Posts Tagged ‘hair’

DIY: LAST MINUTE VALENTINE’S HAIR IDEA

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photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Whether you’ve got a hot date tonight or just hanging with your lady friends, show your Valentine’s Day spirit with some sweet hair flowers made from inexpensive spray roses. This is one of my favorite (and cheapest) tricks for romantic updos. Also, Spring is fast approaching, so you can really utilize this method for weddings and other events. Okay, here’s how I make these little gems…

  1. Run to your local grocery store and grab some spray roses. Right now they’re everywhere because of Valentine’s Day but I see them almost every time I hit the grocery store. I’ve seen them at every Ralphs, Vons, Trader Joes, Whole Foods…etc. They should be quite easy to find. Spray roses are much smaller than regular roses and they typically come potted. The cool thing is, if you keep caring for this $5-10 plant, you’ll have hair roses for days!
  2. Cut off a few rosebuds from the plant.
  3. Flip the flower over and trim the stem as short as you can without cutting the base that holds the flower together.
  4. Grab hair pins– also known as U-pins. They’re different from bobbypins. They don’t squeeze together so they won’t break or smash the spray rose.
  5. Lightly squeeze the hair pin and pierce it through the middle of the spray rose.
  6. The bottom should look like this!
  7. Fold the hair pin back on both sides (as seen in photo 7). That will keep the flowers from slipping out of your hair.

Enjoy your evening, ladies!

HAIR TALK: INVERTED TRIANGLE FACE SHAPE

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post: Kristin Ess graphic design: Eunice Chun

Last but clearly not least in our hair talk on face shapes we have the inverted triangle.(Hooray!!) Inverted is just a fancy way of saying “upside down” or “flipped”. Knowing that you can clearly see (thanks to Polish beauty Anja Rubik) that an inverted triangle face shape is wider at the forehead than it is at the jaw. Most of my clients with an inverted triangle face shape ask me to make their forehead appear less wide. That’s pretty easy to do, but you also want to avoid making the face look longer and more narrow when doing so. Here are some helpful hints from me to you:

  • Half ups: I love half updos for girls with inverted triangle face shapes. A half updo can narrow the forehead + widen the look of your cheekbones + jawline. Gotta love a good illusion! I think the key with Anja’s look on the bottom left is that the hair is wavy and that she has a center part. I like that the “baby hairs” just above her temples are not pulled back into the braids– they’re down and it’s just enough to help diffuse the width of her forehead.
  • Bangs: Almost every single girl I know with an inverted triangle face shape loooooves having bangs and will never give them up. Obviously if you want to embrace the forehead you’ve got and not have bangs– do it, girl! On the other hand, if you want the option to show a wider forehead sometimes and narrow the appearance of your forehead other times, you’ll need some sort of bang. Avoid a heavy straight-across bang only because it could potentially make your face even more triangular. I would recommend something similar to Alexa’s long bangs, Brigitte’s “curtain bangs” which are essentially short and long bangs combined, or this heavy side swoop bang. I would even say you could get away with a half-moon bang  in this post as long as it’s got some soft roundness to it and it’s not just a blunt, straight across, heavy bang.
  • Center parting: The key to center parting on an inverted triangle face shape is not letting it lengthen you. You don’t want your bangs or layers to be styled “down”, you want them to be styled “out” once they pass your eyes/eyebrows. You want that hair from the center part to then lead into some sort of layers near your cheekbones. I always tell my clients “style your bangs in the direction of your ears.”
  • Wavy bob + bangs: This is one of my favorite haircuts for the inverted triangle face shape. Also one of the most flattering, softening, balancing cuts for this face shape. The reason is, you can typically get great texture and layers in a bob or long bob. The side bang leads into layers which do exactly what is mentioned above– widens the cheekbone/jawline and diffuses the width of the forehead. Everything just looks in perfect proportion. LOVE.
  • Diagonal side part: This is a great trick. See how Anja’s hair is parted diagonally in the bottom right photo? If all that hair was pulled to one side it would likely make the forehead appear wider. Use a tailcomb or a pencil if you don’t have a tailcomb, and start slightly off center, working your way over to a deep side part. That way there’s hair on both sides but it still appears that you’re wearing a heavy side part.
  • Super straight hair with minimal layers: That would be the one style I would suggest girls with inverted triangle face shapes should avoid. All that’s going to do is make your face appear longer and more narrow. You want layers, especially around the face.
  • Updos + Chignons: You can do almost any updo, chignon or pony when you have an inverted triangle face shape. Also, leaving out a few soft pieces around the face will help balance out your triangle. I find that a center or off-center part is most flattering but not mandatory. I mean, clearly the updo in the top photo from the Louis Vuitton show is GORGE– a messy french twist with lots of texture and a thin headband! Obsessed.

Do you have an inverted triangle face shape? If so we would love you to share your thoughts, tips and your own tricks below! Thank you for being so patient in waiting for each of your face shapes! Hope this series has helped you guys understand more about how to wear your hair and what to talk to your hair stylist about. xo

 

HAIR TALK: RECTANGLE FACE SHAPE

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post: Kristin Ess graphic design: Eunice Chun

When it comes to a rectangular face shape, the goal is to keep the face from appearing longer than it is naturally. There are many things that contribute to lengthening a rectangular face– hair length, volume and cut. Here are a few ideas for you gorgeous rectangle gals! (more…)

REFRESHING CURLY HAIR

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post: Micha Brown photos/graphic design: Kristin Ess

Lately we’ve noticed a rise in the number of girls wearing their hair with a more natural curly texture. The reason seems to be different for everyone– curly hair trends, rainy weather or just giving the hair a break from heat styling and working with the beauty of natural curl. Either way, we’re into it! Most curly girls sporting a natural texture (whether it’s their own or not) don’t wash their hair every day in order to preserve the hair’s natural oils. Some of you jump in the shower and re-wet the hair by just running water and/or conditioner through, which is totally fine if that works for you, but some of us don’t neccessarily want to get our scalp wet. Here’s how I go about refreshing my curls if I feel like they’ve gotten too out of control…

  1. This is pretty much what my hair looks like in the morning when I wake up if I haven’t worn a satin sleep cap (which you can see in picture #8). First thing I want to do is detangle it.
  2. A) DON’T start at the top when detangling. Since curly hair already lacks moisture naturally, we don’t want to add anymore stress to it because it can cause breakage. B)DO start at the bottom working your way to the middle and then up to the top/root.
  3. My favorite thing to do is to mix 1/2 water with 1/2 leave-in conditioner. I use THIS ONE by Sexy Hair. I don’t like to use just leave-in because I feel like it can weigh the hair down after a day or so, but when I dilute it with water I never have any issues with that.
  4. Take sections of hair and spray. You don’t want to soak it, but you don’t want to lightly mist it either. Go somewhere in between. Since I can’t see you, and because each head of hair will absorb product differently, use your best judgment. Start with less and add more if you need to.
  5. Now comb through using a wide-tooth comb. I like to use a wide-tooth comb because as you can see in the photo, the hair tends to “group up” after it slides through the wide teeth of the comb.
  6. After you’ve used the wide-tooth comb, you should only use your hands. No more brushing and no more combing as it dries. The hair will start to lock back up into it’s original ringlets.
  7. If you come across an extra stubborn section that wants to frizz no matter what, just wet your hand with your leave-in & water spray and spin that piece around your finger to encourage the curl. Make sure to spin it the way it wants to go so you’re not fighting the natural pattern.
  8. This is the satin sleep cap that every curly girl should own. I know you feel stupid wearing it but to be honest I don’t even think about that! Anything that minimizes my beauty routine in the morning is FINE. BY. ME.