I’m so excited to tell you all that Hairdresser on Fire was featured on H&M’s blog, H&M LIFE!

Go read my little snippet here!

…..Red scrunchy.

I had a friend over when I was making my Thanksgiving pies (Chocolate Pecan to be deliciously exact) and one of the first things she said to me was “are you wearing a scrunchy? awesome.”.

It is awesome. It’s so old. And stretched out. But I never want to get ride of this old thing. I only wear it at home, or to drop something in the mailbox, or to run to the coffee shop. Other than those three occasions, this baby doesn’t leave the comfort (and privacy) of my apartment.

But I guess the secret is out. I still like scrunchies.

What’s your red scrunchy? A banana clip? Cheap products? Sponge rollers? Cap highlights? Lee press-on nails?

We all have something.

I’m beside myself with excitement to introduce a new series of videos on Hairdresser On Fire. This series of tutorials will all be styles that can be done in well under two minutes, you know, for the girl who’s in a hairry!

In A Hairry – Hairdresser on Fire – Hairry 1 from Joe Varca on Vimeo.

Step by step instructions:

Flip your head upside down.
Start a french braid at the nape of your neck.
Braid until you get to the crown of your head and gather all the rest of your hair into your hand firmly.
Tie up into a pony tail
Twist or stuff into a bun and pin/tie into place.
Pull down your mancatchers.
Go about your business.

This video is also special, because it’s the first time having my new theme song featured! My sister/brotherinlaw’s great band, Imagination Head, wrote this little jingle for my videos and it makes me feel like Hairdresser On Fire is finally complete. I love my job.

Thanks to Imagination Head and Joe Varca for another great video! See our other videos here!

ZaraCardigan
StylemintTanktop
WaxedJeans
MarniShoes (can’t find the backless ones!)
ChloeHandbag
MadewellStacked Rings
KateSpadeBangle
LonewolfHand Chain (my favorite thing ever)
Nailpolish

Love hats but hate hat-hair?

Same.

Well, I figured out a trick and I basically never had hat-hair again. Steps below!

one. Decide where you want your hair parted that day sans hat. I chose the middle.
two. Part your hair heavily to one side (basically anywhere besides step one)
three. Put on your hat.

When you take off your hat, you can shake your hair around and part it back to where you originally wanted it. Voila! No hat-hair! I should have taken a photo of step four, which is “Get a million boyfriends”.

Remember this little tip, because it’s winter hat season and I’m tired of being the only one in this city with cute, non hat-hair. Jk.

Like my turban (turb’)? I got it in London back in the day. Here is a cute winter one I love!

The half up topknot is my winter version of the all up topknot. Last week I wrote about it on Divine Caroline..Read here!

I’ll be in and out of blogging this month. I have high hopes that December is going to be fabulous here on Hairdresser On Fire. I have some projects and collaborations that I’m excited to share with you. Including more videos! That’s right, plural!

Happy Halloween

I’m stormed in. Sandy came through and destroyed so many parts of my beloved city. My heart sincerely goes out to everyone effected. I’m lucky to live on a hill, so along with not losing power, I haven’t had to deal with any flooding.

Cell phone service is quite patchy, and internet as well. I don’t imagine I’ll be posting much this week. I hope your Halloween is safe and lots of fun! And if you haven’t seen the Bride of Frankenstein tutorial yet, take a look here!

My friend Sam Adams came in for a man make over last week. He recently left the world of male modeling for a more corporate career that requires him to wear suits and look a little more clean cut. I think we can all agree that all that blonde hair is amazing, but I was dancing around the salon with glee when he came in for the big change. Sam’s long hair is one of the first things people think of when they hear his name….also this…so being the one responsible for the change was a big job.

He came in asking for something a little retro, that could be worn different ways, and something that didn’t look like every other guy walking down the street. I cut the entire thing with my straight razor to give it the right texture, and left lots of length on the top so that it can be worn all kinds of different ways. It looks pretty clean cut here, but the top is quite long and looks very ’90s punk if worn down. I’ll have to take some more pictures of it!

I cut his sides really short towards the front, and gradually went longer as I got towards the back, so that he can comb his sides back for the Don Draper look.

Rumor has it he loves it, and equally as important, so does his wife

If you’re looking for an elaborate Halloween costume that is easy and cheap, then I suggest you watch this tutorial. I love Halloween and totally wouldn’t mind doing Halloween hair tutorials only from here on out.

HDOF-BOF-D1 from Joe Varca on Vimeo.

Supplies you’ll need:

Comb
Hairpins (work better than bobbies)
Hairspray
Styrofoam Cone
Hair
Extensions (Optional)

Instructions:

Tease your hair until it’s high and mighty.  Spray with hairspray like crazy. Place Styrofoam cone on your head in desired position. Pull up large sections of your hair to cover the foam cone, and pin into styrofoam. You can stick the pins directly into the foam! Continue until foam is completely covered by your hair and it feels secure. Optional: add a strip of extensions onto either side of your head at the temple area. I curled mine with a marcel iron. Spray with hairspray like crazy.

Now you’re ready to get married. Lots of people are possessed on their wedding day you know.

My favorite parts are all the parts with huge hair, and when the candle gets lit. My least favorite part was combing out the teasing which mightn’t have been so bad if I had done it that night instead of stuffing it into a bun for two more days…

And just because I have to say it somewhere…I would like you to know that I was this close to calling this a “spooktorial”.

Special thanks to the very talented Joe Varca for making this awesome film and Amanda Blair for being the world’s best light flickerer.

What do you think?

Do you call the person who does your hair a “Hairdresser” or a “Hairstylist”?

My friend Sarah and I used to insist that people called us “hairstylists” or “stylists” back when we were assistants, because hairdresser sounded old fashioned. We would joke that it sounded like we did perms and sat old ladies under dryers all day. Now I kind of like it, for the same reason of it sounding old fashioned. We’re dressing the hair up, making it pretty. It’s kind of cute. Plus this blog is obviously called Hairdresser On Fire, rather than Hairstylist On Fire, but that’s mostly because it’s named after the Morrissey song.

Anyway, I started thinking about old fashioned industry terms recently, and kind of laughed at the ones we don’t use anymore. For instance, it’s called a Hair Salon, instead of a Beauty Parlor. It’s called a blow out, instead of a  curl and set. And when I was little, my mom called conditioner, “cream rinse”.

When I started writing this post I was curious if she still called it that, so I texted her….

What are some others I’m missing? This is fun.

PS I say muh-chew-wer.