Sea Witch Collection Summer 2015

Here's a sampling from my summer collection...inspired by my personal coven, a group of ladies so amazing I can't even put it into words, and my love of getting in the ocean that makes living through a Maine winter totally worth it. Hope you enjoy my beautiful little sea monsters!Of course, I've gotta give a shout out to my crew, I had some amazing helpers with this one!

Photography: Justine Johnson

Models: Katie Webb, Emily Otte and Ashley Brewer

Wardrobe and Assisting: Claire Noonan and Meghan Harrington

Goldwell, KMS and Arrojo on Tour, Boston

I have officially assisted at my first hair show! YAY!! I spent this past weekend being a general (self proclaimed) bitch to artists from Goldwell, KMS California, Arrojo, and Carlton, as well as their models, 'cuz homegirl was willing to do whatever she could to be helpful, and a part of the fabulousness that was this show. I am so pumped about my work this weekend, that I wrote the last sentence in third person. I mean, that's pretty pumped. I promise you, I have never ever ever been so excited to wash hair and dishes before in my life. This weekend, I got to watch stylists who I  admire (obsess over, whatever, same dif) create amazing cuts, colours, and styles. I also met my hair whisperer, wore more black than ever, and got to sit in on an Arrojo razor cutting class. No biggie, just living the dream. 

Kerasilk Smoothing Treatment

O2 Salon has started performing the Kerasilk Smoothing Treatment from Goldwell, and I am pretty pumped about it! Unlike other keratin treatments, Kerasilk is customizable for clients. Addressing every client's needs individually, instead of with a one-size-fits-all (it never does) mentality, opens up so many possibilities! Whether you love your curl and just want to tame the frizz, or you are looking for maximum broadening of the curl, Kerasilk has got you covered.

So what exactly is Kerasilk? It is texture service, utilizing keratin and silk proteins to decrease bulk, reduce drying time, eliminate frizz, and broaden curl patterns. Kerasilk can last in the hair for up to 5 months, and feels FAAAAAANTASTIC on your locks.

In Honor of Record Store Day

So, if you only know me through my blog, then this will come as a shock to you; I have interests outside of hair. Crazy, right?!? So, in honor of Record Store Day (better late than never, I say!) I am here to share with you 7 of the most important, influential albums to my life. You should be really excited.  

1. Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation- In the fourth grade, we moved to Maine, and it was a rough year for me. Breaking into groups of friends that had known each other since birth was not super easy soooo...I found solace in the company of snicker's ice cream bars, TNG, and spent hours choreographing dances to the sweet sweet sounds of Janet, Ms Jackson if you're nasty.

2. The Pixies, Doolittle- Get in your car on a sunny day, roll down the windows, pop in Doolittle, and try to be sad. Just try it. I dare ya. Not. Possible. This album makes me feel so warm and fuzzy and then the Pixies went on tour and played the album start to finish and it was so g-d awesome.

3. Atmosphere, Lucy Ford EP-  A feel good, underground classic from Slug and Ant. I usually only listen to about every other track on the album, but the tracks that I love, I love SO MUCH.

4. Aesop Rock, Float- This cd went into my car and did not come out for about 3 months, and was responsible for getting me into the whole genre of underground rap, along side Eyedea and Abilities' First Born ...

5. Eyedea and Abilities, First Born- I discovered underground hip hop during high school, after meeting a group of new friends, who taught me countless, priceless life lessons that they will probably never even know about. First Born instantly transports me back to Evergreen cemetery, freestyle cyphers and Bull Ice 40s. Ah, youth.

6. Portishead, Dummy- As my friend Adam once said after watching footage of Beth Gibbons live, "I don't know if I want to f**k,  or write a suicide letter right now." The amount of emotion in Gibbons' vocals, over killer beats makes Portishead's music perfect for any setting, and if you don't agree, keep it to yo'self, I will defend Portishead TO THE DEATH. See them live, and DIE. Gibbons is clearly so uncomfortable with the idea of being a performer, and manages to be completely mesmerizing with her voice alone... I may have a lady crush.

7. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver- In my twenties, LCD Soundsystem came in and showed me that I could dance to something other than rap. WHHHAAAAA?!?! This album is such fantastic dancey fun times!

8. Madonna, Madonna- Remember that thing about having a hard time making friends when I first moved to Maine? Well, when we had to do a oral biography report on a celebrity, and I chose Madonna, it, for some reason, didn't help. But I know, that when the rest of my class looks back on that day, they remember the girl with the portable record player and True Blue on vinyl, and they seriously regret not being my best friend. They were probably just BURNING UP with jealousy (get it?!?) and were too intimidated to be nice to me.

9. Alice in Chains, Jar of Flies- You may be picking up on the fact that I am pretty much super into music that makes you feel all the happy feels. However, sometimes you gotta be sad. Like, whisky and Alice in Chains sad.

10. The Doors, Morrison Hotel- Favourite album by one of my all time favourite bands. 'Nuff said.

Casie- Bride On Peak's Island

What's the saying? Better late than never? That is seemingly my motto this year, when it comes to updating my bridal portfolio! Things have been crazy, with steady business, advances in my career, and with my family life (four furry children, a handful of house plants and a husband can keep a chick busy, 'nah mean?). Anywho, here are some photos from my first bride of 2013, the lovely Casseopia, who was married in June on Peak's Island, here in Maine. This party was great to work with; I arrived, meeting the boys as they headed out for a road race on the bikes, and had the joy of working with a large group of ladies made up of friends and family alike. Casie had a gorgeous, unique dress, and a great head of long blonde hair to work with! Photos here were supplied by Brendan Bullock, and more photos can be seen in the most recent issue of Maine Weddings (woot!!).

KMS IQ Cutting Method

Back to basics. It's a good place to be. Especially when said basics are being offered in Santa Monica. California is also a good place to be, far away from the snow and the cold. I find myself here, for the second time this March, taking a 3 day cutting course at the KMS California Academy. This course, the IQ Cutting Method, has started off by reinforcing the basics of solid cutting. Man, I LOVE this kind of class, and shockingly, I'm good at this kind of class. Unlike pretty much every other area of my life, I can walk into the academy everyday and leave my ego, previous experiences and instincts at the door. I am here to take the opportunity to focus my energy on learning new ways to approach cutting, and polishing the skills it takes to execute a cut with precision. Today's big revelation was a new way to look at sectioning, for cleaner cutting. Baller, can't wait to use that in the salon! Couple great education with visits from friends and family, delicious food, and amazing weather, and you've got one pumped hair stylist!  

Goldwell GTA Training Phase One

I am sitting on the couch in sweatpants, curled up with a handsome ginger, 2 pups, and the newest episode of Girls ready to play. In other words, I am home! I have finished phase one of my Goldwell GTA training, and am back in Portland, my lovely frozen little chunk if the world, beyond ready to share what I have learned, and do some hair!

What does that mean for my clients? You may have heard us say at O2 that we LOVE HAIR, and that ties in perfectly with Goldwell's mission statement, "dedicated to color perfection".  Clients at O2 Salon know that we are committed to education and elevation of our craft. Goldwell, with it's ever changing technology, and dedication to education for stylists, is the perfect color company for us. With this training, I became up to date with all of Goldwell's newest technologies and color lines, to be able create even more gorgeous color for my clients. For those of you questioning why the technology needs to improve in the first place,  I urge you to note what type of phone you use, and are likely reading this on now. Nokia brick? Nah, I didn't think so. Technology is advancing everyday, as are the needs of our clients. With Goldwell by our sides, stylists can continue to provide clients with the ultimate in color, no matter what the desired result. Pretty rad, right?

BUT, all this information on the Goldwell portfolio that I get to bring back to my clients just feels like icing on the cake. This week, I began a journey as an educator; someone who can give the tools, knowledge and inspiration to guide other people in my field. Amazing. AND I got to spend the week with 16 stylists, and 3 educators who, coming from all different areas and experiences, offered me knowledge and inspiration. Oh, and tools. Like,12 lbs-over-the-TSA-allotted worth of tools.

So begins my March! Now I have two weeks back in the salon, back to California for the KMS IQ Cutting Technique class, and then to New Hampshire to continue my Goldwell education! WOO!

Goldwell: Beginning the Journey

Where do I start? It smells AH-mazing here. Leaving the arctic tundra that we have come to know as home in the Northeast and landing in Santa Monica for a week of training has been beyond wonderful. I woke up on my first morning here and went for a run. On the beach. IN A TANK TOP. I stopped in the lobby of my hotel to chat with John Simpson (!!), Goldwell platform artist and color magician. And, in case you were wondering, we were both wearing t-shirts (can you tell that the novelty of 70 degree weather has not worn off yet?).  As I type this, I sit tucked away in the patio area of a juice bar, underneath a pretty baller vertical succulent garden. Yet, I digress. Because the much needed get away from this cruel winter is not the reason I'm here, nor the best part. This week starts the next step in my career, as I train to become a Goldwell Technical Associate, which, in short is the first tier of educating for the color line that I live for in the salon!

After two days here, I am fried, in a good way. So much information is being processed in my head, so much so that I struggle to put into words exactly what I am experiencing. An in depth explanation and education on exactly what it is that makes Goldwell color the best? Absolutely. Skills to present myself in a confident, professional way, that will not only aid me in class settings, but in my everyday life? Totes. A 3 hour up close and personal session with John Simspon, leaving me feeling so excited to come back to Maine (snow aside) and take my clients' services to the next level? YES. I have so much to share, facts and ideas both new to me and just validated, and so many wonderful things to say about the level of education being offered.  That said, I can not even begin to put them down yet. For now, it's off to day 3 of classes!

Bridal Shoot 2.02.14

  One of the best things about being in the beauty industry is having the opportunity to meet and create with so many talented and inspired folks, and today was one of those days! This was my first time meeting and working with all the fabulous ladies who made this shoot happen, and I am SO excited to see the final images! Here are some behind the scene shots of our bridal session today!

Photography: Justina Bilodeau

Makeup: Kim Begin

Bridal Headpieces: Lacielle Roselle

Arrojo Underground 2013

This weekend was a whirlwind of birthday, holiday and hair madness, ending with a 24 hour trip to the city to attend the annual Underground event at Arrojo. And maaaaaayyyyyybbeeeee just a wee bit of shopping (BIRTHDAYSWAG!!). Underground is a yearly event to showcase the work of the stylists at Arrojo Studio in SoHo. The staff at Nick's salon are encouraged to create a collections which embody what they see trending for the upcoming year in hair fashion. Stylists work, often in teams (Arrojo's salon is departmentalized), drawing inspiration from nature, the city, and themselves (loved that!) to create their looks and present them to an audience of super pumped hairstylists from all around the country. So what is the team at Arrojo lovin' on right now? We saw a lot of muted colors, think taking the pastel trend, and adding a touch of gray to dull them a bit. Lavender, lilac, and ice blue tones are definitely here to stay (lucky you, Kelly Osbourne, and lucky me, cuz' I love your locks). Cuts had stronger outer shapes to them (90's chic, here with clothes,here with hair), with a textured interior to add lightness and keep styles looking modern. And, of course, texture texture texture. Keep those American Waves coming, because lived in, easy to style textures are in and fabulous!

ColorZoom 2013

2013's ColorZoom collection was based on urban beautification; think urban gardens, yarn bombing, unexpected pops of color and nature found in developed cities. This made for a really fun color palette of a mix between pastels and jewel tones against cooler, muted bases. Here are some photos of my take on the trend!

And of course, gotta give props to everyone who made these images possible!!

Model: Hadley

Makeup: Teague Vivolo

Photography: Magdalena Niziol Photography

Partners in hair crime found at O2 Salon

Some of you might remember my post a few months back about the hair painting, or balyage, class that I took at Arrojo Studio in NYC. Meg is one of my clients who has moved over to the painting technique in lieu of foils, and here is her new fall color! For summer we kept things a bit brighter at the ends, with more of an ombre effect, and to deepen her tone up for fall, we painted high and low lights throughout her hair. The results are crazy natural, and, if I do say so myself,  go'geous!  

Love for Pastels

The pastel hair color trend, seen on celeb's heads from Helen Mirren to Kelly Osbourne, has been going strong and doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon (thank GOODNESS!). Playing with pastel tones in your hair color can range in effect from super subtle to impossible to miss.The fact that they are more translucent than their brighter and deeper counterparts makes them less of a commitment, which is just an added bonus. Wondering how you can pull of this trend? Golden blondes look great with a peachy hue woven in, brunettes lend themselves well to periwinkles and lilacs, or you can just go for it with an all over pastel in a shade you die over! Here is a shot of a client that we recently made into a fabulous gradient cotton candy pink:

This color was created using Goldwell's Elumen, which is a color I consider to be a semi-to-permanent. This super high shine color can be a temporary change for those with fleeting hair dreams, or can be layered over time to create long lasting hues, not just in "fashion" tones like we did here, but in natural shades as well. Because the Elumen color line is ammonia free, it is extremely gentle on the hair, and can even work to combat unwanted frizz and body for those clients with unruly textures!

Hair Painting

This past weekend, I attended a class at Arrojo Studio in NYC on hair painting, most commonly known as "balyage", the french style of hand painting highlights. If you follow my rarely updated blog, you know I took a class last year at Arrojo, and am kiiiiiinda obsessed with the staff and education at this SoHo based salon. The class was great! I definitely feel like I gained a wealth of knowledge and techniques to try out, so naturally I came back to Portland dying to get my hands on some hair in need of some new color! Luckily, Sarah called the salon, wanting to chop off enough length to donate, and feeling like her (completely virginal) color needed some sprucing up. Perfect, no? Below are Sarah's before and after shots. We used the hand painting technique to create a very natural, sunkissed effect on Sarah's natural blonde locks, plus gave her a nice long layered cut. Check out Sarah's take on the experience here!

Champagne in the Hurricane

This post may be a bit delayed, but hey better late than never! Sitting on my couch, after shoveling myself out of the snow wall created by Nor'easter Nemo, I received some images from the lovely Savannah Daras, from a photoshoot we did during hurricane Sandy. Ah, what I would give to have rain now. Granted, hurricane Sandy did not hit Maine the way it did the rest of the Easter seaboard, thank goodness, but we were still maybe a little crazy to be out in that storm, with our two models, a can of hair spray (like it did anything in those crazy winds) and a photographer. Planning an outdoor shoot when you are a hairdresser is hard. Unlike a photographer that can be inspired by the day's gorgeousness, and just put out a call for an available model, our models have to be prepped ahead of time, and be shot while their cuts and colors are still fresh. In short, our shoots often can not be rescheduled, and a back up plan needs to be in place. Jenn and I had this vision of models in cozy fall knits, the warm light of a gorgeous Maine fall day in a wide open field. Instead, we got rain and 50 mph winds. Oops. Plan B; one of O2's amazing clients opened up her stunning West End home to us. With Kate to the rescue, we had a super fun Monday afternoon, got some great shots, and, we even ventured out into the storm at the end of the shoot for a little champagne in the hurricane.

Vidal Sassoon 5 Point Homage

Last week I got an email from hairbrained.me (a fabulous social networking site for people who work in or just plain love this wonderful industry) that they were running a contest to win admission to a master's class at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica with Mark Hayes. Say what?!?!? The rules were simple. Do an awesome cut and color. Snap a pic with your cell phone, submit it to hairbrained, and hope that your photo get the most "likes". How could I not enter?!?

One facebook status and 30 seconds later, I already had a model volunteer, the lovely Ashley, who was totally prepared to let me have complete control over her head (love that in a model). I decided to create my own version of Vidal's 5 point cut, a very geometric cut with sharp, clean, diagonal lines, that moved in color from a true violet to a more rosy purple underneath.

Here's the result! Fingers crossed that soon I'll be posting about how excited I am to be heading out to Cali in November!

Braided Bride

This bride was really fun to work with, because she wanted something completely different from the other styles being requested, AND I got play with making a custom weave filler (you know homegirl loves playing with extensions!). For the bride, we worked with braids that started at the temple, and wrapped around the nape and into a braided chignon on the side. For the bridesmaids, I incorporated braids into the updos for continuity. Keep an eye out for the pro shots in my portfolio, but for now, sub-par iPhone shots!

Summer Bride

Here are some shots of the lovely Ms. Lauren after her wedding day hair was finished! Soft, slightly undone, and perfect for an outdoor Maine wedding!

Bridal Blondes!

Just a Day in the Life...

Cookies delivered, playing with weaves and dogs, and cutting your own hair. Being a hair dresser is hard...or the best thing ever.