Just when you thought that hair extensions were the hottest trend of the moment, metallic shades of color begin to pop up all over the runway. Metallic hair shades have become the leading hair trend, and it is easy to see why. Metallic hair shades like silver and gold simply have a deep, alluring sex appeal that is irresistible. A woman looks powerful and a bit on the dominatrix side with this new hair trend. At the same time, there is something highly professional and stylized about metallic hair shades.

Look around the streets of London, and you will notice women sporting this trend everywhere. Fashion designers have been incorporating metallic hair shades in their runway looks for the fall season. Celebrities from the United States like Lauren Conrad and Paris Hilton have been seen donning a few strands of silver in their hair styles.

Silver and gold tend to be the hottest hair shades of the moment. The key to achieving a subtle metallic look is to incorporate only a few highlights into your hair style at a time. Because these highlights tend to stand out and are quite noticeable, you do not need that many. A hair stylist will be able to help you place the highlights and figure out the number that you should receive to complete your look.

A hairstylist will also help you figure out whether silver or gold highlights are better for your current hair shade. Gold highlights look great on women who have dark blonde or brown hair. Silver highlights look incredible on women who have dark black hair. If you have a deep shade of gray as your current hair color, then a few strands of silver highlights will also look great with this color.

My hair is basically metallic right now. Like whaaat. twitter.com/ginaflynn/stat…

— Gina Flynn (@ginaflynn) October 2, 2012

One of the other reasons to consult a hair stylist before attempting this look on your own is for the hair tips that you will receive. A hair stylist will help you learn new tricks to emphasize your highlights. You can include a bit of gloss on your roots to make your highlights stand out.

When you want to try out a new look, metallic hair is the way to go. Metallic hair will make you look gorgeous, and you will look like you just came off of the runway. Now is the time to try out a new look that has a bit of edge and is quite chic.

If there’s one thing we love to hear, it’s actual beauty school students talking about their stories and their experiences during their studies. Which explains why we love this set of videos where kikiV222 covers the whole gambit – from looking at schools to expectations vs. reality to an inside look at her cosmetology school student kit.

*Just a heads up: She dishes it out and drops some cuss words, so if you’re not down with that, you’ve been warned.

What we really adore about Kiki’s videos about cosmetology school is the honesty and comprehensiveness. When we came across them, we couldn’t help but think that it would be doing a disservice to BeautySchool.com‘s readers not to share her wonderfully strong perspective. Our favorite part?

“If anyone tells you, ‘Oh, this isn’t a real college,’ you need to kick them in the face.”

Hell, yes. We definitely agree with that.

What do you think? Has she changed your perspective on beauty school?

Unfortunately, there’s not much of an avenue for online beauty schools right now. Training to become a cosmetology or esthetician or nail technician requires far too much hands-on education, practicing the skills and techniques you’ll need in your career. However, there are a few areas where online beauty school might be possible:

• There are some individual online beauty school courses available that are primarily theoretical and can be used toward continuing beauty education units for license renewal.
• Once you’re in beauty school or you’ve already graduated, there are tons of online cosmetology study resources available to help you review and further prepare to take your cosmetology license exam.
• If your dream is to advance your beauty career and possibly one day open your own salon or spa, it would benefit you to get a business degree, and there are loads of online business degrees that are available. You could further your education without losing time in the salon.

For more information on beauty schools, check out our Resources section or start searching for a beauty or cosmetology school near you right now.

As you are preparing for the 2011 holiday party season, don’t forget the little details that bring together an outfit – like your nail polish. There are many possibilities of designs to both match and accentuate your holiday fashion.

Get in the Spirit with Holiday Colors
There are a lot of holiday nail colors associated with Christmas that you can use to add some festival cheer to your attire. Red is the obvious go-to, but also consider some other possibilities, like rich greens, gold, blues or silvers. If your holiday party schedule is a little more on the funky side (rather than, say, work functions), get playful with your nail polish execution. Have one color on the nails of the left hand and another color on the right or alternate from several different colors with all your nails.

Go Glitter
Adding a glitter polish either on its own or on top of a layer of color polish can really jazz up your look. Whether the glitter you choose is silver or gold or some other bright-colored glitter, your hands are sure to attract attention as you mingle among guests at parties this holiday season.

Dressing Up Artificial Nails
If your own natural nails are short, chipped or otherwise nothing to write home about, you can still have fun this holiday season. As a holiday treat for yourself, plan to go to a nail salon to have artificial or gel nails placed on your hands. You can ask the nail artist to take an impression of your cuticle shape so you can easily switch between designs for different holiday parties.

Embrace Holiday Nail Art
Want to get really into the holiday spirit? Nail art takes basic nail polish to a whole new level, creating everything from interesting designs to full out holiday scenes right on your nails. It may be easiest on those who have longer nails – either natural or acrylic – but don’t be afraid to experiment! A tiny Santa or presents on each fingernail? Go crazy! What about snowflake nails like the one in this tutorial? Perfect not just for the holiday season but for spicing up your whole winter wardrobe.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that your holiday nail style is all your own. Even if you are not normally the artsy type, it doesn’t require a lot of work to dress up your nails at the same time you are dressing up the rest of the you. Think of your nails as an empty canvas just waiting for your own personal expression. With all of the comments that you are sure to get and the fun you are bound to have, you won’t regret having lived it up a bit.

A vampire Halloween costume is a pretty popular item, especially considering how vampires are still all the rage with the True Blood and Twilight franchises everywhere. Plus, if you’re running short on time before the big Halloween party, vampire costumes can be an easy option to put together on the fly.

But we know beauty professionals, and you guys know the importance of cool details, even if they seem small. So how about putting some pop into this year’s vampire costume with sweet, Halloween nail designs. YouTube user goldiestarling has a cool tutorial for vampire nail art featuring blood-red lips and vicious fangs grinning up from each gorgeously colored digit.

A costume is all about execution, and great execution often comes down to unique details. Spice up your costume this year with Halloween nail designs that will have your friends mesmerized.

Summer is here and it’s easy to relax and lounge in the sun but if you could combine a summer vacation environment with getting an education? Attending beauty schools in Los Angeles allows you to be around a warm climate all the time. There are many other important factors to look at when finding a beauty school though in addition to the area, the local attractions and the climate.

Here are a few handy questions to ask yourself:

- Is my school accredited?
- Does my school offer cosmetology scholarships?
- Will my school assist with financial aid?
- Does my school have a student salon?
- Will my school help with job placement?

Beauty schools in Los Angeles offer many great opportunities to start your career. To find out which the cosmetology schools in the area, watch the video below.

After a two week long twitter frenzy where followers were campaigning to win Professional Japanese Hair Shears, a winner has finally been chosen. Beautyschool.com is proud to present the winner of the Professional Japanese Hair Shear Twitter Contest via video, and also kick off the launch of their brand new YouTube channel. Look for us (username beautyschooladvice) and subscribe to stay up-to-date on the latest contest news and beauty school information.

Who claimed our pro shears (valued at $229)? Watch the video below and discover for yourself which contestant is the winner. If today wasn’t your lucky day then check back for another amazing beauty giveaway coming the beginning of June! Thank you to everyone who entered the twitter contest and special congratulations to our lucky winner! And if you’re not already, follow us on Twitter – @BSDiva.