Loren's Final Photos and Slide Rock

Well it's been a hot minute, hasn't it!? With my new full-time gig at Google in full swing, the holidays, roller derby, my dog and so many cups of coffee to tackle, I've been busy. In all this madness, I realized I never posted any of the final images from Loren's big day last summer.

I had a wonderful time in Sedona, and had some quality time with a bestie. Not only did we share the big day with Loren and her family, but we visited Slide Rock and slid down some rocks (duh).

Probably one of the funniest pictures of all times. If you could only see the aftermath of the large Hawaiian man that ended up on top of me at the end of this slide. Hope that mental image made your day as much as it did mine.

As far as Loren's styling, what an afternoon! I ended up styling most of the bridal party. Some of the most gorgeous, thickest, longest hair I've styled, which you know takes a great deal of time. Combined with some Arizona heat, and I was cookin'!

Below is a great shot of Loren's hair later in the day. Don't mind the fly-aways--roll with it ;) Between her and Dan and Vanessa, I'd say this picture is officially categorized under "adorbs".

It's Creepin'...

...back into wedding season! 

I'm just about to start back into my whirlwind of trial runs; my first being none other than one of my dearest girlfriends, Loren. She and I actually worked together a few years back and have been friends ever since. She's moved to Arizona with her fiancée, Dan, and together they have started a brand new life, in a gorgeous new home, in Prescott. Her wedding is going to be held in Sedona, AZ--I hadn't heard of it either until my mom ventured there for a girls weekend. 

Kind of peed my pants a little at how breathtaking nature in Sedona, AZ can be:

Spas, pools, hiking, driving something called the "Pink Jeeps" I keep hearing about, 70s themed hotels, all so awesome, and totally unknown to me until the other week!

And even better, I hear everything is themed that fantastic turquoise/sand color combination down there. Right down to the old Mickey D's (kind of gross, but kind of made me LOL):

But I digress...(can you tell I'm looking forward to travelling to Sedona?)

Loren is going to look fan-friggin'-tastic. She's got this bodacious feather dress, with a fitted strapless top. We're going with a tousled, side up-do, and keeping it natural will the products. I advised her to get a feather hair-piece made with the same materials as the dress as well as a large white flower to match her bouquet. You can see she doesn't need much to make her glow--Loren's beautiful, hilarious, spunky, fun-loving spirit is going to shine brighter than those Sedona mountains. 

I see a Chloe-Monster spying in the background. PS Ugly red flower is mine, just for the trial run :)

Text to bestie: "OMG. My hair! Look!" Bestie's response: "You look stunning!"

Don't wait until the last minute to book your trial run for your wedding! My weekends are filling up fast and I hope to meet some new friends this season. xoxo-Lexi 

Scrumptious.

The divine Brigitte Bardot. 

I create beauty through styling hair--the trans-formative process, the instant gratification of taking a person from one point to another in a short period of time through changing their hair. At some point over the past few years, I've noticed a gradual shift from being simply interested in hair, to wanting to understand this process. I'm a student to only myself and have taught myself through trial and error and exploration.

I'm exceedingly proud of these photos. The technical aspect of this shoot was a lot more challenging than I had anticipated, but I listened to my gut, made suggestions for styling, and worked collaboratively with the photographer to achieve the looks she was also envisioning. A photo shoot is different than any other styling situation as you're working with another person to create beauty--you must both agree that this is the message, the image, you are conveying to your audience. You're telling a story, and you want to make sure it's the story you had set out to tell. 

There were a total of 5 styles, 2 photographers, 2.5 models (there were also two adorable little girls at the shoot in pretty little things), a make up artist and myself. Photos were taken in San Anselmo, CA on one of the loveliest days of the summer.. Below are some of the photos for your enjoyment. 

Ms. Bardot, circa 2010.

Precious.

"I don't know, I just wake up and look like this"

I love this. Love.

succulent. 

had to sneak one in of me in action. 

More pictures to come. Stay tuned, lovelies! 

Birthdays and Bombshells

 UPDATE: Here are some of the photos from the shoot on Saturday! eeeek! So pretty!


As I mentioned in my last post, my 28th birthday was spent doing what I love: big, beautiful, fabulous hair! I arrive at Silvana's home to find two lovely models, two photographers and a very talented make up artist. Silvana, per usual, had an awesome spread of munchies, complete with my newest obsession: Elderflower Presse sipped with pinky-up out of vintage champagne glasses. I'm so bougie. After discovering the food (which always catches my attention first), we got right to work and creating lovely photos.

Silvana gave me some guidance but for the most part let me have full reign over what looks I wanted to create on both models. My inpirations were "Boho Bold" and "Vintage Rose", both equally scrumptious styles. We did three different looks for both models, but I was only able to snap some quick iPhone photos of the last two styles.  Both models had lovely hair to start with which made my life easier.

For the first style below, I used a sea salt texturizing spray by Aquage to make her hair "dirty" so it would hold a more natural wave to it. Then in very tiny sections, I used a 1" curling iron without the clamp to create a soft, loose curl. I pinned the curls to her head with large bobby pins as we went along so they cooled in messy, tossled look. Once I finished curling, I then took out each individual piece and backcombed it to create the look Silvana wanted: a brushed out perm. I recurled the pieces around her face to make they feel away from her face correctly and did a severe middle part to speak to the Bohemian look.

The next image is of the other model we styled--it was one of her first gigs as a model, and holy hell,this girl is a gem. She's guh-orgeous and to top it off, so humble and sweet. We did her hair in three very different styles, this one below was the third. I did a Spanish-inspired side chignon to show off her collar bone (the most elegant part on a woman, I think), and let's not even talk about this bangin' vintage dress. I'm not above eating rice cakes for an entire month to fit in it. And, I'd wear it simply around my house. Just because I could.

This style was a lot more technically challenging as I had to make sure it was smooth and chic, pulled back at the correct location on her head and the bun itself was balanced and not lopsided. I curled individual pieces with a 1 1/2" curling iron and pinned it back on itself. I then kept a piece of hair on the outside to wrap it around the base of the bun, to cover up bobby pins and any other imperfections in the style. I added a dark red succulent for accent (taken out for this picture) and voila!

I cannot wait to see the finished products of this shoot! Really, I can't imagine a better way to spend my birthday, creating loveliness.

We, of course ended the shoot by drinking champagne out of jars, making do with a candle we found, and eating birthday cake. Thank you all for an incredible day!