5. Styling at Home

Creating salon-perfect hair at home requires following a few simple rules and a few basic techniques. I hope in the previous chapters you learned those golden rules: Work with your hair, be realistic about what your hair can achieve and what it cannot, pick a few styles that you love and that are right for you and your lifestyle, and subtly change your hair’s style and color every so often to look modern and youthful all the time.

With the help of this book, you should now have the right hairstyle. You’ve gone to the salon, you got a great cut, and your stylist blew it out beautifully. You felt fabulous. Then you went home. And the next morning, after you washed it, you couldn’t re-create that style. Your stylist made it look so easy, even gave you a so-called low-maintenance do. But it’s not low maintenance to you. What now?

This chapter teaches you how to do all those salon styling tricks right at your vanity table. You’ll end up looking and feeling just as if you were stepping out of the salon chair with ultrafab hair every day.

I recommend reading all the styling techniques in this chapter, even if there are some you think you’ll never want or need. That way you’ll get a feeling for the consistencies that run through all hair styling and a feeling for the subtle variations that create different looks.

I cover everything from the basic blow-out technique for long and short hair to volumizing, dealing with frizz, and options for both curly and straight hair. Then I pump it up a notch, working on some exciting updos. So grab a brush and let’s begin.

Tools of the Trade

Without a brush, a blow-dryer, or products, you simply can’t manipulate your hair into the various styles showcased in this chapter. All hairstylists, no matter how great they are, are powerless if they don’t have tools to work with. So let’s go through the user-friendly, at-a-glance tables of the different products and tools at your disposal. You’ll find more in-depth descriptions as you go through this chapter, but these two tables should get you started and function as a great reference guide as you move forward.

For almost everything you want to do, you need to apply a preparation product to damp hair before you blow-dry and then, after the blow-dry, you need a finishing product to add the final, individual details to your look. There are lots of preparation and finishing products to choose from. Some are more suited to certain hair types, but all do a good job provided you apply them correctly. It’s just a matter of finding the ones that achieve the looks you want and work best with your hair.

Products

Tools and Brushes

Blow-Out Basics

Unless your hair is supershort, you have to blow it dry in some fashion. Not only is it easy, it’s also the foundation from which to build a variety of wonderful hairstyles—what’s added are salon techniques for you to manipulate, control, and style your hair any way you wish. You have to learn to blow-dry correctly to guarantee smoothness and prevent roughing of the cuticle. Blow-dry with the wrong technique and you’re likely to create frizz and flyaways. Following are the guiding principles of a great blow out.

1. You need a good dryer with plenty of heat. Whether you want to smooth, mold, straighten, set, or defrizz, it’s the heat that does the work, locking in the desired texture and finish for your look. Your dryer should have at least 1,200 watts of heat and come with a nozzle. This should cost you about $40. You can find dryers with up to 2,000 watts. These dry the hair much faster, but they cost more. Expect to pay over $100 for a high-powered dryer. Anytime you blow-dry your hair, it’s essential to use a nozzle. This simple attachment allows the airflow to penetrate the hair shaft, giving greater, more focused control for styling. Hairdressers call this “directional blow styling,” and it’s fundamental for the success of any blow-dry.

2. Remove most of the water in your hair with a towel prior to blow-drying. Never apply product or attempt to blow out hair when you can still squeeze out excess water. If, after towel drying, your hair is still dripping wet, use your dryer to evenly remove excess moisture. Stop when your hair is still damp so that you can apply your foundation product at that critical stage. This ensures that the product penetrates the hair shaft and can reach its full potential. If you miss this sweet spot, the product will never be as effective.

3. Always blow-dry from roots to ends. Start at the roots, moving gently along the hair shaft, and finish at the hair tip. You do this with a brush and a blow-dryer. The brush always comes first, with the dryer following the path set out by the brush. Hold the dryer about six to ten inches away from your head. If you’re burning your scalp, it’s too close; if you can’t feel any heat on your head, it’s too far away.

4. Begin by lifting up your hair and placing the brush underneath, at the roots of the hair. Take only sections of hair that are small enough for you to grasp, manage, and control. Hold the dryer over the brush and hair, following its root-to-tip path, covering the same section of hair, in exactly the same direction as the brush. Work each section until dry; this should take no more than two or three goes for each section.

5. Every dryer has a cool-shot button: this fixes and finishes your look and must be used wisely. Heat molds and manipulates as desired, but hair is never really fixed into place until it’s cool to the touch. So make sure you cool-blast after every blow-dry. This locks in the finish on your hair, preventing your style from fading as the day wears on.

BLOW-DRYING A BOB

The best thing about a bob is the swing and movement you can create with a good blow-dry. This shows off its beauty—timeless, classic, and always in. To achieve this in your own blow-dry, use the first technique I was ever taught, the wraparound blow-dry. Here it is, step by step.

1. On damp hair, apply a foundation product. Volumizing foam, a blow-dry setting spray, or a thickening spray are all good foundation products and work perfectly.

2. Now, with the nozzle attached, blow-dry your hair, ideally using a flat paddle brush, to literally wrap your hair around and around your scalp.

3. I’ll explain this in its simplest terms: As you blow-dry, start with the brush placed on your hair just above the top of your forehead, where the roots from your bangs begin. Keep the brush on your scalp and literally brush it all the way around your head. From the front, go 360 degrees around your head. Go through one side of your hair, then through the back, and around the other side to its starting point, with the heat of the dryer following the path set out by the brush. Now do the exact same thing going in the other direction.

4. Repeat this process over and again, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Really work it—it’s the best way to create the swing you want.

5. To avoid the little bit of fuzz and frizz in the texture that often comes with this technique stop the wraparound dry when your hair is about 95 percent dry. Then go through section by section, panel by panel, and blow-dry from the underneath up. Make sure you blast the underneath nice and flat, especially if your hair is thick or wavy. This prevents any little waves or wiggles at the root from coming back to haunt you throughout the day.

6. If you’re confident you’ve followed step 5 correctly but still find some waves underneath, you can replace the brush and dryer with a straightening iron (see here for details). The heat of the iron straightens out the most unruly hair.

If you have short hair, great; it’s easier to manage, modern, and sexy. But successful styling depends mostly on the quality of the cut. Why? Because a short shape is structured—balance, proportion, and simplicity are key, so you really must have a great cut. If you need bags of product to create shape, then, quite simply, the cut isn’t good enough. Also, too much product in short hair makes it look crispy, dated, and old-fashioned. Short hair should be soft to touch and easy to run your hands through—so go easy on the gel and even easier on the hair or holding spray.

Use Your Head

The Wonders of the Wraparound Blow-Dry

This technique allows you to do many different things. Want smoother hair? Women have been wrapping up their hair before bedtime for centuries (ask your grandmother!) to create smoothness. You’re not going to do that, but I will give you some ideas to create smoothness, lift, and body with the wraparound technique, no matter what your hair type.

First of all, remember your head is round, not flat, so if you want lift, smoothness, and body, you can use the natural rounded smoothness of your scalp. To recap: As always, towel-dry most of the moisture away and apply some foundation product. Then take your brush (a paddle brush is best because its shape also encourages smoothness) and blow-dry your hair from the front all the way around, 360 degrees in one direction, with the heat of the dryer following your brush, and then repeat, going the opposite way, repeat, repeat, and repeat till dry. Have fun with it, going from side to side, and round and round. All that wrapping around a rounded surface creates roundness—now you have shape with natural body and lift. Because heat smoothes and your scalp and skull are smooth, too, you’ve also blown in smoothness. It’s a simple and effective technique anybody can do.

Whatever your style, long or short, I urge you to try this technique. For example, if you have curly or wavy hair and want to straighten it out while creating some smoothness, you can use your brush and dryer as in the smooth blow out (see here), or you can try the wraparound. Done correctly, both work, but this book is all about giving you the options and the tools to control your hair. Try them both and discover which works better for you.

BLOW-DRYING SHORT HAIR WITH A BRUSH

It’s quick, easy, and effective.

1. A vent brush is the ideal tool for blow-drying short hair because the air vents in the brush allow the heat of the dryer to pass quickly into your hair. Some women, however, feel more comfortable with a small round brush. If that’s you, no problem, but be extracautious not to wrap your hair around the brush, as this will cause a bubble effect in your hairstyle (see here).

2. Your prep product should be a styling créme, a volume foam, or a mousse. But remember, you need only a little for short hair, and make sure to distribute evenly.

3. Because short hair is so cropped, it needs lift at the roots to give it some striking definition. So you’re aiming to create height at the crown by lifting this area with your brush as you dry. (Your crown, by the way, is the central point of your head, the top of the skull, where the shape and root direction of your hair begin.) With the nozzle attached, blow-dry each section as you lift up and away with your brush. Remember, with short hair the sections dry much faster, so each section should require only one or two good blasts of heat, and, to ensure you don’t overdry one particular section, it’s a good idea to keep the dryer moving throughout.

4. Now use the same technique all across your head. It’ll give your short hair some bounce, some lift, and tons of style.

5. When your hair is dry, you can use a finishing product—a pomade or texture paste will do fine—to create your individual and polished style. Just remember to distribute your chosen product evenly from the underneath, up and through the hair shaft, and all the way to the ends for any final detailing you want to add. Try slicking it back, messing it up, or anything else you think would be fun.

The Round Brush

Beware of the Bubble

The round brush is the most common brush. It’s easy to use and easy to learn about; it’s also good for creating volume and for grabbing hair nice and tight for smoothness.

But it does present a big challenge, a misdemeanor I see almost every day: the bubble effect. Common in bangs and short hair, the bubble effect occurs when the hair has been wrapped around the full circumference of a round brush and blow-dried in an attempt to create volume. The result is a rounded sausage shape and, worse, the hair rolls underneath itself, looking turned under, heavily forced, unattractive, and old-fashioned.

Yes, you want lift at your roots, and especially in your bangs (so your hair doesn’t fall flat on your forehead), but you definitely don’t want the bubble effect.

The round brush is specifically designed for easy access to the roots of your hair. Take advantage of its functionality; instead of wrapping hair around the brush, place the brush in at the roots and brush from the underneath up, from roots to ends, with the heat of the dryer following exactly the same path. This is a much more effective method of creating volume. For more on this technique, check out the volumizing section here for all the details you need. And again, if you’re trying to create smoothness, the smooth blow-out section of this chapter showcases the best way to use the round brush without any danger of the bubble.

BLOW-DRYING SHORT HAIR WITH YOUR FINGERS

With a short cut, product, a dryer, and your fingers may be all the styling tools you need. Don’t underestimate the power of your hands to manipulate and control your blow-dry.

1. On damp hair, apply a little foundation product. Styling créme is great for short hair, but volume foam or mousse works, too.

2. Now simply use your fingers to pull your hair up and away from your scalp, nice and taut; this gives you the life and bounce you want. Now, with the nozzle attached, use your blow-dryer to apply some heat. Again, with short hair, the sections dry much faster, so keep the dryer moving; each section should require only one or two good blasts of heat.

3. Be careful not to overdry one particular area. Short hair dries very fast, and drying a section too quickly creates unwanted and unsightly blow-dry marks. Be sure to keep your fingers and dryer moving across the front, back, and side sections, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

4. For the finish, pomade or texture paste is perfect for creating your own individual, polished style. Just remember to distribute your chosen product evenly from the underneath, up the hair shaft, and finally through to your ends for any final detailing you want to add.

VOLUMIZING

Now you’ve learned the basic blow out and the ins and outs of shorter hair. But if your hair is longer, there’s so much more you can do to achieve your own individual style. Let’s talk about blow-drying for extra body and lift, awesome for giving longer-hair types a great boost. Because longer hair carries more weight than, say, short crop cuts, you need to build volume, with product and heat from the roots. This way you maintain full-bodied volume all day, and most of the night as well, even in the longest, thickest, and heaviest hair. The technique is simple, just some small variations from the basic blow out.

1. The right product is the key ingredient for creating volume. You need a body-building product—mousse, volume foam, thickening spray, or light gel all work, but my favorite is foam. It’s light to the touch and easy to apply because of its airy consistency. And remember: The more product you use, the more you volumize your hair.

2. On damp, towel-dried hair, apply the product at your roots. You can work through to the midsection—halfway up the hair shaft—to help evenly distribute product, but it’s at the root where you need to focus the product because this is where volume succeeds or fails. How much product depends on how much hair; experiment to see what works best for you, but a dime-sized dollop is the minimum you need. Start with this amount; you can always add more if you think you need it.

3. Now it’s time to blow-dry in some volume. The best brush is a medium-sized round brush or a paddle brush—unless your hair is really long. Then you should use a larger diameter round brush, as it will naturally help lift hair away from the scalp.

4. In easy-to-manage sections, brush your roots up, up, and away from the scalp. Point the dryer at your hair from underneath and follow the path of the brush. Do this at the back, on the sides, or on top—anywhere you want fullness. This creates volume by drying your hair away from your roots, while the already applied product holds your newfound volume in place.

5. Remember, you’re focusing on lifting the roots from the scalp, but be sure to blow-dry through to the tips of the hair shaft so your hair dries evenly.

6. Sometimes it is easier to achieve the desired result if you blow-dry your hair with your head down. Bend your head and allow your hair to fall a full 90 degrees and blow-dry according to the principles set out in step 4. This method makes it easier to get at the roots of your hair.

7. Be sure to cool-blast your hair so it’s fixed and set into place. This locks in your volume, stopping it from fading throughout the day.

FRIZZ FACTOR PART 1: THE SMOOTH BLOW OUT

Many women suffer from frizz, yet few actually have frizzy hair. So what is this frizz factor that’s consumed so many product dollars? Natural frizz comes only if you have coarse, wiry, extrathick, or extra dry hair (not many of us at all, and I address those issues in Chapter 7, “Problem Hair and Maintenance"). However, if you have naturally curly or wavy medium to thick hair or finer, more fragile hair and you’re trying to make it smooth or straight, the problem is the frizz-inducing conflict forged in this straightening process. Step by step, let’s look at how to combat frizz while smoothing and straightening your hair.

1. The first step in fighting frizz is to keep hair in tip-top shape. Clean and healthy hair is much easier to control. (See here for more details on how to maintain gorgeous, healthy hair.)

2. The next step is using the right product. For medium to thick hair types, you need only one product—a defrizz serum. Use a good amount, a dime-sized at least. On damp hair, use your fingers to distribute evenly from the midsection of the hair shaft through to the tips of each and every piece of hair. There’s no need to apply the serum at the roots. Roots and scalp are always healthier than the midsection and tips, and are not prone to frizz.

3. If your hair is finer and more fragile, you need two products. First, use a body-building product like a volume foam, followed by a very small amount of defrizz serum; too much serum on fine hair weighs it down and makes it look greasy. Apply the foam at the roots and work it through all of your hair, right through to the tips. But apply the serum only from the midsection—halfway up the hair shaft—to the ends.

4. Smoothing crémes and lotions are newer products. These are used in exactly the same way as defrizz serum. They can, however, leave a little moisture, and consequently oil, in your hair, so keep well away from the scalp—no defrizz product is needed near the scalp because it’s always healthier.

5. Now that your product(s) is evenly applied in the right places, blow-dry on a high heat using a round bristle brush. The technique is the same as the basic blow-dry: from roots to ends in small, easy-to-manage sections, with the bristle brush leading and the heat of the dryer following exactly the same root-to-tip path set out by the brush. This straightens and smoothes your hair to your heart’s content and still stops all frizz. Go over each section until dry. Typically this takes two or three repeat applications of brush and dryer.

6. The technique is successful because the bristles of the brush hold your hair smooth while the product’s silicone ingredient works together with the high heat of the dryer as an extra source of smoothness.

Flat Iron Forward

Nowadays there are a number of different flat iron options on the market, from the very narrow 1" version to the very wide 3" irons. Wide flat irons are designed for thick, heavy, and long hair, whereas the narrow version is more versatile and great at getting in tricky places such as your bangs or behind the ears. Unless your hair really is superthick and superlong, I recommend using something around 1½"; this size can do most things and is easier to manipulate. I also recommend purchasing an iron with a built-in thermometer gauge, which allows you to control the amount of heat applied to your hair. You can buy a good-quality ceramic flatiron for around $40.

The flat iron technique for straightening hair is almost identical to the standard dryer-and-brush method just outlined, but you need a change of product. Your foundation product is now a thermal protector, which protects your hair from the inevitable stress from the iron’s heat and works just fine for your foundation. At this point (just before you use the flat iron), you can apply a little hairspray or even a drop of shine spray. Both help to press your hair flat. The shine spray gives you more sheen and the hairspray makes hair super-superflat. That’s your choice.

Once you apply your products thoroughly from roots to ends, you can use the flat iron in the same way you’d use the dryer and a brush, working from the underneath up, section by section, all across your head. There are just a couple of things you should remember: Don’t clamp the iron onto your hair. Holding all that heat in one place is sure to burn, break, and damage even the strongest hair. Instead, learn to iron each section quickly and effectively by keeping the iron moving gently and evenly down the hair shaft. Finally, after your ironing out is complete, it’s a good idea to blast your hair with a cool shot of air from your blow-dryer (there’s no cool-shot button on flat irons). As you now know, this helps to set your hair in place.

Naturally, an iron is easy to work with because instead of combining two tools (a brush and a dryer), you need only one—and an extremely effective one, at that. As with a curling iron, I highly recommend you invest in a top-quality moisturizing conditioner to put back the moisture lost when using all that heat.

FRIZZ FACTOR PART 2: CONTROLLED CURLS

What if you’ve got curly or wavy hair and would love some lush, healthy curls without the frizz natural curls can create? Here’s your answer.

1. Product, product, product. Use enough of the right product at the right time with the right technique and I guarantee you’ll create beautiful curls and eliminate frizz. The product locks your curls together and helps you create what I call a natural wet set.

2. For this you need two products. If your hair is fine, use a body-building foam or mousse first and then a curl créme or leave-in conditioner. If your hair is medium to thick or slightly coarse, use a gel or styling créme first, followed by a defrizz serum.

3. For this technique you don’t need to blow-dry your hair; instead, towel-dry but leave your hair damp to aid distribution and saturation of the products.

4. Apply the first product, working in from the underneath up, from roots to ends. Again, a dime-sized dollop should do; just make sure to start at the roots and work through to the tip, distributing evenly as you go.

5. Apply the second product in exactly the same way, from roots to ends, distributing evenly.

6. Now comb evenly and gently with a wide-tooth comb. This loosens any knots in your hair and further aids the even distribution of the products, ensuring your curls get their maximum performance benefits.

7. Once you have evenly distributed the two products, use your fingers to squeeze each and every section of your hair. This encourages a natural curl formation. It’s best to lean over, letting your hair fall 90 degrees to the ground, while squeezing gently with your fingers. You are not squeezing a stress ball! Rather, cup the curl in your hand and gently squeeze and push the curl back into itself with no pressure at the root. Don’t be tempted to run your fingers freely through your hair—this only disturbs the curls you’ve created and induces frizz. Cup and squeeze, cup and squeeze, cup and squeeze.

8. Once done, leave your hair alone for fifteen minutes and then squeeze again using exactly the same technique. Repeat this process until dry. If you have to run out the door, not to worry; it’s a myth that you shouldn’t leave the house with wet hair. You can still squeeze hair in the car, on the train, or anywhere else, for that matter—the results will still be the same, although it might be better to do it with your head upright, instead of facing downward as recommended in step 7!

9. When your curls are dry, you will most likely find them set in a slightly crisp formation. This is normal and nothing to worry about. You can now use your fingers to tousle out and ruffle your roots to develop the softer, looser curls you’re after. To do this, place your fingertips gently into your roots and massage, using just the very tips of your fingertips in short strokes. Don’t disturb the ends by raking your fingers all over your hair. Again, this disturbs the curl formation you’ve worked to create, inducing frizz in the process. There are about five hundred hairs to every curl, and the idea is to keep those five hundred hairs locked together for brilliant curly definition—carelessly running your fingers through your hair is guaranteed to pull those beautiful curls apart.

10. Don’t worry about your curls being even—they’re not supposed to be. Curls are as individual as you or I and are meant to fall imperfectly. Enjoy this newfound freedom and uniqueness.

11. For added definition and hold, you can lightly spritz with a nonaerosol holding spray. This locks in your curls throughout the day.

CREATING CURL

Moving on to a slightly more advanced technique: What if you have straight hair and would love some sexy curls or waves to enhance your look? The good news is that curls are easy to craft if you know how. But your hair does need a little length, approaching your shoulders at least.

1. You need a midsized round brush (go for a larger diameter if your hair is more than six inches below the shoulder or if you want big, wavy curls), a holding product (mousse or blow-dry setting spray works well), some small clips, and a nonaerosol, light-hold mist.

2. On wet hair, apply the holding product at the roots, using your hands and fingers to work it through to the end of the hair shaft. Most of the product should be at the roots, but distribute a little toward the tips where it functions as a great setting aid to help hold curls in place all day.

Diffusing the Diffuser

A diffuser is a great tool for encouraging curl. It is a simple $20 attachment you can clip onto your blow-dryer. In simple terms, the air of a blow-dryer can blow your curly hair around too much and disturb your curl formation. That’s why, if you’re looking to control your natural curl, the wet-set technique is better than using a blow-dryer.

But if you want faster drying, you can use your blow-dryer with a diffuser. The diffuser takes away all the air of a blow-dryer but keeps all the heat; it dries curly hair without blowing on it, using the heat to lock the curl in place. If you have some curl and want to accentuate this look, a diffuser is definitely a great way to go.

Successful results depend on the right technique. Follow the instructions in the Controlled Curls section (here) up to and including step 7. Now, instead of squeezing your hair every fifteen minutes, simply attach and use your diffuser. Try to get to your roots first because ends are finer hair strands, drying much faster as a consequence. If you dry the ends first and then try to get at your roots, you end up overdrying your ends. Hang your head over, letting your hair fall downward to the floor, and place the diffuser as close to the roots as possible, remembering to gently rotate around your head. Never hold your diffuser still. This gives too much heat in one place. Rotate and move, up and down, left and right.

All you have to do now is follow steps 9, 10, and 11 of the Controlled Curls section and enjoy your bountiful and beautiful curly hair.

Curling Irons

Curling Irons are a great contemporary quick-fix tool for at-home hairstyling, especially effective for creating curl and movement in straight hair. Indeed, you can substitute a curling iron for both the dryer and the round brush and employ almost the exact same technique with the same result—only it’s quicker and easier.

Of course there is a downside. Placing direct heat from an iron on your hair has the potential to create curls that appear a little too formed, a little too perfect. It can also fry your hair. The big rule: Don’t hold the iron on your hair too long. At best, this damages your daily curls; at worst, it burns your hair bone-dry. The fix: Buy an iron with a thermometer control tool and place your iron on medium heat rather than high heat.

In addition to abandoning your dryer and brush, the other big change when using an iron is that you use a different product. Instead of a bodybuilding product, you need a thermal protector. Apply it as you would your bodybuilder (outlined in step 2 of “Creating Curl,” here) and follow the remaining techniques. Remember, if you take small sections, you create tight little ringlets, while bigger sections create softer, looser waves.

The time you leave your hair curled on the iron is determined by when you can feel heat on your hair. Once you can feel heat on the section wrapped around the curling iron, it’s time to take it out. Now you can just ruffle your roots to unravel the curl as desired. Looking for a firmer curl and are worried it might fall away? Once you’ve taken out the iron, use a small clip to fasten the curl into place at its base, wait for it to cool totally, and now gently run your fingers through your curls. This definitely gives you your strongest curl. If it ends up too strong, first brush it out; if it’s still too firm, use the heat of the dryer to break the wave a little.

The thermal protector prevents your hair from drying out while still providing the base and preparation you need. But please note: No thermal protector, or any other product or tool, can protect hair that is already dry and damaged. If this is you, here provides the answers you need.

I also recommend that you invest in a high-quality moisturizing conditioner if you are using any sort of iron regularly. This improves the condition of your hair by replacing the inevitable loss of moisture caused by the heat of the curling iron. Here are a couple of other things to remember, if you choose a curling iron instead of a blow-dryer and brush. You can buy a good ceramic curling iron for around $40. Irons come in different shapes and sizes; smaller-diameter barrels (1") create tight curls; bigger-diameter barrels (2"--3") create bigger, softer curls or waves. A medium-sized barrel (1½;"--2") suffices for most people’s needs, especially the creating curl technique just showcased.

3. Use your hair dryer to power-dry 80 percent of the moisture out of your hair. Don’t worry about particular sections; instead, make sure it’s evenly 70 percent or 80 percent dry all over.

4. Now attach the hair dryer’s nozzle. Start wrapping sections of hair around the round brush. It doesn’t matter if you start at the front or the back; you’re going to be going all over anyway. But remember, the sections on top and on the sides are much easier to get at than those in the back, so when you’re learning the technique, perhaps practice on top first while you get the hang of it. In any case, wrap a piece of hair around the round brush in a section no bigger than the size of the barrel. Then hold the dryer six to ten inches from the section and power-dry all the moisture away. You can finish with a cold shot of air to further set the curl. In effect, this method works exactly the same way the old-fashioned rollers created curl for your mom.

5. Once done, unravel the brush (never pull it out), allowing the curl to set in place. Then, with your hands, rewind the curled section into a barrel and lock it into place with a small clip.

6. Repeat this process in sections all over your head. It’s more important to place the curls around the front, top, and sides, but try to get some nice curls going at the back, too. Supersexy curls draped across the back really help to complete the look. With a little practice it should take no longer than twenty minutes to do your whole head.

7. When you’ve prepared each section, lightly mist all over your hair with nonaerosol holding spray and allow to totally cool—approximately ten minutes.

8. Now unclip your sections, unravel, and finger-style. It’s much better to finger-style at this phase because the power of a brush will break the curl you’ve worked to create, whereas your fingers will aid a soft and tousled finish. Gently rake your fingers through to the roots and then loosely shake out your hair.

9. If the look is too curly, you can use the heat of the dryer to break the wave a little. Just lightly blowing in some heat to your curls loosens their formation.

10. If you’re in a rush, or are struggling with the technique, you can replace your dryer and brush with a curling iron. This is easier and quicker, and simplifies the difficult task of styling the back sections. On the downside, a curling iron creates a stronger curl, so it may appear false or forced.

Time to Updo

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it should be much easier to make your hair work for you. Remember, styling should be creative and fun. If you can grasp and apply these techniques, you’re ready to play with some more complicated styles and even updos—great for looking more individual, more polished. And who doesn’t want that?

PONYTAIL

Styling hair into a sleek and sophisticated ponytail is the best place to start your updo education. It’s a great way to vary your look, and best of all, it’s a supersimple, easy-to-do technique.

1. To wear a ponytail, you need length to your shoulders at least.

2. I recommend a covered elastic band or, better, a bungee band. These have hooks on either side that are great for holding your ponytail in place. If you’ve never seen a bungee, check the glossary at the back of this book for a full description, or simply ask in your local beauty supply store.

3. The key to a successful pony is in the preparation. It’s not totally necessary to wash your hair beforehand. In fact, slightly dirty hair can even be better because the hair is a little rougher, which in turn helps your pins and grips do what they need to do: hold tight. If you are going to wash and blow-dry your hair beforehand, you need to create some texture for the hooks to grip. To do this, simply apply a preparation product (mousse, foam, or thickening spray) and execute the basic blow-dry highlighted at the start of this chapter. So long as you don’t brush your hair smooth at the end, this creates ample texture for your ponytail.

4. Now that your hair is properly prepared for a ponytail, use your hands or a brush to gather your hair into a high or low ponytail as desired. Now pull on your band or cord and hook and wrap it around the base, nice and tight. When you run out of cord, simply hook the cord into the base of your pony to complete your ponytail.

5. Whenever you create a ponytail, the tightness at the nape can make or break the look. This area has looser skin; therefore, it’s important to keep your head upright when forming your ponytail. If your head is forward or tucked down when you secure, as soon as you lift your head this area becomes baggy, loose, and amateurish. A simple precaution: Hold your chin up.

6. A low ponytail is a more casual, free-and-easy daytime look; it should sit below the nape of your neck. A high ponytail is definitely more of a nighttime look. It gives you lots of lift and lots of drama, and emphasizes your cheekbones, making you look polished and refined.

FRENCH TWIST

A great alternative to the ponytail is the French twist. The twist is trickier than a ponytail—it’s a salon-professional technique, after all—but with practice I’m confident it will become a fantastic addition to your own hairstyling.

1. You need bobby pins, big hairpins, hair spray, and a flat brush. It’s better to leave your hair unwashed for this technique, as one or two days of unwashed hair give your hair a natural texture that works better for holding your twist in place. If you need to wash your hair, no problem. Just make sure to blow-dry in some product (a holding spray works fine) to create the texture you need.

2. Rather than pulling your hair into one big piece as you would with a ponytail, you create a seam—a lovely folded pattern—across the back of your head. To do this, the left and right sides of your hair must be brushed back. I recommend making the part on one side—that’s much sexier than splitting your hairline, and face, down the middle. So to begin, use the flat brush to make a nice side part and brush each side of your hair through to the back. Remember to keep your chin up, which ensures that your twist is tight; if you let your chin fall, the skin at the nape of your neck is loose and so is your twist.

3. Now that your hair is brushed back, you can fold and twist one side of the seam into place. It’s best first to work on the side near the part and use your hands to cup the seam nice and tight. This is simpler than it sounds. Just take your brushed-back section, spray it with a little holding spray, and gather it into your hand—almost as if you’re gathering it into a low ponytail—and twist and hold this piece of hair in place over the back of the center of your head. Make sure to gather in all excess hair. If at the end you want to loosely drape a few pieces out, that’s fine, but for now focus on getting all the brushed-back hair into your twist.

4. Next, place three bobby pins in the bottom, middle, and top of your half a twist, the half a seam you’ve just created, pinning it back and flat. Start at the bottom because this helps support your seam structure. Lock the pins inside your seam, weaving one into another if possible. These bobby pins keep it nice and sleek, but you should now also use a little more hair spray on the side of the seam to further aid hold and sleekness.

5. You’re in great shape. You have your base—one side of the twist—held back with bobby pins, across the center of your head. This means that one half of the preparation is firmly in place. Now take the other side, the half with most of the hair, brushed back in the same manner, but also make sure to brush the hair over the pins of the half a seam you’ve just created. Grab this second section with your hand, low and central to the back of your head, then twist your hair upward, over the top of your original seam, and cup it in place with your hands. You are cupping the area where you placed your three original bobby pins.

6. Take one big hairpin and place it where your fingertips are applying pressure to hold the second part of your twist in place. It’s also important to place the pin in from the same direction your hair has been brushed back. For example, if you’re coming from the left, place the pin in from that direction, too. This aids the stability of your twist. Be sure to catch the top surface of the original folded twist with your pin, and once the pin goes in, sharply twist the pin back, fixing it back on itself in an action much akin to a classic sewing technique—back and forth, over and under.

7. Now spritz again with your hair spray to set and sleek the second part of your perfect twist.

8. Don’t worry. Done right, the pressure of the pin going back and the tension of the fold easily hold up the heaviest of hair.

Pin Basics

Three pins are critical for the success of any updo:

• Regular hairpins are ideal for holding a large amount of hair.

• Fine hairpins are perfect for the detailing of any updo because they disappear into your hair.

• Bobby pins, a combination of smooth edges and grooves that hold together to grip firmly in place, are a must. They are easy to use and especially effective at holding back unruly hair.

Two Common Problems

There are a couple of common problems that I hear clients talk about every day. These little niggles infuriate clients because they appear so simple and so silly, and yet they have the potential to destroy your carefully constructed styling.

Flyaways are unavoidable for anyone who blow-dries her hair. We all lose hairs every day, and they replenish themselves every day, too. The problem is that those lovely new hairs are shorter and fail to make it around the brush when you blow-dry. Instead, infuriatingly, they stand up on end and can cause your new polished do to flop. The solution: hair spray. After styling, simply spritz a strong-hold hair spray on any flyaways to flatten them out. Problem solved.

Split Ends occur on the tips, the oldest part of each hair strand. Normally, between seven and ten weeks after your last cut, those poor old ends start to fray, becoming thin, weak, and brittle, before finally splitting apart for good. We all love long hair, but let’s be realistic: Split ends do not look good. A good defrizz serum and a well-executed smooth blow out help to reduce the appearance of split ends and, as a consequence of the split ends, frizz. (It won’t make them disappear totally, and as the day wears on they become more and more noticeable.) But there’s no product or styling technique I know of after twenty-five years in the industry to get rid of split ends other than a cut. Take the hit, deal with the problem immediately, and regrow your hair to be healthy and sexy.

Summing It All Up

This chapter is the heart of this book—it’s the chapter you should use the most. Keep this book by your vanity mirror and create salon-perfect hair every day. These are the techniques that I employ, and if they work for me, they will work for you.

I’ve given you a thorough explanation of which products and tools do which jobs. This is important, because applying the right products and tools for the look you want is more than half of the styling-at-home battle. By using my guidelines on products and brushes and my tips on curling irons and straightening irons, you always have the tools to get the job you want done, done right.

Everyone should learn the basic blow-dry. If you know how to do this, you need make only slight variations in your technique and the necessary adjustments to your products and styling tools to create lots of different looks. Remember, whether your hair is long or short, straight or curly, whether you want to boost up your volume or smooth out your kinks, or whether you want to control or create curls, this chapter has the technique for you.

Master the techniques for styling at home and you’ll find many ways that you can manipulate your hair for a variety of fabulous, fashion-forward styles.