I was recently contacted by a website that is drawing focus in the cosmotology area, regularly featuring artists from our genius industry! Check out the article I was honored enough to be a part of!!! WOOOO HOOOOO! It’s also got a lot of really cool features! Go play around!

http://www.cutoutsidetheline.com/site.cfm/Stylist-of-the-Month/Feb-2010-Stylist-of-the-Month.cfm

Loves,

Steven Robertson

Credits:

Video: John Paul

Photography: Jake Garn

Hair: Lunatic Fringe Artistic Team

Make Up: Paula J. Dahlberg

Wardrobe: Michelle Boucher

Music Overlay: Lady Gaga – Bad Romance – Remix – dj DARK !NTENS!TY

Completion is quite possibly one of the hardest events to reach. It takes many other events to happen, used in unlimited combinations. Those events may be; time, work, love, dedication, passion, teamwork, dependance, skill, learning, waiting, creating, brainstorming, building, and the list could continue for another hundred pages. Without the alignment of events that need to happen, you can kiss the sweet success of completion goodbye. Think about it? It’s either completed, or not. But only completed can celebrate the feeling of accomplishment. And who wants to miss out on that? It’s exciting!!!!

I’ve taught a few classes on goal setting and the response I get is split as follows:

1. I am a current goal setter and I am excited that we could talk about it today!

2. I’m excited to start goal setting and see what happens with it!

3. I’m a spontaneous person, so goal setting wouldn’t work for me.

Let’s address the spontaneous person for a moment! Everyone has a bit of spontaneity in them. But there are others who live by the excitement and adrenaline caused by spontaneous decisions. Adding goal setting to that agenda sounds more chore-like next to spontaneity! However, everyone sets minor goals, to some extent, unconsciously every day. You wake up. “I’m going to jump in the shower and get dressed for the day,” you say. Next, you think to yourself, “I am going saute me some eggs and hash browns for breakfast.” Followed by, “I’m going shopping today to buy me some hot new shoes and jeans!” Read over those sentences again and what do you see? They’re simply, daily tasks. And conveniently enough, tasks = goals! So you’ve subconsciously goal set how your day would ideally go about. What would happen if you woke up and did nothing? You would smell, starve, and probably be naked. And all those events are sad. And no sense of accomplishment could be celebrated in such conditions, agree?

Goal setting is an opportunity for everyone to take. It’s free, and pays off in the end! Della Menechella, motivational speaker, corporate success trainer, and author of the video series The Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting, has simplified the process of goal setting, so it becomes the opposite; not a timely process. Menechella states that, “. . .in order to be effective, goals must be written down in the present tense using clear, specific, vivid words.” Not so hard, right? It takes 10 minutes of your night to plan out your entire set of 2010 goals. Need ideas on how to do so? Della also gives us ten guidelines to help us stay on track:

12 Commandments of Goal Setting

1. Decide what you want to accomplish. The goal should be very specific. If you want to move to a different job, what are the characteristics of that job?

2. Determine a deadline for the accomplishment. A goal must have a deadline.  If you do not have a date on it, the goal is only a wish or a dream.

3. Determine that the goal is believable to you.  You must feel that the goal can be realized.  If you believe it is impossible to achieve, you will never take the action necessary to make the goal a reality.

 4. Where are you now?  Take a current inventory.  You will never know how far you have to go if you don’t know where you already are.

5. What obstacles do you need to overcome?  Is there something that may make it difficult to achieve your goal?  Be aware of the obstacle so you can make plans to overcome it.

6. What knowledge will you need to acquire?  Will you need to earn a professional designation or take certain courses?  Will you need to research new markets?

7. What organizations and groups should you associate with?  Are there certain groups of people that can make it easier for you to accomplish your goal?  How can you become affiliated with them?

8. What are the benefits to you?  Write down as many benefits as possible.  The more benefits you can come up with, the more likely you will be to stick to the goal until it is achieved.

9. Develop an action plan.  Determine the specific steps that will be necessary to achieve the goal.  Start at the accomplishment of the goal and work backwards.

10. Visualize yourself accomplishing the goal.  See yourself in clear detail as if you have already achieved the goal.  If you want to close more sales, see yourself closing more sales easily.  Do this over and over again until it becomes part of your subconscious mind.

11. Take daily action towards the goal.  Dreams and goals require action.  The best goal in the world will never materialize unless consistent action is taken.

12. Resolve to never quit.  Decide that you will never give up, even when times get tough, until your goal is reached.

Goal setting is something I continue to set myself up with, and also choose to surround myself with those who share the same idea for success! Feel free to post your 2010 goals here to share with the world, as I would add that accountability to others will increase your achievements  with your successful goal setting!

With your successes in mind,

Steven Robertson

All material used for the Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting was information pulled from http://www.dellamenechella.com and her contributing book Thriving in the Midst of Change can be purchased here! 

Now due to the rules and regs of the NAHA organization, the photos can not be placed, in their entirety in any publications until the finalists have been announced, April 30th, 2010. I, however, am a man of teasing and now present you with a snippet of my 5 images from my new ‘Enlighten’d’ Collection, 2010! Do enjoy And I can’t WAIT to show you them all!

Best of days, and a prosperous new year

Steven Robertson

This question has approached me in many scenarios, from various individuals, and I’m not sure I’ve ever fully answered to it’s potential. If you would all agree, motivation is simply a mind set, or a psychological state of being. . .yes? Sometimes you can feel how motivated you are when you’re offered a new opportunity and are simply excited to take that offer! Other times the motivation may continue for a few days or weeks, and you won’t particularly feel that motivation, yet something is keeping you focused. Now in the ideal realm of situations, it would be great to stay in this frame of mind, meaning motivated; however, there tends to be obstacles (or better stated: growth opportunites) that knock us out of this motivated state of being.

How do I stay involved in my motivation state? READING!

Never in my life did I ever think that I would be a reader, or writer for that matter. But here I am, developing a blog, and constantly reading on various subjects. I actually used to argue with my grandmother (an avid reader of multiple books a week), that never would I enjoy reading. She ultimately won that statement, and many others due to my grandma being the most brilliant woman ever! All aside, reading contantly keeps my mind focused, and allows me to stay in a motivated mind set. I find that when I drift off from books, for whatever reason, I start to fall of track. Here are a few books and brief descriptions of each, to help you learn about the wonderful world of possibility, opportunity and continuous growth (and I have to credit my dear friend Jake Garn (www.jakegarn.com) for this idea, as he has written about multiple books in his own blog):

Blink - I’m currently reading this book, and will be done shorty. It’s amazing!  It reads about the power of your unconscious stream of thought, and why people choose to make instant decisions without playing options. Great for spontaneous, or high-pressured decision making. And features multiple very interesting studies on habits, which I’m obsessed with!

Outliers - Simply a story on why successful people are successful. 10,000 hours of long, hard, beautiful growth. A MUST READ!

A Whack on the Side of the Head - A great book on creative thinking and team creative thinking. Speaks on brainstorming, avoiding dead-stumps, and most importantly and quite possibly why I wake up every morning, playing the ‘What If?’ game!! The book features multiple exercises that you can practice and share with your friends and colleges.

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There - A great book for those who want to up there status of being successful. Marshall Goldsmith touches on many scenarios with his experience and client stories in business coaching habits that make you successful, and even better, new habits that will make you even more successful. Love the section on the ‘Twenty Habits’!!

A Whole New Mind - I love this book because it gives great insights on the presence, and necessary presence, of artists in the coming century. Deals a lot on right brained (creative brain) thinking and how it will rule over opportunity in the coming years.

I will be adding more books to this specific post, so keep posted for future reads. Maybe one day my book club will be as HUGE as Oprah’s. These books make me believe that option is possible. If you have read, or happen to read these books, I would LOVE to hear about your thoughts and experiences with them in the commenting section of this blog, or e-mail me your thoughts to me a scuba_tr@hotmail and with permission, I will share them with the world!!!

Happy New Years almost!!!

Steven Robertson

From the beginning of schooling, I always watched the Paul Mitchell Artistic Directors on stage, continuously being inspired to think ‘out of the box’. With that, I developed the mindset that anything is possible. And I sincerely believe and think that every day. Who says you can’t color hair ultra creative in the salon? Who says my clients won’t want part of their head shaved in salon reality? Who says I’ll never use fingerwaves, pin curls, and roller sets outside of school? I was told going through school that I’ll probably never use fingerwaves outside of the school, or even on the clinic floor! I dedicated 2008, my first year in the industry learning how to fingerwave hair on my own, due to the lack of knowledge on this lost art of classic hairdressing. Now, with my Vintage Suppression collection being recognized internationally, what do I have to say about my school experience with fingerwaves? The moment anyone begins to tell me something isn’t realistic, or possible, where do you think my mind goes?. . .in to a creative, solution-oriented, “I’ll prove you wrong” state of thinking. And if not on my salon guests, then in my photowork. It is our jobs in hair dressing to constantly dedicate our time and energy to educating ourselves, otherwise we dilute the craftsmanship of possibility in hair.

While educating at the school, I’ve constantly worked on eliminating the words never and always, asking the future professionals to mention to me if they catch me saying them in class or on the clinic floor. Wouldn’t you agree that it’s hard to eliminate them from our vocabulary? But once never and/or always enter a sentence, what will they do to our thoughts? They build a prison of barriers that inhibite our ability to think creatively AND problem solve. Especially in the minds of new learners. If I say, “This volume is always mixed with the highlift series,” what have you immediately done? Smashed any thoughts of ‘out of the box’ thinking. From this point on, the learner will now have a block to discover maybe mixing the highlift with a level 6 red to create a more powerful lifting red series, unlikely possible with out that aid. The power of always and never, as you see, can and will prevent the idea of possibility. If you are in a learner setting, and you hear either of those words, I would like to ask that you simply forget the mention and learn your information while attaching it to the idea of possibility. I contribute this thinking process as a high percentage of my successes.

Behindthechair.com was the first, and has been, one of the biggest supporters of photowork produced by myself, and the team that I work along side of! The month of September has been nothing but great. Behindthechair.com Magazine’s second issue is featuring many works produced by industry stars like the Vidal Sassoon Academy, Damien Carney, International Artistic Director of Joico, and Sue Pemberton, International Artistic Director for Joico Color and multi-nominee/winner of NAHA (North American Hairdressing Awards), and Anthony Mascolo. Along side these industry legends, myself and Janae Johnson (formerly Janae Mechling) have been featured alongside our Vintage Suppression collection.

Inspiration for the Vintage Suppression collection came from historical photos showcasing a dusty, torn ‘vintage’ look, and the lack of expression shown in the early days of photography development. Feauturing multiple ways of ‘fingerwave’ techniques, the Vintage Suppression collection will inspire the art of classic hairdressing skill and finishing work.

To further enjoy the collection and it’s headline, please visit directly:

http://www.behindthechair.com/displaycollection.aspx?ID=798&ITID=1

If necessary, you’ll need to subscribe to behindthechair.com. Doing so will deliver you breaking news and industry tips, access to the store for education and flair, as well updates on the latest industry collections.

To search for the Vintage Suppression collection, simply type culturevintage in the search box at http://www.behindthechair.com

Can’t wait to hear your reviews everyone. Thank you for being a continuous reader of my blog

Best wishes,

Steven Robertson

You always fall for the same guys/girls that treat you horrible!
You tap the door frame 17 times before you can take a step through.
You desire to only use mechanical pencils, .7mm in diameter and feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable if unavailable.
You continuously click the back of a pen while intensely concentrating.
You only drink out of a glass once.
You use the word ‘like’ every other word in every sentence spoken.

Have you noticed two different types of ‘habits’ these examples can fall under. I will take it upon myself to categorize them under, conscious and subconscious habits. Now, because I have no PhD or formal education on this matter, I would like to state that this is just me, Steven Robertson, speaking from my own crazy thoughts!

Let me briefly explain my definition of conscious and subconscious habits. Conscious habitsare those at which one is aware and knows the habit is happening, almost every time the event occurs. Take mine for example. I 99% of the time, do not drink out of a glass more than once. I realize that I perform this ridiculous act every time I grab a new glass. Even if I just set the glass down. I also realize that this habit is very wasteful and am currently working on changing my ways. Most of the readers, like yourself, are now experiencing a basic human subconscious habit; curiosity. Curiosity of why on Earth would I possibly use a new glass, every time.

subconscious habitsare those that the possessor, you and I, are unaware of. Unaware of certain patterns or rituals performed on a fairly regular basis. subconscious habits will almost always remain as long as you are physically/mentally able to perform them. Until pointed out by your friend or another outside party, you may never know it exists. Some can be changed, like unknowingly clicking the back of a pen, now realized when pointed out by those irritated (even though they do it themselves. And why wouldn’t they, or you? It’s so calming!). Once pointed out, you’ll slowly begin to notice when and where you begin clicking, at which time you can choose to address and change, or continue to do (cause who’s it really bothering ). Some are a little bit more difficult to control once pointed out, like curiosity. For those of you who are grinding your teeth and ready to lose control, I have a creepy thought in my mind that the water (or any liquid) on the rim of the glass that I just set down has now collected dust, or some other impurity making it ‘dirty’. Hence, grabbing a new glass. Once again, I would never endorse this habit, it just is. 

Another example may include you experiencing, perhaps even today, when a friend during casual conversation begins to announce a ‘secret’ if you will, and abruptly slams to a halt with the following phrase choices, “I’m not supposed to say anything.” or “I can’t tell you yet.” or the best one of all, “Never mind.”

Can you control your eager curiosity to know the rest of the answer? Not really.

Have you ever pointed out such habits to a friend or family member? And in return, what situations have been brought to your attention? Before I move on, I would like to point out that if you really tap a door frame 17 times before you are able to walk through (or any other ’like’ habit), I would like to extend to your realization that it’s okay at this time to begin to relieve yourself of this demon as it is wasting your day’s time, and others.

It was brought to my attention once, I believe during a recent photo shoot, of a pattern Janae Johnson and myself saw ourselves falling in to. A styling habit. One that kept occurring, and on the same model. Let me introduce you to the first photo we took of Bailee. Try to search for both the concious and subconscious habit before you read the finish to the entry!

Bailee - Lunatic Fringe 'Shades' Collection

 As you have already noticed, Bailee is beautiful. Great features. Flawless skin. Slender, long body. And able to model like a pro! It’s models like her that you want to surround yourself with. Pretty much anything you do, considering balance and shape, will look good on them. Refer to Relationship blog entry on how to do so. The idea for the whole ‘Shades’ collection was inspired by the very photo, superimposed in the background (located behind Bailee); hence the giant ball shape, for lantern shade, and braid for ‘on/off’ switch! Great collection featured in Paul Mitchell’s Cut and Dry magazine and a featured collection found at behindthechair.com.

Bailee - Lunatic Fringe Earth-Toned Collection

Bailee - 'Vintage Suppression' Collection

Third, we have Bailee looking full profile, all antique styled featuring a full forward pomp, backward moving fingerwave set, exploding in to a fury of texture. Soft eye make up, with a dark lip. Unique, handmade clothing and neck piece, all balanced in beautiful post-edited framework.

 

Bailee - Lunatic Fringe 'Breakthrough' Collection

 

Lastly, we have Bailee appearing from space in this explosive texture photo. With smooth body airbrushing, a hint of Photoshop, and a voluminous forward fringe and bursting side texture, Bailee owns this frame with her curious facial expression and limp body movement.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

Now is your time to decide on the 1) conscious habit and 2) subconscious habit.

 

Conscious habit was that we were completely aware of the amount of times we featured Bailee in our works of art. Wouldn’t change it for anything. Love her! Subconscious habit was. . .our overwhelming, yet hidden desire to put a large ball or shape on the top of her head, as well as having some sort of tail, ball o’ curl, or brush of texture coming out the EXACT same side of the head. Coincidence? Perhaps. Some people just look good with large shapes on their heads! What can I say? Once our subconscious habit was brought to our attention, we immediately filled the room with laughter. Laughter that we never saw it. Laughter mocking our similar, yet different, pieces of work. After the rolling laughs we began to reevaluate how we approach our storyboard development and are now more aware of making sure new techniques get displayed in upcoming collections. All it takes is ONE ‘Ah ha!’ moment to change your thought process. Try it when you’re in a rut. You’ll leap right out immediately. Analyze your range of work. Do you notice similar patterns that you follow? How can you change them? Have a friend look at your portfolio! Do they notice something you missed?

 

You can even take this as far as your clientel is concerned? Is your cutting approach following similar ways? Are your guests leaving with beautiful, yet oddly similar heads of hair? I know mine where until I applied this aspect to my salon-life.

 

Give it a try and evaluate your conscious and subconscious habits in varying scenes of your life. What will you find?

 

Photo Credits (from top to bottom)

Shades Collection

Hair: Lunatic Fringe Artistic Team http://www.lunaticfringesalon.com

Make Up: Suzanne Agis

Photography: Justin Grant http://www.justingrantphotography.com

 

Earth-Toned Collection

Hair & Make Up: Lunatic Fringe Artistic Team

Photography: Jonathon Nickels

 

Vintage Suppression Collection

Hair: Steven Robertson and Janae Johnson of Lunatic Fringe Salons www.stevenrobertsonhair.com

Make Up: Paula J. Dahlberg http://www.paulajdahlberg.com

Wardrobe: McKell Maddox

Photography: Mitch Meyer http://www.mitchmeyerphotography.com

 

Breakthrough Collection

Hair: Lunatic Fringe  Artistic Team

Make Up: Paula J. Dahlberg

Photography: Mitch Meyer

 

 

 

 

 

Education: the result produced by instruction, training, or study

Education is fundamental structure of our beauty industry. And not just education…CONSTANT education. But why? I have a few reasons, but keep in mind they are thoughts of my own and subject to debate by all parties.

First, and most importantly in my list, is the ability education has to re-inspire one’s focus. We’ve all been there, in that ditch, rut, whatever metaphore you wish to use to describe your lack of excitement about any particular area in your life; relationships with partners,  a hobby you enjoy, that time period in your career that you think, “why am I still doing this?”, or “why am I not progressing up the ranks?” You may experience a feeling of unappreciation, or you may simply be deciding if this is what you REALLY want to do for a living! I once heard in a conference I attended that 3 out of every 5 hairdressers that enter in to the industry end up leaving after 5 years (unknown author and  subject to change). Can you think of another job market that experiences that same phenomena? How about the education field K-12. Yes, our very own teachers. What is the #1 reason the dropping is happening? Bordom. Repetition. All of which start chipping at your ability to stay excited. Now, think back to that last motivational seminar you attended. That first day in beauty school learning roller sets and braiding. How did you feel during and after the class? EXCITED! If anything, education provides you with the mindset of remaining excited! Look at the salons that are constantly growing and ask them the cause of their successes. 100% of the time, you will hear the word ‘education’ in their top 3 reasons for success. Education has provided them to remain innovative, progressive, and hold within them a staff has been with them for several years and more. Where is your excitement level? What do you require to maintain your excitement? And when you’re in your rut, what is needed to pull you from the cracks? Find and master all three. . .and you’ve just set your self up for growth, progression and success.

Second, education gives you the ability to cater to all likes of the industry, whether it be a diverse clientel, the ability to wear the hat of salon hairdresser, session hairdresser, artistic leader, etc; all in a days work. Education is what makes you different from the person sitting next to you, or the salon down the street, or that session hairdresser that is wanting to break in to the editorial world. This area I’ve become very familiar with, due to my obsessive need to progress, and not just in one area. We’re talking educator, instructor, salon hairdresser, management, salon ownership, photowork for editorial, commercial, and collection developement, artistic leader. You name it, and I’ve ‘thought’ of being it all! Education is what continues to feed me in to this frenzy! I sit in a class, and a new interest develops. And now what? I try to develop it! It is my continued fight with myself on ‘which area do I want to FOCUS in and grow’? And which education do I need to supply myself with to develop that skill. We are after all in a highly competative market. What education are you going to set yourself up with to separate yourself from the others? What like-minded relationships are you going to surround yourself with to support that education?

Before I introduce you to Carly from the Ring A’Round Collection, let me explain to you why I chose to discuss the importance of education. The Ring A’Round Collection, not only gives you a versatile sectioning to achieve both cut and color, but it also sets you up for the ability to switch it up, and essentially ‘re-educate’ yourself; all to keep you excited and ahead of the competition.

Carly - Before

Carly has modeled with our team a few times now. She’s energetic, always excited, eager to produce beautiful imagery, and a photographer in development herself! Carly had natural, yep. . .natural. As in NEVER been colored. Let’s have a moment of silence for those who grace us with the ‘natural’ hair presence!! . . .

Okay, back to work. Carly’s natural level 6 hair needed some excitement to match her energetic persona and presence. What better way to do so than adding in some vibrant hues against a dark base to pop off of! Her haircut also needed some love. She needed a semetry to her layering to balance out ’off lengths’ and thought a curved fringe would fit her fancy. Look at the striking way her eyes are set in to her face! Fringe would be the perfect frame for them. 

Carly's Color Placement

 Carly’s Color is VERY similar to that of Ashley’s from the previous blog entry. Starting with a circular parting, encorporating the crown and leaving 1.5″ to 2.5″ of hair around the entire perimeter of the head, clip off. Presection sections mimic’ing a backgammon board, or visually work so. Choose which triangles you’d like the red, orange and golden to be and work accordingly. You’ll need to prelighten the sections that will be showcasing the vibrant colors to pale yellow to stain afterwards. After the prelighted sections and golden brown have been foiled, begin coloring the inner circular parting a solid golden brown, in this case, 5G + 20 Volume Developer. After fully processed (35 minutes for Paul Mitchell the color®), shampoo and give your model a power-dry to set hair to be stained by Inkworks®. Find your prelightened triangles and apply Red Inkworks® and Orange Inkworks® accordingly based on your color layout. Let process for 15 minutes followed by a cool water rinse and condition. That’s it!

Carly's Cut Placement

Carly – Before

Over the past year and a half filled with multiple avant garde hair collections, I’ve come to realize this very question: “Am I even capable of styling actual hair on a human being?” And even better, “Does any one even think I can style any other way than avant garde?”.  Seems a bit of an extreme assumption, yet an actual thought that entered my mind. I spent so much time focusing in a single area that my obsession blocked my ability to showcase versatility within my portfolio. Now the real question is, was it good to focus in on one area, or to dab in to multiple for techniqe? That’s a question that you will want to consider, and answer, when you begin photo styling or are a veteran stranded in a rut. Pondering on those questions myself, I recongnized that, for me, the focus in one area worked to establish a reputation and name for myself and the Lunatic Fringe Artistic Team, and with that knowledge, my appetite for growth is now going to be spoonfed by commercial hair. You know, the salon-inspired hair. The hair that you or your guest points at and says, “I want that hair!”.

That was my focus for the first salon guest inspired photo collection entited ‘Ring A’Round’. Created by Janae Johnson and myself, with assistance of Angel Moleni and Erin Tomzac, the Ring A’Round collection was designed with two simple elements: to create (1) salon beautiful hair by means of  (2) a single, versatile placement that could be  put in to use by both the color and cut. 

Let me introduce to you, Ashley.

Ashley came to me with long, warm level 7 hair, highlighted blond. My goal with her was to cool down her blondes and add bold lightness around her face and perimeter, while maintaining a natural and dimensional highlight throughout the top.

With her cut, Ashley experiences a large amount of density, so it made sense to soften the layering around her face to open up her beautiful face shape. For the rest of the density, adding a disconnected layer for movement and texture.

Ring A'Round Basic Sectioning

You will want to begin applying color on the ring around the hairline (hence Ring A’Round!). Borrowing the idea of a Backgammon Board (never fully understood that game so might as well use it for good!), you want to either pre-section your triangles before, or visually work as you go. Your preference! In one triangle, place Dual Purpose Lightner © +20 Cream Developer from just off scalp to ends in foil. Part off next triangle and follow with your Paul Mitchell the color ™ 5G + 20 Volume Cream/Clear developer scalp to ends in a seperate foil. Continue until the whole ring has been colored (should take around 10-15 minutes).

Process of Color Melting

Once completed with ring, begin taking 1/8″ sliced horizontal sections starting in the back of the head. Following the pattern in the diagram to the right, color first slice with with your darkest formulation a third (1/3) of the length of the hair, immediately followed by your mid-level (slightly overlapping the dark to create a seamless transition of color) and finishing with your lightest formulation through ends (again, overlapping ONLY previous mid-level) (Foil 1 example). Place another foil directly over the top to protect color (do NOT fold or color will smear together and become splotchy). Now take down your second slice, following the Foil 2 pattern, by first placing the darkest color only 1/4 of the length, followed by a small length of mid-level, and finishing the large section amount with your lightest formulation (again, slightly overlapping previous color for seamless transition). On your third slice, place mostly your darkest level throughout the section, followed by a slight length of mid-level and finishing with your lightest formulation (always overlapping previous color). On your forth slice, go ahead and repeat the steps for Foil 1, followed by Foil 2 for fifth slice, and so on. Continue taking your 1/8″ horizontal sections until the whole hair has been foiled (1 hour start to finish time’ish). Let color process full time followed by a strengthening deep conditioning treatment.

And finished with the color!

Ashley's Hair Cut Sectioning

Once the color has been washed and conditioned, begin the hair cut by parting off you original circular shape. Try not to worry about getting the EXACT same placement as color, as that would be impossible (and a waste of frustration and time, HA!). This cut is real real simple (as it better be after that color!). Start by splitting the back ring section right down the center in the back. Taking 1 inch diagonal-back sections, begin cutting a round shape that slightly shorter towards the front. Continue your 1 inch sections until entire ring has been cut in to your base and perimeter of the hair cut (don’t worry about the fringe section not reaching, as it will be customized to your guests needs). Keep your circular section clipped off seperately from your perimeter, since we’re wanting to achieve disconnect layering. Take a 1 inch section from you circular parting towards the front hairline, and while standing in front of your guest, elevate the section directly up to the ceiling and cut to desired length (shorter lengths on this section will create more weight removal and will be decided by your guest/model’s density). Take another 1 inch section parallel to your first, and again elevate straight up to the ceiling and cut to the length of your previous. Continue until whole circular parting has been completed (every section elevated directly up to the ceiling).

Ashley - Before

Ashley - After - Ring A'Round Collection

And that is how you achieve Ashley’s dimensional and full of movement and  texture cut and color. I will be posting some how-to’s of styling  next followed by Carly of the  Ring A’Round Collection. I hope you learned and enjoyed my first educational feature on my blog. I would love to hear of your comments, whether it be victories!, challenges, and any feedback that will better improve the experience of this blog. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing of your successes!

Photo Credits:

Photography: Jake Garn; Hair: Steven Robertson & Janae Johnson; Make Up: Paula J. Dahlberg; Model: Ashley Spainhower

Headsheet layout used with permission by Paul Mitchell Schools