad.  But unfortunately they don’t do the best job on your hair, and you want a change.

Well, in my book, you have two choices here. You either politely and diplomatically level with your stylist, or just move on without explaining why you won’t be visiting their salon in future. Your hair is your crown and it deserves the very best style. You shouldn’t feel bad or disloyal about trying to find a better hair stylist because it’s your right to be completely satisfied with a service. Hair appointments are also expensive so you must get value for your money. 

Fortunately so far, I’ve been spared of this particular scenario. I’ve had extremely bad haircuts, but they were  by hair stylists who had not gained my trust and loyalty. I’d seen them once or twice and just moved on no questions asked. Now, I have a brilliant hair stylist who has been doing my hair for 8 years. We get on really well and I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else unless we left Seattle.

Unsatisfied Customer 

Onto situation number two, which I think we’ve all experienced at some point. My hair stylist, Teresa, as incredible as she is, sometimes misses an area that needs a little more texturizing. I only notice this is the case when I’ve done my hair myself a few times after the cut. Once, we also tried a new colour and I was unhappy with the result.

Theresa always wants to know when we need to tweak her work. We arrange a follow up appointment as soon as possible and she fixes the problem to my satisfaction, free of charge. I don’t know if all hair stylists offer this level of service, but I’m spoiled by Teresa’s professional and customer-centric approach. 

If you’re unhappy with the result directly after a hair appointment, I think you should be able to go back to the stylist and have them fix their mistake free of charge. Of course, things get harder when you’ve lost confidence in your stylist’s ability to repair the job. In that case you probably have to live with a not-so-fab hairdo while you find a new stylist. 

The Tip

Tipping customs will differ across countries and cultures. In the US, customers usually tip hair stylists between 10% and 20%. I tend to tip closer to 10% and that works for me. I don’t think that you should feel obliged to leave a huge tip if you’re uncomfortable doing so. After all, a tip is an act of goodwill, a pat on the back and a little extra for a job well done. It is not mandatory. 

This is my take on how to handle these situations, but I’d love to know your thoughts too. How do you leave a hair stylist who you like, but isn’t giving you the best results? How do you cope with unsatisfactory results directly after an appointment? And what is an appropriate hair salon tip?