This Top Hairstylist Gave Up Hot Tools for a Week
By Phillip Picardi & Kristin Ess
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTIN ESS.
When it comes to hair that women actually want to wear, I always look to fabulous redhead and all-around beauty genius Kristin Ess. In case you don’t know — which, I’m sure you do — Kristin is responsible for bringing you all sorts of amazing goodness from her website, The Beauty Department, which has become a mecca of DIYs and how-to’s that have inspired an entire Pinterest revolution. Kristin is also responsible for bringing you the hair of one Ms. Lauren Conrad, the consistently appealing hair and makeup goddess who frequently appears as a contributor here at Refinery29.
Related: Everyone’s Got An Opinion About Miley Cyrus’ Armpit Hair
But, there is one thing I know about Kristin above all: Girlfriend loves herself a curling wand. Not only that, she knows her way around a flatiron and a blowdryer, and can pretty much wax poetic about every hair tool imaginable. So, I decided that I would challenge her — the goddess of all things hair DIY — to a little experiment: I asked her to give up her hot tools.
At first, there was trepidation. Then, she was on board! A week later, she just couldn’t. But, she came back and said she’d try it again. Finally, the phone call: “I did it!” she said. In my inbox were all of the photos you’re about to see here — her signature crimson hair twisted, braided, pinned, and pulled, revealing very pretty texture, beautiful styles, and (of course) a few accessories.
Related: The True Story Of Eyebrow Transplants
Keep scrolling to see Kristin’s five-day game plan for ditching the curling iron — sage advice for any girl who’s going through a little bit of hair color rehab or is trying to simply cut down on the frying. Because, if a hairstylist can live without a blowdryer for a work week, so can you.
Smooth Operator
What creases? If you’re an air-drier, you better have one of these pins — specifically if you like to air-dry in a bun to smooth things out. I keep one in the bathroom and one in my purse. It’s from Reed Clarke and it’s worth the small investment of about $40. It’s not a flexible pin; it’s smooth and solid. You basically twist your hair into a bun and slide this gorgeous, gold-dipped, 4-inch hairpin through. It curves to the head and is made to leave your hair creaseless, unlike bobby pins and most hair bands.
You have the option of going high or low with your bun. I like to do BOTH!
If you start with a high bun first and then move it to a low bun halfway through air-drying, I find that you get more movement and more definition — especially when I do my own head, since my hair is layered. It also helps me smooth the top when I pull it down low, halfway through.
Related: The Lazy Girl’s Guide To Perfectly Air-Dried Hair
Hat Happy
On days I want to bust a hat, I air-dry with mousse.
I like Oribe Grandiose Mousse and Oribe Surfcomber mixed together. I split my hair down the middle from my front hairline all the way to the back of my neck. Then, I twist small sections going back on each side. Then, I take two small claw clips and make Princess Leia buns on each side, twisting the hair up and back. Let that air-dry for about an hour, or however long you need for your length and texture.
I’m literally one of the palest people you’ll ever meet. I don’t like the sun, so I sport hats all year-round if I have to be in the sun (must protect this mug). I like to air-dry with lots of texture when I wear hats…I try to enhance my layers as much as possible!
The next day, you may consider changing up your accessory and adding a couple of quick braids. Sometimes, if my hair just won’t behave in front no matter what, I’ll grab a hair clip of some sort. This black leather bow is from American Apparel, but I love all the metal bar clips from Urban and ASOS as well. I throw some little macramé braids on one side (tutorial on TheBeautyDepartment.com) and pulled back on the other side, then clipped them together in the back, right near the occipital bone (which is that little bone in the back of your head).
Related: The Korean Beauty Products You Need To Try In 2015
Organized Chaos
I like my hair to look second-day on the first day. So, here I’ve again cocktailed the Oribe Grandiose Mousse with the Oribe Surfcomber Mousse and worked it in.
Wrap and pin it into a bun (pin still sticking out so you could see where I placed it) near the occipital bone. This time, instead of a tight bun, I made it messy and scrunched it a tiny bit before pinning it up. This is more editorial looking than the rest of the looks in this slideshow, but it will give you great texture when you eventually take the pins out!
Related: 20 Products That Give You Instant Results
See what I mean? Once you have that tousled look — which, yes, you can get sans-wand — I’m always collecting fun colored bobby pins (ban.do makes my favorites). Sweep a section of hair across your forehead and give yourself a subtle bang, then pin it in place with a small cluster of colored pins. In this case, I went with white because it’s such a contrast to my color.
Braid Days
Sometimes a girl’s just gotta go (#nevernotworking). I’m always rushing somewhere, and when it’s super hot or super early and I have no time to deal with this roja situation, I throw in a couple of Dutch braids in my hair when I get out of the shower. As the morning goes by and they dry, I gently pull them apart. I roll the windows down for some extra texture!
You can also simply pull and place the braids for an updo moment, which is especially easy when you’ve started with a pigtail situation. Here, I’m just pulling them opposite from each other before securing in place.
