Another No Heat Wave Technique...

More quarantine experimentation with easy hair styling tricks. This time I used these noodle curlers two different ways. Both ways worked equally well for the most part, with the first lasting a bit longer than the second. The first time I tried it I put them in before bed and slept on them. The styling worked well but the bags under my eyes from a horrible nights sleep.. not so good.

I really liked the way my hair came out though so I tried another way. I showered as usual and blow dried my hair and then put the noodles in. Now this way requires sitting under one of these for 20 minutes at high heat while you scroll through your phone:

I know not everybody has one of these just sitting around their house like I do, so this might not be the most practical. Also, after the 20 minutes of your hair heating up you need it to cool completely in order to set the curl. I just did my makeup and picked up around the house and then removed the noodles. I love the way it turned out but now that I know about the bathrobe tie method, that is my preferred method. It's the post before this one, you can scroll down and read all about it.

Here's how the noodles turned out:

You can see in the bottom left square that the curls had loosened up quite a bit. They do come out of the noodles quite tight and curly and I prefer them loosened anyway but I thought I should mention it. The bathrobe method stayed consistent pretty much the entire day. I'm not sure if that's from sleeping on them overnight or what but in general, I do think the bathrobe method is superior. The only thing I prefer the noodles for is that I like to wash my hair in the morning everyday but I'm willing to sacrifice and just wash it every other day for the sake of awesome curls!

Happy Styling!!

No Heat Easy Waves

I saw this tip on TikTok and thought I would give it a try during quarantine. Needless to say it is an amazing hair hack and I am sure I will be using it weekly for a very long time to come. You take a bathrobe belt and wrap your hair around it, almost like braids, on either side of your head. Secure with Rubberbands. Important to use it on dry hair, not wet, otherwise it would be very unlikely to be dry in the morning. After I made the 'braids' with the belt, I gave it a once over with a light mist of water from a spray bottle. I will probably try using a little bit of Olaplex No. 3 next time prior to wrapping it on the belt. 

One of the best things about this is that it is super comfortable to sleep in!

I have an Instagram account and I posted the original TikTok tutorial on that account right before the post with these same photos if you are interested. 

Check it out on Instagram: @studiothreeseattle

Let's Keep it Real..

A friend of mine posted this on facebook and I thought I would share it here as a reminder that real beauty is imperfect and to continually strive for anything even close to Hollywood perfection is just silliness.


Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

How to Fit Deep Conditioning into Your Life..

As a hairdresser, one of the things I hear myself telling people over and over is that deep conditioning is an essential for healthy hair, especially as it starts to grow longer. If you have hair that is 7 inches long or longer you technically have "long hair."

At 7 inches your hair is at a length where the natural oils, essential for the health of your hair, are not able to reach the ends of your hair. You may experience dry ends and splitting as a result. I tell people "put a tiny drop of olive oil in the ends of your pony tail" but maybe 5% of the people whom I've suggested that to actually do it, most don't. I don't even do that myself anymore so I can't really wag my finger at anyone. I know how hard it is to take care of long hair, I struggle with it daily! I have found something that seems to be working for me and I thought I would share it. For me, it's the ultimate solution to the long hair/dryness situation. Deep conditioning, hair masks.. who is able to consistently deep condition on a weekly basis?  Come on, disrupting your shower to wait a half hour for your hair to condition is ridiculous! I just never found a way to make it work.. until the idea came to me..

Drum roll please...
Wait for it,

wait for it..

PUT THE CONDIDIONER IN YOUR HAIR BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT THE DOOR TO THE GYM!

Personally, for me it's the best solution. I feel like I am 'accomplishing' more than just using the eliptical, bike or treadmill and watching old episodes of "Ugly Betty." Plus it's keeping me working out every day (and conditioning my HAIR for god's sakes!) so it really works for me!

I kind of debated even writing this post thinking it might sound kind of stupid but I figured it might inspire someone. Feel free to share your own experiences of how to fit taking care of your hair into your life.. it might help someone else - go ahead.. go for it!!

This photo is my hair - sorry for the poor quality. I have all kinds of color in my hair but it's still in pretty good shape thanks to my regular deep conditioning!

Best Options for Rainy Weather..

With the rainy weather, hair in Seattle presents certain styling challenges. Why bother blowing your hair silky smooth and/or curling or flat ironing it if you are going to walk twenty feet to your car and get it all wet anyway? People here really need a lot out of a haircut.

A good haircut for the Pacific Northwest needs to have the style cut into the hair with a good foundation rather than having the style put into it with heat tools and product every day. Optimally, every haircut should hold it's shape but let's be honest, not every haircut really does. A stylist really needs to know how to build in a foundation with the cut, a basic structure and then know when and where to use texture appropriately. Not every head of hair will really work with the shredded, highly textured haircuts that make up most of the hair magazines right now. Some texture is always nice, but my opinion is that it is the foundation work that makes or breaks a haircut, especially when put to the rigors of this Seattle climate. I've been looking at some celebrity photos and come across three looks I think work particularly well in our weather here.

For short hair I like this photo of Carey Mulligan which illustrates a deconstructed bob. The texture is good because the rough ends will work with weather that is not conducive to something sleek anyway yet it can easily be dressed up with heat tools into a polished look that can also be styled up for more formal occasions:

Now, this photo of Drew Barrymore is a great medium length layered cut that has the same nice properties of the photo above (lots of layers can be worn messy for a rock-and roll look. It's versatile because it can also be blown dry or be heat styled as shown for polish and sophistication):

Jennifer Lopez has the perfect example about what to do with the long hair quandary in Seattle.. the low bun! As far as haircuts, when your hair is this long all you need to worry about is getting it cut frequently enough that your ends are healthy and not too uneven. You may want some layers in there but in general people with this kind of long hair (I'm speaking of myself as well) just don't get it cut that often. Personally, I think 3-4 times a year is reasonable. Styling the hair in a low bun or pony and moving the part around to change up the look is a great go-to for a quick style fix. Sometimes I even use conditioner as my styling product to keep it from getting fuzzy (just a little mind you, you don't want it dripping all over you in the rain!). You can move the bun or pony to either side as well as the usual back of the head. Side anything is really in right now!:

Hair Food

I came across this inforamtion on Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz's website (RealAge.com) and thought I would share it:

"The Healthy Hair Diet:

Eat more salmon. Omega-3 rich foods like salmon and sardines help seal in shine. Distilled fish oils or DHA supplements will work, too.

Be a bran lover. Bran is rich in vitamin B, which may slow hair loss and promote hair growth. Other B-rich victuals include beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, nuts, and eggs.

Say yes to avocados. Avocados and avocado oil may prevent some funky stuff that kills hair follicles -- dihydrotestosterone (DHT) -- from getting where it needs to go.

Say no to animal fat -- and red meat -- if you’re losing hair. They can lead to more DHT production and hair-follicle damage.

Stock up on green tea. Brew a strong pot, cool it, then give your head a rinse to help kill off dandruff-causing fungus. Incidentally, if you drink green tea, the caffeine in it may help slow balding, too."

My Stance on Drug Store Brands...

There is something to be said for exclusive salon products and department store make-up. There really is. But I am not against using drug-store brands. For instance, I've used every facial cleanser you can think of - paid as much as $200 for a skin care regime (yonka, murad - you name it I've probably tried it) but I just keep coming back to gool ole Cetaphil. $10 for a big bottle of the "Galderma" and a washcloth and I love it. I started using it because a doctor recommended it to my mom for her rosacea and I figured, genetically, I might be at risk too so I better start early. It's gentle, moisurizing without feeling heavy and it cleans my skin and removes make-up great.

Shampoo and conditioner is another story. That has to be considered on a case by case basis. If you are spending money having your hair colored, a $20 bottle of shampoo is really just protecting the investement you've already made in your hair. If you spend $200 on amazing color and then wash it with an inexpensive shampoo with wax and sulfates you should not be suprised the color fades quickly. If you are blonde - not SUCH a big deal, since you want to remove pigment from the hair, but it could mess with the tone. For instance, Pantene: I actually love Pantene. It makes your hair feel super soft and shiny, but I would only recommend it to someone who has natural (non-colored) hair. Pantene will coat your hairshaft (which helps it feel good) but coating and rinsing over and over is like putting a mud mask on your face, it just sort of sucks the color out. This can be usefull if you colored your hair darker than you wanted - I did that once, colored it black and hated it so I used Pantene for a month and ended up about a shade and a half lighter. Great! But like I said, it's a case by case thing. Some of my clients just don't like to spend a lot on hair products so I like to be educated on what's available as a "drug store alternative." That's just the way I roll - I'm not a "Salon Product" snob. *But* I must also say, that salon hair products just outperform drugstore hair products, hands down, on the whole, every time. Still, it is "just hair" and for people who don't have hair on the top portion of their bugetary priorities, there is probably a good enough drug store brand available that will do the job well enough.

There are few exceptions where the inexpensive, tried and true drugstore brand just gets it right on, but it does happen. One example is Clairol's "Shimmer Lights" shampoo. If you are a bleached blonde who tends to get yellow - this shampoo is hands down the best you can get. ArtTech is close, but Shimmer Lights is much less expensive and, I think, works better.  It's good for getting white hair silver too...




note: I am not inferring that Meryl, Emmylou or Helen use Shimmer Lights. I  just think posts with photos are way more interesting!