hair

BEAT THE HEAT

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Since it’s about 550 degrees here in sunny Los Angeles, I figured this would be the perfect day to show you a quick + pretty way to get your hair up and off your shoulders. Don’t let the 13 steps fool you– this tutorial is fairly simple, just wanted to make sure you saw every little step! Hope you’ve all been practicing your inside-out french braid lately. You can definitely do this with a regular french braid, but I like the volume that comes from loosening up an inside-out braid better. Here we go:

  1. Part your hair starting at the top of your crown and go down right behind your ears. Pull those pieces forward and save them for later.
  2. Put all the hair in the back into a loose ponytail. This will allow the chignon shape to sit a little lower. Optional: you can make your ponytail higher/tighter if you want it up and off your neck.
  3. Lightly tease the ponytail.
  4. Wrap it into a low bun and pin using large bobby pins to make it really secure.
  5. Do an inside-out french braid, starting at your hairline and continuing down behind your ear.
  6. Braid the remaining hair all the way down and tie it off with a clear elastic.
  7. Repeat the same steps on the other side.
  8. Gently tug the braid apart. Start at the front hairline and lightly tug each individual loop/piece until you get down to the elastic. This will “fatten” up your braid and give it much more volume and texture. If layered pieces fall out, you can tuck them and spray them or just let them fall. Totally up to you.
  9. Cross the two braids over each other just above the bun and secure them with some bobby pins.
  10. Remove the clear elastics from the bottom of one braid and give a gentle but secure tease to the ends of the braid.
  11. Wrap it under the bottom of the bun and secure it with a strong bobby pin.
  12. Repeat on the other side.
  13. Tuck the remaining hair under the bun and secure with another strong bobby pin.

Use a hand mirror to look at the back and sides. Check to make sure it’s balanced. Pull a couple loose pieces out around your face if you want a softer look. Hope you all give this a go this weekend! As always, let’s see it! –> @TBDofficial

 

hair

OFTEN OVERLOOKED: THE TOOTHBRUSH

Sometimes we focus so much on what’s new that we forget how many tools we have hiding in the drawers at home. A spare toothbrush comes in quite handy in the hair world and I always keep a couple in my kit. The two best uses I’ve found for this ol’ thing are:

Smoothing down annoying fly-aways + baby hairs around the hair line. Spray a little strong-holding hairspray directly on the bristles of the toothbrush and smooth those little buggers down. On fine hair, I spray it directly on the toothbrush. With thick/coarse hair I usually spray it straight on the little hairs and then smooth over with the toothbrush because with coarser hair you usually need a bit more spray that what you’ll get off the toothbrush.

Cleaning out the vent on your blow dryer is important! Okay, you know when the blow dryer starts getting hotter than normal or even shorts out? It’s probably caused by a build up of lint or dust in the back of your blow dryer. The fan and motor have to work insanely hard and they get really hot if the back isn’t clean + clear. Cleaning that vent out isn’t usually very easy, but with a toothbrush it is! Just run the bristles of the toothbrush back and forth across the metal mesh on back. I like to remove the vent on my ELCHIM dryer, blow the remaining dust particles through using the front end of the dryer, then re-attatch it. The more particles you keep out of the vent, the cleaner it will run and the longer it will last.

What beauty uses do you have for a spare toothbrush? Let’s exchange ideas below!

about us

TBD + GAP STYLD.BY

When we were asked to participate in the Styld.By campaign for the GAP in Rue Magazine, not only were we totally honored, but we thought this would be a great way to introduce ourselves to you guys one at a time! We’re always working behind the scenes here at TBD to create new beauty tutorials, but we never really pop out to say hello. I’m Kristin Ess and I do the hair + nail tutorials.
I started doing hair at 15 and have never looked back. In the hair industry, as some of you probably know, wearing all black is essential because we’re SO GOOD at ruining our clothes with hair color. When I’m not working in my salon, I have way more room to play with color and I really enjoy that time. For the GAP Styld.By campaign, they asked us to mix something of our own with something from the GAP. I thought that was pretty cool because full outfits rarely come from one store. I brought a long pleated yellow skirt  with me and immediately gravitated toward a grass green striped GAP tank and colorful accessories. Stylist Jen Pinkston then rolled up the sleeves on this super soft GAP denim button down, pinned a red rosette on it and I was in heaven. This is now one of the most comfortable + colorful outfits I own.

The Mag: Working on this with the uber-stylish Rue Magazine was amazing because we were really collaborating with friends. That’s truly what the blogging and web world is all about, isn’t it? One of my closest friends Angela Kohler, took all of the photos. She’s been working with us at TBD since day one and I’ve even forced her to be in one of my  braid tutorials! I always say- everyone should know how great it feels to have Angela take their photo. Another one of my closest and mostest, Bri, designed the layout in this issue of Rue and every issue before that. She’s just plain brilliant. Rue is an incredible online magazine packed to the sparkling brim with inspiration. Check it out and you’ll be hooked!

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To get this look or see more styles visit styld.by!


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hair

1 INSIDE OUT FRENCH BRAID & 2 TWISTS

photos/post/graphic design: Kristin Ess

Let’s say your friend is getting married. And let’s say she asks you to help her with her hair. And let’s say you panic. This has happened to a few people I know recently, and it’s mostly because destination weddings are such a big thing right now. People are getting married in rural countryside barns, on a lake, in the forest and on scenic hill tops all across the country. Often when a bride is getting hitched in the middle of nowhere, they’ll call on their most stylish friend to help them look their best on the big day. This little updo should be a great help in a situation like that because if you know how to french braid inside out, then you can probably master this updo with a teeny bit of practice. Obviously, the girl in the photo is doing this on her own hair (which is why we create these tutorials), but you can easily translate to this look and do it on a friend’s hair. My biggest tip with this ‘do is to let it be a little messy. It’s very “swirly” which leaves room to improvise as you go. We didn’t use a ton of hairspray here, but if you have a lot of layers you may need to use a little more as you go for added support. This can be done on hair that’s shoulder length and longer. All you need is a little something to tuck under like you see her doing in photo 4. Alright… here we go! READ MORE…

hair

WEEKEND EDITION: CHLORINE IN THE HAIR

photos/graphic design/post: Kristin Ess

Many of you have been so helpful with sharing your own tips + tricks. So what do you do to avoid chlorine green? There are so many methods out there! Here’s our favorite:

  • Wet your hair in the shower before jumping in the pool. Make sure your shower water isn’t chlorinated. If the chlorine level in your shower water is high you should be using a water filtration system like THIS ONE.
  • Wring out the water and apply regular conditioner to the middle + ends of your hair. You don’t need a ton- the size of a quarter will do the trick. Don’t rinse it out.
  • Now put your hair in a low tight bun before jumping in to the pool.

Hair is just like a sponge. Whatever it soaks up first will likely sit on the inside allowing very little chlorinated water to make its way to the middle. By soaking the hair with unchlorinated water + conditioner first, you’re protecting the majority of your hair and avoiding a very harsh removal process later on. After a chlorinated swim, always wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo like THIS ONE or THIS ONE. Even when the chlorine only hits the surface, it can still greatly effect the shine of your hair because it roughs up the cuticle (outer layer). Rough cuticles = brittle hair. Condition well with a moisture rich mask after using a clarifying shampoo.

So spill it! What’s your best trick for avoiding green, brittle, dull chlorinated hair?