Yup, this is the one! My favorite hair style I created for the red carpet (so far!) January Jones is such an inspiration on so many levels, I love that she looks for and chooses all of her red carpet dresses herself and I love that she takes risks with her fashion choices.
For the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards January had found the most beautiful Versace gown and her makeup artist Rachel Goodwin and I wanted to show January’s beauty and versatility by giving her a very modern take on an Old Hollywood Glamour look. I set her hair in barrel curls with a 2 inch curling iron and let them cool while she had her makeup done. Next, I took the curls down and brushed her hair with a Mason Pearson Brush to create Veronica Lake waves. To keep the hair looking more modern than retro, I used a spray wax to break up the waves a little and give the hair some texture and separation.
I cannot even begin to verbalize how much I adore this lady! It was the 2nd time I worked with Reese and when she showed me her gorgeous canary Nina Ricci dress I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I didn’t want to do any sort of serious hairdo with this bright, fun, young, modern and perfect dress and neither did Reese, she is actually the one that suggested down and straight. One recommendation I added was to give her shorter and fuller bangs to compliment her heart shaped face and give a simple hair style a little edge. I think this is one of those red carpet moments where all the stars aligned and the hair, gorgeous makeup by and a stunning dress really work with and compliment each other.
The only real trick I used for this look was using a heat protectant spray in Reese’s hair. I had just discovered Vavoom Gold Heat Iron-In Control so I sprayed 3 inch sections of her hair with it before running a flat iron over the section. This spray has gold in it which works as a heat conductor to evenly distribute the heat and also seal in incredible shine. I wanted her to move freely through out the night so to finish I sprayed hairspray on a natural bristle eyebrow brush (the kind that looks like a toothbrush) and ran the brush through her bangs to keep them parted to the side and to brush down any flyaway hairs. As soon as Reese hit that red carpet I couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear! I am such a firm believer in not overdoing red carpet looks and staying true to yourself and your style. This look also proves that sometimes simpler is better!
Cate Blanchett: Red Carpet Look #3
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE a side chignon! I think it is the perfect hair style for when you want your hair up but you don’t want a bun. This is the day I fell in love with the style, and what a day it was! We woke up super early in NYC and got Cate ready for The Early Show and then we were off to Live with Regis and Kelly. Once we finished there, we were off to the airport to fly to LA (This amazing Versace dress was such an incredible piece of art, it had it’s own seat on the plane!) When we landed, we drove straight to the studio for Cate’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and her 3rd hairdo of the day. As soon as she walked off the stage she ran back to her dressing room where we had 10 MINUTES to get her into the Versace dress and change her hair and makeup for the red carpet premiere of The Good German. With such limited time (and space!) we all had to work together so I stood on the sofa while the makeup artist stood in front of Cate and her stylist somehow undressed her and got her into that dress with all of this craziness going on, it was like a game of Beauty Twister with arms and legs going in every direction.
I had given Cate a beach-y wave before The Tonight Show, so I quickly brushed out the waves and gathered her hair behind her right ear and loosely braided it and wrapped an elastic 2 inches from the bottom, then I looped the end of the braid back up to the base and secured by running bobby pins thru the elastic and pinning at the base. I let a few of her layers fall out of the braid to give the chignon movement and softness. I honestly could not believe I was able to get her hair ready in just a few minutes!
Halle Berry: Red Carpet Look #4
After too long of a break from my blog, I am back to continue the countdown of my favorite red carpet looks I have created. Number 4 is the evening I worked with Halle Berry when she hosted the 40th NAACP Awards and it was such an INCREDIBLE night! During the event, Halle had 5 dress changes so I wanted to change her hair with each dress and Halle was totally up for it.
We started with her hair down and wavy, then for the next dress we kept the hair down and I gave her roots some backcombing to give the hair lots of volume and I brushed out the waves for even more volume! Next, I set her hair with a curling iron and pulled one side back to create an Old Hollywood Glamour look. For our next dress, I pulled her hair into a side chignon (pretty much my favorite thing to do!) behind her ear and secured with bobby pins. For the last look of the night, I took all the pins out of her hair and set her hair back into the full waves. I LOVE to make quick changes to the hair and this was about as much fun as a hair stylist can have in one night!
Rachel Weisz: Red Carpet Look #5
Rachel Weisz Lovely Bones Premiere
Rachel Weisz Lovely Bones Premiere
The countdown of my favorite red carpet looks I’ve created continues with the stunning Rachel Weisz. I’ve been working with Rachel since 2005 and I adore her! She is such an inspiration to work with and we share a belief that hair should always be soft and touchable and just a little “un-done.”
For the Los Angeles premiere of her film The Lovely Bones I wanted to keep Rachel’s hair down so I put a volumizing mousse in her hair and gave her a classic round brush blowout. I never like Rachel’s hair to be too perfect so after her hair was dry I warmed a small amount of TIGI Bed Head Stick in my hands and then raked the product through her ends for a little piecey-ness and movement. I think Rachel looks cool and modern this way and I LOVE that wind in her hair on the red carpet!
Lea's up-do
Lea Michele's up-do
I know I’ve said before that I love my job, and I know I’ve said before that I love working with Lea Michele, but I want to be perfectly clear here….
I LOVE MY JOB AND WORKING WITH LEA MICHELE IS AN ABSOLUTE DREAM!
The other night was the Glee Academy event in Los Angeles so I went to The Music Box Theater in Hollywood to see the lovely and talented Lea Michele and get her ready for the event. I was so happy we were getting her ready at the theater because that meant that I could see the rehearsals for the event with the whole cast! You have to understand that I am a HUGE GLEEK, I am absolutely obsessed with this show and I follow religiously on twitter, so it was a dream come true to watch them perform live in such an intimate setting and I get chills every time Lea so much as hums a few notes while I’m doing her hair.
For this event I wanted to put Lea’s hair up to show off that amazing Reem Acra dress so I put some Dove Curl and Sculpt Defining Mousse (I LOVE this stuff!) in Lea’s damp hair and then blow dried with a round brush. Next I took 3 inch sections of hair and wrapped each section around a 1 inch curling iron to create waves all over. Then I started gathering random sections of hair and giving each section a twist and securing with bobby pins in the back of the head letting layers fall out of the twists for softness. It looks like a large, twisted, soft chignon which is exactly what I was going for!
Ashley Olsen 2009 MET Ball
Ashley Olsen 2009 MET Ball
I have had so many great and fun red carpet moments with Ashley Olsen over the years but I think this one is my favorite! Ashley is like my hair muse and she is such an incredible inspiration to be around and work with. Ashley and her sister Mary-Kate are responsible for setting some of the biggest trends in fashion and beauty and I feel like the luckiest guy on Earth every time I work with them.
This event was just after I cut about 6 inches off Ashley’s hair so I wanted her to wear her hair down and it worked perfectly with the backless dress she designed for the MET Ball. I sprayed Biolage Bodifying Spray Gel in Ashley’s damp hair and blow dried with a large round brush to get volume in the hair. Then I took 3 inch sections of hair and sprayed Vavoom Gold Heat Iron-In Control on the hair and then ran a flat iron over the section. This spray protects the hair from the heat of the iron and gives the hair incredible shine!
I think Ashley looks so beautiful, modern, and fresh here, just like her!
Lea Michele 2010 Grammy's
Lea Michele 2010 Grammy's
The one. The only. Ms. Lea Michele!
This beauty with the golden voice has a very special place in my heart forever. My DVR is full of Glee episodes I’ve watched countless times but still can’t bring myself to delete and my ipod’s “Top 25 Most Played” includes 12 songs featuring this lady. I fell in love with her the moment I met her and she has cast quite a spell on me! She can light up a room with her infectious spirit and make me cry with her incredible voice.
Getting Lea ready for the 2010 Grammy Awards was one of the most fun days of my career! I could say that about most days working with Lea, I actually get sad when she has to leave to go to these events. For this night, I really wanted to style Lea’s hair straight and she agreed it would look great with this amazing dress (her stylist, Estee Stanley, always puts together the most amazing looks!) So I added a few drops of Dove Frizz Control Taming Cream into her damp hair (Lea actually introduced me to this killer product) and blow dried with a large round brush (Spornette Porcupines are my favorites!). Next I sprayed 3 inch sections of hair and sprayed each section with a heat protective spray and ran a flat iron over the section giving the ends a slight bend. To punch up the look, I attached a clip-in bang piece from garlanddrake.com and gave her a heavier, side-swept fringe. We later cut Lea’s bangs but she was still shooting Glee during this time so we had to fake it, and it proved a great way to try bangs out before making the big commitment. As always, I finish with spraying the hair with a flexible hair spray and then she was out the door!
Cate Blanchett: Red Carpet Look #8
Cate Blanchett Babel Premiere
Cate Blanchett Babel Premiere
The countdown continues with another of my favorite red carpet looks with the stunning Cate Blanchett at the Los Angeles premiere of her film Babel.
I worship this lady and have to pinch myself every day I work with her to make sure I’m not dreaming it. Yes, she is an extraordinary actress and such a beautiful creature and she is also the kindest person with a wicked sense of humor!
Cate has never given me any rules to follow when it comes to styling her hair, most times she shows me the dress and sits in the chair and lets me play and sculpt her hair into a style. For this premiere, I so loved this gold Ralph Lauren gown and felt it had an old Hollywood feel to it but was completely modern so I wanted her hair to feel the same way. I used a 1/2 inch curling iron to wrap 2 inch sections of her hair into barrel curls and set them with clips and let cool while she had her makeup done. It kind of looked like she was sitting and having a perm with all those little barrel curls on her head and we laughed about that!
Next I took all the clips out and gave the hair a gentle brush and then ran a styling cream (I think I remember that I used Bumble and Bumble Styling Cream for this look) and raked the product through her hair with my fingers to break up the curls and give the hair shine and definition. Then I pinned the bottom of the hair under giving the illusion of an asymmetrical bob. For a little drama, I decided to pin the left side of hair back as well and I loved the look!
Diane Kruger: Red Carpet Look #9
I had to include this look on Diane Kruger for the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards!
Read More
