I recently had the opportunity to work with photographer Paul Costello, who was in Los Angeles shooting some advertising content for Vera Bradley handbags. It was a long but fun three day shoot and what better place to work than on the beach in Malibu! 

Since this was a commercial/lifestyle advertising shoot taking place on the beach, I wanted to keep all of the models’ hair as natural as possible while still being “done”. We are selling hand bags, not hair, so I aimed to create styles that would only accentuate the vibe and not distract from our main goal. 

I prepped the girls’ hair with my Kevin Murphy Body.Builder volumizing mousse, applying to damp hair, and blow dried using my new Amika Power Cloud + Repair Blow Dryer (www.loveamika.com). I absolutely love this blow dryer! Using some of the most groundbreaking technology on the market, this dryer generates 100x more negative ions that leaves hair soft, healthy, and static-free.

After setting volume and wave during the blowout, I went through afterwards section by section wrapping 1” pieces of hair  using my Enzo Milano interchangeable curling wands (www.enzomilano.com). I applied my Kevin Murphy Damage.Manager heat protectant spray before hitting the hair with the iron, and set some pieces of hair away from the face and some forward to create that natural textured movement. 

Since I knew we were working on the beach and the models were going to be outside most of the day, I made sure to use the right products on the hair that would work well with the humid environment. I relied on my Kevin Murphy Doo.Over Dry Powder Texturizing Spray to hold volume in the hair and Hair.Resort Beach Texturizer to add slight grit and hold. 

I feel whenever you are working on location, knowing what environmental factors are going to come into play is key. Looking at the weather ahead of time and understanding how the conditions will manipulate the hair will help you decide how to set the hair to last and what products to use to leave it looking the best.

My Amika Blow Dryer helped tremendously to keep all of the hair smooth during the blowouts and my Enzo Milano irons further smoothed the cuticle and helped lock in the styles…all the way down to sunset on another epic shoot!

Photo Credits:

Photographer: Paul Costello @ Sarah Laird

Makeup: Jo Baker @ Forward Artists

Hair: J. Michael @ DLMLA 

Thanks for viewing; over & out!

xx J

Every day is a delight when I’m working with my muse, Chanel Grey. We teamed up recently for a comeback shoot with Hardkor, creator of Hardkor Hats, for an out-of-this-world editorial shoot in Los Angeles. 

I’ve been inspired by retro fashion, the 1970s, and disco culture…and all of these themes came together as the creative direction for this series. 

I wanted to capture an era, a lifestyle, a magical moment in time. The late 1970s were a pivoting point in American pop-culture. It was post ’60s Cold War and hippie counterculture, and that sense of creative freedom and liberation carried on into the later decades.

In order to create this massive blown-black ’70s hair, I started Chanel off with a blow dry using my Enzo Milano blow dryer (www.enzomilano.com). 

I prepped the hair with Kevin Murphy’s Body.Builder volumizing mousse and Anti.Gravity volumizing spray focusing on the products on the roots. I then combined that with Kevin Murphy’s Full.Again thickening lotion and applied it from the mid-ends. 

I set massive curl and wave during the blowout with my Ibiza Pro boar bristled round brushes (www.ibizahair.com). These are my favorite brushes to blow dry with! The dense bristles provide maximum tension and the cork handles allows a firm grip on the brush. 

After blow drying, I went through with my Enzo Milano 1” curling wand. I wrapped 1” sections of hair away from the face starting at the front working my way to the back. 

I gave the hair a thorough brushing with my Mason Pearson (www.masonpearson.co.uk) to create softness to the style and shook everything out with Kevin Murphy’s brand new Doo.Over dry powder finishing spray. I am absolutely obsessed with this new product and am so glad Kevin Murphy finally came out with a dry texturizing spray! 

This helped create lots of added texture and volume to the style while locking in the hold all while keeping the hair movable and flowy. 

I am obsessed with this 1970’s inspired hair fit for a disco queen and am glad I got to share some of the secrets behind it. 

All of my Kevin Murphy hair products I use on set can be found exclusively on their website (www.kevinmurphy.com.au) and I highly recommend trying out their new Doo.Over dry powder finishing spray. A must-have for every stylist and client alike!

Until next time beauty queens…

Thanks for viewing; over & out!

xx J 

The team is at it again. I am always pleased to be working alongside dynamic duo Photographer Aaron Smith and wardrobe stylist Lwany Smith. This time we linked up with Makeup Artist Jessie Bishop to shoot an editorial series featuring models Magdelena @Two Management, Elijah Diamond @Photogenics LA, and Isabelle Sauer @Two Management. 

The vibe of the shoot was childish, playful, and a little bit grunge. Autumn is finally among us in Los Angeles and this was the perfect shoot to kickstart the season into full gear.

I aimed to keep everybody’s hair natural and a little deconstructed with lots of matte texture. I wanted to create a loose grungy feel without being too glossy or wet-looking. 

For Isabelle’s hair, I was obsessed with her edgy layered haircut and wanted to eccencuate it as much as possible. I blew her out with Kevin Murphy’s Body.Builder volumizing mousse focusing the product on the root and combined that with Kevin Murphy’s Full.Again thickening lotion.

I went through after and wrapped 1” sections all around the head using my Enzo Milano 1” conico curling wand making sure to keep everything away from the face, and shook the style out with Kevin Murphy’s Powder.Puff volumizing powder, Hair.Resort beach texturizer, and Hair.Resort beach spray to get that gritty texture. I finished by polishing on some Kevin Murphy’s Free.Hold styling crème to lock in the overall style and further seal the cuticle preventing frizz.

I set Magdelena’s hair pretty much the same way as I did Isabelle’s. The main difference between the two girls is their length and haircut and you can see how different the styles came out depending on how the hair is cut. 

Starting with the blow dry, I applied Kevin Murphy’s Body.Builder volumizing mousse focusing on the roots and cocktailed that with Smooth.Again anti-frizz treatment focusing that product on the mid-ends. 

I made sure to build wave and volume during the blow dry using my Ibiza Hair Tools boar bristled round brushes (my favorite), and then went through and waved everything out the same way as Isabelle’s using my Enzo Milano 1” conico curling wand. 

Magdelena had super long, super thick locks with a slight natural wave, and I wanted to really eccencuate that. Since the wardrobe was so stylized and the makeup was very clean and fresh, it was important to keep the hair minimal without adding too much of a distraction. I wanted it to be cohesive. 

The Kevin Murphy Powder.Puff volumizing powder really helped to keep the hair looking matte and textured during this shoot. 

Elijah’s hair was pretty easy. With a model as photogenic as he is, it’s hard to do him wrong. 

First, I sprayed his hair down with some salt water and then applied some Kevin Murphy Night.Rider texture paste and let it air dry naturally. The Night.Rider paste gives tons of hold and dimension and keeps the hair in place while it sets. 

Once dry, I roughed his hair up a little with my hands and shook through some Kevin Murphy Powder.Puff volumizing powder just as I did on the girls, and then added some Fresh.Hair dry shampoo and locked the style in with Texture.Master strong hold finishing mist. 

Photo credits:

Photography by Aaron Smith @Eye Forward

Models: Magdelena @ Two Management, Isabelle @ Two Management, + Elijah @ Photogenics LA

Makeup by Jessie Bishop

Wardrobe styling by Lwany @ Jed Root

Hair by J. Michael @ DLMLA

THAT’S A WRAP! 

Thanks for viewing, over & out!

xx J 

“Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

This quote has been proving true on all my photoshoots, especially when I get the spoil of working with bubbly personalities like Disney actress Caroline Sunshine. When I’m working long 12+ hour days on set, I am so grateful when I get to be surrounded by a fun team. 

We were shooting an editorial in Los Angeles with fashion photographers J-Squared. I really aimed to eccencuate Caroline’s natural beauty, keeping her long golden locks whispy and flowy with some added wave and texture. 

Whenever I’m not starting with a blowout, I always prep the hair first with Kevin Murphy’s Fresh.Hair Dry Shampoo on dry hair. I am obsessed with the volume and body this product builds in the hair while stripping away any excess oil and residue. Most of all, I love the fresh, clean, and earthy smell…suttle yet refreshing. By far one of my favorite dry shampoos on the market.

I spray the dry shampoo a good six inches from the roots and give a good scalp massage right after to thoroughly distribute the product evenly. 

After prepping Caroline with the Kevin Murphy Dry Shampoo, I went through and lightly misted Kevin Murphy’s Damage.Manager heat protectant spray. This product is also another favorite of mine and protects the hair against heat damage while providing some overall hold to the style. 

I wrapped 1” sections of hair starting at the front using my Enzo Milano 1” conico curling wand. I left the ends a little bit more straight with a bend to create more of a loose wave and wrapped each section away from the face. 

After setting the hair, I brushed everything out with my Kevin Murphy boar bristled styling brush. I wanted to thoroughly brush the hair and create some softness before I started deconstructing with more styling products. 

After brushing out the style, I went through and applied some Kevin Murphy’s Powder.Puff volumizing powder on the roots and throughout the midshaft for some added volume and matte texture. I lightly misted the entire hair with Kevin Murphy’s Hair.Resort beach spray for a little more grit, and ran through Kevin Murphy’s Free.Hold styling crème focusing on the ends just to eliminate any frizz and help seal in the cuticle. 

I’m super into how this editorial series turned out, and I am grateful to be doing what I have a passion for. Caroline rocked this shoot along with everybody involved!

Photo Credits:

Photographer: J-Squared

Makeup: Anton Khach @ Exclusive Artists 

Hair: J Michael @ DLMLA 

Wardrobe: Sara Alviti 

Thanks for viewing, over & out!

xx J 

It was a warm summer day in Malibu and I was shooting a spread for LiveFast Magazine with some of my favorites; Angela Marklew on photography, Ashley Joy Beck on makeup, Rachel Pollen on wardrobe, and of course, the star of the show model Brianna Falcone with Photogenics.

The vibe of the story was that of a nomad, very similar to all of our lives, the gypsy life of an artist. Life imitates art, right? 

We started prep at Angela’s house on the boardwalk in Venice Beach, then traveled up the coast with Brianna and shot her in multiple locations around the Topanga sea cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and then ended down on the beach in Malibu.

Brianna has a ton of waist-length hair and I couldn’t wait to get my hands all over it. I knew in my mind I wanted to create something a little tribal, a little gypsy, a little hippie. We were telling the story of a wanderer and I imagined what a wanderer’s hair would look like if she were out in the wilderness for days. 

I aimed to create a lot of matte texture in the hairstyle. I started out by blow drying Brianna’s hair applying Kevin Murphy Body.Builder volumizing mousse, and set a lot of body and wave during the blowout. I wanted to create a pretty voluminous blowout that I would later deconstruct into something more tousled and lived in.

After the blowout, I went through and wrapped 1” sections away from the face using my 1” conico curling wand from Enzo Milano, leaving the ends a little straighter. 

After blow drying and curling, I vigorously shook the hair out with Kevin Murphy Powder.Puff. I love using this volumizing powder to create lots of gritty matte texture and to also add a little bit more body and volume to the style. I layered some Hair.Resort beach spray and Hair.Resort beach texturizer to help seal in the texture and add a little bit more grit to the hair. It resulted in a style that was a little bit more disheveled and deconstructed than the original blowout, but still kept that overall shape and foundation.

About halfway into the shoot, I decided to switch things up a little bit. Since we already captured a lot of good solid shots of the long tousled hair, I wanted to do a quick hair change and decided on some fishtail braids. I thought they would be perfect for this story. What I love about a good fishtail, is that they don’t look like the normal standard braid. They’re a little bit more edgy, fashionable, and unique. 

I was super pleased with the hair I created on this shoot. I think it suited the story and Brianna had the perfect hair to pull these styles off. 

The water and air elements on each location really helped manipulate the hair into looking even more natural: that is something always to note before a shoot. You always want to know ahead of time what the environmental conditions will be because that is what’s going to determine what style and products to use. I made sure to keep all of the products matte and avoided anything to shiny or heavy that would’ve weighted it down, especially since she already had a lot of hair as it is.

This was another epic shoot down for the books and I’m excited to share my next adventure with you all! It’s kind of cool that I get to be an adventurer, traveler, writer, and artist all through just being a hairstylist. These are the days I’ll remember always.

Photo Credits:

LiveFast Magazine

Photographer: Angela Marklew 

Model: Brianna Falcone @ Photogenics LA

Makeup: Ashley Joy Beck

Wardrobe: Rachel Pollen

Hair: J Michael using Kevin Murphy with DLMLA 

Thanks for viewing; over & out!

xx J 

The team is at it again. I recently linked up with photographer Aaron Smith and seasoned vet Xian Mikol to collaborate on a sports lifestyle advertising shoot. I’ve been creating a lot of wet-hair looks on set and have been wanting to write up a tutorial on how to achieve that perfect wet look that lasts all day. Think running a sweaty marathon, but sexy.

The hardest aspect when creating a wet-hair style is getting the hair to stay and remain wet throughout the day. This is where hair products come into play. Wet hairstyling is all about the product. I’ve experimented with wet hair textures enough by now that I’ve been able to narrow down the exact product regimen to create that long lasting gritty texture. 

First, I start by dampening the hair with salt water. The natural salt water will give the hair an extra bit of grit and texture, creating a solid foundation for the layering of product. 

Once the hair is thoroughly wet, I combine Kevin Murphy Hair.Resort beach texturizer and Hair.Resort beach spray from root to ends. The beach texturizer has the consistency of a gel and goes onto the hair easily but dries much lighter than an actual gel. This creates some natural texture and hold, while the beach spray adds additional hold and seals in the texturizer. 

Once I run the beach texturizer and beach spray through the hair, I like to then add a good amount of Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Shine shine spray from root to ends. This spray adds luminous shine to the gritty wet texture, and helps keep the hair appearing glossy throughout the day. It also protects the hair from UV damage.

 Sometimes I will add a little Kevin.Murphy Easy.Rider ant-frizz crème into the mix during this stage of the layering process especially if the hair is naturally more on the coarse or curly side.

I like to finish the style with Kevin.Murphy Texture.Master strong hold texturizing mist. This product has the consistency of a wet hair spray with a strong finishing hold. It works perfectly to seal in the beach texturizing products and shine spray. As the hair air dries, the layering of products keep the hair looking gritty and wet and almost starts looking better the more it’s lived in throughout the day. The result is a sexy, grungy, wet look that can be worn up while working out or straight at the beach. It’s also ideal when paired up with a nude lip and smokey eye for a dramatic, edgy, fashion look.

This particular shoot was definitely more lifestyle advertising, so I aimed to keep the hair as natural as possible. With a stunning beauty like Xian, she doesn’t need anything that will distract from her beauty…less is more! Thanks to the amazing team for making this day a blast!

Photo Credits: 

Photographer: Aaron Smith @ Eye Forward
 

Model: Xian Mikol @ Whilhelmina LA

Styling: Lwany @ Jed Root 

Makeup: Jessie Bishop 

Hair: J Michael @ Artmix Creative 

Thanks for viewing, over & out!

xx J 

It’s not everyday you get to do hair for a mutant! I was super excited when I found out I was going to be working with actress Lana Condor. We were shooting press photos with photographer Isaac Sterling to promote “X-Men: Apocalypse”, her new feature film coming out next year where she stars as Jubilee from the original comics! 

Lana is young, beautiful, and full of energy and I wanted to create something that will capture that youthful glow and spunky personality while maintaining her natural beauty. She has a ton of dense, long, flowing, jet-black dream hair and I wanted to eccencuate that in these photos.

I started off Lana’s hair with a blow dry using my Enzo Milano blow dryer. I applied Kevin Murphy Body.Builder volumizing mousse to the roots and Smooth.Again anti-frizz treatment to the mid-ends to help seal the cuticle and smooth frizz. During the blowout, I set curl away from the face and built volume at the root using Ibiza boar bristled round brushes.

After the blowout, I went through and wrapped 1” sections away from the face using my Enzo Milano 1” conico wand. I applied Kevin Murphy Damage.Manager heat protectant spray before curling the hair. This product helps protect the hair from the heat and also helps lock in the style. 

I shook everything out with Kevin Murphy Powder.Puff volumizing powder (love this stuff!) and added a small amount of Shimmer.Shine because I love when dark hair is super shiny and healthy looking. 

Overall, I loved how this hair came out! Voluminous, sexy, timeless. Lana rocked it on set and it was so fun getting to spend the day glamming her out. Can’t wait to catch her as Jubilee in the new X-Men movie coming out next year and to many more memories!

We also played around with some wet hair looks, but I will post the tutorials for this set in another blog post.

Thanks for viewing, over & out!

xx J 

Another day, another magazine editorial shoot. I’ve been really inspired by cult films and retro pop culture over this past summer and I was excited to do hair for this recent spread in the September Issue of P Magazine featuring Amy Charsley. The photographer was Pete Nikolai and we were shooting in a decked out Mulholland Drive home in the Hollywood Hills which hadn’t looked like it has been touched since the 1970s.

I wanted to keep the hair sexy and timeless with a retro touch of 70’s glam, but keeping the overall style effortless. I wanted Amy to look like a vintage 70s vixen coming at you out of a luxe version of Playboy.

I blew Amy out with my new Enzo Milano blow dryer, which I’m loving at the moment! It’s powerful but small and compact, perfect for doing blow dries on the go or on set.

First, I applied Kevin Murphy Body.Builder volumizing mousse to Amy’s hair focusing on the roots to build volume during the blow dry. I also added a little Full.Again thickening lotion to the mid-ends. After blow drying volume and curl, I went back through the hair and wrapped 1” sections away from the face using my Enzo Milano 3/4” conico wand, brushed out and finished with Kevin Murphy Powder.Puff volumizing powder and Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray. 

I made sure to thoroughly shake the hair and piece it out during the final touches with the Texturizing Spray to create lots of movable texture and create a style that’s more “lived-in” vs. perfectly coiffed.

I finished by adding a small amount of Kevin Murphy Free.Hold styling crème focusing on the ends to help seal the cuticle and tame flyaways throughout the day. 

Overall, I think I executed my original hair vision pretty well, and love this entire spread for P Magazine. Stay tuned for more collaborations with photographer Pete Nikolai and hairstylist J Michael in the future! 

 Thanks for viewing; over & out! 

 xx J 

I had so much fun teaming up again with photographer Aaron Smith from our Jeep adventure series! This time the setting was a little different…we were playing in the warm sands of Point Dume in Malibu shooting a spread for the August Beauty issue of Bello Magazine.

I was working with model Abby Champion @ Next Models, and wanted to create the ultimate summer beach hair! I aimed to create a style that was more natural and lived in, like you were just swimming all day in the ocean then came out of the water for an impromptu shoot with your friends. 

Abby had a lot of thick, beautiful naturally blonde hair that gave me the perfect foundation to create this gritty beach texture. I started off by dampening the entire head with fresh salt water from the ocean to create a wet look. I knew we would be on the beach for a solid few hours and wanted to make sure this wet look would last all day without having to keep touching it too much, and so I cocktailed Kevin Murphy Texture.Master texturizing mist along with Kevin Murphy Shimmer.shine shine spray to help lock in the style. I love how the texturizing mist adds lots of gritty natural texture while the shine spray adds lost of luminous shine and UV protection from the sun.

I also added lots of Kevin Murphy Hair.Resort beach texurizer and sea salt spray to help add additional texture and hold. The hair would gradually air dry throughout the day with the combination of products melting into the perfect long lasting summer beach texture. I would like to point out I used absolutely zero irons or blow dryers for this one! I wanted to simply eccencuate her natural hair as much as possible. I feel the use of irons would might have taken away from its raw-ness.

I am very pleased with the results from this shoot, and I also give a small tutorial in the magazine explaining how I achieved this beachy hair look! The end of summer is nearing and I am grabbing onto every last day. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the season with a killer shoot with familiar friends!

Photo Credits:

Bello Magazine August 2015 Beauty Issue

Photographer: Aaron Smith @ Eye Forward

Producer: Natalie Schwan

Wardrobe: Lwany @ Jed Root

Makeup: Nicole Walmlsey @ The Wall Group

Hair: J Michael @ Artmix Creative 

Thanks for viewing, over & out!

xx J 

7-31-2015 | A few seasons ago, on a hot summer day in Los Angeles, I had the chance to work with Herman Van den Brandt, a fashion photographer in town from NYC.

We were shooting for the cover of FashizBlack, a Paris based fashion magazine which I was already a huge fan of. When I found out I would be styling Milan Dixon’s hair, all bets were off. I knew this was going to be one hell of a shoot for the books, and boy was I right.

Models are a commodity, and Milan must be from outer space. There is no other explanation for exotic natural beauty on this level. From her deep glowing skin, immaculate bone structure that can be captured in any light, signature flowing locks, and an infectious personality to match, Milan truly defines what it means to be a professional model and all around muse. Her cosmic outer beauty can only be overshadowed by her radiating inner beauty and self love.

I was so inspired by the Haus of PinkLemonaid swimwear Milan was rocking in this shoot, and wanted to create hair that would only accentuate the overall mood; sexy, sultry, and seductive. 

Starting with the blowout, I prepped the hair with Kevin Murphy smooth.again anti-frizz treatment focusing on the ends and cocktailed that product with Bio-Ionic’s pure agave oil for added smoothness. I set curl and volume during the blow dry and kept everything blown back away from the face.

After the blowout, I went through and wrapped sections around 1 3/4” Enzo Milano conico wand, making sure to keep the curl pattern away from the face. I left the ends a little straighter to achieve more of a body wave vs curls. Also, it is imperative to curl every section of hair in the exact same pattern to get this overall uniform shape. I shook it out with Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Shine shine spray, and brushed the entire hair thoroughly with Easy.Rider anti-frizz crème for a smooth brushed out polished finished. I focused on keeping the hair more smooth and brushed out for this look instead of tousled and textured. 

I feel grateful to have gotten the chance to work with Milan, a true model from the inside out, as well as the entire creative team on this FashizBlack cover story! Art is created through love, and I think the love really shines in this series, for we all love what we do.

Photographer: @hermanphoto

Model: modelomilano

Makeup: @alianamoss

Wardrobe: @andi_ism + @hausofpinklemonaid

Thank you for viewing, over & out!

xx J