Last weekend I had a sunshine day out at the Wireless festival. The weather was insanely hot and perfect for people-watching – I saw so many cute summer looks!

I was lucky enough to be in the VIP section, in between running around the various tents, and I caught up with Jamie Winstone, whose lavender hair is a fun shade for summer, and I loved, loved, loved Paloma Faith’s high-waisted shorts combo as she walked around with her Louis Vuitton trunk and stylish mate; I sat next to them in the Barclaycard party tent and they were so friendly.
Missy Elliot had amazing dancers and was such a great act but unfortunately her P.A. mustn’t have got the memo about Germany beating England in the World Cup so she was booed throughout the second half of her performance as she wore a German tracksuit!
My girl Lisa wore an Isabel Marant dress and summer boots with hair that was softly tousled and got featured in Grazia. At the moment she is my “thinspiration” as I hit the gym daily and get my ass kicked by a trainer (her summer wardrobe is too good to miss a “friend-lend”!).
Mostly I loved the girls in super-short shorts with brown vintage men’s shoes or super-high Chloe wedges. I saw so many braids and fun dyed locks.
Halfway through the day I bumped into James Mahon, my make-up artist friend, and we took people-watching to a new level! Definitely worth a mention were all the neon lipsticks and double lashes.
At Lisa’s before I covered my limbs with Scott Barnes (Jennifer Lopez’s make-up artist) body bling (so shimmery and pretty – you must try it, ladies!). It was my first half-naked outing this summer and the adornment gave me so much more confidence…
We had so much fun that we have booked a Yute for V festival. And scrambled after Latitude tickets. Roll on, summer fun!

On Friday night I ventured out to club land after a period of long, leisurely dining in my favourite restaurants Nobu Berkley and Bistroteque.
My appetite had been whetted two weeks previously when I turned up at the infamous Pooldisco at Shoreditch House to find it in full swing with an eclectic crowd of exotic Belgian fashionistas, New York extroverts and the coolest cutest East End crowd.
So after a late dinner with friends on the Shoreditch rooftop we set off to what seemed like another world. The club Caligula is held in The Bathhouse in Liverpool Street, and it’s a den of cavernous, Moroccan-tiled booths hidden by heavy velvet curtains. It felt like walking into the Blitz Club. The music was electro and house. I went to see the DJ Krisdangelis, who is managed by my friend Mark Herman, and it was such an amazing night.
I bumped into friends with eccentric looks that I have styled since the Kashpoint days. I snapped a few shots with my iphone and thought I would include them here.
Caligula should for sure be on your lists of things to do. It was creative eye candy heaven!


Click here for all the Caligula photos

On my way to Brazil and Argentina, I picked up the box set of Mad Men, the multi award-winning series set in the early 1960′s. I love to watch episodes back to back so I can really absorb shows. I do it all the time and long-hal travel is the perfect opportunity. So in between work and late at night, I sat and soaked in the styling and characters.
I am obsessed with Betty Draper – a well-heeled Grace Kelly doppelganger/ former model/princess/Daddy’s little girl.
And of course I’m obsessed with her hair. The way she moves from one look to another with perfectly coiffed yet simple styling… I rewound so many scenes just to study her hair!

Being in Buenos Aires at the time, I felt like I was in my own Mad Men world because the women here in the restaurants and dancehalls dress in a very similar style, like they are caught in time. I admire it so much and it has such a wonderful glamour to it. Women wrapped in furs with pristine dresses and beautifully coiffed hair dining with their friends late at night…
It makes me wonder if we have lost something in these modern times when we are so keen to wash and go!

When Betty turns up in Rome with the slicked and suited Don Draper, she books into the hotel salon and so turns up to dinner with a breathtaking look matched with a stunning dress. It really made me think.
With salons opening that specialise in these classic techniques, there must be women out there who are also yearning for the glamour of yesteryear!

For me, this weekend marked the beginning of a busy time in the diary – ‘tis wedding season!
Wedding hair has blurred lines these days, I feel. Gone is the need for a pinned-up hairdo that is alien to the bride’s everyday style. With more designers adding wedding dresses to their collections and now that net a porter has a wedding section, it’s easier than ever to be a modern, on-trend bride.
My friend Bex had a wedding weekend!
Bex is a bit of a fashionista. She wears her hair very soft and loose  – a kind of undone Bardot.
For her wedding she wore a Vivienne Westwood gown and towering gold Dior heels. For the day I dressed her hair with a technique I use when getting actresses and singers ready for a red carpet event.

I glued in rows of real hair wefts from the nape of the neck to just below ear level, and then through the sides. I used wefts that had been matched to her hair colour, which is a multi-toned blonde.
The extensions I use are from Hairaisers. They have wefts that have a highlighted effect. I chose three different blends. For the sides I “split the weave” using a fine razor blade so that the hair I put in was extremely fine.
After a big bouncy blow-dry I added the hair, cut it to her length with a razor then tonged the whole head and left it to cool. I always put a mist of dry shampoo in the nape of the neck and sides of the hair. Then, holding Bex’s head upside down, I brushed out for about five minutes with a Mason Pearson, finally back-brushing the underneath a little.

The result is a big, bouncy blow-out that lasts and lasts. The wefts stop the hair looking stringy at the ends and give it a major “expensive” feel.
Bex just looked so modern-day chic! She married in Southwark Cathedral next to Borough Market, then her 220 guests and I got on a private train to Oxford. 

The reception was incredible, with a marquee filled with animals like lions wearing tiaras – it had a real Les Trois Garcons feel to it.
 

The party went on till 4am with amazing DJs and a Glam Tent section, as well as rooms so everyone stayed over. The weekend continued with a BBQ and games and more DJs till Monday.
The next day Bex changed into Isabel Marant and I kept her hair fresh by stealing her away every four hours and brushing her hair out with a Mason Pearson that revived the style.
The one thing that remained un-partied out was her hair!

My wonderful, talented friend James Molloy has his own blog. I love it because it has so many tips on how to get catwalk looks and it’s written in a simple style that is so easy to follow. Also, he gives an honest unbiased guide to products, and this man knows soooooo much about which products really perform and give great results. One of the great privileges of my job is that I get day-to-day tips from him, and I always find James’ make-up ideas make me feel so much better yet still myself – which is important, don’t you think?
Anyhow, here’s an excerpt from his blog. Enjoy x

Now I’m a bit of a sucker for a smokey eye, especially at a show and this season the girls at the Monique Lhullier show in New York did not disappoint. I’m drawn to the Khaki black but not black tones in this look I call it the smokey eye with extras! It works for me as the rock chick classic take on the dark eye felt a little too done for the summer season, in its place came the dirtied, dappled darks that wrapped the eyes in a mussed up veil of colour that felt more mesmerizing.

 Monique Lhuiller SS10

Here are my tips on getting the look -
1. Start by taking a mid toned flat brown eye shadow and circling the eye using a large blending brush. This eye isn’t about a tight shape and using the brown tone first will give you the blown out edge.
2. You want a real depth of colour on the lid so try an eye Kohl as a base all over the eye. I like M.A.C Smoulder as it has a slightly green tone when blended out.
3. Next take a selection of shadows ranging from black to grey and deep green. Using a tapered blender start to diffuse the colour at the outer corners of the eye and in toward the bridge of the nose. If you shadow starts to go patchy I find that a little loose powder blended over the top will help to fade out the colour.
4. Using a black eye kohl rim the inner water line top and bottom making sure to fill in the inner corners of the eye.
5. Use a smaller shadow brush and bend the green/grey shadows underneath the lower lashes. Don’t be scared to take the colour quite low as it helps to open up the eye and balances the shape.
6. Team this eye with a luxe matte skin. Take time on concealing the under eyes, it’s a heavy look so anything to real and your eyes could look heavy.
 
xx

Back in November I attended a P&G conference and saw Sam McKnight showcase the look he designed for the spring/summer 2010 Mulberry collection. If you drive by a Mulberry store you will see that all the mannequins are dressed with this look.
I just love it, in an over-the-top but luxe cool-cute way, and so at SALON SMART I chose it as a look for one of my models. I call it The Super-Crimp.

1. First I prepped the hair with a styling spray to protect it from the heat of the crimpers. This was blown into the hair with a Mason Pearson brush.
2. Using BaByliss Pro Crimpers and starting from the nape of the neck and at the roots, crimp each section for exactly the same amount of time (I am a 10 second girl myself – this is a hairstyle to be truly anal about!) otherwise the result will vary.
3. Make sure that you “link the crimp” – ie, join the grooves so you don’t leave any straight bits.
4. At the sides, crimp backwards instead of downwards to pull the style off the face.
5. Take a Mason Pearson and brush through continually – the more you brush the bigger the hair and the softer the crimp (no 80′s Toyah Wilcox references, please)
6) Walk into the party head held high… and own the look !

I prepped this with Silvikrin Heat Creations blow-dry spray .

Thank you to Skyler, who patiently crimped this on the day with Sabrina from Hari’s while I chatted PR strategies onstage!

To my regular blog readers, apologies for my absence! In the last few weeks I have been to Canada, Rome, Paris and Brazil – and now I am in Argentina. I am on a music promo and have worked many evenings during my normal blog-writing hour!
The world has been brought to a standstill air-wise by the volcanic ash storm, as we know, and it certainly turned my little hair world upside down a few weeks ago too.
The main act for the SALON SMART weekend was stuck in America: Mr Robert Lobetta – legendary hair man/god/guru.
And so I was asked to step in and do the show – a 90-minute talk followed by a 45-minute hair styling show. Well, for those of you not working in the hair world, this is the equivalent of the audience turning up to see Madonna only to find an X Factor finalist on the stage! I mean this man is a walking, talking genius!
Three days to go and I found myself making apologetic phone calls to the hen party peeps that I was meant to be spending a classy debauched weekend with, and instead sitting for four hours in the Hoxton Hotel (great place to spend four hours, fyi) with the calm, serene Joanna Andersen from Creative HEAD magazine, putting together a presentation on salon business.
In a diva-like moment I insisted on a top-class assistant team, who were to prep the models as I stood in front of the 200-plus crowd. In my many hair years I have learnt one huge fact: you are only ever as good as the team you have around you. And so Skyler, Chris Appleton and Zlata Jasenc were summoned.
For the hair part of the show (it’s amazing how much calmer I felt with a head of hair in front of me!) I took catwalk looks from S/S 10 and A/W 10 and styled them out on stage. They are some of my favourite looks, so in my next post I am going to run through them with a How-To.
The audience was made up of people with great businesses and also hairdressers who have certainly inspired me over the years. I like to think that in my X Factor moment I turned out as a Susan Boyle (albeit dressed in Comme des Garcons!).
Thank you to everyone for being a wonderful audience and for a general lack of cabbage throwing!

So, with braids everywhere I look, I have revisited a colour trend that I learned a few years back – colour braiding
This involves back-combing sections of the hair and plaiting sections that I secure with a band. I then apply lightener or hair tint to the braids. I’m lifting the hair a few shades lighter, then either leaving them or washing over a colour wash.
This results in a multi-textured colour effect that’s sooo cute on a bob and mid-length haircut – a kind of beachy lightening effect. I am using tint through the top of the braid with lightener on the ends for a softer effect. The added bonus is that the client gets to look on-trend throughout the whole process – braids are so much more hip than foil!
You can practise on a doll’s head and try out different braids and tones; that way you can perfect your technique without any dramas! But actually, it’s pretty failsafe!
Bring that Alexander Wang reference to the colour rooms, I say x

 
Four months ago I  advised a salon to take on a hair extension service with a difference: a bespoke service that made pieces in a matched-up shade to be clipped into clients’ hair .
The biggest reason was the fact that the Miu Miu / Alexander Wang side braid was going to be a HUGE trend for summer hair, and a hairpiece that can be matched to one’s hair colour, and clipped into the back of one’s barnet meant it would be a trend that most girls could embrace (except you, Agyness  – you shaved it all off!).

In true Blue Peter style, I will show you in my next blog just how to do it. This is the time for accessorising hair with all manner of things that can be pinned and clipped into it.
Daniel Hersheson’s salons are always way ahead of the game. (As a trend junkie, I have often considered changing my name to Zoe Hersheson just to move my career along!) They have just launched a hairpiece range, with a braid due in the shops very soon. But for now here are the hair bows.

Hair bows are everywhere, from Liberty to TopShop. I am really interested in the American Apparel range. I love the fact that you can buy them online.
As a salon owner, I suggest you order them in and use them in clients’ hair throughout the summer – you’ll make many a girl’s day/date!
Here’s my choice from American Apparel…

The talented Nuno sent me this – and of course I had to share it with you. He has become my biggest inspiration. Look out for my interview with Nuno, when I discover the story behind the man, but in the meantime relish this!

My, how I love this cream!
I was once advised by a well-groomed man that nothing betrays a woman’s age as much as her hands and elbows. As I grew up I remember my grandmother and mother constantly applying two things: lipstick and  hand cream.
Happy as I am to be known as a hairdresser, the one thing that I do not wish for is “hairdresser’s hands”.
I have used Sisleya hand cream for years. It’s won countless beauty awards and I can understand why – it’s the equivalent of using an amazing anti-ageing facial cream on your hands.
Using Sisleya means your skin changes texture and your hands stay supple and moisturised all day. I always pop it on my elbows too.

This winter Sisley brought out a second cream. This new version includes extract of Harpagophytum, which is known to help flexibility, and also lavender. I carry it with me and it has soothed my hands and protected them from winter chapping.
It lasts a long time as it’s highly concentrated. So although it cost more than the products I used before, on a cost per wear basis, it’s pennies!

In the last six weeks I have tended the locks of Pixie Lott, Leona Lewis and Kimberly Walsh. I have also, of course, been with other artists and styled the hair of models on shoots, but these three women are the crucial factor to me now, having been befriended on the Facebook pages of my nieces and nephews and god-daughter.
It would appear they have dubbed me “the cool aunty”. This has led to me being updated with snap-shots of their lives, and this, in turn, has made me reconsider my own style.
On a birthday shopping trip with my 12-year-old super-cool god-daughter to TopShop I realised in horror that many of the clothes I was buying for her were size 6 versions of items in my own wardrobe!
This led to me making the change to pencil skirts and shirts and, on a recent shopping trip, to buying Comme des Garcons and Maison Martin Margiela, whereas before I headed to Marc Jacobs and Luella.
Mainly it has led me to notice the trends kids pick up on, and even wonder where some of them have come from.
My god-daughter has taken to parting her hair incredibly low on one side (an inch above her ear,) with a kind of super-sweep long fringe that she peeps out beneath with her head tilted to one side; meanwhile, two of my nephews look like they have walked through a wind tunnel backwards. Not that I would be so “un-hip” as to comment. I just wonder where the two trends came from?
Wind effects are not new to the catwalk (I was at a McQueen show where it was a main feature) but I have never seen hair like this!
I think it may have been a trend that got exaggerated – I noticed it first among the Public School tribe.
Of course, as I can help out with products to keep these styles in place, this means that I am warmly greeted on family visits as I arrive armed with a bag full of mousse, gel, hairspray and flat.
I am sure I will go back to being un-cool in time, but right now I am enjoying “my moment”.

These beauty pics are from RUSSH magazine. Make-up by Mariel Barrerro.  I luuuuuuuuurve the attitude and the style!

Where do all the hairdryer nozzles go? I think they are like socks that get lost in the wash. I have found myself having to spend £120 this week on a new hairdryer, simply because I have lost my nozzles (and yes, they come with two!).
My dryer of choice is the WAM dryer, made by Neil Moodie, the session supremo, and Windle hair salon. It’s a match made in hair heaven!
But now I find myself nozzle-less at the end of a promo trip, with one day in England until I travel off to Warsaw for work. And how could I work without a nozzle? I know of hairdressers who tape the nozzle onto their dryer to avoid this scenario, but I use a dryer without a nozzle for 50% of the time – so that’s no good for me.
While tearing apart my hair cupboard in a panic, I have found five nozzles for other dryers.
Then it hit me! Assuming I can’t be the only one facing this scenario, shouldn’t there be a website where you can buy these sad little homeless nozzles? I know there must be a WAM nozzle out there that would be delighted to be adopted by me!
“Good home given to WAM nozzle. Loving hair family. Must love to travel and be happy to work in fashion.”
So, I have four Parlux nozzles and one BaByliss Pro. All going spare. If you write to me I will happily put them in the post to you, dear blog reader. All must go to good homes. xx

Following James’ liner piece I found these images from Nuno da Costa. Amazing!

I just love Goldie Hawn. Here are some of my favourite Goldie looks

In Germany I came across this magazine – TUSH. Just incredible! I love the beauty shoots especially; the images are beautiful and also incredibly inspirational.
They have a website with archives of all the issues and as you scroll down you can see all of the shoots.
It’s addictive! Story after story… Amazing tones… Amazing hair (look out for Esther Langham a friend of mine and a hair genius)… I highly recommend you take a look. In the meantime here’s a taster.

If you can’t see the above video, please click here
James White tracked me down on Facebook and sent me this video of a blo-out. I was touched! I’m all for a good tutoria ! And sitting in my hotel room in Brussels (my fourth city this week) it was wondrous to know that I had a regular blog reader!
Instantly flattered, I watched the YouTube clip, and it’s really good! I think some ladies would find it really useful and it’s an easy way to learn a blo out. The hairstylist in me would tease it out a bit when taking out the sections, and I would brush it with a Mason Pearson at the end.
Thank you James!

One of the best things about being a session stylist is the amazing people that I get to work with. I thought it would be interesting to feature a few of my friends, and share with you their inspirations and thoughts.
James Molloy and I work together constantly, having met many years ago backstage. He has been a MAC senior artist for over six years and helps head up their education and training team, as well as keeping busy with edtorial, celebrity and advertising. 
We have similar backgrounds, having both worked for many years in Milan, New York, Paris and London on the shows, and I also have had a close relationship with MAC. Seasonally after the shows MAC do a presentation day for all the beauty press and I have been responsible for the hair looks on these days. Now we also work as a team with celebrity clients getting them ready for red carpet events and going on tour with them. We have a lot of fun as well!
I love picking James’ brains about the make-up side of the shows and what he’s seen coming up for the next season.  With 21 shows under his belt for AW/10 alone, including Chloe, Vivienne Westwood, Richard Nicoll and Sonia Rykiel, I’ve taken advantage of our 10-day promo trip together to get his view on all things make-up!

Liner Lover
When I started out as a make-up artist there were three things I felt I should master as soon as possible: the red lip, the smoky eye and the perfect black eye liner.
Liner, for me, is the ultimate classic eye make-up. It can be playfully kicked up at the corners, worn-in and sexy, or straight and tough-looking, but it always makes a statement about the wearer. Getting your liner right, however, is a whole other subject as many of my girlfriends will agree. Here are my top tips and products to help you get the liner you want.

1. Make sure that your liner brush is in good condition; you won’t get a sharp line if your brush bristles are bent.
2. Tip your head backwards when looking in the mirror. This will expose your eye lid and make it easier to draw your line.
3. Choose your texture. Some people feel more comfortable with a gel or a liquid but don’t be scared to map out your liner in pencil first.
4. Keep some cotton buds handy. I love using the Muji mini cotton buds for correcting any mistakes. They are really precise and can sharpen the edge of liner that’s started to get out of control.
5. For a totally jet black lash line, use an eye kohl on the upper rim of your eye lid. MAC’s Graphblack is perfect for this as it stays put for hours.
6. I love Elizabeth Arden’s smoky eye pencil in black as it’s really soft but dry so won’t smudge too much; it’s great for sketching out a rough line.
7. I’m really into using my Guerlain liquid liner at the moment as it has the perfect brush for creating a super-fine liner that’s not too over powering.
8. To make your liner really stand out set it against a beautifully creamy base.

My liner inspirations …

This is still a real liner moment for me, courtesy of Charlotte Tilbury for Louis Vuitton.

Anita Eckberg in La Dolce Vita – this liner is referenced so much backstage at the shows and I love the strength of the angle.

No season goes by at the shows without many variations on the black liner and this season didn’t fail. My favourite looks were Blumarine, who had a take on the Fierce Fellini flick of La Dolce Vita fame; and Jeremy Scott, where Val Garland created a beautifully broken 60′s eye inspired by Julie Anne Moore in A Single Man.

Blumarine – A softer take on a sharp shape. To get this black coffee eye, start with a black eye kohl inside the waterline then shape your flicks using a black gel liner and an angled brush. Soften the whole look by blending a rich brown shadow over the liner.

Jeremy Scott – This look starts with a classic 50′s flick in a liquid line, with the rest of the lines following this as a guide. Use a pencil first to get your outline then, when your happy with the shape, go over it with a liquid or gel liner.