Now that we know how cool it looks to pull at our fishtail braids, I thought I’d show you a few ways to wear ‘em!

As many of you know, Harold and Maude is one of my all time favorite movies. Maude is a dream. I aspire to have her courage and timeless youthfulness. Anyway, she wears her hair in two braids piled up on top of her head for most of the movie, I wrote about it here. This style below is really just a fancy Maude style, swapping out the normal braids for pully fishtails braids.

 Here’s how you do it:

1. Do this.
2. Pull both braids up onto the top of your head (one at a time if you prefer)
3. Pin them in place, making sure the ends of your fishtails are tucked underneath each other.
4. Take a cue from Maude. Sing some Cat Stevens. Run from the cops. Get a boyfriend 50 years your junior.

I think this style looks so awesome with the pulled fishtail spin. I wore it to a Physique 57 class and felt super cool while I pathetically tried to lunge and squeeze my thighs in pain for an hour straight.

I recently collaborated with my friend Joanna, from A Cup of Jo, on a series of back to school hair tutorials, and part two, the Heart Braid, is up!

I feel like it would look good on you.

Photography by Alpha Smoot, Styling by Kendra Smoot, and hair by me!

I love flower crowns. Flowers in my hair is a sure way to make me feel pretty and put a smile on my face. So let’s make some flower crowns! They’re super easy! I made mine while humming the song “If you’re going to San Fransisco.”

Supplies you will need:
Lot’s of flowers. I used silk. I find that getting mostly big flowers works the best.
Green wire. They’ll have it in the floral arranging section at your craft store.
Green floral tape. Also at your craft store.
Wire cutters.
Glue gun (optional)

Step one: Start by making a circle the size of your head with the wire. You can double or triple up to make it sturdier.

Step two: Use your wire cutters to clip the flowers so that they have about an inch of stem near the blossom.

Step three: Attach your flowers to the wire one by one, working backwards so each new blossom is covering the stem of the one before it. You’ll want to wrap the tape around each stem several times to make sure it’s secure.

Optional: Use a glue gun on any loose areas. I also glued down some of the tape, since it’s not the stickiest!

Not optional: Wear your flower crown and never stop smiling.

I made this flower crown for a very exciting photo shoot my friend will be doing. I can’t wait to share those photos when they’re up!

I resisted the break up chop!

My comments on the Skrillex cut.

One of Refinery 29′s 5 things to know.

I’ve been using the Clarisonic Mia for a few months now. Ladies and fancy gentlemen, everything is different. Basically, the clarisonic is a little hand held device to wash your face. The brush has very soft bristles that vibrate, so you get a really great and gentle clean. I mean, I could see/feel results within a few days. Not to mention, I just don’t think I was getting all of my make up off before I was using my little Mia. The Clarisonic is a little expensive, so I held out for a while, but I kept hearing estheticians and beauty editors rave about it. I wish I would have bought it sooner, because I really feel that it was a worthy investment. Proper skin-care is very important to me.

Having such fair skin, I worry that I’m going to look wrinkly at a young age. I will do pretty much anything to prevent more skin damage/wrinks. Better late than never says the girl who used to tan too much. So if this Mia-chick is cleaning my skin better, then this Mia-chick is my best friend.

I use it once a day with Cetaphil, usually at night so that I can go to bed without taking all the dirt/hair product/make up from the day with me.

Buy a one here.

(ps can we talk about the state of my fingernails? have you ever seen the likes of my manicure looking so bedraggled?)

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I get questions and emails about all kinds of other beauty products besides those of the hair sorts. It’s what inspired my Lips on Fire series, for instance. So if you don’t mind, I’d love to share my favorite beauty products and tips now&then. What works for me..and what I think you’d possibly benefit from. I find that the beauty product/skincare/make up world can be very overwhelming, so if you have great tips, please share them in the comments as well!

 This post was not sponsored. I really just love my clarisonic.

I had to go to the beach one last time. This summer has been so kind to me that I don’t want it to end. Not to mention my hair has been craving salt…honest to goodness salt from the ocean. So I jaunted off to Montauk (the verrrry eastern tip of Long Island, past the Hamptons) for an end of the summer beach trip to play in the water and give my hair what it wanted. I actually think salt water is pretty drying of your hair, but it just makes it look so rad that I imagine it’s worth it for most girls. (like myself)

I think my hair’s two favorite things in life are salt water and golden sunlight. Montauk gave me both. Here are some photos…

Apps and drinks at The Montauket for the best sunset of the summer. The locals had apparently seen much better, but I was crying and becoming a believer at the site.

Did you see Amanda Blair’s new bob? I’ll be writing about it soon. I think she has found her look.

At the top of the lighthouse. Furious winds and rays of light.

I always joke when I give a client beach waves that she looks like she’s been “making out with a merman”. It gets them every time.
Maybe you had to be there..

One last, because this trip recap wouldn’t be complete without including the photo of me rolling down the hill at the lighthouse. I lost control and flailed the whole way down like a lunatic. Later I found grass and other pieces of nature in my hair. Remember how golden sunlight and sea salt are my hair’s favorites? Not so much grass.

Summer has been a dream. I found myself again, amidst various strolls in the park, bike rides, trips to the beach, and the rare slower pace the city has when everyone is away. Summer came when I needed it the most this year. Even though it comes at the same time on the calendar every 12 months, this particular summer felt like it was here just for me. Like a care package from my mom or something.

Love you so much summer of ’12.

PS I plan to continue to look like I made out with a merman by using this product. It’s my old faithful. How many times have I recommended it now?

(ps thanks for staying with me during this sappy I Love Summer post.)

My friend (and WH co-worker) Kristen and I did a little Braid Bar at Ash Shoes in Soho for Fashion’s Night Out. I had fun because I realized I was giving people a free braid, and I could do anything I wanted on them. It’s always fun to practice and fine tune my braid creativity. Especially when there is good music to swivel my hips along with while my fingers braid.

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It was fun and I love these events, but I think I might be retiring from Fashion’s Night Out. If you’ve never been, allow me to explain. Soho on Fashion’s Night Out is like Mardi Gras and New Year’s Eve in Times Square’s little baby. With a dash of Spring Break and Halloween. Packed streets, people in costumes and public drunkenness at it’s most eccentric. Next year I’m going to call it an early night and cozy up with Netflix. Far, far away from the crowds.

But at least there was a photo booth for me and Kristen to act foolish in.

Chambray shirt from here!

For a number of reasons, I don’t do backstage hair at NYFW too often, but I was asked by Larry Raspanti (Whittemore House Salon co-owner) to join the hair team for Joseph Abboud SS 2013 and I just couldn’t say no. The inspiration was a little bad boy, a little 1950s Americana, a little just jumped out of the shower wet look.

We slicked the sides of the hair back until it was tight against the skin, and had the front and top looking like they’d run their fingers through their hair while wet. We took tiny sections of the hair and covered the roots completely with wax before combing and shaping the look, finishing off with hair spray and loads of shine spray to keep it looking wet. I think we each went through about two jars of wax by the end of the show!

The chaos of backstage just after the models left to get lined up….

Here are two of the models I worked on.

Bryce Mathias with Ford Models

Demy Matzen

More backstage..

The show was at the New York Public Library which was a beautiful venue. The runway was a in the shape of a square with a symphony in the center that the models walked around. I love runway shows for how much of a presentation they have become. It’s not only inspiring to see beautiful work by the designer, hair and make up team, but to also be entertained by all the other effects, music and lighting.

Here are some of the products we used.

Wetting down the hair with the foundation mist, prepping each section with the Pomade, and finishing off with the superfine strong (which is the strongest hair spray I’ve ever used.