(hair heart I made after cutting a family member’s long hair into a pixie a few years ago)

Do you do resolutions? I love the idea of re-motivating myself. Eat healthier, be friendlier, spend more time with my family, keep my apartment cleaner, save money, start getting facials, floss twice a day, spend more time doing creative projects..

A few years ago I decided my main resolution was to spend more time on my make up. I had gotten so lazy about it, and all the nice make up I had bought impulsively was going to waste. So I started spending more time on it, and wearing it differently sometimes even! haha. That resolution was really successful for me, and although I still don’t spend a lot of time, the extra few minutes really makes a difference.

I was thinking we could all resolve to try new things with our hair! I try new things pretty often because of my job, but there are some things I’m scared of. Have you always wanted to try bangs, or a pixie, or going dark, or to start using a curling iron?

I say do it. And report back to me in one year from today or tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

This is a very ugly picture of me. But I’m very happy in it, and I’m with my childhood BFF 4 E, Deanna, so I don’t care so much about the ugliness.

Also, It’s an awesome hairstyle. One of those looks that I end up doing all day at work when I’m wearing it. My clients are like “can you do that to me?”. I call it the Hippie Halo and I will do a tutorial soonish. I only say ish because tutorials always take more time than I remember them taking.

LOVE shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot

Elle Fanning on the cover of LOVE magazine takes my breath away, pure and simple. The fuzzy waves and the random little white ribbon is just so pretty. I have been loving this cover for the last few months, and recently when I got my W in the mail with Elle and Dakota on it together I had a new Elle Fanning magazine cover to love. Both covers are styled (both clothes and hair/make up) and shot so well.

W shot by Mario Sorrenti

Hello there! I hope everyone had a great weekend! For this peek into my kit, I want to show you some of my favorite products!

There are two main types of products; styling and finishing. Your styling products are often (but not always) applied on wet hair, to build a foundation. I organized my products in order of how I’d use them from left to right in the picture above, although keep in mind I wouldn’t necessarily use all of these products on one person!

(before I get into the list I want to mention that I do like to have a plain spray bottle with water in it to wet down the hair if I need it)

Styling
First up is the SachaJuan Hair Mousse for your hold/body/fullness/volulme. I’ve talked about this millions of times right? You’re all thinking in your heads, ‘yeah, yeah, Reagan. We know. Use like 3 handfuls.’.

Perfect!

Then we have Maxamista by Oribe. It’s a thickening spray that makes you finies have nice, full hair! It has a little hold in there as well, so I like using this before blow dries.

Volumista is similar to Maxamista, and I often pair them together for ultimate fullness. It’s too stiff to wear all over, but it’s great on the roots for lift. Use these first three products before blow drying and setting and you are going to have yourself one full 1960s blow out.

Oribe Dry Texture Spray is an in-between product. I use it for both styling and finishing. I like to use this before curling, to make the hair really hold the shape, but I also like to just spray it at the end of a style for some shaky messiness. Bonus that it also works as a dry shampoo!

Elnet hairspray is what most stylists swear by. It holds really really well, and goes on perfectly even. Plus the can is huge. Woohoo.

Oribe Impereable Anti-humidity spray is great for workable hold. It lightly smooths fly aways without any stiffness, so it’s great for “down” styles.

Tigi Headrush and Redken Vinyl Glam are two really great shine sprays. Headrush is an aerosol and Vinyl Glam is a spritz. I tend to lean towards aerosols because they go on so much lighter, but I found that I can spritz Vinyl Glam onto my hands before applying to prevent an overdose. Also, I have a general rule to not spray above the jawline so that no one gets greasy roots!

Only thing this photo is missing that I make sure to always have on me is a hair paste for male clients and stubborn fly aways. Paste is great for little hairs around the hairline that refuse to lay with the rest of the up do.

The products I carry are pretty focused on volume and hold. I try to get a feel for the job before packing up my kit, so I know if I need any extra products for a specific hair type. If you can’t meet in person or see a picture before, try to at least consult on hair texture (fine, thin, coarse) and habits (gets frizzy, doesn’t hold curl) so that you can be fully prepared for the job.

Photo by Jake Breinholt for Hairdresser on Fire.

Hello there! Today’s peek into my kit is all about my tools!

First up, I like to be prepared for the possibility of hair cutting. What if they are desperate for a bang trim? What if their ends are trashed? At a wedding recently, I ended up using my razor for two different bride’s maids..otherwise their heavy bangs would have been flopping in their face the whole day! I almost didn’t bring my cutting tools and boy am I glad I did. So add your shears, razor (this one!), and a cutting comb (carbon!) to your check off list of what to bring.

Also, at least one rat tail comb (this one!) and possibly a teasing comb (not pictured, but like this) if that’s your thing.

Next, I like to bring an assortment of brushes! I love my Mason Pearson for doing pin straight blow dries, smoothing out up dos, brushing out curls, etc. I love my pocket size Mason Pearson for bangs and little jobs. I sometimes use my Masons for teasing too! For round brushes, I like the Ibiza, and use two sizes, small and medium. I never need any other sizes.

A good blow dryer with nozzle is so important. On many jobs I don’t even use a flat iron or curling iron, just a good blow dry. I have been using the Twin Turbo for about 7 years. I only took a break once when someone gave me an FHI. Once that broke I was right back to the Twin Turbo. I actually have two. It’s the perfect air flow and the even perfecter heat.

Curling irons in a variety of sizes. I have about 4 Hot Tools marcel irons. 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, 1 inch and 1 1/2 inch. I use the 3/4 and the 1 inch the most.

This are the most commonly used tools. Depending on the job you might need a defuser, a flat iron, foam for forming, clippers, etc.

Anything you other stylists out there swear by?

Photos by Jake Breinholt for Hairdresser on Fire.

Happy Monday! Enjoy our latest tutorial below! Please don’t judge the stills at the end. It was raining out and I wasn’t there to make sure the hair stayed big and wild! Also, if you don’t have a shaved side, just make sure you do a really deep part to create that really severe look.

For our “Pins” segment, I’ll be covering a broader area than just pins. I’m including all the things I use to secure different styles. Before you get started, you want a pin case. This one below is great. I didn’t use my own picture because my pin case isn’t organized very well right now.
You can get this one here.

I like to bring a big clip to hold the hair while I’m blow drying/curling. This clip holds the thickest of the sections and never falls.

I make sure to always have lots of two prong clips for setting. Also, if you are doing a shoot or a show (or even a wedding) the make up artist will want to front of the hair pinned away so it doesn’t get in the way during the make up application. A lot of times I’ve used a piece of tissue between the hair and the clip to prevent a mark, but there are also special clips just for that purpose if you don’t want to deal with the tissue.

Bungees are the best way to get a smooth pony. They hold the hair tight tight tight! See my bungee tutorial here!

I go through these little bands like crazy. I use them mostly for securing braids and ponies. Make sure you have clear (pictured, but hard to see) for your blonde clients.

Japanese bobbies. I’ve written about these before. Normal bobbies don’t come near these guys. They are expensive, but one box comes with hundreds, and you non hairstylists will likely have a life supply by getting one. You hairstylists will likely have a few months supply. Let’s be real. We go through a lot of bobbies!

Last up is hair pins. I also like Japanese because they are easy to form without being too flexible. They are very comfortable to wear. The longer I do hair, the more I find myself using hairpins instead of bobbies. Go here for a quick hairpin tutorial!

Tomorrow I’ll choose a winner! Also, We have a new tutorial all edited and ready to go. I’ll probably post it Monday, but I just had to tell you!

All photos by Jacob Breinholt for Hairdresser On Fire. Except the top one.

I got an email from a young stylist asking for a peek into my kit. She wanted to know what I would bring with me on a job outside of the salon. I’m going to break this up into a few posts so that I can get into more detail with out it being too long and boring, but in the meantime, here is a peek!

I’ll be breaking it down into pins, products and tools.

Looking forward to seeing in the comments what other stylists bring along with them too!

Photo by Jake Breinholt for Hairdresser On Fire.

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Do the Olsens ever experience a style/hair swing and a miss*? I don’t think so. Both of these styles (dresses and hair) are breath-taking. These would be amazing for so many occasions….all fuzzy and romantic in a good way.

Jeal’.

*They probably do.

Friends, it would be a crime to not share my newest lip obsession.

It’s lipgloss. MAC Dazzleglass in Love Alert made my weekend.

Last night was my salon holiday party and working with a bunch of gorgeous and stylish women means bring it. I knew I wanted to wear my favorite winter party dress, but it being all black, I really wanted some kind of color pop. Since my dress is very textured (mesh with huge shoulders and tattered ribboning down the front) I didn’t want to wear jewelry, so naturally I thought of bright lips.

Since it was a holiday party, I decided to go more festive than just my normal red lip. I love lipstick and generally prefer a matte look, especially with reds, but to jazz up the color I bought a glittery gloss to go over my lipstick. I thought it would annoy me all night, but I loved it. It was the perfect punchy pop. I can’t believe how tame normal red feels now that I’ve worn this! I wish I had better pictures than these crap iphone ones, but I don’t and I’m still obsessed with this glittery, shiny, glossy red.

This just might be my new thing. My friends and I were *pruning all night.

Hoping to get better pictures up eventually!

*Prune is what Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen say instead of “cheese” in pictures because of the perfect luscious pout it gives your lips! It’s the world’s most successful party trick. You will have the entire room pruning. Try it!