Posts Tagged ‘kristin ess’

ALL HAIR, ALL WEEK

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photos/post/grahic design: Kristin Ess

Calling all curly girls! Here’s a fun, fancy little updo for you. We get lots of requests for updos on curly hair from our readers who want to embrace their natural texture. Working with curls when doing an updo is so much fun because almost anything you do looks romantic + girly! This tutorial is pretty easy and you can accessorize it with anything you want. Here we added a necklace from J. Crew  (incorporating jewelry into the hair is always SO much fun!) but you can add flowers, a headband, or just leave it plain + simple! If you don’t have curly hair and you want this look, you can always spend some time and curl your entire head with 5/8″ or 3/4″ barrell iron and then follow along! Let’s do it…

  1. On clean, combed, wet hair work a golfball-sized dab of mousse into your hair. Start at the root and work down.
  2. Diffuse your hair or you can just let it airdry if you’re not a fan of the diffuser.
  3. If you have any extra frizzy/misbehaved bits, wrap curl them around a 5/8″ barrell curling iron.
  4. Add a light hold styling spray if your curls feel too soft. Nothing too sticky! You don’t want to rough up the curls by pulling them apart after using a strong hairspray.
  5. Separate the “bangs” section as you see in photo 5. Clip that away and save it for later.
  6. Pull up half of your hair. Start behind the ears and pull it up on top near the crown.
  7. Twist that whole section and pin it in place.
  8. Use a ponytail holder (best if you use one that matches your own hair color) to make a ponytail in back. You want the ponytail to end up right below that bone that you can feel in the back of your head (the occipital bone).
  9. Roll that ponytail up into a loose, messy bun and pin using large bobby pins.
  10. Take the “bangs” section out of the clip.
  11. Pull it back, twist and secure into the bun.
  12. Once that’s secured, spray everything with a light holding hairspray.
  13. ACCESSORIZE!!!

Hope you’re enjoying hair week! See you tomorrow. xo

PS– the blazer can be found HERE and the necklace in her hair can be found HERE.

 

ALL HAIR, ALL WEEK!

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Hosting a party? You’ll probably need a hairstyle that will hold up while you finish prepping the party for your guests. Now before you get intimidated and RUN from these 25 (which seems like a lot) steps, just know that most of theses steps are broken down into serious detail. It’s not that crazy, I promise. To duplicate this look, you’ll want to actually see the intricate details because that’s what makes this look so special. It shouldn’t take you more than 15-20 min to do after you’ve waved your hair. This looks extra-romantic when done on naturally curly or wavy hair–it also saves a lot of time! Ok, here goes!

You will need: a beach spray, a light holding “flexible” hairspray, a comb, a 1″ barell curling iron, bobby pins, 1 clear elastic, a blowdryer and a soft detangling brush.

  1. Start with clean dry hair. (If you have naturally curly or wavy hair, you can skip down to step 10.)
  2. Spray some beach wave spray at the root all over. This will help add texture and volume.
  3. Once you’ve applied beach spray to your root, heat it up with a blowdryer. (Oops- accidentally cut most of the blowdryer out of this photo, but that’s what’s happening.)
  4. Now apply a thin layer of flexible hairspray all over. Try to use something that’s also a heat protectant if possible.
  5. Gently brush the hair out using a soft brush.
  6. Leaving the ends out, curl your hair all over.
  7. Here’s an extra visual of curling with the ends out.
  8. Tease the crown for a little volume.
  9. Smooth it over.
  10. Take the bottom section of your hair and make a low loop using a clear elastic. Pull the ends around and mess it up a little. Then give it a light spray with hairspray.
  11. Take two pieces above that and twist them backward (inward toward each other).
  12. Now tie them together right above the clear elastic.
  13. Pin them together and then pin it to your clear elastic.
  14. Do another twist and tie right above that.
  15. Pin that together as well.
  16. If you have extra loose pieces, you can twist them and weave them through.
  17. Here’s an illustrated shot so you can see where the hair is weaved through.
  18. Braid a piece on the left side and pin.
  19. Braid a piece on the right side and pin.
  20. Take the remaining sections in front and lightly tease. If your hair is naturally curly, don’t tease it here!
  21. Twist the hair and pull out a couple fine strands as you twist.
  22. Pull that section back.
  23. Pin it.
  24. Lightly tease the bottom of the ponytail part for a little extra texture. Again, don’t tease here if your hair is naturally curly.
  25. Spray all over with a finishing hairspray.

If you do this and you Instagram it, please tag us @thebeautydept! We would love to see your final result. Remember– don’t try too hard. This hairstyle should be loose and flow-y, not too tight. xo

THANKS FOR ASKING…

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post: Kristin Ess

So many great emails have come in asking which shampoo + conditioner we recommend for dry, dull hair. Unfortunately, there isn’t just one miraculous product in our opinion. It all depends on what you’re looking to spend. I find myself recommending these 3 shampoos + conditioners to my clients SO often that I had to share this list with you guys, too. Here are my high, medium and low priced faves along with the reasons you’ll love them! If you’ve used any of these, feel free to chime in below in the comment section! Would love to hear about your experiences.

  • Clear Hair Nourishing Shampoo + Conditioner: This stuff does what it says– gets your scalp incredibly clean. If you have issues with oily hair on top + dryness on your ends, you should give this a shot. It’s pretty inexpensive and works really well to get your hair clean without stripping it. A clean scalp is so important for getting the hairstyles you want. The shampoo lathers well and the conditioner rinses clean and leaves no residue.
  • Living Proof Restore: This stuff is RICH. I don’t recommend it for super fine hair because it’s not going to give you the volume that you’re probably looking for. I do, however, recommend it to pretty much everyone else. I have this in my own shower (actually, I have all 3 of these in my own shower but I use this one the most) and over time I’ve seen a big difference in softness + shine. SO good. This shampoo + conditioner was designed to restore your hair to “virgin hair” state–and  I’m not gonna lie, it kind of does!
  • Kerastase Cristalliste: How do I explain this…? I have never ever EVER met a shampoo + conditioner quite like this one. The best way to describe it is (and I wish I knew how they do this!), Cristalliste gives you softness, shine, moisture + volume all at once. It’s just not normal to get both of those things out of the same bottle. The moisture isn’t quite as rich/intense as the Living Proof Restore, but it’s still great! The best part is once you dry your hair after shampooing + conditioning with this your hair is glossy, voluminous and smells like a dream. It’s worth the splurge if you can afford it or have multiple shampoos and like to switch off.

Got your own favorite you think we should know about? Don’t hesitate to list it below! xo

AND THE WINNER IS…

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We’re excited to bring you the winner of our Pick Your Own TBD Tutorial and thank you to everyone who voted! The look you chose was LOOK 3! We’ve partnered with Vidal Sassoon Pro Series to create a step-by-step breakdown on how to get this look yourself and think you’ll love just how easy it is to do. This tutorial shows us how to get natural texture + a little volume without using a curling iron. Here’s how:

TOOLS:

 

  1. Start by washing your hair and only conditioning the ends lightly. On towel dried hair, spray Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Color Protect Spray from the middle to ends. This is an amazing light-weight conditioner that not only protects but also helps close the cuticle, creating more shine.
  2. Next up, pump a golf ball-sized amount of Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Boost & Lift Foaming Air Mousse into the palm of your hands.
  3. Massage it evenly throughout your roots. Really work it in to avoid ” flat spots” where you may have missed with product. If you spend a couple minutes getting it evenly distributed, you’ll get a better result with mousse!
  4. Now toss your hair all to one side and blow dry on high.
  5. Flip it to the other side and do the same. It’s okay to go back and forth. You want to get it about 90% dry, leaving just a little bit of moisture. NOTE: If you’re blowing out curly hair to get this look, blow it out all the way! 100% dry! Then see step 7!
  6. Last, flip completely upside down and make sure you dry the area by the nape of your neck.
  7. OPTIONAL: If you’ve blown out curly hair and it’s now 100% dry, spray a little bit of Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Repair & Finish Spray. This will restore a small amount of moisture and allow your hair to take the shape of the wave without causing the hair to curl back up.
  8. While your hair is still warm from blowdrying, wind all of it into a tight bun at the crown of your head (as you see in photo 8!) and secure it with pins. We prefer using hair pins (aka: U-pins) for this so they’re not too tight, but you can use bobbypins if you’re careful not to open them too wide. Avoid using ponytail holders as they can leave an unwanted crease. If you have shorter hair, you can make 2 buns by dividing the hair into two sections– one up top and one in back.
  9. Try and leave your hair in bun for at least 30 minutes. It needs time to cool in order to take the wave shape. This is great for those of you who do your hair at night because you can sleep on it and get an even better wave! Once the hair has cooled, remove the pins and lightly brush the ends if neccessary. Literally all we did in this photo was take it down after 30 minutes of cool down time, shake it out and brush the last 1 inch using a comb. If you want to, you can go over any unruly pieces with a large barrel curling iron or you can hit the ends with a flat iron for an edgier look.

Thank you to Vidal Sassoon Pro Series for collaborating with us on such a fun voting post. Good luck everyone and show us your waves on Instagram! Tag us @thebeautydept!