hair

GUEST POST

photos by: Kathleen Bly post designed by kristin ess

Mad love for our first guest post winner, Taylor Nick!!! I am fully obsessed with this bohemian-inspired-braided-goodness! Even though Taylor had some SERIOUS competition, there’s no doubt that this little lady took the cake in our hair tutorial contest. She created a beautiful, textured, easy hairstyle that will work with almost any hair type. Congratulations Taylor, and thanks to ALL of you who entered this post contest. We’ll do it again soon. For now, let’s let Taylor show us how this is done!

Xx Kristin

“My look is inspired by all of the bohemian braids on the 2011 runways. It can be worn at the beach or dressed up with heels & jewelry for a summer night out. It’s also the perfect accompaniment to cozy knits & denim as the weather cools off in the coming months.”

Tools:

  • 2 Claw clips
  • Bobby Pins
  • Hair tie, preferably matching your hair color
  • Fine tooth comb
  • Hairspray

Steps:

1. Start with wavy hair. If your hair is naturally straight, curl some sections to give it texture.

2. Separate the hair on the left & right sides of your head. Using your part as a guide, continue the part down the middle of the back of your head. To maintain the effortless, imperfect look, use your fingers instead of a comb. Tie one section with a hair tie to keep it out of the way.

3. French braid the free section of hair back to the nape of your neck & secure with bobby pins or a clip. To add more texture, try a Reverse French braid: Alternate crossing the 2 outer sections of hair UNDER the middle section instead of over. To make the look more free-spirited, leave out bangs & short layers around your face.

4. Repeat Step 3 on the other side of your head, clipping the French braid at the nape of your neck.

5. Gather the hair into a low ponytail below the clips & secure with a hair tie. When the ponytail is secure, remove the clips from the braids.

6. Time to add some volume! With your fine tooth comb, tease 1” sections of hair where they come out of the pony tail, keeping the ends less distressed, & secure with a medium hold hair spray.

7. Create more volume & texture in the braids by lightly pulling the loops apart with your fingers.

8. To finish the look, wrap a section of hair from underneath the pony tail around the hair tie. Secure with bobby pins.

XO Taylor

hair

LOVE YOUR HAIR, HOPE YOU WIN.

photo: http://janieee-b.tumblr.com/post/2135959829 post designed by kristin ess

Ladies and gentlemen (?) … Tomorrow morning we’ll be posting the winning tutorial from our very first “Guest Post” contest!!! Tune in to see if you submitted the winning tutorial! And if you didn’t enter, get here anyway because we think the winner did a gorgeous job and it’s a hairstyle that’s worth checking out! We had the HARDEST time picking just one, as you can imagine! Mostly because you guys are amazing and we didn’t expect to have THAT many beautiful tutorials turned in. Alright! That’s it for now. We’ll see you in the morning!

AAAAAAAH! We’re so excited for _________  __________!

XO Lauren, Kristin + Amy Nadine

hair

ON THAT NOTE

photo: kristin ess + thebeautydepartment.com post designed by kristin ess

This was a very busy week for all of us. We were shooting Lauren’s Kohls campaign for the last few days, working on the new videos for our youtube page, and going through the hair tutorials that you guys submitted for our very first “guest post” contest. We’re really excited about the upcoming posts and videos (like the waterfall braid!) and we can hardly stand the wait! Hope you all have a nice weekend and we will see you back here on Monday!

 

hair

PRETTY+EASY

photo: http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/12667587 post designed by kristin ess

It’s hot out. If you want to get long hair off your neck in a fancy way, create a fishtail braid to one side (tutorial coming soon!) and tie it off with a clear elastic. Wrap it around the front of your head, following the hairline and pinning it as you go. As I pin, I like to use larger bobby pins at first, and then move to smaller ones as I get toward the end. The bigger bobby pins give more support and help hold up the heaviest part of the braid which is the base. Last you want to tuck the tail of the braid under and pin to hide the elastic. I wouldn’t even brush it. Just let the texure be. SO gorgeous!

Xx Kristin

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TEMPERATURE CONTROL

photo: remodelista.com post designed by kristin ess

Something about a piping hot shower just makes everything feel more clean. But be careful. Really hot showers can lead to dandruff. All of that heat actually sucks the moisture right out of your scalp and will cause flaking in the long run. Such a pain to get rid of. Heat also opens the cuticle on your hair more. The more open the cuticle, the more color molecules can slip out resulting in faded hair color. So turn that temp down a little (or a lot) when shampooing + conditioning!

Xx Kristin