I remember being 15 years old like it was yesterday. My mom refused to take me to a salon to have my naturally red hair colored professionally, so I hit aisle 7 at Rite Aid and had at it myself.  Box color, Sun-in and every other horrible lightening agent I could get my hands on until my hair literally quit.  It was wonderful to see my client Sherrie arrange for her  15 year old daughter Mara to have an appointment with me.

When Mara walked into p!ay, I knew her hair was in need an update.  I was looking at the typical blonde on top with dark on the bottom.  I’ve seen it a hundred times before and I am sure a million girls have the same look.  Not only was the look dated, the blonde part was unfortunately fried due to another stylists lack of concern for the health of Mara’s hair.   I could tell that Mara was not boring by looking at her.  She initially wanted more blonde and the underneath darkened to black. Yawn.   I suggested other options.   As far as the length of her hair, she wanted to keep it past her shoulders.  I think she would look incredible with it shorter,  but a short cut from the past is fueling her hesitation.   She said she wanted it solid brown.   We had a lengthy consultation discussing the facts that when I covered the blonde, there would be no turning it light again.  This truly was the last chance for this blonde to be converted.  She also had 3 inches of regrowth.     Amanda,  a p!ay stylist who is also working with my clients and I, stepped in to offer a 3rd opinion.  She explained to Mara that if she went from her edgy blonde/dark combo to an all over brown, she was going to hate it by the next week and be bored.  Amanda suggested RED! Mara thought it was a good idea and I couldn’t agree more.

The best part of this transformation was what Mara said at the end: “I love it!” Success!  A tip I shared with her was to put her flat iron away.  Mara had been relying on a flat iron to smooth the frizz on the melted fried blonde part.  Unfortunately adding heat to melted hair only causes breakage and more damage.  Cold air combined with a boar bristle brush is the magic combination. I blew dry that section using the cool shot button on my TGR 4000i blow dryer.  The finished result was shiny, healthy hair.

See more of my work this Wednesday 10/9c on Bravo’s hit show Shear Genius!

Next week I visit the opposite end of the color spectrum as I deduct years from a gray haired woman!  Stay tuned…….

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