Don't Put Off Tomorrow What You Can Do Today!

"You can be the most beautiful person on Earth, and if you don't have a fitness or diet routine, you won't be beautiful." - Martha Stewart

I feel strongly that 50% of my personal goal in the hair & makeup industry is to educate my clients and women of all backgrounds on the purpose of beauty and its importance, both inwardly and outwardly. To me, beauty stems from developed habits, discipline, character, personality, morals, balance, and a whole lot of heart. Today we'll focus primarily on making sure your outward beauty is properly cared for on an everyday basis so that when special events (e.g. weddings, portraits, vacations, modeling opportunities, etc) arise, you're not trying to wind back the clock and undo years of poor habits.

Take care of your hair: Get your trims and keep those ends healthy! Become good friends with your hairstylist by becoming a "regular" and be brave enough to ask them questions about what they think the status of your hair health is from month to month. You can't expect bouncy, lively hair when you only get a haircut once a year. Take your Biotin and keratin-enhancing vitamins! Keep your hair conditioned, hydrated, and protected by using masques, conditioner, little to no heat-tools, and if your hair's curly, creams! Thin hair is not going to take well to a heavy moisturizing cream - it'll become heavy, flat, and weighed down. Likewise, curly hair can't be brushed out much or it'll become frizzy. Silky hair won't take well to an oil as it would make it more slippery. All that to say, understand your hair type and educate yourself on new-fangled tips and tricks to keep it looking its very best.

Good skin is always in: In order to have glowing skin day-of, you must have a healthy canvas to build upon. If you're going for a sheer, barely there makeup look, you can't expect a single day of a quick wash, gentle exfoliation, and some light moisturizer to suddenly transform your skin back into its child-like beginnings. It takes months, even years, of protection and solid routines to get it into shape. Serums are one of my best friends! My dry skin adores them! They lie underneath your daily moisturizer to help your skin more fully absorb the hydration and seal it in. Speaking of moisturizer, the rule is a lotion with a bit of sunscreen in the daytime and a heavy/heavier (depending on skin-type) cream in the evening. Even oily skin requires moisturization! Just use one with a gel (water) base, one that says oil-free. And then there's exfoliants and masques that are done several times a week as well as a toner or micellar water to close pores and deep-cleanse. Keep this up on a regular basis along with yearly visits to your dermatologist for skin issues, and you'll find that healthy skin isn't so hard to maintain after all!

Be practical with style choices: Though this wispy tendrilled look is stunning (we're totally with you here!)...

...if you're having a July outdoor wedding with a live DJ and lots of dance-loving friends, this will NOT in any way hold up. Those beautiful wavy strands framing the hairline and loose, draping sections at the back are going to wind up falling flat, being drenched in sweat, and losing grip throughout the long day. This look above has probably been created in a studio, either for an editorial spot or for a styled shoot, so it is meant to hold up in the moment with a stylist on standby. It only has to remain durable for an hour max, not for a humid summer day. As a stylist, we can glean the aspects of this look that you are drawn to, but realistically speaking, we will want to orient you in a more stable, sturdy direction for your day-of look.

If your hair is thin, chin-length, single-layered, and pin-straight, there's no way (barring extensions) that we can make long, flowing locks materialize or force your hair to maintain a bend in extreme heat whether the event is outdoors or under burning lighting for extended amounts of time. These gentle strands around the hairline are going to be suctioned to your face in unsightly pattern as thin hair is prone to do once sweat is involved. This style would also require layers and lots of them, so be willing to change up your haircut to include these necessities.

Say yes to highlights: If you're a brunette with virgin hair, and you want a style like this...

...you can't expect it to look the same. In this photo, the bride has blonde/caramel highlights that give her naturally dark hair dimension and the texture you love so much. In the same way, if you have raven black hair, and you show your hairstylist a photo like this...

...your black hair will in no way resemble the stunning blonde pieces pictured here. Your hair is a flat monochromatic color, and though the twists and pieces can be architecturally replicated, the texture won't be visible in the darkness. So please, please, please consider all angles of a style that you love before bringing it to your stylist and be open to change if that's what the style requires. We can't work colorful miracles as much as we'd love to!

Hydrate like you mean it: Water's usefulness can't be stressed enough! Drinking H2O all day every day can only benefit you in the long run, and if you aren't a fan of the taste, there are so many ways to spice things up! Infuse it with fruits overnight, drop in a flavoring like Mio into it, try it ice-cold or hot with tea, etc. Spritz it on your face too with your own homemade spritzer bottle (found at Sally's, Walmart, etc) or products like Mario Badescu's Face Spray with Aloe, Herb, & Rosewater or Evian's Natural Mineral Water Facial Spray before you leave the house and as a refresher throughout the day.

So these recommendations are not only helpful for you in regards to your personal beauty routine, but they help us stylists/artists tremendously. From your flawless canvas we can then build your dream look without having to fight to temporarily repair the damage. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that 80% of the ladies I style who are unhappy with their look at the time of their makeover have only themselves to blame. It's not the look itself they're unhappy with. Its the frayed ends of their updo, the dry patches on their face, the sunspots that are dark and glaring, the skin that is textured, and though we can adjust here and there, so much unpleasantness could have been avoided by following a regular beauty routine and taking time to care for themselves.

Pamper yourself and think of your beautiful body as a long-term relationship with your graceful aging process!