Hair Journeys – September 2014

Watch Richard and me do our final tour of the North East, all in the name of hair =)

Christian Siriano Official Runway Video

Hello Everyone!  Just wanted to share the official video from the Christian Siriano show, just to follow up on my previous post about working on his show with Sebastian Professional.  As you can see, a completely stunning and flawless collection.

Sebastian Saved My Style Event

Aaaah, finally back to Dayton to relax for a week before we set out for Texas!  I’ve been meaning to post about this super fun event, but when you put nearly 7,000 miles on your car in 18 days, it usually means you’ve been kinda busy 😉  But as much as Richard and I have enjoyed the gypsy life, we are looking forward to settling down once we get to Austin.

The Monday after working the Christian Siriano show we held an awesome even in the Meatpacking District in NYC.  It was such a privilege to be a part of it.  Basically, Sebastian Professional set up shop for the day and invited passers-by to walk through a wind tunnel (a simulated hair emergency) and then have one of the Sebastian artists fix their hair.  We had most of the Sebastian Core team there, plus some awesome Design Team members and of course, me and Heather Rae!

One of the coolest parts of the event was that almost all of my clients for the day were from different countries!  I had Germany, France, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and South Korea all represented, plus people from different parts of the United States.  I always have fun meeting people from near and far so it was pretty awesome.

Also, once people had their hair fixed they could pose at the photo station and share their photos for some free Sebastian fix-it kits.  But these weren’t just any photo stations…  I’d have to say, we at Sebastian Professional had a lot of fun with these photos…..  Enjoy!

Christina McCarver and Me:

Some sweet college freshman who came after their drawing class:

Me and Heather Rae!!:

Omar, Celso and Me:

More of me and Omar:

And finally, I absolutely adored this girl, visiting NYC from South Korea:

NYFW with Sebastian Professional

Hello! I’m chilling in Canada with Richard right now. We have put somewhere around 2,500 miles on the car in the last ten days between Dayton, Philly, NYC, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and now Toronto. Fall is just beginning and I am pretty cold! But last week in New York it still felt like summer.

First off, being in New York for New York Fashion Week has been a major dream/goal for me since I started doing hair a few weeks ago. I worked and even organized a few shows in Pittsburgh, but didn’t feel like I really had the right to say I had runway experience until it was in New York. And it just so happened that this year I would be in between jobs and cities during fashion week. I had nothing else to be doing, so I had no excuse not to try my hardest and email everyone who I thought might be helpful about getting to fashion week. And I did. And I went. 🙂

I feel like once a stylist has done a few fashion weeks it just becomes a part of what they do, but I have to imagine that everyone remembers there first one. So I was beyond thrilled to help with such an incredible show. It was so surreal to be working on Christian Siriano’s styling team with so many top artists from Sebastian Professional.

Anthony Cole did an incredible job designing a very modern, lived in, yet glamorous look for Siriano’s gorgeous gowns. Really, the dresses were beyond beautiful and beyond time. They had flow, they had structure, just the right amount of sparkle and skin when you wanted it. I am just so thankful to have been able to be a part of such a gorgeous collection and to work beside such an incredible team: Anthony Cole, Omar Antonio, Marylle Koken, Diva Poulos, Luis Payne, Heather Rae, Celso Enrique, Sasha Zhogi and, of course, Christina McCarver. Thank you all so much for always being welcoming and wonderful.

Below are some photos, but there are better photos HERE.

Anthony Cole teaching us the style.

Lanyards.

Marylle Koken behind the scenes

Sasha!

The lovely Heather Rae, my dear friend and the 2014 What’s Next Awards winner 🙂

Me and Marylle!

Me and Omar!

PS more to come from that weekend, but check out #sebastiansavedmystyle on your social media for some fun pics from our event in the Meatpacking District a few days later!

Rulers of the Playground

 

 

Thanks to Megan Gardner for taking these awesome photos and to Casey Pfiser, Olivia Beeken and Alexandra Danielle for letting me play with your hair and faces.  =)

Enjoy!

 

 

Tips for Entering the What’s Next Awards

Hello Folks!

I just went through to scope out the competition for the What’s Next Awards, and there are some great entries!  I really was expecting to see more, but I am sure they will start coming in faster as the deadline approaches.  Some of the entries I saw were great, but could’ve benefited by a few small tweaks to the photography, wardrobe, makeup, etc.  Below are some tips to keep in mind when you submit.  I am not a judge so take my words with a grain of salt, but I did win this competition last year and I intend to enter this year.  So why help others?  Because it pushes me to get even better and because I want to be happy for and proud of whoever gets chosen for the finals =)  It is a life changing competition, so style your heart out!

Tips

-Get a professional (or professional quality photographer)!  Having a nice camera is not enough, you need the eye, the lighting skills… you need someone who can effectively showcase your work.

-Get a professional makeup artist.  I do makeup for my own shoots but I don’t recommend this unless you have experience, even if you are quite good at doing your own makeup.  Hygiene, product knowledge and a specific kit designed for print work can make a big difference.  This year the makeup is very simple.  Less heroin/rocker chic and more natural, editorial styles.  There is more of a fashion feel to this collection.

-Get a model that fits your look.  To be in line with this collection, the styles show a little more wardrobe so you want a fashion-worthy model.  You want great bone structure so it doesn’t take away from your style.

-Wardrobe should be SIMPLE and probably black. Jewelry, if involved, should be understated and not distracting.

-This collection isn’t particularly colorful so you don’t need to highlight colors in the photography unless you are featuring creative cellophane placement.

-This collection is also less “busy” than other collections, there are no braids and if there were an unspoken word to define the collection I think it would be “movement.”  Your style shouldn’t be a copy of the styles, but it should look like it would fit in next to the others.

-Have fun.  Be fearless.  =)

And check THIS out for more info!  Pay attention to what you will be judged on and be sure you use Sebastian products in creating your style!

 

Next Saturday: Fundraiser for City of Hope/Diabetes Research

Greetings Pittsburgh friends!

Next Saturday, November 30, my former teacher/current boss, Derek Piekarski, will be hosting a fundraiser for City of Hope at his new salon space. City of Hope and the P&G Professional Hair Care lines have been partnering to search for a cure for diabetes with the Hope is in Style Campaign. Come on out if you are in town that night, hang out with a bunch of cool people, drink some beer, and help support the cause!

Diabetes is a disease that hits particularly close to home for me. I grew up in a family with a lot of diabetics, and I always assumed everyone had diabetic relatives until I went away to college and realized how many misconceptions there are regarding diabetes. Most of my aunts and uncles are diabetic, on both sides of my family, as well as three out of my four grandparents, one parent and one sibling.

As many of you know, I am biracial so the two sides of my extended family have very little in common. My mother is Chinese, and one of the few non-diabetics in her family. Two of her siblings are diabetic, but are quite slim/petite. They have Type 1 Diabetes. They eat well, and mostly always have, yet they still need to watch carefully (including making sure they don’t eat too much fruit or other sources of natural sugar). Her little brother was diabetic from a young age, and despite his healthy lifestyle and decades of taking insulin he is awaiting a new kidney and liver. He is in his mid-fifties with two teenage sons.

The Caucasian side of my family is ripe with diabetes. They mostly have Type 2. Both of my grandparents on this side of the family were diabetic. My grandparents both died in their sixties. And more recently, my father’s older sister passed away, also in her late sixties, after at least a decade of regular in home dialysis treatments. Dialysis is a common treatment for diabetics. Basically you are hooked up to a machine that filters your blood because your organs are no longer able to.

My father is also diabetic, but with the help of my mother has always worked very, very hard to eat well, and is on his way to being the first in his immediate family to make it to 70 in a few years. He does have the genetic predisposition towards diabetes, but he is also a Vietnam Veteran and Veteran’s Affairs acknowledges a spike in diabetes for Vietnam Veterans due to exposure to Agent Orange. He probably would have been diabetic eventually regardless, but who can say for sure whether he may have had a few more years disease free? And regardless is it is true for him, countless other veterans may have diabetes due to Agent Orange exposure.

During my sister’s first pregnancy she was diagnosed with Type 3 Diabetes, which is the only sort of diabetes that isn’t necessarily lifelong. Type 3 develops while a woman is pregnant and then usually goes away after, but it is a warning sign that the woman may develop Type 2 later on.

I tell clients that I try to eat well because I am worried about diabetes, and they always say, “But you are so petite!” And I am, but I have seen diabetes in every shape and size and it is not only no fun, it is also deadly.

Connect 2013 Part II: Sebastian’s Upcoming Collection

So my last post about Connect was more about me and less about what we learned. This post will be a little about what we learned, but mostly you will have to wait and see the awesome collection we have in store for next season!

One of the coolest things about this collection was the versatility of the cuts. There is a short, medium and long cut, all of them perfect for fearless clients that want something just a little bit different. There was a lot of playing around with more editorial styles and using products in ways we generally don’t… Mousse forte on dry hair as more of a polish and gel forte on dry hair as more of a tacky pomade! Amazing! Helps the client get more out of their liquid tools.

Also some awesome new ways to use cellophanes which I have been playing with in the salon on myself and other stylists. A lot of new options and techniques.

And of course, always new ways to use shears and blades.

Get excited for the new collection, coming your way Fall 2013.