Freshen Up. September 9, 2009

“Christina, what I want to do today is have a whole new look. I want to really shake it up for fall (winter, summer, spring). I want you to do some thing totally different. BUT…. I dont really want you to cut it.”

If I had a dime for every time I heard that….. (OK,even if I just had a dime for every time I said it.)

So whats a stylist to do? She puts her implements to work, and so can you. Learning to use your curling iron or flat iron in a way you haven’t before is sometimes enough to make you feel like a new girl. Try different products as well. One you never thought you could use or one you have no idea how to. Go visit your salon and browse the shelves. There are zillions of fun creams, volumizers, and shine enhancers to try. It’s a cheap and fun, commitment free way to give your morning a kick.

Here comes the dangerous part for me. The part where I let you in on some of what I try to pass off as hair styling savant. There are a few tricks that work almost across the board to change someones look. I am going to share with you two, (only two!!!), one today and one tomorrow.

The first is the tousled beach babe do. The Baywatch, flirty, have-you-seen-my-bunny-ears-laying-around-here hair. After you wash and condition your hair, load it up with a good gel, use the size of a quarter to fifty cent piece. My favorite is Hardwear by Redken. Aim it at your roots, working it down the shaft of your hair. Straight, curly, thick or thin, dry your hair upside down and squeeze/scrunch it as it dries. Make sure you get it 100% dry. When you flip it upright you should look either sexy or like a cave woman depending on whether you put lipstick on before the blow dry. Now give your hair an easy brushing, trying not to lose the volume you created at the roots. Feel the back of your head, there should be a bone that protrudes in the center. That is your occipital bone, (use that in conversation today and watch the look of awe on your pals face) section from just above that bone leaving everything below it hanging and everything above it in a clip. Comb and then spray whats hanging with a good working hairspray. Spraying before will help the curl hold for hours. Two of my favorite working hairsprays are Hard Head by Bed Head and W8TLESS by RUSK. Pull out your curling iron, preferable a 1″ to 1 & 1/2″ barrel and begin curling big, fat, vertical, Nellie Olson ringlets. Now drop the second section, just below the temples all the way around the head, and then commence curling, same as the first section. The last section is the top of your head. This is where a little focus and skill come in. You’re going to want the height of the hairstyle to be at the crown and not the bangs. It would be easy to go all Whitesnake video girl at this point. The best way to avoid it is to make sure the curls go toward the back of your head. This will direct the hair away from the face and reduce some of the volume in the front. The final part usually makes people cringe. It’s the part where you’ve just started to get used to the idea of Nellie Olson curls on our head, you’re thinking of bonnets in a new fresh way when BAM, I pull out the hair brush and brush out everyone of those curls. I turn them into a big static-y mess. The look of disappointment usually comes across my clients face; the mental loss of a mid-day meadow run is palpable. Then, I save the day by using my favorite product, After Party by Bed Head. It’s part shine enhancer, part miracle worker. I put a dime to quarter size (depending on the thickness and length of your hair) in my palm and emulsify (fancy stylist word for rub it around ) it. Then I aim it on the shaft of the hair and work up, opposite of what we did with the gel. After Party works to re-gather the curls in a sexy piece-y way, they move and bounce AND shine. Flipping your hair upside-down will help insure that you aim for the bulk and away from the scalp. The only downsides to After Party are using too much, or getting it to close to the scalp. Both of these will flatten your curls and make your hair look greasy. Take a look in the mirror and size it up. How does the crown look? Flat? Then pick up a couple of curls at the crown and back comb them lightly at the base (close to the scalp), being careful not to break up the curl too much.

This hairstyle is best worn with a red one piece bathing suit and a whistle but I will leave it up to your discretion.

Tomorrows blog…. Change Your Part-ner

Advertisement