Celebrity Styling Tips
While every girl dreams of achieving her favorite celebrity's hairstyle, we know that most celebrities are blessed with frequent visits from their hairstylists, as well as the luxury and time to play with extensions and wigs. So what can the rest of us do? Let's take a look at some of the celebrity styles out there and talk about creating great, believable styles on a real girl's budget.
We're going to start by ignoring the stars who seem to miss the point with rope-like extensions or cuts that may not be flattering or just trying too hard. Isn't it nice to know we don't live in a perfect world?
Here are some women that are often seen with styles that speak to us all. Darling, we all want sexy hair at any age, don't we?
1) STRAIGHT HAIR
If you follow my advice, you can achieve straight, flawless and shiny hair. Start by being generous with the right product. Follow by blow-drying very thin sections. The number one mistake is doing a quick blow dry with big sections and hoping that the flat iron will do all the work.
With that approach, what ends up happening is that the hair will always have a little swollen appearance, and the ends will never be perfect. I know that's a lot, but to achieve that perfect straight hair you said that you would try, so stop whining :).
Now apply a heat protection product and section your hair. Start working with half-inch thin sections.
As we know, we're not supposed to leave the flat iron on the hair for too long. This is where I'll have to momentarily step out of my "healthy hairdressers box" and suggest that you slowly run the iron along the hair shaft. Did I say slowly? Count to 20. Now remember, if you do as directed, it's going to look great, depending on how healthy your hair is - the healthier the hair, the better the result.
2) CURLY HAIR
The first thing I want you to pay attention to in the photos is the direction of the curl. Forget the size of the curl or hair texture; all the curls are spiraling off to the floor. Can we say vertically? There's a big difference between a horizontal curl that comes off of the head and one that moves in an outward direction. This look is reminiscent of Shirley Temple's curls - that girly, over-bouncy do.
Here's how to create sexy flowing curls that are vertical, not horizontal. First, air dry (or diffuse) your hair. Then, depending on the size of the curl you want, hold the flat iron vertically and curl. The trick is to make sure that the handle you're holding is lower and the actual hot iron is higher.
Think of holding an umbrella - exactly! Make sure you're not holding it horizontally like a hairbrush.
A great tip is to try it with the iron closed, wrapping the hair around the entire iron. You'll get a very different result than if you were to open and close the clamp the traditional way. To finish your style, apply a little product to the curl without too much scrunching. Lightly apply to the individual curls while gently twisting around your finger.
3) BIG SEXY HAIR (love!)
No matter what part of the planet you come from, chances are you've dreamed of big hair at least once. Here's how you can fulfill your dreams. There are three different ways that you can quickly set your hair and avoid sitting under the hooded dryer with wet hair sweating! Apply volumizing product to your root area and a great blow drying product on the ends.
If you have curly hair and are blow drying it straight, add a little smoothing lotion to the ends. Pre dry your root area first by throwing your hair over. Try not to over dry, you still want to feel a little dampness in the hair. Start blow-drying with a round brush, remembering that the bigger the brush / curling iron / hair roller, the less curl you will achieve.
You have three options while you are blow drying. For the first, I would recommend curling as you go. Take a section and dry with your round brush. Then, as you remove the hair from the brush, wrap the section as if wrapping a roller (but without the roller) and pin. The second option is to take sections as you dry them and wrap around a Velcro roller, then pin. Feel free to apply a little volumizing spray while you work.
The third is to do a complete blow dry, then take sections and reinforce the curl with the curling iron (or flat iron). As you curl with the iron, take the curled hair and wrap it as if in a hair roller and pin in place with a small hair clip. Feel free to apply your favorite hairspray as you work. Let it sit for about ten minutes and carefully remove all the rollers. Follow by leaning your hair forward and misting with more hair spray, throw your hair back then VAVOOM!!
4) THE PONYTAIL
...And I don't mean the ponytail that you wear to the gym either! Any great looking ponytail starts with a great haircut and an incredible blow dry. Oh yes honey, this is work! After blow drying your hair, apply some finishing hair spray. Then, using a tiny bit of soft pomade in your hand, work through the hair and create your ponytail. Be sure to use a hair band that is made of a soft fabric, not rubber.
Take a small section of hair from the underneath of the tail and wrap around the base of the tail, and then use a bobby pin to tuck it in place. If you can still see the hair band, take another small piece and do the same, then apply more hairspray. You can then use a flat iron or curling iron on the tail. The more layers you have around the face, the trickier it is to keep in place.
5) THE BUN
To achieve a sophisticated clean bun, start by following all of the instructions from the previous section, "The Ponytail". You will be surprised at how creative you can get when working with a polished ponytail to create a bun. Be sure to have bobby pins and hairpins at hand to secure this look.
Take the tail in your hand and start by separating it into two tails. Twist the two tails at the same time by criss-crossing them. This will allow you to be as creative as you like. Or, after separating the tail into two, take the lower tail and loop it into a curl and pin. Then take the top tail and loop it around the first curl and pin as well.
There are several ways to do this so experiment and have fun; with practice you will have a gorgeous bun.
6) REALISTIC UPSWEEP
Working from the directions in number two ("Curly Hair") the idea is to create hair that looks soft, sexy, slept in, organic and realistic. Get it? First, decide if you would like to leave the fringe (bangs) out and how low or high you would like the upsweep (this is important).
Section off the front of your hair, and start working at the back of the head, not the front. Using bobby pins, take medium-sized sections and loosely twist into place and pin. Keep loosely twisting the hair at the back, from left to right, working in even-ish sections. Then, move to the side sections from side to side, leaving the front for last. The top is where you will get your lift, so keep that in mind. Spray with a finishing spray and voila!
Everything takes a little practice so be patient and have fun!
Antonio Gonzales
hairbyantonio.blogspot.com
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