Say Good Bye to Bad Hair Days
Haircuts are truly transformative, which is why a bad haircut is all it takes for many of us to shy away from visiting the salon. As the beauty industry continues to evolve, the importance of a great haircut is often overlooked by many stylists. Throughout the years, I have seen and heard it all when it comes to your hair concerns. Many of us can walk out of the salon feeling like we received a great haircut only to discover we have no idea how to style it on our own. That is why I prioritize educating my clients on the proper tools and products to use on their hair to achieve similar results at home.
Trust the Process
When it comes to my haircut process, I like to begin with a detailed consultation every visit. I focus on three important components: your daily routine, career lifestyle, and general lifestyle. This allows me to understand how you style your hair and how much effort you are willing to put into the look. For example, someone who is on the go with a busy career or perhaps has children and is always on the run, I would give something low maintenance and simple for styling.
In addition, we talk about what their thoughts are for themselves and what their end goal is. Once we have a mutual understanding of what look we are going for, I will send you off to shampoo, followed by a clean natural blowout first. If you are someone where looking your best is imperative, I will talk about more of a statement haircut and styling routine. For example, a blowdry package? or the right hot tool choice and hair care system for at-home prep!
My Method
For longer-length hair, I use a dry-cut technique, as this allows more control and lessens the likelihood of over-cutting. The most common concern I hear behind the chair is that the client wants to maintain the length but is constantly worried about cutting too much off. Something I like to call haircut trauma. Sometimes all it takes is that one bad experience to ruin each visit to the hair salon. With this technique, clients return to my chair more often to promote healthy hair growth.
It may sound counter-intuitive to visit the salon more frequently when the end goal is to grow your hair. This misconception is why many of us do not visit the salon as often, yet our hair never seems to grow past a certain length. Frequent trims are essential for removing dead-ends and allowing new, healthy hair to take its place.
Using a "Fairy Dust” method, I clean up the already established line and create shape. When it comes to the face-framing in a cut, cowlicks and possible weak points can easily be over-cut when the hair is cut wet because the tension changes. Using this as your vision will help troubleshoot things we may not control when the hair is in a frozen state. Therefore, I create strong lines in the perimeter to support the soft free form cutting I do within the interior of the hair.
Over the years of perfecting this technique, I have come to find my clients are more confident in me as their stylists. Clients become more open to coming in closer for haircuts because they learn that taking off the fuzzy stuff supports their healthy hair growth. A technique created around trusting the process.
My Journey
What made me become a hairstylist was a combination of true love for the art of hairstyling and ironically, my own experience with haircut trauma. I grew up with a fabulous Aunt who worked in the industry for over 40 years. She was someone who inspired me to do what I love and taught me everything I know about hair, communication, and creating good wholesome relationships in the industry. Having a family member who knew how to cut hair seemed like a blessing, but all jokes aside, she also gave me some of my least favorite haircuts.
My aunt cut predominantly using the wet technique, which lead her to often over-cut my hair when sometimes all I wanted was a minor tweak here and there. At the young age of 9, I started to understand the art of haircutting. I cut my own bangs at 6 (not my best work), but it quickly escalated from there. I loved to watch America's next top model and critique how the hairstylist did the hair for editorial shoots. Now being able to style for my own editorial shoots, which you can find in my portfolio, my younger self would be pinching herself.
As I got older, I was too cool to go to my aunt for haircuts, so I ventured out into going to a salon. As most of us have experienced, finding a stylist we fully trust with our precious hair is a difficult task. I must have had a haircut from every stylist and for too many years I just never felt heard. At that moment, as a freshman in high school, I knew I wanted to be a hairstylist to be the change the hair industry desperately needed.
Professional Career
The road to becoming a professional hairstylist began at the Aveda Institute in NYC. From there, I took on many roles in the beauty industry. As an educator for Drybar, and worked in 3 of their top NYC locations. I also trained under several master stylists at Warren Tricomi, including Edward Tricomi himself. Today, I am the founder of You Look Stella, a place where both men and women can feel educated and supported when it comes to their hair. I have created a technique for dry haircutting that improves hair growth and healthy trust between stylist and client. Currently, I am a senior stylist at LRNBeautyNYC.
“Truthfully, the best thing about my job is when clients feel so incredibly confident and feel more in touch with hair care because they finally have the proper knowledge. Overall, I wanted to support clients who don't feel heard, giving hair care clarity to all!”
My specialties include precision dry haircutting and various hair extensions, along with incredible hair care knowledge when it comes to products. You can find me on fashion and editorial shoots or styling hair for brides-to-be when I am not behind the chair.
LRN Beauty NYC
LRN Beauty is a hidden gem in the heart of the West Chelsea Art gallery district. We are a hair salon, but we also feature exclusive emerging artists seen throughout the salon. This is a fantastic feature for our clients because there is always something new to look forward to on your next visit.
Aside from that, the Founder of LRN Beauty NYC also has a bridal agency where you can inquire about on-location bridal services or special occasions with any of her LRNstylist. Being an independent salon, we are a small curated team of talented artists. We all have our specialties, so you can feel you're getting top-quality services from true professionals. We offer a broad range of services from traditional hair services like cut and color to extensions, keratin, bridal, brow needs, lashes exclusive earring and jewelry line by Glitter is The New Black and continually growing with more to come. We are your one-stop shop for just about anything you need!
We are also well known for our presence on "TikTok" for our Behind the scene TikToks. From time to time, you may notice a few TikTok stars in the chair next to you. Icons like Serena Kerrigan, Audrey Peters, and Davis Burleson from time to time in the salon. As small businesses, we value what other small businesses have to bring to the industry. We love to stay inspired and collab with other small businesses and indie brands. As the master stylist of LRN, I keep myself motivated by always being open to new brands and education. I am constantly trying out new products and doing further research as my clients bring me new concerns as they go through their hair journey.
My Recommendations
As a hairstylist, I have tried an array of products throughout the years, and only a few brands have made it to the LRN Beauty shelves for everyday use. I now offer product consultations for those of you looking to discover which products I use and exactly how to use them. Book a product consultation with me today to discover which products work best for you to achieve salon results at home. Here are some of my favorite products to use on clients:
Milbon creative texture sprays 4 - great for giving volume without the sticky grit feel. Powder-based so it can reduce the look of oily roots. Soft perfume smell.
Milbon luminous oil - Comes in fine or coarse for different textures. Softens and adds body without weighing down the style. It provides heat protection for dry styling. A little goes a long way!
Virtue scalp scrub- Promotes scalp circulation and cleansing. Soft beads that dissolve.
Milbon Plarmia mousse- Perfect air drying mousse. Super lightweight but has medium hold when round brush styling. give hair high shine and detangling properties
Loreal root spray- Great for emergencies if you can't get to the salon in time! A light mist that easily shampoos out. Temporarily covers grey or regrowth, with multiple colors available to choose from.
Must Have Hot Tools
Dyson Hairdryer/ Parlux powerlight385: high quality, compact sizing, powerful.
Bio ionic Curling iron gold series: long-lasting, visually, really lovely. Comes in every size.
GHD Flat iron- temperature control technology, curved design for seamless use: no creasing. Easy to create a flat iron curl.
Hair is meant for accessorizing and LRN Beauty offers a wide selection of hair accessories that can be purchased after your visit to spice up your hair game. Check out my favorite ways to accessorize:
Chunky headbands: Great for a pop of color when going monochrome next day blowout.
Large claw clip: Helps preserve blowouts with creases while still looking cute.
Silk hair scarf: Wear it bandana style to tame the volume. Wear it in a tied-up or knotted headband for less tension at the hairline.
Over-sized silk scrunchies: Great for messy buns, ponytails, and low ponies. Satin is a flexible, naturally conditioning material that can give more slip and less tension.
Wide brim hat: Great for changing a look up and also perfect for bad hair days or hiding oily roots! In the fall especially, going with the cozy vibe, little woo-woo witchy, Stevie Nicks moment!
For more recommendations on products, tools, and hairstyles, be sure to subscribe the You Look Stella blog, to never miss a post and stay in the know with all my Stella Secrets. Join the You Look Stella community today by following me on Instagram @you_look_stella for all the behind the scenes of the LRN Beauty salon.
If you are sitting in my chair, you can feel confident that you will be receiving the highest quality service, both in cut and style. It can challenging to find a hairstylist who understands your vision and can bring it to life, but I have made it my mission to give sustainable haircuts that will have you already wanting to book your next appointment.
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