Why I recommend my hairdresser to everyone I know

Amy asked me recently if it took me hours to do my hair. To which I replied excitedly, “no, it only takes 10 minutes!”

I told her I would explain how I did it, so here goes.

First of all, find a hairdresser you trust. One that knows your personality, your hair needs, etc. etc. I’ve been going to Tommy for about 10 years now, and he knows me and my hair as well as I do. It’s not just about curly or straight, thick or stringy, long or short. He also knows my personality and the style I want to show the world. We have great communication, and he makes it happen. We are at the point where I pretty much sit in his chair and say, “Do whatever you want. I trust you.”

So, that said, first start with a haircut that suits you. Me, I have normal hair that is thick. He thins it out frequently with thinning shears. I also have dyed or highlighted hair, depending on the visit and what Tommy wants to do. Lately my hair has been short-medium length (as you see in the photos.)

I have been the person that doesn’t know how to style her own hair. I used to get a great cut with style from a hairdresser and then never be able to duplicate it (before Tommy.) I would get so frustrated, knowing I’d only like the cut for one day and then the rest of the time would be a desperate attempt to replicate what they’d done or throw it back in a ponytail. Not anymore.

So, here’s how I style my hair (and trust me: I really do not know what I am doing.)

(Disclaimer: I know I need a dye touch up. Blame me, not Tommy. The holidays got busy! Am going soon.)

Step 1. Gather materials.

What you’re looking at:

= Rusk Wired styling creme, which I got from Tommy;

= Pantene Ice Shine hair spray;

= Pantene Pro-V shampoo and conditioner for colored hair;

= Revlon hair dryer (purchased at Target);

= Remington Wet 2 Straight flat iron (purchased at Target)

Step 2. Shampoo and condition hair.

Step 3. Put Rusk in hair.

Even though my hair is wet, I follow the instructions for the dry hair – which is just to take a small amount and rub it from root to tip. My hair probably could handle more of it then I use, but I want to maintain a natural feel – don’t want the end result to be super-stiff or waxy.

Step 4. Blow dry hair while upside down.

Step 5. Inspect hair for craziness factor. The crazier the better.

Step 6. Not crazy enough. So get a towel and rub the heck out of it (dry towel is best).

Step 7. Spray hair spray lightly on hair. (can flip steps 7 and 8 if you don’t want your straightener to get spray on it).

Step 8. Use straightener to give a definition to hair – like a controlled crazy.

The key to this style is to take the flat iron out instead of just down, as shown above.

Step 9. Inspect hair to see if crazy enough.

Depending on the look you are going for, this may be just fine. If so, spray hair spray one more time and you’re done. I will leave it like this if I’m doing something casual – coffee or lunch with a friend, shopping, etc. But if you want to go out on the town, you need more fun.

Step 10. Scrunch up hair with hands to give more body.

Step 11. If hands aren’t enough, repeat step 6 with dry towel.

Step 12. Inspect hair for craziness.

Perhaps a little too crazy, but not to worry …

Step 13. Tone down the too-crazy pieces with hands.

This may be the look you are going for, and if so, spray again and be done. I do this when I’m going out on the town for the evening or something else equally crazy and fun. Because I don’t put a ton of hairspray on, it does tend to get less crazy as the night goes on, but you can always repeat Step 10 even in a nightclub bathroom. If you want a little more toned-down, look, however, there’s one more step.

Step 14. Tone/scuplt further using flat iron and hands.

This is probably the look you see me touting most often. Spray with hairspray and be done!

Some things to note about this style: For me, it looks different pretty much every time I do it. You see, even in this one example, there are 3 different looks. I also don’t wash my hair every day – with a style like this, every 2 or 3 days is just fine – it gets kinda messy when I sleep, but as you see, that can be a good thing! I usually just wash it every time I run or any other workout that gets me sweaty (which admittedly is mostly daily, but if I take a rest day or two I don’t need to wash it. …)

Also, Tommy can make my hair look completely differently than I do, and his style is one I can replicate as well, because he’s given me a style with a fabulous shape. I can take the flat iron and go straight down instead of out (as mentioned in Step 8 ) and it gives it a more classic, sophisticated look. I just prefer the fun and crazy one most of the time!

Here’s a screen shot from Tommy’s web site, in which he styled my hair in a more classic look. It’s virtually the same haircut as the one I have now. See how different it can look?

(Oh yeah, and shameless plug here: MOD totally designed his web site.)