Me on the far right, in 2001. Addicted to the flat iron. (and bleach and lipgloss and cheerleading)

Q by Allie: Hey there Reagan! My name is Allie and i absolutely love your blogs. I am a teenager with a similar hair texture to yours except slightly curlier/frizzier. I feel like all teenage girls nowadays flat iron their hair daily which is obviously super damaging. do u have any cute hair ideas that dont involve too much heat!? hopefully u see this cause i really need some help here! thanks.

A by Reagan: Allie, I was a flat ironer too! The flat iron became really big when I was in high school, and I guess it’s never left the high school scene! In my experience, the flat iron is what destroyed my hair. Before the flat iron, my hair was so thick and perfectly healthy. Before I knew it, the flat iron had wrecked my hair so much that the only way for it to look smooth was to keep flat ironing it every day. It wasn’t until I finally cut off lots of length and left it alone that it got back to health. Pheeww! Bad memory!

Anyway, Allie, I love you. Do you know how much I hate unecessary damage on hair? Because of over-heat styling, overdue haircutting, over-processing color treatments or whatever it may be. Just treat your hair nice and it will be so much more glorious resulting in tons of boyfriends or girlfriends or jealous people! I am constantly trying to show my clients how to keep their hair healthy, so thank you for this question.

So to answer your question finally, I say look all over this blog! I am really into just enhancing your hair’s natural texture. Maybe by blow drying only the roots and letting your ends dry how they naturally would, or just curling a few pieces around your face to feel jazzy. You could also let your hair air dry before putting it in a bun, a pretty ponytail or a braid of some kind. And don’t be afraid to use product. Product is always a great way to cut down on styling time AND damage. As always, I love Redken Outshine for almost every hair texture and styling purpose. But I still think it’s freaking sick and disgusting that they call it polishing milk. Milk?? Are you kidding me?

I have an idea! What do you say you and I run around dressed like hamburglars and steal all of your friends flat irons so they are forced to stop doing it? No? That’s illegal?

I recently got an email about brides wearing bangs, asking if I thought it was a good look. Yes, I do! But I don’t know if I’m the type of girl who says you should completely avoid dating your wedding. I mean, it will be kind of fun to look back at the pictures and know know that what you wore was what you wanted, instead of not wearing what you wanted because you were too afraid of the occasion being dated. I wore my hair long, down and wavy with a nod to the 1940s (with sort of a victory roll on the side). I also wore a big champagne colored sash which will forever go down in 2007 wedding history. The point is, it was what I wanted to wear. (Actually, I got married in Vegas and it was the only dress I tried on. But I did my hair myself and I did like it.)

So, maybe sweepy bangs wont be around forever. Maybe you have Zooey Deschanel hair and that wont be around forever either. But if you love your bangs, and you don’t feel like yourself without them, you should just wear the bangs.

But..

..If you are afraid of looking like you are hiding under your big heavy bangs in all the pictures, then maybe you should try curtain bangs. Which is basically the beautiful bangs you already have, just parted down the center. You’ll have the comfort of the bangs that you know and love, but you will also be able to see your forehead!

So I know none of these above ladies are brides at the moment, but I do know that they all have the beautiful “curtain bang” that I love so much. I wear curtain bangs whenever they get too long to wear all the way down. They’ve been too long for that for several months, and I’ve enjoyed so much the curtain look.

I am interested to hear if you wore bangs to your wedding. Or if you will. My friend Maggie has had bangs as long as I’ve known her (6th grade) and she is getting married in just a few months. I am so curious what she’ll do with her bangs. Frankly, I can’t picture her without them!

PS this question came from Bosnia! Crazy!

I recently got an email with a question that really had me thinking. She was wondering how I “got so good at hair”. This question had me experience severe flattery syndrome.

But more important than posting this question so that you can all see that someone thinks I’m “so good at hair”, I thought it was actually a really good question to answer for you aspiring stylists. It could even be good for someone struggling in any career field.

Here it goes:

I started out beauty school interested in hair, but not really having any idea of where it could take me. I was in for a rude awakening when I graduated and I didn’t have a full clientele immediately. I spent a long time just doing hair on the side because I wasn’t making enough money, and I had to rely on waitressing as my real source of income. When I moved to NYC, I found out that you can’t work on the cutting floor without assisting experience. I thought I knew so much about hair, but in truth, I wasn’t sectioning the hair off right, I didn’t know the difference between a stationary blade and a moving blade, and there was so much terminology I had never even heard of when it came to hair. I was embarrassed and it took a lot of pride swallowing to realize that beauty school doesn’t count as experience in NYC. Most people assist for 2 or 3 years before getting on the floor.

I chose cutting/styling over color. I still can’t really explain why I did, but I’m glad. There is definitely more money in color, but cutting/styling feels a little more creative. I worked my ass off. I cried, I messed up a few haircuts, I got laughed at by my teacher and I worked terrible long hours handing people hairspray and shampooing clients for the real stylists. I spent so much time leaning over shampoo bowls, that I had to get weekly back adjustments by a chiropractor. But I also learned a lot. I learned which blade was my moving blade, how to section off for different haircuts/head shapes and most importantly I was in an environment that challenged and inspired me.

I still feel insecure sometimes when I watch some of the stylists I work with. I wonder if I’m that good or if I’m that professional, but I think that a little of that is important in any work environment. What if I didn’t feel slightly insecure? I’d go to work every day bored, not trying new things, not looking for constant inspiration. I don’t feel afraid of looking stupid, if a stylist I work with knows more than me, I ask them to teach me. We all have our own styles and we can all learn something from each other. I look through magazines, I play with my friends’ hair, I watch old movies and use what I already know to come up with new things.

Something I’ve learned over the years….especially since I spent over three years in a salon that didn’t challenge or inspire me…is that your talent/creativity will become dormant if you aren’t pushing yourself. If you go to work and cut/blow, cut/blow, cut/blow, without any variation, you will never grow. If you have an extra 15 minutes with client, ask if you can try a new bun or braid on them that you saw in a magazine. You’ll find out that hair is the most fun think that ever was.

Q by Sarah: So one of my BFFs is getting married this June, and I am the Maid of Honor. This is the third wedding for our group of friends, and in both of the previous two weddings, everybody’s looked really classic and timeless as far as bridesmaid hair and attire go. For this wedding, we thought it would be awesome if one of my Maid of Honor duties was having a really of-the-moment, trendy hairstyle on the big day. Ie. one that will be dated later so that we can laugh at the pictures in 20 years. Any thoughts on really of-the-moment, trendy Maid of Honor hair? My dress is one of those one-shoulder deals.

A by Reagan: This is definitely a fun question. The first style that popped into mind when I thought of trendy wedding hair, was long, loose wavy hair. This is how every bride/bridal party seems to be wearing their hair these days. I admit, at my own Vegas wedding just over 4 years ago, I did long, loose, flowing waves. It is more popular than ever now. It is a very Victoria’s Secret look. I think the look will keep around for a while, but it won’t be popular forever! I think one day you’ll look at the photos and know it was a 2011ish wedding. Remember when everyone wore their hair up for their wedding? Up-dos were the big thing? Most people are wearing it down. Down hair is the trendiest of all wedding trends right now. Also, look at the red carpet these days, down hair is all over that business too.

If you want to accessorize it in a trendy way, the bride can wear a birdcage veil, and the bridesmaids can wear a feather/flower piece.

The second look I thought of, is the topknot. The topknot (bun right smack on the top of your head), is definitely a big look right now. It can be done a lot of ways. You can make it slightly fuzzy for a soft/romantic look, thrown together for a messy look, teased to make it big like my party bun, or slick and smooth for a formal look. You can do it in the middle or off-centered. Do the topknot!

(i know the Mandy Moore topknot is very similar to a classic wedding bun, but it’s the fact that it is so high up that makes it trendy!)

Thanks, Sarah! I hope I get a picture of the look you choose!

I got an email from a reader who wanted to know if she could still wear her hair long even though she is now in her 30s. She read something online that said no, and wanted my opinion. Well, my opinion is YES. Want to know if I think you can wear your hair long in your 40s? Yes! I think you can. I have lots of long haired clients in their 30s and 40s who I think look great. They keep it trimmed, healthy and styled.

If you are still worried, here are some pictures of beautiful ladies to convince you.

Reese-34.

Kate-37.

Jennifer-40

You want long hair in your 30s? You wear that long hair. And you love it.

(In case any of you are wondering, I would wear Jennifer’s dress everywhere if I had it. Club, party, gym, bed. Everywhere.)

Q by fluffy haired Julie: My hair is super, super, super thick and whenever I get it cut, I beg the stylist to thin it out with shears within an inch of its life. That keeps it flat for about 2 days. I finally purchased a pair of awesome thinning shears at Sephora and hacked away at my own hair and didn’t see any problem… but is this bad? Are there any tricks to using thinning shears that you can tell me? Should I stop doing this to myself and just see a stylist every week?

A by Reagan: Here is what I have to say about thinning your own hair…You are walking dangerous territory, FHJ. Dangerous. Please stop. Ok?

Here is what might be happening (in my expert opinion). You’re overly thinning your hair. You are creating lots of short hairs at the root which are then making a perfect volumizing “cushion” for the rest of your hair to poof off of.  The short hairs aren’t weighed down at all since there isn’t enough length to pull them down, so they are springing up, making your hair bigger. You are doing to your hair, what I do to women who have pixie cuts, and men who have faux hawks, when I want their hair to stand up on it’s own. To take out the weight in the ends, I texturize (by thinning) it so that it will stand straight up. I’m not sure if this makes sense to you, it is a little hard to explain.

My best advice to you, if you are planning on thinning you’re own hair, is to do it no more than every 3 or 4 weeks. Because you are just going to make chaos in your hair and destroy your stylists cut if you do it more often than that.

Here are a few tips for thinning your own hair:
1. Don’t thin any higher than half-way up the hair shaft.
2. Take small sections.
3. Start out doing the underneath part of your hair, thin each section starting half-way up, then gradually as you move towards the top section of your hair, thin farther down on the hair shaft. (for example, the hair growing out of the top of your head, will only be thinned on the ends. The hair growing underneath, will be thinned a little higher up.).

Also FHJ, don’t be so quick to grab the thinning sheers every time you have huge hair. It could be that you need a heavier conditioner to weigh down your thick locks, or maybe you just need to smooth it out with a blow dryer or flat iron!

Good luck, and thanks for your question!

Q by Claire: ***I have totally thin hair but I don’t want my hair shorter than ponytail length. Which cut is best for me? Also, I live in Australia. DBJ.

A by Reagan: Not to get all mushy on your Australian a’, but my heart really goes out to people with super duper thin hair. It is hard to feel beautiful when you aren’t happy with your hair. I have some really good tips for you though, Claire! So get pumped!

Tip number one-Get a trim often. Really thin hair tends to lose it’s shape much faster than thick hair. Keeping your ends trimmed up will make it look fuller.

Tip number two-Blunt cuts are best. Don’t let anyone use a razor or texturizing sheers on you. Avoid point cutting too. You want your ends blunt so that it doesn’t look stringy.

Tip number three-Avoid too many layers. It will make the length thinner. You can have long layers if you insist, but nothing shorter than an inch or two above the length.

Tip number four-Bangs (fringe) are awesome. I really try to talk my super thinnies out of lots of layers, like I was saying in tip three, so a straight, square cut with bangs makes for a nice style. Bangs prevent your cut from looking boring, and gives you a beautiful shape. There are many lengths and ways to wear bangs, so find something that you like with your face shape. A round face looks better with sweepy bangs.

Tip number five-Clip in extensions. You could also go for more permanent extensions, but those are very expensive and have to be redone every few months. I have clients who clip in a couple of rows when they go out, and it creates so much fullness. Remember, you can get extensions the same length as your hair if you don’t want your hair longer. Just a few rows will make a big difference. Give it a try!

Here are a few pictures of the ideal thinny hair cut.

Nicol Richie has extremely thin hair. This haircut is perfect for her. She has extensions all over the place for thickness, even in her bangs! I can tell, cause it’s my job to tell.

Agyness Deyn has a very similar cut, but shorter and with a heavier fringe. This look will be best between her length, and just an inch or two past your shoulders. You don’t have to have super short hair just because it’s thin!

***I wrote my own question for Claire, just to get to the point. Don’t be offended, Claire. I want you to be my friend, and one day I’m going to make it down to Australia.

ps, I give up with the pictures. no matter how I try, they never center properly. Boo.

Q by Stacie: Ok, so here’s my question.  My hair is dry and color-treated and fairly long (about 5ish inches past my shoulders).  I end up putting my hair up in a bun nearly every day, not a pulled super tight bun and I do use only bobby pins to secure it.  I feel like maybe I’m further damaging my hair by wearing it up so often, what do you think?  I get regular trims and everything but I am just feeling guilty about the breakage I might be causing.  So, should I be feeling guilty about this or should I reserve my guilty feelings for other things, like my kid’s cavities?

A by Reagan: I’m no dentist, but I say, worry about your kids’ cavities before worrying about bun damage. If the bun is causing any damage, it would be pretty minimal. Unless you are using those old fashioned hair ties with the little metal connecting piece, you’re probably ok wearing your hair up every day, especially if it’s up loosely. You want to avoid twisting it too tight when you can (even wet, it’s so bad to wring out your wet hair by twisting!), so a loose bun is fine.

When you’re looking at what your hair goes through every day, there is damage everywhere! From the collar of your shirt, pulling it up, the sun, polution, too much brushing, playing with it (holler if that’s you…Holla!), etc. These are all kind of hard to avoid, so I just try to do the most important things to keep it healthy. Avoid too much chemical processing, avoid too much heat and keep it trimmed up.

A bun isn’t going to kill you Stace. And lookie here! I wear a bun too!

Thanks for your question Stacie. Nice buns!

This is an old question that I have been waiting to answer until the weather is colder. Because colder means dryer, and dryer means more static. Since I waited so long to answer this question, I can’t find it! So, to who asked this question, I’m sorry if I don’t answer it specifically enough, since I can’t remember everything you wrote. I’ll just make something up..

Q by Static Stephie: Help! My hair gets super static-y during the winter and I can’t stand it or get dates.

A by Reagan: This happens to me all the time. Especially since I wear a wool pea coat in the winter. I swear I look like a crazy person some days. So, definitely the dryness in the air creates a lot of static, so you want to keep your hair properly moisturized. I have found that using finishing oils and serums do the trick for the most part. I recommend this one.

If that doesn’t do the trick, or if you dont want to buy any new products (or presents for your hair), you can simply use a dryer sheet! It does wonders. The only reason I wouldn’t say to do this first, is because dryer sheets were made for laundry, not hair. And while I’m not sure of any bad effects it will have on your hair, I only use it when things are really bad. K?

First try rubbing the sheet in your hands, then run your hands over your hair. You can do it in a petting way rather than a combing way. Plus petting your hair has got to be good for its self esteem. If that isn’t doing the job, run the actual dryer sheet down your hair shaft until it is sufficiently de-static-ed. It will work. I prom’.

Love ya. Happy winter! (soon)

PS if we have time this weekend, we are going to film a Blake Lively Tutorial! I doubt we’ll have time, but I just want you on the edge of your office chairs. One is coming. Hooray.

img

Q by Stephanie: Currently I cannot afford to get my hair trimmed by my stylist. (My hair is suffering!)  This means that I’m finding heaps of split ends. (seriously suffering!)  is it bad to trim them off, one by one?

A by Reagan: Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie….Of course it’s bad. Question answered.

I have a hunch you’re going to do it anyway. Let’s talk about this a little bit.

You’re supposed to get your hair cut every 8-10 weeks, but I know getting your hair cut is expensive. Personally, I think it should be treated like a hospital procedure (importance-wise, not scary-wise). It’s like this, you’re supposed to get your teeth cleaned and examined every year, and that’s pretty important, right? Let’s say getting your hair cut is that important, except let’s switch every year for every 8-10 weeks (12 weeks if you are one of those gifted healthy hairies). Some of my over-achiever clients come like every 3 or 4 weeks, and they get gold stars after the cut. Gold stars=blow outs.

Anyway, my point is, to keep your hair healthy, you need to trim it regularly. And I guess if you refuse to do that (shame on you), it’s probably not the worst thing to snip away at your own split ends. Otherwise they are going to start breaking off higher and higher, until you’re like “what the what? my hair totally stopped growing!”. Which isn’t true, but it does appear to stop growing due to the consistant breaking off of damaged ends.

Dang, you guys are going to make me very hated with your stylists.

So, while I’m not exactly giving you my blessing on this one, I have been too poor for a haircut in my lifetime. Now I can be too poor for everything and still have my haircut, hooray. If you really can’t get in for a trim, go ahead and do some little snippies on your dry hair to tide you over. But when you sit in your stylists chair, and he/she screems out “My haircut, my beautiful haircut. What has this world come to?” you might want to find a new stylist, because yours is super dramatic.

But for reals. The worst thing that can happen if you cut your own hair, is that your haircut will lose it’s original shape or become uneven.

Don’t forget to blame someone else if your stylist gets mad. This is our secret, Stephanie.

(unless you’re my client. in that case HANDS OFF!)