Ever since Alexander Wang sent down the runway an army of beauties in loosely braided hair in his Spring 2010 collection, ”the braid” was on my mind, and after my hair grew out to the right length, it became one of my “go-to” looks for everyday school/work run-arounds (As seen here & recently here). It always makes me feel like such a Russian girl, and smile when I see a reflection in the windows, because if you would have told my platinum blonde chopped version 5 years ago I would be wearing my hair in a braid (in my natural color!) I would probably burst in laughter, but hey, here we are…
So, although it’s one of my favorites, I always felt as though I never really got that ‘wow’ effect I was looking for, I was always missing a tad of volume and that intentionally messy texture that seems so effortlessly chic… And now with the help of Sara Ashanti, that’s been “quietly” making history in New-York City in the past two years and climbing her way to desirable jobs with the top magazines (VOGUE, ELLE, Vanity Fair and W just to name a few) in the industry, I was hoping to get that little “extra” under my belt, or should I say, on the top of my head…
So the first secret, and you might have guessed it by now is Volume. The way to get it is through a combination of the right products and a little bit of heat (using the blow-dryer). First you need to have:
If there’s anything I learned about hair from this day, it’s how crucial it is to prepare your hair even before you start styling it. I’ll walk you through it. step by step…
Step 1 : APPLY
On wet hair, apply PHYTO Volumizer Spray ( a real magic-worker by the way) only to your roots ,to literally raise the hair from the root up, and as for the rest of the hair ( excluding the roots), to achieve that texture I was talking about before apply the Full Volume Mouse. A word about the Mouse, when I asked Sara about the brand she recommends she said it really doesn’t have to be Fekkai or any other brand, as long as it’s in a medium price range and up (you certainly don’t want to get that 1.99 bottle from a company you’ve never heard of before) it should do the trick. Sara herself is constantly trying new products as they are being released.
Step 2: BLOW-DRY
After you’ve applied the products as directed, turn your head upside down (no kidding!) and blow dry it while lingering a bit longer on the roots and “massaging” the hair upwards, to help it raise and dry in the direction we want.
Step 3: TEASE
This is probably my favorite step, and not just because of the name! This is where you get to play around with your new special comb (you can find it practically in every pharmacy or even on Amazon for less than 5$, totally worth the investment!) and comb the hair in the opposite direction. It really is amazing how much volume you can get that way even out of the finest hair. Note to do the teasing after you’ve decided where will you part your hair into two sections.
Step 4: BRAID
After we’ve given the hair texture and volume, and even teased it for heights in never seen before we can safely braid away! Make the braid loose and intentionally sloppy, to get that “”" effortless”" look (now you understand how not quite effortless those looks going down the runways really are…)
Eh – Voila! I don’t know if Alexander (Wang) will look my way when I pass by him on the street, but I sure am feeling just a tiny bit more ‘Runway Ready’ than before!
Stop by tomorrow, to get all the make-up secrets from our make-up artist – Angela Wang!
Photo by Andy Bae
