Fast Holiday Hair Fixes
This week officially kicks off the holiday season, and the countless parties and festive social events you might have to attend.
You'll want to look fabulous attending all of them but sometimes there's just not enough time in a busy day to style your hair. Stylist-to-the-stars David Evangelista shares some tips on The Early Show for how to get your coif party-perfect in no time.
The first thing you need to have, he says, is a traveling hair kit. Buy travel-sized bottles of hair spray, pomade, gel, whatever product you use will invariably come in a pint-sized package. Also, have a few hair clips on hand and a small comb; they'll be an invaluable resource when you're styling your hair. And keep a few styling aids in your purse or desk drawer: a butane-fueled curling iron and some Velcro rollers will add a lot of oomph to your look.
Here is how you can achieve three great looks:
Short 'N Spiky
Model: Brandhize
This is a great look for short hair of any type, but works especially well on African American hair or other coarse, thick hair. Plus, it's incredibly easy to achieve. The key: pomade and a comb.
Brandhize's hair is very short and thus lays pretty flat on her scalp, but with a little warmed up pomade (Evangelista takes a dime-sized blob and rubs it vigorously in his palms and through his fingers), you can take a few pieces of hair in the front and spike them up a bit, giving the hair more texture and movement. He also creates a striking side-part on Brandhize with a small comb that you can carry around in your makeup bag. The part gives her coif a whole new dramatic look.
Beautiful Waves
Model: Carolina
There are pros and cons when it comes to having curly hair in the winter. Without humidity in the air, your hair isn't going to frizz if you go curly, like it would in the summertime. However, less humidity often means less curl, so your hair may end up looking sort of blah and un-styled.
Evangelista's trick: spray small sections of hair (think 1/2" - 1"4" pieces) of hair with a spray bottle full of water. Twist each section into a pin curl and pin tautly to the scalp. Let the hair air-dry or, if you're in a rush, blast it with a mesh diffuser on a portable hair dryer. (The mesh diffuser can be crunched into your makeup bag.) Take the curls out and finger-style, just separating the curls a little bit. Don't brush through.
If you feel you need a little more curl or definition, try one of the portable curling irons that run on butane. Don't clamp down on the hair, but wrap each curl around the barrel of the iron for a little more definition.
Full and Lustrous
Model: Kelly
If you want to pump up the volume of your hair, Velcro rollers are the way to go. Evangelista says that you should invest in a pack of juice can-sized Velcro rollers and a jumbo Ziploc bag, which should cost you all of about $5 in total. Carry them with you in your daily tote bag. Better yet, look for the "collapsible" Velcro rollers. They come in flat sheets, so you can mold them to the perfect-sized roller, then collapse it again when you're ready to throw it in your bag. Also, get a travel-sized can or bottle of volumizing spray that you can carry around with the curlers. That way, you'll be able to make your hair full and fantastic anywhere, anytime.
Taking 2-inch to 3-inch sections of the hair, wrap the ends of the hair around the Velcro roller, and roll up to the scalp (this will make sure your ends are tucked inward, not flipping out) letting them set for as long as possible. Twenty to 30 minutes is ideal. If you need a little more oomph at the root, section hair, spray the root with volumizer, and roll the roller up the hair shaft, keeping it tight, all the way to the scalp. If you're applying volumizer at the root, you may want to blast the hair for a minute at the root with a portable hair dryer, but it's not completely necessary. The result is a full, luxurious mane that looks sexy and polished.