December '08! “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Mohandas Gandhi 4th Annual Christmas Party! We're excited to announce the details of our 4th annual christmas party and benefit silent auction. This year we've expanded the event and will be holding it at the Hard Rock Cafe, 63 W Ontario Street, Chicago. It will be a great evening of live music, a raffle for a brand new Harley-Davidson, and a silent auction. Here's the details: Thursday, December 18, 2008 Hard Rock Cafe, 63 W Ontario Street, Chicago. Raffle for a 2008 Harley-Davidson XL 1200. Live music by Seeking Wonderland, The Furrells, The Gunshy, Zora Young & The Chicago Blues All-Stars, and The Stretch. All proceeds benefit Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest), Children's Memorial Hospital, and McAvoy Foundation. PURCHASE TICKETS! Tickets are $20. They may be purchased online through TicketWeb by clicking here or by stopping by XEX. For more information, please visit www.xexchicago.com/christmas. New Darra Shipment Has Arrived! We've just unpacked the latest shipment of Darra, sent over to us from Venice. These pieces are quite stunning. We encourage you to stop in to browse through the remodeled Darra gallery. Thank You To Those Who Donated We'd like to express our deepest appreciation to the following for donating their services and products to this year's silent auction to benefit America's Second Harvest: ABC Nancy Arnold BB's Restaurant Bella Baccino's Tom Bernardan Sarah Boyle Harry Carey’s Cartridge World Carmichael's Steakhouse Catch 35 Chase Bank Chicago Palm Chicago Theater: Eric Fisher Chili's John Christopher Crunch Fitness Jenny Davis Elephant and Castle Emerald Loop Flat Water Grill Fogo de Chao Dr. Shanna c. Fristch Gene Siskel Film Center Goodman Theatre Hilton Hotel Palm Beach Hotel Monaco Hotel Sax Leo Burnett Let Us Entertain You AMC Dana Louder Darra Murano Glass Maggiano’s McCormick and Schmick’s Morton’s the Steak House Gary Nye David Perry Red Fish Red Head Piano Bar Renaissance Hotel Chicago Renaissance Jewelers Robert Daniel’s Florist Segway Smith and Wollensky South Water Kitchen Starbucks Coffee Company Weber Grill Dan Webb WLIT Winston & Strawn ~ Previous News ~ Our Annual Holiday Party & Benefit Silent Auction! On Friday, November 30, inside the salon, we'll be throwing our 3rd annual holiday party. As with previous years, we'll also be holding a silent auction to benefit America's Second Harvest. From 3-9 pm, we'll be celebrating the season will all who care to join us. DJs and live bands will entertain, and refreshments will be provided. Two New Hair Extension Options Now Available at XEX This month, we're excited to add two new options to our hair extension services at XEX. Along with the bonded technique that we have been offering, we now offer single-strand extensions and clip-in hair extensions. Single-strand extensions are a great way to add fun and excitement to your current hair style. At $20/strand, they are a great way to try out extensions as well. Single-strand extensions can be accomplished using either the bonded or clip-in method. Clip-in hair extensions are a great option for those who want to save time and money, but still want all the benefits of extensions. Like bonded extensions, we can match your natural hair color to the color of your extensions. With proper care and maintenance, clip-in extensions can last a lifetime. Unlike stock extensions, clip-in extensions are custom-made to your head shape here at XEX. All extensions from XEX are accomplished using the strand-by-strand techniqu and we only use 100% natural human hair. All extensions also require a complimentary initial consultation where we discuss your options and answer any questions you may have. Call us today to make your appointment. Below is the informative article written by Dana Louder, our Hair Extensions Specialist, last month on the benefits of hair extensions. Are Hair Extensions For You? By Dana Louder, Style Director & Hair Extensions Specialist The most effective and easiest way to transform yourself or attain the hair you've hoped for is with hair extensions. I've had great experiences with extensions and have seen many clients leave completely thrilled with their new look. Here at XEX we now offer 100% human hair extensions. While they most commonly are used to add length and fullness, I have seen lighter textured clients use them to add volume, fullness, and manageability with great success. Extensions also give you the opportunity to color the extensions instead of your natural hair. Some strong blonde highlights or funky color pieces that may fade or be difficult to achieve with natural hair are attained and mantained with the use of extensions. I've seen extensions work wonderfully in clients who are in between lengths as well, not sure whether to cut it or grow it long. They allow your natural hair to grow into the long style you have attained with extensions. When applying extensions, we use a strand by strand method here at XEX. I've found this method to look the most natural. There are 100 different color variations available, with which we can match your hair to the exact level, tone, and texture. As always, I offer complimentary consultations. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how extensions can benefit you, call 312 327-9211 to make an appointment. The possibilities are limitless! Acupuncture: What, When, Why, and How? by Dr. Shanna Fritsch, DC While acupuncture has been gaining popularity throughout American culture, there are many who are unsure of its history and basic principles. In it's simplest definition acupuncture's purpose is the restoration of balance, Yin and Yang. Health is balance. An imbalance creates pain, disease, or any other symptom. For thousands of years Eastern Medicine has used acupuncture to treat everything, including emotional disorders, pain, analgesia and wrinkle reduction. Click here to continue reading the full article... Darra Is Now Available For Purchase Online! We are excited to now offer a limited edition collection of Darra functional Murano glass fusion art pieces here on the website. This is the first time Darra's work has been available for purchase online. Click here to learn more and to visit the online store. The Looks Of The Season Are Inspired By The 80s. By Gary Mattiazzi, Co-Founder The bob has made a comeback with a new twist; a lot of top volume and unstructured body, which builds layers. The outside line can either be jagged or very geometric and heavy. For the client that is looking for something fun and eye-catching, the assemetric bob is great. Short hair is very carefree-looking with jagged perimeter lines and variations of fullness or flatter interior. Long hair is worn more natural-looking, with looser curls achieved through the use of velcro rollers and the curling iron. For a more fun look, corkscrew, triangular and spiral curls are also fashionable. With the use of new curl-enhancing products we are also seeing a lot of scrunch looks. The fringe is also very fashionable. We are seeing assemetric, heavy and very short effects. We are in a transition from the very straight hair of last season to a lot more volume. Color plays a very important role in enhancing these great haircuts. Hair care products are also important in creating the versatility of the style. At XEX, we believe that every look that we select excusively for a client has a few basic and important principles: versatility, practicality, suitability and fashionability. Tracy Adduci Reports On Current Color Trends "What We are seeing now is very curly, whispy hair curls with very warm tones. Red and gold tones for example. "Europe is showing a lot of very clearn blondes and more ashes and beige (very loud tones), even with brown. Warm tones aren't as popular currently. They are showing more dramatic color, not just highliting." A good example of these trends is the current use of more slicing of color instead of weaving the hair." Tracy Adduci is a native of Swindon, England. She has over 17 years of experience in the industry. Among her highest accolades is being named Aveda's 2005 Colorist of the Year. A New Darra Shipment Has Just Arrived! We are unpacking and setting up the latest shipment of Darra, functional art. It looks beautiful and we hope you can make time to stop in and see what we now have to offer. We've also redesigned our Darra gallery to better display the work of these incredibly talented men from Venice. For more information on Darra, please visit the Darra section of this site here. The XEX Card Stop in today to pick up your complimentary XEX card. With every five purchases you make of a service, the sixth is on us. Thank you for your continued support! Dr. Shanna says, "You can Deal with Stress!" Dr. Shanna Fritsch, who offers wellness and acupuncture services at XEX, recently wrote an article for the Young Lawyer's Association magazine about the ways stress affects your body. We know there's more than just lawyers who feel the daily grind, so we thought we'd post it here for you as well. Stress: Your Toughest Opponent Yet Dr. Shanna is offering complimentary wellness consultations ($50+ value) this month at XEX. See the printable web offers for more details and call us at 312 372-9211 to schedule an appointment. You may also make an appointment with Dr. Shanna by emailing info@twohandsforhealth.com.               35 W Wacker Dr, | Leo Burnett Bldg Chicago IL 60601 |312 372 9211