A Night at the Oscars

A couple years back, I had a new client come into the salon. We had a normal consultation so I could learn her wants and needs.  Questions such as: What are you looking for? What tones do you like in your hair color? How do you style your hair? What products do you use? She shared with me that she is very natural and simple. After our consultation and examining her hair, I had a game plan, and off to mixing I went.

As I started to highlight her hair, we started chit chatting and getting to know the basics about one another. She shared stories about her two beautiful girls and that she was a full-time mom. During our initial meeting I could feel the pride and love as she discussed her daughters, which still comes through every appointment. The more we got talking I asked if she had any vacation plans for the summer. She told me how her and her girls were heading out of the country to go visit her husband while he was working. So I naturally asked what her husband does for a living. She asked if I had seen the movie Titanic. I replied, "Yes of course, it's my mother’s favorite movie!" Then she asked, if I remembered the scene after the ship went down and Jack and Rose were floating in the water? I replied, "Yes!" And when Rose let's go of Jacks hand and he floats down into the dark ocean? "Of course," I said. She then says, “that's what he does, he did that scene, he does Visual Effects on movies.”

We had a natural connection and she has been my client ever since. Throughout the years she has shared stories of her family, their travels and her two amazing daughters. A little over a year ago she told me her husband had made the Top 10 for the Academy Awards, but missed going because they take the Top 5. This year we booked a few extra appointments because he once again made the Top 10 list and we were waiting to see if he made the Top 5. At the end of January, I received a text saying, “He got top 5 and we are going to the Oscars!”
During her next appointment she came in and joked, "These highlights have to be good, Ryan Gosling will be seeing them this weekend!" (At the Oscar Nominee Luncheon) We laughed!!! That whole appointment I was SO EXCITED for her and her husband. We talked about what she was wearing and all the fun details going with it. At the end of her appointment, she told me that she was going to wear the Blow Dry Style to the luncheon. So I loaded her up with Oribe's Dry Shampoo and Dry Texture Spray.

A couple weeks later we booked a highlight appointment for the week of the Oscars. We wanted to make sure everything was just perfect! When she came in that Wednesday, her hair color was perfect from the prior appointment, but I put in a few extra highlights just to give her a little extra pop around her face. We got talking, as we do, and I joked, "Did Ryan Gosling like your highlights?" She replied, “I didn't talk to him but I did sit at a table with Justin Timberlake." As we finished up the appointment, she asked if her Blow Dry Style would last for the Oscars on Sunday because the last one worked out amazing. I said, “How about you come in Friday evening and we will make sure it's nice and fresh for you.”

Friday evening rolled around and I wanted to make sure this Blow Dry Style was going to be the best ever and last the entire weekend. I loaded her with Oribe products. I started her comb out with Foundation Mist, then raked with my fingers a little Gel Sérum and did an extremely light mist of Royal Blow Out. I also wanted to make sure her Blow Dry Style had a good amount of volume to it, so I sprayed Volumista at her roots. As I began my rough dry I made sure the heat of my blow dryer was going down the hair shaft at all times. This prevents frizz in the hair because it helps unwanted fly-away hairs lay down. Once I got her 90% dry, I sectioned the hair into four sections. This helps me have control over the hair. In each section of the hair I split them into subsections a little smaller than my YS Park G-Series Round Brush. Before round brushing, I sprayed each subsection with Maximista Thickening Spray and Thick Dry Finishing Spray at the root. After round brushing each subsection, as the subsection was still hot, I rolled it up and pinned it to cool in that position. This was to help lock in the Blow Dry Style. I did this for all of her hair. Once the entirety of her hair was set and cooled I applied a very light mist of Superfine Hair Spray. I then let down all the hair from the set and sprayed her roots in the crown area of her head with Dry Texture Spray. This gave her a very classic clean look, which fit her personal style perfectly.

 Once her hair was perfected I gave her a quick lesson on some tip and tricks for makeup. She wanted to feel and look like herself, which is a very natural gorgeous woman. I suggested matte neutral tones on her eyes to achieve a natural style. I also suggested that she line her eyes with a dark brown and add a few individual eyelashes to give her eyes a little extra pop.

I told her that the next time she goes to the Oscars I will fly to LA to do her hair and makeup. However, this year I told her I would be by my phone all morning in case she had any problems and needed to FaceTime me.

The morning of the Oscars I woke up early, made sure my phone was fully charged and refused to leave my house. My husband wanted to do some yardwork and I told him I couldn’t help because my client needed me. He rolled his eyes and laughed because he knows how “dedicated or crazy” I am, so there would be no changing of my mind. As afternoon arrived I decided to send a casual text to see how she was doing. Her reply, “My hair got a little frizzy after the rain this morning so I’m attempting to curl it. Getting picked up in an hour. I explained, “If you curl it, then wrap it in the rollers while the hair is till warm and let it cool in the rollers, it will give you a pretty classic loose look instead of a curling iron curl look.”

One of the best things about my client is that she is a “Jane of all Trades” so she can make anything work in any situation. I learned this through her stories of throwing together last minute Halloween Costumes for her girls, her crafty holiday gifts, classroom birthday parties she planned when her daughters were younger or her creative birthday presents. She gets the job done and covers all the details you didn’t even know you needed without hesitation, for example when her husband called from another country needing a place to stay and snow gear. She never hesitates; she truly makes things happen. I knew a little rain was not going to get in the way of her and makeup for any occasion.

A few hours after our texting I received a photo of her and her husband on the red carpet. I was SO EXCITED for them and I wished them an amazing time. I’m looking forward to our next hair appointment so I can hear all the fun stories of the night. They did not come home with the Oscar this time. However in my eyes, my clients, always takes the Gold!