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Party Season Style Guide

‘Tis the season of gatherings galore, squeal. So we dialled up two of the hottest hair gurus in the business to help bring you our Party Season Style Guide. You’re welcome.

Here Adam Reed, ghd Global Ambassador and Steve Rowbottom, co-owner of Westrow, put their heads together to bring you their top five festive looks for AW18 and reveal how to create them for clients.

Adam hit us up…

Pic credit: Marta Jakubowski
Pic credit: Marta Jakubowski AW18, Photo from: @10magazine @jasonlloydevans

1. Cool Girl Curl
“Eighties hair is having a real revival at the moment. The hair looks and feels glossy and healthy, as opposed to the original crispy curls of the era,” says Adam. “To create this look, start by prepping hair with ghd curl hold spray and run a serum through the ends to mimic the shine. Create volume and texture in the hair using the ghd air hairdryer and diffuser. To define the curls, take small sections, twist and wrap hair around the tip of the ghd curve creative curl wand. Once the hair is curled, release and shakeout with the head upside down to add more volume. Alternate the direction of the curls for a multi-textural curled finish. Finish with a big spritz of shine spray for added gloss.”

2. Slicked Back Chic
“Slicked back hair is a look that is somewhat timeless,” insists Adam. “Each season, we see new ways of this wet-look being recreated and restyled, and for this season it’s very much in a pulled-back, sophisticated way. To create this look, product is key and preparation is minimal. Start by wetting the hair with a light weight oil and comb it through to create a gappy texture at the front of the hair using the ghd detangling comb. Next, pull the hair back and secure into a ponytail using an elastic, so the finish on the pony is defined and precise. 

Alexander Wang
Pic credit: @Alexanderwangny

“Finally, twist the ponytail up and bring forward to the front of the head. Ensure this is neat and that all the hairs are in place and not pocking through. Secure and hold with a large crocodile clip. Finish with a spritz of ghd final shine spray to lacker any flyaways down and create an ultra gothic and glossy finish.”

3. Kick Back Wave
“I’m obsessed with loose, undone, but highly stylised waves. I call it a kick back wave – soft and relaxed but precise and well placed,” explains Adam. “With this look, start by prepping hair with an oil so the hair is still shiny and looks nourished. Next, gently dry it with the ghd air hairdryer, combing the oil through and drying with a diffuser to create body.” 

Isabel Marant
Pic credit: IsabelmarantEté 2019. Photo: @bleumanet

He adds: “To create the kinks and waves, use the ghd platinum+ styler. Start at the root of the hair and run the styler down until it reaches eye level. At this point, start to create the texture in the hair, rocking the styler back and forth, and almost flicking your wrist to create the kick back wave. Finish with a spritz of dry texturizing spray to take off the sheen off the hair but maintain the condition. 

Tell us what you’ve got Steve…

4. Freeze Frame
“Crimping is back, but not as we remember it,” says Steve. “Forget all those late 80s memories of clients frying their hair on crimpers, this time around it comes in a far-more sophisticated guise. Sonia Rykiel’s AW18 show demonstrated just how much volume, body and width you can add to the hair by crimping and then – crucially – brushing out the curls. ”

Westrow AW18
Pic credit: Westrow Frizz Frame Collection

But for a truly glamorous take on this trend, use the Halpern AW18 show as a style reference. There, models wore hair pulled tightly back into a sleek power pony with the entire length of the ponytail crimped and brushed out for serious body, texture and volume. To get the look, pull hair back into a sleek pony, using hairspray to keep flyaways at bay. Then, either plait the ponytail into multiple tiny braids, run hair straighteners over them, and then undo the plaits, or alternatively, use a pair of crimpers.” 

5. Pony Club
“The quintessential gym-bunny ponytail has been injected with glamour and become a mainstay on the red carpet, as well as a catwalk fixture season after season,” explains Steve. “At Fashion Week AW18, Off-White, House of Holland and Mark Fast all showcased the glamorous simplicity of a slick power pony, while at Palmer Harding, the traditional ponytail was reconstructed, with hair wrapped into a loop and ends were left un-tucked for an effortless-looking finish.”

Steve continues: “These modern ponytails are incredibly fierce, yet manage to tick so many wearability boxes: they have an ultra-feminine feel, yet they give off a powerful message that says you mean business. This new type of pony requires plenty of length – extensions if necessary – with enough hair left to wrap around the base of the pony or into a loop.

Mark Fast SS19
Pic Caption: Mark Fast SS19. Hair by @mariakovacs from @tigicopyright @bedheadbytigi. Photo by @mikeolliston

“To re-create the new season’s reconstructed pony, blow-dry the hair smooth, and run through with straighteners to create a glassy finish. Pull the hair back into a super-tight, mid-height ponytail (to keep the look very AW18 either opt for a deep side parting or no parting) and secure with a band. Finally, twist the length of the pony until it coils back on itself and pin in place, leaving the ends sticking out, for an undone finish. Hairspray is a must to ensure the look remains slick and flyaway-free.

“When the hair is fully crimped and cool, it’s time to brush – the idea is to get that ponytail as big and fluffy as possible. Finally, use a comb to backcomb sections of the ponytail for added texture, height and a light halo of frizz, before spraying with texture spray to finish.”

Festive fever 

So now that you’re buzzing with inspiration, make sure you step out of your comfort zone in the salon this Christmas and move away from the fail-safe Duchess of Cambridge blow-dries. Go on, we dare you!

Respect is a hub for UK hairdressers of all ages and stages to find out what We Love, We Hearand We Seeas the best product launches, styling advice, hairtools, education training and seminars and hairshows! Sign up to our newsletter which is sent fortnightly direct to your email, so you stay up-to-date with salon styling information, trends in session work, advice on presenting on stage or progress in educating – whatever your interest, whether you’re a trainee or creative director, an educator or team leader, you’ll find all the opportunities and ideas on www.respectyou.me

We love hairdressing; we see and we hear how you can become the best hairdresser, colourist and salon owner possible. Contact us if you’d like to know more about us. If it’s worth talking about, you’ll read it here.

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