I just got back from a whirlwind family trip to Disney - and it did not disappoint! I had to take a really late flight to get there & had to leave a day early to do a wedding party. I got there after midnight & woke up to the little guys tapping on my shoulder at 6 a.m. ready to explore the Magic Kingdom. So needless to say it was a little intense but so worth it! I got to spend some major quality time with my niece & nephew & do all sorts of fun things reliving my childhood - from the rides to the shows & meet & greets - and of course some major afternoon pool time. I especially loved meeting the princesses. If I could turn back time I would love to have done an internship working on princess hair! Well either that or the over the top hair of Dancing with the Stars!

For more pics of the little cuties & my time in Disney just click HERE or the above image.

As we went throught the week I thought of some comments my niece had made - "Snow White has black hair like MiMi", "Arielle has such pretty red hair", "Whenever I play Frozen with Ava she always gets to be Elsa because her hair is whiter then mine", "My hair is like Aurora or Cinderella", "Who is your favorite princess?". So clearly I've passed my obsession with princess hair onto my little darling.

And of course throughout the week I was examining the expert wig work on all the princesses. I mean these girls looked legit. How did they cast these women? It got me thinking about one of my favorite industry books - "Color Me Beautiful."

I LOVE "Color Me Beautiful." If you're not familiar with the four seasons color theory it basically focuses on wether a person is "warm" or "cool" & then breaks you down into one of the four seasons - winter, spring, summer or fall. Obviously there are some flaws -the book was written in the 80's before dramatic breakthroughs in beauty products - lets face it when done right we can basically look however the hell we want. But I still stand by the fact that you truly look your best when you work within the confines of your "true" season & coloring. Of course you can do whatever you want, but if you figure out your true season it can simplify your life & allow you to make the right choices when it comes to your clothing, makeup & as it pertains to my profession your haircolor.

OK - so as you can see the cover is a little dated but as far as I'm concerned the concepts remain tried & true. So I started thinking harder of it as it pertains to the Disney princesses. What seasons are they?

In a nutshell, winter is embodied by clear & true primary colors or the icy, cool colors of winter. Think the jet black hair of Snow White or Elsa's icy platinum.

Spring is most represented by clear, warm colors.

Summers are often blonde or have cool or ashy undertones.

This is an easy one - autumns look best in the rich, warm tones of fall.

Back in the day if you were into "Color Me Beautiful" you would say are you a summer or a winter? a spring or a fall? Well now we can say are you an Anna or an Elsa, a Merida or a Cinderella? If you are a Merida & you want to be an Elsa are there products & professionals that can get you there? Of course. But would you probably look better embracing your inner Merida? I think so. To clarify, I've had people tell me - "But I really am an Elsa". The concepts have nothing to do with your personality - you can relate to Elsa but still look Merida & that's OK.

So what are you - an Anna or an Elsa?

Cheers - Hal