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.

Hello, it is Jake guest posting today. This month Wired Magazine reviewed four “high tech” blowdryers. Naturally, I was curious to read the “Wired” and “Tired” aspects of the four models reviewed. I say this, because it seems like I am constantly repairing one of Reagan’s blow dryers. Before reading this review, I was unaware things like: blow dryers are rated for a certain number of hours of use; and some blow dryers come with two year warranties that cover “everything.” I was also glad that Wired remarked on the results of the drop test. Heaven knows I have spent many hours realigning the motors in Reagan’s Twin Turbos after they had been knocked off of her hair station onto the floor.

One of the dryers reviewed by Wired actually contains a motor built by Ferrari. Yes, Ferrari the Italian super car company. Try to guess which one, from the image above (hint, the bright red one with the little Italian flag on it).

Read the full review over here. If you are curious about Reagan’s personal recommendations, be sure to check out her hair answer, about blow dryers.

[Image: Wired Magazine]

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!

Do any of you use the Enzo Milano curling wands? I have a few clients who bring theirs in for me to use on them, but I don’t actually own one myself. It’s on the “to-do” list. Or really the “to-buy” list. And that, my friends, is a very long list.

So, back to the Enzo Milano. These things are awesome! They are used by wrapping strands of hair around the iron to create different kinds of waves and curls. I have been wrapping strands of hair around curling irons as long as I have been clamping strands of hair inside curling irons, but there is something about wrapping strands of hair around a curling wand….The Enzo is just such a cool hair tool. Ok, I need to buy one right now..

The different shapes of the iron give different effects when curling. There is something wonderful about the enzo that makes your hair hold curl amazingly. You finies and smallies (fine haired and small haired) should try out an Enzo!

(I hope to talk more about the Enzo after I buy one. Or three.)

I wanted to quickly write about flat irons again. A lot of people are wondering about how to prevent damage from flat ironing. Many of my clients are surprised to find out that you aren’t really supposed to use a flat iron to straighten the hair. Flat irons are a finishing tool. Your hair is supposed to have already been blow dried straight, and just smoothed over with a flat iron. Going over and over the same section with an iron is going to torch anybody’s hair, it’s just not what they are made for!

Here is my best advise for someone who wants the straight look:

After showering, towel dry your hair. Put a protective product in it like a leave in conditioner, a protein spray, or a straightening syrem. If you’re not in a rush, let your hair air dry until it’s about 80% dry, or as close to that as possible.  Then blow dry sections of your hair using a flat brush to get it straight. Using a blow dryer with a nozzle will help it get more smooth and straight. Please try your hardest not to touch your hair with the point of the blow dryer. It is so bad for your hair, and it will burn your brush I admit, sometimes I do it on accident myself when the hair isn’t staying on the brush, as a reaction, but try to avoid this. We are trying to prevent damage, k?

After my hair is blow dried, I assess whether it needs flat ironing or not. Which is usually not. My hair is naturally wavy/curly so of course it doesn’t take the amount of work to straighten that some people’s hair needs. Also, I have loads of experience with blow drying every hair type, and if you’re not able to get it at first, you shouldn’t feel bad. It’s a skill that you have to work hard for!

I use my flait iron for making curls more than anything else. It might also be because I like big-full hair! Big like Dolly.

Ok, did we learn something today? What tips have you learned for blow drying your own hair? Would you guys like a blow drying tutorial?

Q by Amanda: First, I’m looking for a new, great hairbrush. Do you have any recommendations? I have wavy hair that I straighten, if that makes a difference. Also, what brand of dry shampoo do you recommend? (Sorry if you already answered this- I couldn’t find it) Thanks!! ~(hdof says use batiste dry shampoo!)~

**A by Reagan: I’m pretty surprised this is our first question about brushes! Hooray! So, the first brush that comes to any hairstylists’ mind is (Cue angels singing)……

The Glorious Mason Pearson

This hair brush is the Rolls Royce of Hair brushes. I’m not really sure what else I need to say about it. If you have ever held one in your hand, you know…you just know the difference between it’s magnificence and other ordinary hair brushes. Please buy this hair brush. A regular sized one (there is also extra large and pocket size) will cost you almost 150$. Ask for it for mother’s day/christmas/birthday/halloween/or just I want it and what are you going to do about it day.  Here is an oath.

I, Hairdresser on Fire Breinholt, do solemnly swear that this hair brush kicks total ___, and your hair might explode in a good way when it finds out you bought it. Rave. Rave. Rave. This is me raving.

And now, let me present you with your knock-off…

The Denman

I’ve never used the Denman’s knock off version of the MP, but I know Denman is a great brand, and 15$ is very inexpensive. I’m just guessing that you’d be able to tell the difference in quality right away if you held one of each in your hands, but again, I’ve never used this brush. I have used several knock off MPs, and they have all been pretty good, but there is just no comparison to the real thing. It’s like a chinatown bag and a real bag. It may look almost the same, but when you touch it, feel it, hug it, you just know you’ve got an impostor.

Every woman deserves to have a Mason Pearson Hair Brush. I think they should give me some presents for saying that.

**I responded right away and asked Amanda specifically what kind of brush she was looking for, she replied that she was looking for a flat brush. I assume pretty soon we’ll do a few posts on some more types of brushes…

I hope you enjoy our first tutorial and the little photo shoot we did in beautiful Charleston right after. Please, could Kat be any more beautiful?

Thanks to Jake for filming and editing, and for shooting the stills. Thanks to Kat for being the most perfectly gorgeous model ever and THANK YOU, HDOF readers for being patient! We have a few more in the works, I’m really looking forward to getting better at these, Haha! Meaning, please excuse my awkwardness during the intro, I somehow managed to make it look like I’m reading cue cards. I’m not. And I swear my voice sounds different in my head than it does on video, does anyone else feel like that? Next time I’ll practice saying “Unique New York” 100 times before hand.

**note**if you run the flat iron down more quickly, you’ll get less curl and more of a bend effect. Same goes for not turning the flat iron and just cocking your wrist all the way down, you’ll get a slight wave if you prefer that to what we do in the video. Keep in mind that the flat iron waves are meant to be shaken out and played with!

Q by Mikaela: I have long (as in mid/lower back length), fine, VERY straight strawberry blonde hair. I love that it always looks smooth, sleek, and shiny, but I feel like I can’t do much with it. It doesn’t really stay curled or braided, and I feel like I’ve exhausted the option of headbands and such. Can you give me any advice about hair styles I can try, or maybe some products I could use that would help? I suppose I’m just getting tired of wearing my hair pretty much the same way all the time.

A by Reagan: My first thought after reading this question is that I’m wondering why you can’t braid your hair. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it is too slick and slicks it’s way right on out of that braid. The best advice I can give you, is to use product like crazy. Got it? Like crazy, Mikaela! I’m talkin’ root lifters, mousses, waxes and texturizing sprays. Your hair is too soft and silky (who would have thought that is a bad thing? It’s not, but we need change sometimes!) to hold styles, so you need it to be dirty and grippy.

I would start out with a root lifter and/or a mousse. This should be done on towel dried hair. Then spray a texturizing (like the Garnier wonder waves I talked about a few posts back) all over. If you are doing this on dirty hair, nix the mousse and just use a texturizing spray and root lifter then mush around with your fingers (make sure you are getting it in evenly and not over dosing on product. Once your hair is dry, rub a small amount of wax together in your hands and run through your hair. By now, your hair should have a good amount of grip. Braid away, my love!

And if a regular braid still isn’t holding, try what I call a “mermaid braid”. See below. I often do this braid in many variations. I’ll do identical to the picture, or I’ll do a center part and braid both sides. There is absolutely no reason your hair shouldn’t hold this. Especially if it’s secured at the bottom with some heavy duty criss-crossed bobby pins.

Next thing, when using a curling iron, use a much smaller barrel than what you’re going for. Maybe that is a 3/4 inch just to get loose waves! Try wrapping the hair around the iron instead of clamping it. I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember, and it creates a really beautiful curl/wave. Do this after you’ve used all the above products (minus the wax). Go get ‘em Mikaela!

Q by Tarryn: I’m wondering what I should be putting on my hair (especially for protection) before I straighten it with a flat iron. What do you recommend? Right now I’m using Argan oil and a leave-in conditioner although I often put the oil in after my hair is straight. Thoughts? Thanks!
PS- I just noticed the super cute shirt you’re wearing in your pic looks exactly like the one I want from Urban Outfitters. Is it the same?
A by Reagan: As far as post-shampoo products, I think you’re doing great Tarryn! Pat yourself on the hiney for me for doing a good job! Or back…

Leave in conditioner and any kind of oil are a great way to add moisture to hair you are doing mechanical damage on. Especially a flat iron. The only other product I would recommend is a deep conditioning treatment once every few weeks or more, depending on the shape your hair is in. You can buy a deep conditioner at any salon, or even just go in early to your next apt for the treatment. They are usually meant to be left on for about 15-20 minutes.

I’m glad you used the word “protect” instead of “repair”, because the only way to repair damage, is to cut it off! It’s a shame, because so many products claim to repair broken or split ends. That is why a good conditioner, leave in, and moisturizing products make such a difference. They often have proteins in them that can strengthen the hair to prevent damage.

Another great question!

Yes, my shirt is from Urban Outfitters

BTW this picture of Giselle doesn’t have much to do with anything, except for that she has amazing hair.

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