Are You Rocking a Side Braid Yet?

The side braid has been a trend for quite some time and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Celebrities including Ashley Greene, Audrina Patridge and Sohee have been recently seen sporting this fun, flirty hairstyle. The greatest part about a side braid? It’s totally a breeze to create. Sam Brocato, stylist and owner of the Sam Brocato Salon in New York City tells how to pull it off!

Get the look with these 4 easy steps from Sam:

Step 1: First, pull all of your hair over to one side. If you want your hair to be behind the ear, be sure to shift the hair in that direction before starting to braid.

Step 2: “If you have straight hair, spritz it with a texture spray like Brocato Back to the Beach to give it a ‘not so finished’ personality,” says Sam. Smooth the top with your hand and start to braid. “A typical three-strand braid works perfectly, but the more you experiment the more personalized the look will be,” says Sam.

Step 3: Once the braid is in place, tie the end with an elastic hair tie. Now, hold the braid in the middle with one hand. Then, with your free hand take one or two strands of hair at the end of the braid and pull on these strands of hair. Now gently push the braid in hand up towards the scalp in one-inch increments. Repeat a few times. This gives the braid a chunky, disheveled appearance.

Step 4: “Finally, take very small pieces of hair near the end of the braid and pull them free so there is a sort of unfinished, messy look to the braid,” advises Sam. That’s right, the look is supposed to be messy, on purpose!

Janine Jarman, Will You Marry Me?

Sebastian Professional lead stylist Janine Jarman is one of my very favorite hairstylists in the world. I fell in love with her on Shear Genius last season and frequently daydream about sitting in her chair for a couple of hours. In true Janine fashion, she knocked it out of the park at the ELLE Style 360 fashion shows at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 12-14. It’s not very often that I covet runway hair for my own; it’s usually a tad avant garde for my daily routine, but Janine’s styles for the Walter, Indashio, and Bebe shows left me wanting more more MORE.

Take a look at some of her gorgeous styles from the event!

Indashio Inspiration:

Welcoming the spring/summer ’11 season with fun splashes of bold color, Indashio’s collection brought out the inner artist through sexy silhouettes and fabrics with movement.



The Hair Look:

For big, voluminous hair with a matte finish and funky flair, Janine recommends taking the following steps:
1. Prep hair with Sebastian Professional Thickefy Foam then blow-dry with a round brush, keeping a middle part.
2. Section out hair from brow bone down, spraying each with Sebastian Professional Shine Define and, using a 1” curling iron, wrap-curl hair away from the face.
3. Section out the top mohawk sections of hair and set in large Velcro rollers going back.
4. After setting for about 10 minutes, take rollers down, flip head over and spray hair with a generous amount of Sebastian Professional Shaper Zero Gravity for unkempt, matte texture.
5. Back comb select pieces to add width and volume to the total look and piece out the ends for defined waves. Finish the look with another spritz of Sebastian Professional Shaper Zero Gravity.

Walter Inspiration:
The spring/summer ’11 collection featured pieces that gradually moved from daytime to evening to morning hues, with blues and dark grays running together and fading into lighter, softer colors. Select pieces evoked a subtle nautical influence, nodding to the sheen of the shore and the haze of the coastline.

The Hair Look:
The hair look for Walter complemented the collection without distracting from the multi-layered, built-up garments. Janine crafted a look that was clean, healthy and not overly contrived with a bit of airiness and natural movement.
1. Prep the hair with Sebastian Professional Potion 9 focusing on hydrating the ends for a clean polish.
2. Spray Sebastian Professional Volupt Spray from root to end for natural, touchably soft volume and blow-dry with a paddle brush.
3. Once completely dry, spritz a light amount of Sebastian Professional Trilliant for thermal protection and added shine and flat iron only the ends.
4. Part hair down the middle and then pin front sections of hair behind ears dropping hair over the ears a bit to cover the pins.

Bebe Inspiration:
Like a breath of fresh air, Bebe’s spring/summer ’11 collection called to mind a beachy Brigitte Bardot with a bright glow and creamy hues. The final look was not too literal, but rather healthy and youthful.

The Hair Look:
At Bebe’s spring/summer ’11 fashion show, Janine crafted coifs that were smooth and soft with waves and feathered fringe. Jarman suggests the following tips for recreating this runway look:
1. Run a palm full of Sebastian Professional Mousse Forte through strands from roots to ends. Cocktail with Sebastian Professional Potion 9 to hydrate dry damaged locks and give hair natural, light-weight shine.
2. Blow-dry with a round brush for added volume, applying Sebastian Professional Texturizer to fine hair if additional texture and volume is needed.
3. Set hair in sections with large Velcro rollers, keeping the middle part for a little bit of ‘70s style.
4. Spray with Sebastian Professional Shaper Zero Gravity for feather-light, brushable control and let hair set in rollers for about 15 minutes.
5. Take down rollers and shake out curls; smooth hair to midway and feather pieces away from the face.
6. Curl select pieces with a ¾” curling iron for more erratic texture.

My Emmy Party + Fab Updos!

Whoah! With all of this redesign business, I totally forgot to tell you about my little Emmy-watching soiree, sponsored by the lovely folks at Suave. I whipped up some tasty sangria and goodies and watched my hair stylist, Tera Rae Stephens, work her magic on all of the party guests. That’s right – we all were treated to a personal styling session, which resulted in some truly lovely hairstyles. Here are some shots from the evening!

The spread. (SANGRIAAHHHHHHHHHH.)

Chatting it up with the ladies.

Suave Professionals products. (p.s. – Suave Volumizing Finishing Hair Spray certainly did its job with all of our updos!)

Tera got right down to work.

I was totally coveting the feather in her hair!

My hair. (I have GOT to learn how to do this on my own!)

(I might have shed a tear when I brushed it out before bed.)

Tera’s updos were beyond chic, and I truly couldn’t pick a favorite.

Simply gorgeous, right?

Unfortunately, we had such a great time that we kind of forgot to watch the Emmys. Oops. Maybe next year.

from left to right: Julie, Kara-Noel, Kristen, Lisa, Moi, Tera, Christina and Shanna

Thanks, Suave, for giving this mama a much-needed girls’ night!