~FlaTiron curls

nice and smooth all while giving body and dimension.

First and most important of all is to practice the motion with your iron turned off in order to insure no one is melting their hair in the process. I fully recommend purchasing a thermal glove or two.

Start on the side of your head that is the most uncomfortable for your hands. It is key to figure out what is the most comfortable position for your hands so that you are curling away from the face and not breaking your wrist or burning oneself. Taking a 1 inch section, place the section in the iron, smooth out your section first with your iron as if you were starightening your hair. This process is called “silking,”which heats up the hair and prepares the secion for the next step.

give the iron a 180° twist so that your hair is wrapped around the iron. Without squeezing the iron too tight, hold the section at the base of your head, above the iron, and pull the iron straight down, so that your section glides through the iron with a medium tension. The slower you slide the iron down your section the tighter your curl will be, the faster you slide the looser the curl will be.

~curling iron & wand waves

messy and tousled, long lasting, waves giving a piecey more lived in look.

practicing with your iron turned off, take a one inch section. You can create one of three different looking waves. Whether using a wand or curling iron, hold the iron upside down with the handle on top and heating element pointing downwards.

First wave, holing the tip or bottom of your section, never letting go, wrap the base/root of hair closest to the handle of the iron. Without letting go of the ends continue to wrap the remaining section around the iron, holding the very tips off the iron. The importance of doing this is that the root of your section gets a longer mount of heat then the ends of your section getting a better hold and less heat damage on the ends of your hair. The section should look like a candycane after wrapped around the heated barrel.

Tip, when using a curling iron try to rotate the iron a little while heating the hair so to not leave hard creases in the section.

Second wave, with section in hand, before wrapping the section around the wand. Twist the section one time in the opposite direction of the way you are going to wrap your section around the wand. Hold at the ends, wrap the section around the iron and continue to hold the ends off the iron while it heats.

Last wave, holding your section at the ends, instead of wrapping the hair down the iron like a strip. Take the section and wrap the hair on top of the previously wrapped hair around the iron. This technique will give the most body and volume is that is the look you are trying to achieve.

~flatiron smoothing

smooth and frizz free look

Most of you guys know how to flatiron your hair with flatirons but there are a few things you could do to make your overall look smoother and most importantly, last longer. When flatironing your hair always make sure your hair is 100% dry or your hair will most definitely be frizzy no matter how much you flatiron the hair. Next setting the right temperature for your hair type will get you far. Thick/coarse hair will process better at 400-420°, medium hair process at 380-400°, thin/fine hair process at 340-380°. These tempatures depend on the hot tool you are using as well. Starting at the base/root of your hair, make 3-6 passes to the mid sections of your hair. Do not go all the ways to your ends, this will cause dryness and damage to your ends. You want to do a maximum of 2 passes on your ends so save those for last. You can have straight hair that has little to no volume by taking the flat iron straight down the hair shaft. If you are looking for body/volume at the root area, you will want to do a 90° bump at the base of your hair, then go straight down. After you have smoothed the secion lay it over your head to let the root cool and go to the next section. I recommend putting a anti-humectant spray or a light oil through out the hair. This coats the hair and defends it from unwanted moisture.

~blowdrying

silky with or without body.

blowdrying your hair can be the foundation to having silky, smooth hair. your hair grows down, so because of this when you blowdry your hair always blowdry with the hair grain, not against it. blowdrying up the hair shaft will always cause frizzing and all around roughness. rather your hanging with your head upside down or not keep this in mind. the only time you would ever want to go against the grain is if you have trouble getting height at the root/base of your hair. for finer textures or issues with flat hair this is a great technique. flipping your head upside down and getting the root/base of your hair dry by using gravity make a world of difference.

blowdrying the root/base of your hair first and then working on the mid-ends of the hair is highly recommend. the root/base of your hair holds the most water typically which means you can be over drying the ends of your hair causing dryness and damage. you want to dry most of your hair before you start working on your ends in order to achieve the best results.

blowdry brushes can be a big life saver. i highly recommend them as they can be a big time saver for clients with wavy, curly or coarse textured hair. again it is super important to get the root/base of the hair dry first and then go back around the whole head to smooth and silk the rest of your hair including the ends this time.

~creating volume

volumizing the root/base.

creating volume can be done using 3 different techniques. blowdrying the hair upside down and going back and forth with your dryer is one way.

the second way is using a flatiron. i recommend using the flatiron if you need more smoothness at the root as well as volume. taking a half inch section start the iron at the base/root and give the iron a 90 turn, then lay the section across the head to cool.

the final way is using a curling iron. with the curling iron make sure the clip of the iron is away from the half inch section or you will have a unwanted crease. close the iron gently and give it a half turn, over directing the section towards the opposite side of the head. then lay the section to the opposite side of the head to cool and go to the next section.

~detangling

fast, pain free DETANGLING.

this section is great for all ages including the kiddos that hate to get their hair brushed. lets talk about the right tools first. wet brushes are a life saver for all hair types and ages. they are none expensive and are the most gentle on the hair. detangling sprays and leave-in conditioners are life changing as well, especially for the little ones. you will want to apply these to wet or dry hair before you begin. leaving a little conditioner in the hair in the shower makes a big difference as well if you do not have either of these products.

now first things first, always start at the ends of the section, working your way up, holding your brush vertical not horizontal, this is the key. doing so allows the hair to flow more freely through the brush. holding the brush horizontal is best used to distribute product after detangling the hair. changing these few things when detangling helps signifcantly with causing less breakage, less fall out, and most of all less crying.