In this second episode of “In a Hairry”, I do my hair for a very special night in. Watch the video to not only see who this mystery date is, but also to see if I can complete my “60s Hair Headband” in time!

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

I’m not going to say that this has to be for Valentine’s day, but it does make good date hair, am I right? And when I say date, you know I mean a night out/in with any of the following: your boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, the Lifetime Movie Network, Netflix, your favorite Brazilian, some Chinese take-out, a good book, a glass/bottle of wine, your kids, your cats, etc.

Instructions for my 60s Hair Headband:

Part your hair as desired.

Grab a section of hair above your ear, but far enough down that it will be covered by the hair on top of your head.

Cross the section of hair to the other side of your head, smoothing as you go and pin in place.

Repeat on the other side.

Optional: Tease the crown of your head for more volume.

Theme song by Imagination Head and video Directed and Filmed by Joe Varca!

Curls made with this one inch Marcel iron
Stila Lipstain

I made this flower crown for Piper Jane a few years ago and have found myself wearing it randomly around the apartment when I clean or brush my teeth or lift weights. If you haven’t ever experienced what it’s like to live alone, I recommend you try it. You will soon find that you are a very weird person. Things like lifting weights while wearing a child’s size flower crown are just things you do sometimes. Anyway, this crown is way too small for me. It looks funny when my hair is down, but I thought it might look pretty with the old “grab and pin” up do I sometimes do. If you don’t know what the old grab and pin up do is, you are so missing out! You just grab and pin! Sometimes you do a pony tail first (like I did here), sometimes you curl first, but then you just grab and pin! I’m not kiddin’…works every time.

Anyway, I made this crown with a simple crafting wire, green tape for your silk flowers needs, and silk flowers from Michael’s. I do think it looks like it’s made out of silk flowers, but it’s still pretty. I’ve had a good crush on flower crowns for a long time, and don’t know why I haven’t made one for myself. Little Piper is probably sick of me borrowing the one I made for her anyway. I wouldn’t mind having one of my own that fits my adult sized head properly, and that would allow me to wear my hair down. Also, I wouldn’t mind mastering the REAL flower crown. Silkies are nice, but the scent of real flowers in my hair would make for a very good day. Still inspired by these ones.

PS all this talk about flower crowns has me thinking Halloween costume thoughts. It’s never too soon you know.

I did it. This inspiration right here? It happened. Take a look!

Again, I don’t have platinum hair or bangs like the original, also I don’t have the length to make this bun as massive as I’d have liked it to be. But I have to say that I really like my take on it. It’s fuzzier than the inspiration photo, because I didn’t straighten my hair first, and also because I am never offended by a little fuzz. If I did this for a formal event, I imagine I’d put in some extensions, especially in the braid. My braid wasn’t long enough to wrap all the way around the bun, so extensions would solve that! Also, I imagine a huge bow in the back would be a dream. I’m doing that next time too. There will be a next time, mark my words.

This would also be beautiful at the nape of your neck. It would also be beautiful on my friend Amanda Blair. I’m going to try it on her next.

Would you wear this look? It would be great for the girl on a date with the tallest man alive. You know, to balance out the height difference. Wearing this bun gave me an extra 4 inches at least. Teasing is practically the high heels of hair.

My friend Maggie and I have been friends since she moved to Tennessee in 6th grade. With her living in DC and me here in NYC, we’re able to keep in touch quite well. She was in town over the weekend and we started marveling over dinner. We marveled over being newly single, we marveled over nearing the end of our 20s (we’re both 28) and we marveled over having strawberry blonde hair. The reason this is of significance, is that Maggie and I, out of all of our friends, were the girls who wanted our hair as long and as blonde as possible. Especially in high school. I also wanted my lips as shimmery as possible, but that’s a marvel for a different day.

Anyway, we both still have long hair, and we’re both blonde, but it’s funny how you realize something you were all about, was really all wrong for you. Cool blonde is a gross tone on me and my skin, and although Maggie pulled it off nicely, the warmer blonde suits her personality better. Not to mention her hair has never looked shinier.

I’m pro-strawberry blonde. For life.

Do you ever see that person who has definitely had the same hair since high school? Only high school was several decades ago? And you’re like “woah, no one told you!”. And they’re like “I heart scrunchies and banana clips.”.

Anyway, I feel like Maggie and have just escaped that last paragraph by a hair. Maybe I’ll have long wavy wannabe mermaid hair well into my hundreds, and maybe Maggie will have long straight hair with bangs well into hers, but at least we’ve found a suitable tone to take us there.

Is it hard for you to break out of your hair’s comfort zone?

(my take on some crappy hippie pose)

Since posting the Hippie Halo tutorial last month, I’ve loved getting tagged in your tweetpics and instagram photos. Seeing the Hippie Halo in action makes both my heart and my hair swell. Some of you have gotten creative, and just done some partial hippie halos. I’ve been calling it the “Halfie Halo”. It’s a good look for those of you who like hair in your face (I do!).

Lacy’s is gorgeous.

Andrea’s is gorgeous.

These two inspired me to try the halfie halo. Even though it’s called the halfie halo, I wore it and felt fully cute. That was a bad joke…but a true statement. This beautiful headband was sent to me by a company called Andrea’s Beau. It’s not really done too differently than the full blown hippie halo. Alls you do is situation your headband to your liking, then tuck the back section only. Easy as anything!

My top is from Forever 21, my jeans are from Rag&Bone, my wedges are from Steve Madden and my headband is from Andrea’s Beau.

As always, share your Hairdresser on Fire inspired ‘dos with me! I love to see your creative takes on these styles. Tag me on twitter @hdofblog, or on instagram @busybusyscissors or on facebook.

Photos of me by Ty Mecham

The other morning I met up with a friend for brunch and I decided to wear my hair in a way that I like to call “Hippie Princess”. It’s natural and dirty like a hippie, but girly and romantic like a princess. Basically you just take two sections in the front and twist them back, securing with a single pin on each side. It’s a functional style and a nice way to keep my hair out of my face. I also enjoy looking like a hippie princess, so functional or not my hair can expect to be worn this way every now and then.

We had brunch at Elephant and Castle, and talked about taking some pictures after eating. We got all excited about location scouting and how fun we would have finding somewhere awesome to shoot. If any of you are familiar with the West Village, you know that this chain link fence is literally across the street from Elephant and Castle. So in other words, we got lazy. The good news is that in some cultures, there are worse things than lazy.

On the topic of princesses…If I walked into brunch looking like a hippie princess, then Amanda Blair walked into brunch looking like a party princess..or a hairband princess…or a make out princess..or any other kind of messy/huge haired/badass princess that other princesses are jeal’ of.

Her hair was massive. I had to hang my head in small hair shame.

After brunch/photos we walked over to a new little West Village surf shop, Saturdays, where we enjoyed tea and chatting. My surfing coach is good friends with the owners of the joint and I think it’s my new favorite place to loiter. Out of three beach trips this summer, I have successfully ridden one good wave. I don’t know if that’s as impressive as so many people make it out to be, they’re probably just being nice. But I feel like a surfing rockstar. Also don’t be surprised if you see me in a wetsuit and heels. It just feels right.

Outfit details:

Blazer-Zara, Tank and Necklace-Forever 21, Shorts-10 years old from American Eagle, Wedges-Dolce Vita, Sunglasses-Rayban.

The other morning I woke up still in my swimming suit. Not very comfortable to sleep with a bandeau knot on your back…but waking up in a swimming suit is otherwise glorious, because it means it’s summertime. Hooray. I’ve been all over the beach this summer, and I can’t get enough of it. I couldn’t commit to any beach days last weekend, but I was able to get to Central Park and lounge with some girlfriends. Not the same, but I-along with half of Manhattan, enjoyed a hot day laying in the grass with my swimsuit on.

As per my usual daily life, I got curious as to how I could jazz up my hair. It’s so unfair that my hair doesn’t get to enjoy wearing a swimsuit, right? Wrong! because it does! it enjoys a string hairkini. (in my head that sounded hilarious. typed out it’s just silly.)

I removed the strap to my swimsuit and put my hair up in it like it’s little hair boss. Hair-swimsuit issue solved.

I’m topless in the photo below. (no i’m not).
Although, it’s legal here in NYC to be a lady and topless wherever you like.

Happy weekend. It’s not a success unless I wear a swimsuit. Hoping to report a victory come Monday.

Muah!

One of the most common questions I get on this blog is “what is your color formula?”.

It’s like the “what’s your sign” of Hairdresser On Fire. Anyway, here are a few reasons I’ve never revealed my formula….

~I have no idea what it is.
~My colorist has no idea what it is.
~It’s complicated and impossible to do unless you are a professional

The way my colorist, Charlie, works is mostly visual. She doesn’t write anything down, and instead looks at the hair and decides what it needs based on the condition of it, the pre-existing color, and what I’m going for.  I like this because I never know how it’s going to turn out, I only know that I’m going to like it. I try to not guide her too much, and instead let her creative coloring mind and hands maul my hair in a good way. We generally do any and every variation of strawberry blonde there is, because it’s my absolute favorite color in the world to be, and I love that it turns out different every time.

Anyhair, I had a gloss the other day, and I had another colorist at my salon, Carla, do it. I finally got a wild hair and asked her what formula she was using for my strawberry/apricot/warm blonde*, and wrote it down for you. She layered two different glosses at the sink for me, here they are in order of appearance.

Eh hem..

First Layer:
1 oz. 9AA
1 oz. 9RB
2 Caps of O kicker
2 Caps of 8C
A dash of Clear gloss to dilute it.

Second Layer:
1 oz. 9RB
1 Cap of 9V
1 Cap of Red Kicker
A dash of Clear gloss to dilute it.

See why that basically requires a PHD in hair color to pull off?

For all you colorists/stylists out there, let me know if you try this and how it turns out! I’d love to hear back! And maybe I’ll start a trend of asking Charlie/Carla what formula they use each time and report to you here. Then we can laugh at how totally different it is every time. How’s that sound?

*If my haircolor was a food I would eat it.