Sam Villa

Sam Villa Blog Has Moved

2010-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sam Villa's blog is now located at his website. To follow Sam's blog, visit: www.samvilla.com/blog

For Hidden Volume, Iron In the Wrinkles!

2009-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Our Textur® irons are so hot right now—we sold out at the Orlando show—and if you have one I want you to be as creative as you can with it. I’m thrilled that hairdressers are getting how cool it is to have a texturizing tool that can crimp a narrow imprint anywhere you want to place it.

Have you thought about using your Textur® with fine hair? Let’s say you have a client who has a head of long hair that’s dense but fine. She complains that her style doesn’t look good no matter what she does. The hair doesn’t hold curl, there’s no volume when she styles it straight and most of the time the hair just lies flat on her head.

Using the Textur®, you can make her so happy! Isolate the top and crown area. Staying about two inches from the hairline on the rest of the hair, take vertical sections, and alternate the sections by crimping only every other one from base to ends. As you let go of each crimped section, brush it through, and the vertical sections that you’ve crimped will push out the hair next to it that you’ve left straight. The intermixture of textures provides a hidden secret of creating volume. Use Redken’s Fabricate 03, which will work with the heat to activate the texture and provide definition with a clean, touchable finish.

The texture will remain until the hair gets wet. For a great second-day look, instruct your guest not to wash or blow-dry her hair the day after the service. Suggest instead going in with a curling iron and using it randomly to curl small sections around the entire head. This way, the first day she’ll have straight hair with volume, and the second day she’ll have curly hair. You also can teach your guest to use the Textur® herself to create texture the same way you did—without anyone knowing the crimping is in there. She’ll love it!

5 Steps to Master the "Cross-Hatch" Styling Technique

2009-12-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

My colleague Chris Baran developed a great technique that uses the Textur® tool to create a temporary tattoo on the hair, which is very popular with young and trendy clients. We demonstrate this “Cross-Hatch” technique on our Artificial Texture DVD, and I can explain it here in five steps.

Brush the hair back into a ponytail, but let a 2-inch horizontal slice drop out on top. Place that slice in front of the ear.
Spray the dropped-out section with Redken Fabricate 03 from a distance, so that you hit the hair without totally wetting the section.
Place the Textur® iron on the dropped-out section at a 45-degree angle and compress. This will imprint texture that looks like railroad tracks.
Overlay that imprint with another one in exactly the opposite direction to create a textured, X pattern that resembles a tattoo. It looks absolutely beautiful!
Finish with Redken Forceful 23, a super-strength finishing spray.

It’s up to the client if she wants you to leave that section loose, tie it back into the ponytail with the rest of the hair or maybe wrap it across the top to the opposite ear like a headband. Once you start playing with these looks, there are so many things you can figure out to do!

You can achieve this cross-hatch technique anywhere on the head, and you can let your imagination run wild in how you use the Textur® iron. For example, an upstyle looks great when you cross-hatch the section right above the forehead to add character. It will become the main subject of discussion as people ask your client how she got her hair to look like that. That’s letting your clients and your work create buzz for you.

I really believe that in today’s world you can’t rely on just satisfying your customers. You have to go the extra mile so that every client becomes your “raving fan” who will become your sales force and tell people, “You have to go see my hairdresser. He does things I’ve never seen before, and he teaches me how to do all sorts of things with my hair.” Then their coworkers, family and friends will become more raving fans to continue the process. It can take just one person to tell 20 other people and snowball your clientele. You never know who that person will be, so give top service to every client. Word of mouth is what will build your book.

Braid Parade

2009-11-19T11:35:00.001-08:00

A lot of your clients are probably asking for braids, which you see worn in various sizes and levels of thickness. I’d say the rounded shapes are the most popular, but you can use braiding to do a lot of different looks. Make a side part and braid just one side, or design an ear-to-ear braid for a headband effect. When I braid, I use Redken’s Outshine 01.

When I pull back ponytails and want them to look shiny and sleek, I use Glass 01 or Vinyl Glam 02. Sleek ponytails follow the shiny metallic fabrics we’re seeing now. But we also see colliding fabrics—an iridescent metallic skirt paired with something completely different like a bulky sweater. To create this trend in hair, we use multi-textured finishing. For example, we’ll let the sleek ponytail end in an explosion of frizz or curl.

We’re always learning how to use tools in new ways, such as using a flat iron like our Sleekr more like a round brush, or working with both a brush and the Sleekr to create movement, texture and volume. When I talk about creating texture, I always recommend the “Artificial Texture” video I did with my special guest Chris Baran. We share more than 20 techniques with thermal tools that create all of today’s finishing textures. I know you’ll learn a lot from it!

STOP BEATING UP THE HAIR!

2009-11-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Create Today’s Undercuts, Not Yesterday’s Over-cutting

I’m really pleased with the current undercut looks, because we’re seeing a return to integrity. Let’s stop beating up the hair and over-cutting in our attempt to achieve texture! Instead, we’ve discovered that we can take the strongest technique in design today, disconnection, and control the cut. This changes everything!

Think about the difference. When you go in with traditional chunking shears to remove weight, you may get a great result—the first time. But when your guest returns for her next visit, can you recut the exact same hairs you cut inside of a line six weeks earlier? Impossible! That’s what I mean by beating up the hair. We keep cutting new hairs, and the integrity is lost. With each visit, our guest gets less and less of the volume she wants because there’s not enough length inside the haircut.

Now what happens when we apply disconnection to achieve the soft looseness that keeps these looks feminine and gives them volume and movement? We create blunt, solid lines that you can’t even tell are disconnected until you turn the head upside down. The lines are distinct, so this is something we can control from visit to visit. The look is fresh each time. It’s so exciting!

Where should you place the volume? Right now we’re seeing the volume move back up to the crown. It’s a slight throwback to the hippy ’60s; we’re also seeing some ’70s and ’80s disco glamour with a twist. Some of this requires educating your clients to think of those retro looks in a 2009 way.

Also retrain your guest’s eye to see frizz differently. It’s not evil! And explain that today’s “undone” hair needs a bit of maintenance to create the unstructured curl. You can take our Textur tool, pinch at the base for the volume and bring the hair right over it. Go around the head pinching at the base, and you’ll have volume. Then if you put in a hot roller or curl the hair with a curling iron, it will hold because you’ve crimped at the base only. That’s the new “undone.” Check out a technique called “Textured Volume” on our website. For many of the texture techniques I do, my product of choice is Redken’s Fabricate 03.

Textured Surfaces Steal the Spotlight

2009-06-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

hair by Tisha Hall for Sam Villa
using the Sam Villa Textur™ iron

Hair takes its cue from fashion, and on the runway we’re seeing colliding textures and shapes—ruffled chiffon skirts topped by bulky sweaters or constructed jackets. That’s why big waves, bouncing curls and some of the classic textured shapes are making a comeback. I think it’s great, because so few clients can achieve the flat, poker-straight styles at home.

hair by Omar Sassin for Sam Villa
using the Sam Villa Textur™ iron

The classical looks showing up mix 1940s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. They remind me of Ava Gardner and Brigitte Bardot, and you give that a modern update by keeping the hair slightly messy and not too polished—an unfinished, no-statement, second-day, sexy look. Leave wispy strands around the face and let the hair just fall. Texture, rather than length, complements the volume and definition, and it’s leaning toward a triangular silhouette.

My question to you is: Do you have the essential tools of the trade to be able to capture the trend of today’s quirky textures? Thermal tools are the best way to achieve textured looks. First, keep in mind the three components of using thermal tools, including straightening and texturizing irons:

Heat to alter the hydrogen bonds in the hair.
Compression to remove wrinkles and add shine.
Tension to determine how stretched and straight the hair will be.

Today everyone wants choices. Clients don’t want to be limited to wearing their hair the same way all the time. So use your thermal tools in unconventional ways, and educate clients that today product is not an option but a necessity. Try these techniques:

Cut a bob and show the client how to wear it curly. Explain what you’re doing: “Let’s put Redken Wool Shake in your hair to allow the texture to bounce back.”
Use Redken Fabricate 03 heat-active texturizer to set the hair in hot rollers, which calm the hair and make it more pliable and easy to work with.
To use a curling iron instead of rollers, spray each section with Redken Workforce 09, and then put in your iron to set the hair. The bigger the section you take, the larger the curl will be; the smaller the section, the smaller the curl. If the client’s hair doesn’t hold curl very well, take small sections.
Build body and volume in fine hair by applying Redken Thickening Lotion 06 to damp hair, and then rough-dry and mist the hair with Wool Shake.
Enhance naturally textured hair by layering two products. First, mist the hair with Wool Shake, and then work Rough Clay 20, a matte texturizer, through the hair.
Create texture using the Sleekr™ by first spraying the hair with Redken Spray Starch 15 versatile ironing spray. Place the Sleekr™ at the root, twist it 180 degrees and then slowly pull through to the ends to create a ribbon curl. Flat irons are capable of so much more than simply straightening. A flick of the wrist in the right direction, and your client can have today’s editorial curls!
Create texture and volume at the root using the Textur™ also by first spraying with Spray Starch 15. Then place the Textur™ at the root and compress, leaving an impression that will pop out from the scalp and give you the necessary volume. This works great when you’re creating support for fine hair. It’s a hidden secret underneath the hair; you don’t really see it.

Artificial Texture, a 2-DVD set is the first video in the Sam’s Studio Session series and features Redken Education Artistic Director Chris Baran! It’s important for us as hairdressers to know some tricks with thermal tools that clients can’t figure out how to do on their own. Getting adept at a lot of finishing techniques is the way we can stay one step ahead of the rest and enhance our career. We need to know how to add spin.

Be sure to check out my new Sleekr™ flat iron and Textur™ texturizing iron – also available through your distributor beginning in July!

Symposium Jump-Started 2009!

2009-04-02T14:32:00.001-07:00

So far I'm having a great year! My year kicked off with Redken's Symposium in Las Vegas, where 7,400 professionals gathered to grow their business and also to have a lot of fun. Starting with the big opening event at Mandalay Bay that launched the Symposium, this year's central theme was: "What is your professional edge?" That's a very strong message, because in a competitive economy like the one we are experiencing, you must have a professional edge.

Along with the education, Redken Symposiums always come with lots of entertainment. The featured performers are always kept under wraps, and this year we had pop star Natasha Bedingfield! Everyone had a great time.

Redken also set up a Buzz Lounge where people could network and learn all about Redken's many online activities, including Education on Demand, a website where you can sort of rent education.

Meanwhile, things were jumping over at the Allvus booth, where 80 or 90 people at a time were lined up to purchase the tools and DVDs we've developed. I stopped by when I had a little time between classes, and when I saw the response, my jaw dropped! It was truly overwhelming. I started shaking hands and thanking everyone for coming, and it was humbling that some people asked me to sign an autograph or take a picture with them. We sold more than 600 DVDs, and it just thrills me to know that people are seeking education on that level.

What's so great about Symposium is that it gives people multiple opportunities to immerse themselves in whatever they want to learn, whether it's business tips, technical instruction or motivation. Redken artist partners like Michael Cole, Kristi Valenzuela, Chris Baran and Kris Sorbie conducted some of the classrooms. As far as I know, there's not another product company that attracts the numbers that Redken does for an event like this. Symposium feels so special because it's held only every two years, and it has really become "the event to see."

One reason is that every Symposium offers something new. This year I was involved in "Total Design Immersion," which marked the first time that a Redken audience saw five or six educators on stage at one time. Normally we have one cutter and one colorist, and we've had four on stage before but never this many teaching for a full 90 minutes. The class had an international flavor, and each segment featured an emcee keeping the energy high and interviewing the artists about what they were doing.

It was great fun for me to work with the other five Redken artists - Ellen Lawlor, Teresa Mockler, Shannon King, Hugo Urias and Stephane Legros. They're all incredible designers and facilitators at the Redken Exchange and, like me, they travel internationally. I've worked with each of them individually at The Exchange or out on the road, but it was great to share a stage with all of them together. Then we had Mark on lighting and Rudy doing the sound to help make us look and sound good! We took a large classroom that held 1200 people and had a huge screen like in a movie theater.

We had more than 1,500 models show up at Symposium casting, and we selected 66 models for our various shows. We were running three classes a day for two days. Imagine what our model rooms looked like; there was always buzz there! We spent the two days ahead of the show prepping the models with the help of a great support staff that came from Canada, California and Chicago. Without our support team coloring everyone, we couldn't have done this. In fact, on day two of prep, we wouldn't have had time to finish coloring the models if we hadn't received help from Dhaniel Doud and Deb Rosenberg, who conducted the "911" class. They sent over their support team, because the philosophy at Redken is that it's never about us; it's about the audience and succeeding. So everyone helps out everyone else.

The "Total Design Immersion" show broke down to four 20-minute educational segments framed by a five minute opening and a five-minute closing. The opening and closing segments were very theatrical. I remember telling the audience, "You're going to see a different side of Redken, and you'll walk away with whatever you want to gain from this. Everyone left with something."

We talked about why texture is so important today and how disconnection relates to fashion, which is what's driving the multi-textured finishing - two or three different types of textures working into one silhouette. In some cases it's just a matter of placing texture underneath and letting the natural hair fall over it to create expansion. If you take the time to educate your clients, many of them will be able to create this at home, but it takes communication to know which clients will do best with certain styles.

I also demonstrated The "V," which teaches the art of disconnection and cutting on the bias to allow hair to swing from side to side the way a skirt moves when the fabric is cut on the bias. The "V" gives you a technique to make disconnection very marketable and wearable; the effect doesn't have to be dramatic. The official launch wasn't until the Discover show in March, but we decided to make the DVDs available a little early to Symposium attendees. Then in June we plan to launch our SLEEKR™ flat iron and the TEXTUR™, our "texturizing iron," which will be revolutionary to the industry.

For Redken, our product focus was on heat styling and dressing hair. The team demonstrated how to use Blown Away with a blow-dryer and Iron Silk with irons. We also presented a texture story, where we crimped hair because that's such a moldable and fun texture to work with. The team added accessories like ribbons to build different silhouettes and shapes, and we used hair pieces to increase the volume and change the silhouette. It was interesting for the audience to see the way a ribbon in a contrasting color serves as an accessory, while a ribbon that matches the shade of the hair blends into it and the hair seems sprayed into that shape.

With everything we were doing, though, we always returned to the central message about the professional edge. Your communication skills must be stronger than ever, because self-promotion is critical in this economy. In addition, you must show enthusiasm. If you don't seem to be enjoying your work, or if you give your client the same style every time, that's when the client might say, "I think I'll try my friend's hairdresser next time." You've got to have that professional edge. We drove that home at Symposium.

Client Consultation Part 2 of 2: Control What Goes On in Your Chair

2009-03-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

If you missed part 1 of the Client Consultation click here

When a guest comes back, I already have my client information card in front of me so I will not take as long with the consultation as I do the first time I meet a guest. If she becomes one of my regular clients, I'll know even more about her.

But in a way, the entire visit becomes the consultation because you continue to chat with the guest throughout your time together. I advise stylists to keep control of this conversation by dividing your topics into past, present and future:

The past. Spend 15% on what you might consider to be the traditional consultation. This takes place before the shampoo. Ask pointed questions such as, "How did the volume I put into the crown work out for you?" Or, "Last time we tried a new shampoo to guard against your color fading, so did you notice a difference?"
The present. Spend 70% talking about what you're doing for her today. "In the nape area, I'll cut it this way because....." Or, "I'm going to use this treatment today, and here's why."
The future. Use the last 15% to preview what will happen the next time you see her and to suggest products for her home maintenance. I also always add, "Before you leave, Clara, I want you to book the next appointment so that you can get in to see me when you want to."

If you keep this formula in mind, your conversation will never get out of hand. When a client wants to chat about "life," I'll participate for a while, but I'll still bring the discussion back to hair. For example, if she's discussing a particular movie, I'll talk about the movie but I'll also say, "I loved the hair on the actress in that film."

The guest who sits in your chair expects leadership from you as a stylist, so part of your conversation may involve moving the guest toward a style you think will be great for her. She will accept this if you guide her with confidence. To do that , you will have to sell yourself as a person—a professional who has genuine concern for her.

To make their guests like them, many stylists try being super-nice. They let guests come in late and throw off the schedule, talk on their cell phone while they're trying to shape around the ears and dictate exactly how their hair should be cut. I see too many stylists going home stressed from having even one difficult person. They can't talk to their families; they walk in and say to their husband, "Just hand me my glass of wine." That's why the "super-nice" approach doesn't work.

When you're stressed about a client, your body language speaks in the highest volume. I used to have guests ask me whether I was okay. I realize now that my body language was giving away how I really was doing. When you're with your guest, you have to leave your personal stresses behind.

I believe that I'll win people over through my communication skills and my technical skills, not by bending over backwards and permitting them to do whatever they want in my chair. If establishing rules offends a client, then she won't come back and I've eliminated a migraine headache for myself!

One of my policies is that the guest who follows this one deserves to have her service start on time. So I ask, "Clara, do you have a cell phone?" Of course she does. "If you want to answer your phone and have a conversation, I will step back and wait until you've finished your conversation. When my next guest comes in, I will continue to work on you in between working on her." I emphasize the word "conversation," because if the guest must talk for a few seconds, that's fine. I don't expect her to ignore a call from the babysitter or from someone monitoring a sick relative. But I will not continue to cut hair on a guest who's conducting business on the phone or having a long conversation with a friend.

If for whatever reason I do run behind and the next guest arrives, I say to my current client, "Clara, I'm running behind. Just let me greet my next guest, and I'll be right back." Then I go out to the front, greet the guest and say, "Samantha, I'm running behind. I can give you two options. You can go run and errand, or remember that treatment we've talked about in the past? I can put it on your head and by the time you've sat with it, I'll be ready to take you." If instead I just let her sit there waiting for 15 minutes, she'll think, "Sam gave me that big lecture on tardiness, but now he's not taking me on time and I can see that he's rushing the client ahead of me."

Here's another tip: beware of the client who wants a huge change! As hairdressers, we love to hear that a guest trusts us enough to say, "Do whatever you want!" But I'm very careful with that. Maybe this guest just broke up with her boyfriend and wants to start new with dramatically different hair. But what if she gets back with him? Then she may hate her new look. So if she says, "Just go ahead and cut it all off," I'll suggest doing it in stages. That's the kind of judgement that gains her trust over the long term, not just over the short term because you bowed to her wishes that day.

"Take control of your client's impulsiveness"

Once you begin to show professional, genuine concern for your guests, you'll be happier because you'll be running your business in a way that's comfortable for you. You'll see a difference in yourself first, but then you'll see a difference in how your clientele begins to build. Take control of the conversation that goes on in your chair, because communication builds wealth.

To see the Client Consultation video, please click here

Client Consultation Part 1 of 2: Each New Guest Presents the Opportunity of a Lifetime!

2009-03-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

For the past three years or so, salon owners have been asking me, "Sam, can you please focus on consultation skills?" Conducting a proper consultation seems to be a lost art, something once important that's been thrown to the wayside. Especially when stylists become successful, they get too relaxed with their consultations. I have to be careful, because this has happened to me, too!

Today, guests are very intelligent. They know what they want from their hairstylist; often they even know the verbiage because the magazines they read are sophisticated about hair and fashion. So to do a good consultation, you need great questioning and listening skills. Communication builds wealth because people buy people—and then they buy things.

When you meet a guest for the first time, it presents the opportunity of a lifetime. The consultation is so important at that first meeting to establish your sincerity, knowledge, skill level and professionalism. But even before you begin the formal consultation, you can learn quite a bit about the new client.

First impressions really are important. When I have a new guest, I go out to the waiting area, greet the person with a handshake and say, "Hi, Clara, my name is Sam. Before I show you where you can change into a gown, we're going to go back to my station and talk about your goals for your hair. Is it okay if I give you a soft scalp massage as we're talking?"

What happened with that exchange? Three things:

The handshake served as my ice-breaker.
I built in time to evaluate her personal style before having her change into a gown, because her clothes and shoes will tell me a lot about her. This isn't about my taste. I must meet my guest's needs and expectations in order to gain her trust and faith. Once I have that, I can begin to change her ideas a little if I want to.
By doing a scalp massage, I let the guest think that I'm relaxing her, but for me the massage provides information about her hair and head shape. I'm finding out where the hair is fine and where it's dense, where the head is flatter, whether I need to build weight on the sides or where I may need to remove volume. Meanwhile, she's thinking, "Wow, I've never had a salon service start with a nice scalp massage." And even though I keep the massage very soft, some clients will not give me permission to do it all. These guests will usually say something like, "My scalp is very fragile." That tells me that this person is not completely comfortable being touched. She may stare down at her lap a lot. I don't push the scalp massage; instead I evaluate the head during the shampoo.

Next, a lot of stylists will ask the guest, "What did you have in mind?" The typical response to that is dictation, with the guest saying something such as, "I want three layers. I want the first one to end here, the second here." It's better to ask, "What are your goals with your hair?" Then you'll get a bigger-picture response: "I want to have volume here," I want someone to work with my face shape" or "I want to grow out my layers."

I follow up that initial discussion with a series of questions:

How often do you get your hair cut?
When was the last time you loved your hair cut?
What do you like most about your hair?
What do you like least about your hair?
If you could change anything about your hair, what would it be?
Are you using a mousse? (If "yes," that tells me that she likes volume.)
Are you using a lotion? (If "yes," she likes her hair soft.)
Are you using gels? (If "yes," she wants hold.)
How do you dry your hair? Do you use your hands or brushes? (That indicates whether I should design a wash-and-go style.)
If you use brushes, what kind? (Her response tells me how soft she likes her hair.)
Are you happy with the results of the products you use? (This lets me know whether she's using the right type of product, and using it correctly, for the results she's seeking.)
Do you use a flat iron or a curling iron? (This indicates whether she likes her hair straight or curly.)

As a stylist, you should gather all the data that you can and record the information on a client card. Then, just as a doctor would prescribe treatment, make your recommendations. Respond to the data in front of you by suggesting services and products that directly address your guest's challenges and goals.

Now the really important part starts. The first time you see the person, you have to set up the structure of the service. I'll ask, "Clara, are you willing to participate in your hair cut?" Almost every guest will agree to participate. Then I'll say, "I want you to hold your head still. Next I need you to keep your hands underneath the cape. If you want to measure your hair, that's fine. I'll step back and you can measure. But remember, I'm going to give you a very precise hair cut designed to blend many uneven pieces; when you measure it, I don't want you to think you're getting a bad hair cut."

The client consultation is the first step in building a lasting and positive professional relationship, which takes more than artistic skill to achieve. The consultation lays the groundwork for how you and your salon will be perceived by the guest. If your new guest trusts you, she'll return and also trust you with her friends and relatives. It can take only one person to snowball your clientele - someone who will love you and send you lots of other people!

The consultation is important for your regular clients, too. Next time I'll talk about that and how you can control the conversation during the service.

Click HERE to view the client consultation video at samvilla.com.

Think Zink: Creativity Rises to the Challenge of a Magazine Shoot

2008-12-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a wonderful opportunity comes along and I’m asked to do a photo shoot. About a year ago Emmanuel New York Models contacted me about submitting some work to Zink, a fashion-forward magazine that’s a great resource for hairdressers because it makes you think a little differently. I’d be working with Xander Angeles, a highly respected photographer who shoots for Vogue and other publications. I’d collaborated with Xander before, so I knew I would find a lot of satisfaction in the creative process and the quality of the product. I couldn’t wait to get started!

About three months ahead, Xander and I met to exchange ideas for the shoot, titled “Vernal Encounters.” Right now fashion is mixing textures, so we decided to present opposing textures and elements like light and darkness. Instead of colliding, they would blend and become very soft to the eye, with two people representing one. We were going for a great sense of character, a great sense of attitude. Xander saw the set and lighting as ethereal and foggy, and I knew exactly how I would intermix unconventional textures in the hair. Selecting the right models was really important, and we were lucky enough to get two perfect models who mirrored each other.

During the three months that followed, I prepared for the shoot by practicing the looks on mannequins. I made sure that the textures were going to jive and I wouldn’t run into any bumps on the day of the shoot. How much volume did I want? Should I run my hands through the hair? Those answers come out in the practice. Often you do hit a bump. When something you’ve planned isn’t working, you have to know when to keep trying and when you just need to make a left turn and go in the new direction. That’s where creativity really starts to happen! So I practiced until I was comfortable, and then I practiced more to see whether something would happen to take me to a new place. Altogether, I devoted at least 24 hours to rehearsing the looks for this shoot.

We can think of hair as an accessory, so the other thing I did in advance was to create pinwheel hairpieces from contrasting colors of black and white. To make the pinwheels, I wrapped together two weft sections, sprayed them with Redken’s Forceful 23 Hair Spray to make the pinwheels stick together and, after they dried, sewed them together. This created a head scarf, sort of like the ones they wore in the 1910s or 1920s with hair sticking out of the back. At the shoot, I pinned the headpieces onto the models’ heads for some of the photos. It introduced an avant-garde, fantasy element.

For most of the shoot, though, we didn’t use any extensions or pieces. I was working with a crimped look that reaches back to the late 1970s but gets a fresh appearance from using a mini-crimp rather than a wide crimp iron. The crimp looks soft to the touch; it’s hidden underneath for texture and casual volume, so you really don’t see it at all until you get up close. That’s when the character speaks loudly and the attitude stands out! I also fashioned some updo’s to present the crimped volume in a different way.

Hairdressers like to know how everything is created, so I'll tell you! Before crimping, I prepped the hair with Redken Fabricate 03 Heat Active Texturizer, blow-dried it with a Sam Villa Signature Series medium oval brush to achieve volume at the base and then added a second application of Redken Fabricate 03 Heat Active Texturizer to the hair shaft. This product acts as a buffer from the iron and also gives hold. To create the collision of textures, I took very narrow, vertical sections and crimped only every other section from scalp to ends, leaving the alternating sections straight for contrast. After the hair cooled, I used a round-barreled curling iron to do a spiral wrap curl on top of the crimp. You may think you’ll lose the crimp if you do that, but you won’t; you’ll just add curl. For some of the photos, in the front area I tied knots to echo the headbands and cinched belts that are popular now.

Our models loved it! The youth of today have never experienced a crimp, so they look at it as very exciting and fresh. I’ve found that crimping underneath rather than on the surface makes the concept consumer-friendly. Apparently, the Zink editors agreed, because they gave “Vernal Encounters” four pages in the May 2008 issue! I love educating, but this shoot was a lot of fun, too.

Check out photos from the shoot here.

"The Convertible" Joins the Aspire Tour™

2008-11-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

A lot of you have mastered the bob shape by watching my DVD, "BOBology," and are asking me, "Sam, what's next?" I'm excited to tell you! As I continued along on the Aspire Tour, traveling throughout the country to educate stylists in their own salons, I shot a follow-up DVD called "The Convertible" that will help you take your guests to the next step.

They still love their bobs, right? At the same time they're looking for something fresh, and many of them are starting to want to grow their hair longer again. But they're hesitating, not quite ready to give up the bob because they've received so many compliments. What they really want is the versatility of keeping their bob while also growing out their hair.

Having this conversation with my own guests is what inspired me to create The Convertible, a versatile, mid-length look that uses a great pattern and comes out of an existing bob. As the name implies, it's a style that can be converted to another style, giving guests the best of both worlds - longer hair, but a bob look when they want it. You give them a medium-length cut and show them how to put their hair in a ponytail, and then out pops a bob! And the best thing about it is that you're providing direction in how they can grow out their current bob.

The other thing I think you'll love about this cut is that it makes great use of disconnection, which is the strongest element of design today. You want frothy volume, looseness and versatility, but if you keep doing things the same way you've been doing them you won't get all of that. Think of a shag. That 1960s layering is coming back, but we're updating it by cutting shags inside the hair cut, using disconnected sections and maybe doing something new with the tops.

Still, I know that some of you cringe when you hear the term "disconnection," because you were taught to blend. But by using texturizing cutting techniques you can disconnect while making it look blended. Disconnection is the superior method because it gives a sense of looseness and movement; it's versatile and changeable, and it offers the client options. With disconnection, you cut a classic blunt line while removing weight in the right places to design something that's modern and fresh.

While I'm not doing as much texturizing as I used to, I am still relying on deep-point cutting, which I believe is set to become the next classic technique. Deep-point cutting offers a way to make hair light and airy without ripping up the hair shaft.

The sectioning on The Convertible is different from the sectioning I showed you in "BOBology." It's a new pattern, and as a stylist I think you should try to get your hands on every pattern you can. You can do the cut in 20 minutes, but the sectioning takes time because of the disconnection.

I really love the way we've been shooting these DVDs as part of the Aspire Tour. Instead of being alone in a studio, I'm right next to the stylists in their own salon, and I get to see their immediate reaction to the hair cuts. You can't beat that!

I very much enjoyed the team at Vincent Salon in Ft. Myers, Florida, where we shot the "Convertible" video. The stylists were able and really willing to learn what I had to teach them. It's a team that likes to keep up with the trends, plus the salon is hooked up to a big gym facility, so the whole building is about health. That was kind of cool.

So much of what I teach is about the art of communication, and the in-salon format makes that a lot easier. I can help stylists to make the cut marketable to guests. Watching the team's response when this all clicks with them has been incredible for me!

When you view this DVD, it's just like having you come to the workshop. I hope you take out a mannequin head and work along with us. You can pause the video, go at your own speed and return to it whenever you're ready. You'll learn from the mistakes the other stylists make and hear my answers to their questions. What if the client keeps moving her head? What if the hair is very fine? What if it's curly? You may be wondering some of those same things -- the "what ifs" -- as you watch.

Sometimes people ask me why I use a mannequin instead of a model. My goal is to educate you, not to show you how beautiful a model can look with this cut. I'm going to give you every piece of information to support this hair cut and teach you how to communicate this hair cut. I'll tell you the fringe story, the texture story, the consultation story. All of these hair cuts come with stories. We have another one, a shorter cut, coming out next.

That's the difference between these DVDs from the Aspire Tour and visual education we've created in the past. This is real, it's fun and you leave after having had a good time as well as a huge learning experience.

In Search of Dinner During Redken Chile Symposium

2008-10-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

My summer was busy! In July I traveled to the Chilean capital of Santiago to conduct training with Redken Chile for hairdressers not only from that country but from neighboring Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. To stage the event, I had help from the 30 Latin American members of the Redken Artists Network (RAN). While Redken’s U.S. Symposium in Las Vegas attracts nearly 10,000 people, the capacity crowd at the Hyatt Santiago hit 400. But last year they had only 100, so this felt just as exciting as Vegas! Here’s how my week went:

July 2-3—Pre-show meetings with Redken Chile’s corporate staff and show team. Gave about 50 models my “short hair is the new long” talk, which cut the pool by half. Selected nine models among those willing to get their hair cut. No time for dinner.

July 4—So nice of the Chileans to wish me a happy Independence Day! Holiday at home, but workday here in Chile. Precut and precolored models, rehearsed makeup looks and did wardrobe fittings. Went from 8am to 10:30pm. Good exhaustion! But too late for dinner.

July 5— “Train the trainer” with the RAN. Explained Redken’s Principle-Based Design cutting system. Popped in (Redken colleague) Chris Baran’s awesome “Fuel for Design” video. Check it out at www.chrisbaran.com. Dinner? Nada.

July 6—6am call time to prep models for morning and afternoon Look and Learn seminars, where I shared two haircuts and some finishing skills. Shy Chilean culture came across as cold audiences. It motivated me to get them to open up; translators conveyed my emotions perfectly. By the end the hairdressers were clapping, laughing and jumping up and down! On their way out I shook everyone’s hand and thanked each person. They were so grateful; some were in tears! We motivated them to think differently about the industry.

Room had to be broken down and set up differently for 8:30 theatrical show, so didn’t get my hands into hair until 7pm. Still did what was necessary for a good show, and finally got on stage at 10:15. Luckily, everyone was patient.

Three models had massive volume. It was explosive! For “Changes,” I demonstrated as the Spanish-speaking voiceover talked about current directions in hair. Audience went crazy, loving that we did it in Spanish! Redken people said they never saw their audience act that way. Also loved when I did “Stitches,” using special 40-foot thread and needle to sew up the model’s hair while music played. In the lighting, it looked like the hair climbed up the head by itself. So cool!

Afterwards stayed for the dance with a d.j. People came over to talk and take pictures with me. Did I eat? Not much.

July 7 and 8—Conducted smaller morning and afternoon hands-on design workshops while Chilean colleagues Ricardo and Louisa did the color workshops, then traded groups. Walked them through a haircut and finishing tricks; everyone got a mannequin. Had a translator, but I speak enough Spanglish that the hairdressers couldn’t hide anything from me!

Best thing about these two days: dinner! On the 7th it was awesome Peruvian cuisine with Sergio Castro, general manager of Redken Chile. I ate the best fish with spicy yogurt sauces. Chilean wine is very good! On the 8th, all the participating Redken artists were invited to the Miguel Torres restaurant, where each course was served with its own wine. We all celebrated our accomplishments, and the Latin American artists signed a pictorial book on Chile for me. Now I can look at that book anytime and relive my time there!

This trip helped me work on my goal to communicate with people better and better. It’s wonderful to travel internationally, because your communication skills are constantly challenged. Had to read the audience and also communicate with the Redken artists, because I want them to be able to conduct the same workshops when I’m not there. As a Redken artist, coach and mentor, I know that communication is so important, and every culture is unique.

The same thing is true for you. Every client who sits in your chair is unique. Communication builds wealth, and the client consultation needs to become a strong piece of communication. It’s a lost art, requiring an understanding of different personalities. But once you establish your knowledge, trust and sincerity with clients, your communication will build your wealth.

Visiting U.S. Salons: Two Great Cuts and Lots of Great Energy

2008-09-16T12:53:00.001-07:00

This year for Redken I’m probably conducting more in-salon classes than I ever have, and I’m really enjoying them. I’m finding that salons are looking for the hands-on, up-close-and-personal experience. That works great for me, because I believe in principle-based learning: make mistakes and learn from them. We use top-quality mannequins, which are easy to work with and let the stylists focus on the cut instead of worrying about pleasing a live guest. Some salons don’t go for the hands-on; they want me to demonstrate as they observe and ask questions. That’s okay, too.

Sam demonstrates his hands-on style in BOBology

Scene from BOBology

Scene from BOBology

Recently I held a class at Salon Blue in Raleigh, NC, and then I went to Kansas for classes at The Hair Loft in Salina and Encounters Salon in Overland Park. In Louisville, KY, I did a hands-on sponsored by a distributor and attended by 24 hairdressers from various salons, which brings in lots of different styles and an exchange of ideas. It’s cool when I get to work with a group of people like that! I was assisted by another Redken artist, Tim Cowan, who’s very well-known and respected in Louisville. The following week I was in Ohio, driving from Bellazio Salon and Spa in Dayton to Lucia’s Salon in Cleveland, and I realized what a beautiful state Ohio is! When I lived in California I drove everywhere, but now I’m on foot in New York City. Maybe I miss my car more than I thought!

Owners bring me into their salons to motivate the staff, but also everyone wants to know: what’s fresh, what’s happening? In response, I’ve developed what I call “the buzz.” As I traveled from salon to salon this summer, I had a lot of buzz to talk about!

Scene from BOBology

First, there’s a big decade happening right now, and it’s the ’80s. Go into a club, and you’ll hear 1980s music in a remix that makes it more saleable. We’re doing the same in hair, reaching into the past in order to create the future. Today’s shapes take a twist on classic styles and traditional techniques.

One example is disconnection, which is the strongest element of design today. It’s the way we’re now disconnecting the hair that gives it a sense of looseness, movement, volume and versatility. Just looking at the hair, you can’t even tell it’s disconnected rather than blended or created with normal layers. You’d have to turn the head over to tell. The challenge for me is to get salon professionals to understand how marketable it is.

Scene from BOBology

In fashion, this is already selling. You see women wearing a cardigan sweater over a plain dress; they’re disconnected but they work together. In hair, we’re also seeing textures collide. A large curl may sit next to a small curl, or a slice of straight hair next to a bunch of curl. Sleek can mix with wavy, and all of this creates the new gentle edges you’re starting to see.

Scene from BOBology

Scene from BOBology

Thank you, Posh Spice, because you drove women back into the salon. Clients came in for bobs, and as a result many of them cut their hair short for the first time. They got tons of compliments. What will happen when women tire of the bobs? Some will want to go shorter, and the rest will grow it out to a medium length. Salons have to be prepared for both, so in the classes I walk the stylists through two looks.

Everyone loves the first hair cut, a medium length or longer cut that looks like it’s been razored because it’s disconnected and sectioned to create asymmetrical, soft layering. To style it, I demonstrate how to use a flat iron to supply heat while manipulating with a round brush to produce movement, volume, bevel. This is layering that’s going to float, and it’s beautiful! Then I tie the hair into a ponytail, shake the head, and out pops a bob! That gives the client the best of both worlds. She can have a bob if she wants; only from the side can you tell that it’s actually a ponytail.

Next, I have the hairdressers take the same mannequins to do a short hair cut. It’s a classic Mia Farrow or Sharon Stone, but with more length, a little bit like Rihanna. Clients who don’t want to let their bobs grow out are going to be asking for this look.

We also have to start thinking in terms of clients who are “going green,” which is why I encourage colorists to use Redken’s Chemistry System. It’s amazing how many colorists will give their guests a chemical service without any conditioning treatment! They’re afraid to charge for this, but it benefits the client.

Clients need product information. I show the stylists how to brush Vinyl Glam on top of natural curls to calm down frizziness and flyaways, and how to use a leave-in conditioner like Butter Treat or All Soft Heavy Cream to calm down any nappy, frizzy hair and reshape the curl. Often clients don’t know they have these options, so stylists must educate them, the same way I educate stylists to use proper tools like the Sam Villa line of tools we’ve developed at Allvus.

5.75" Wet Cutting Shear

6.25" Wet Cutting Shear

7" Dry Cutting Shear

Reversible Blending Shear

Brush Set with Case

Comb Set with Case

12 Pocket Shear Case

When I come out of these in-salon classes, I have such a natural high going. As I flew home from Cleveland, I thought about how much I love going into the salons because it’s so cool to watch the stylists’ faces when they get it! Younger people, especially, just eat up all of this education. That’s what makes it worth it to me every time.

When in Rome: Finish is Everything!

2008-08-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Working with the Redken Academy Tour, I have the opportunity to spread our education all over the world, and in late spring I spent a week each in Rome and Milan, Italy. My objective was to share with the Italians any New York trends that would interest their top clients at Italian salons. Because of New York’s fashion influence, Europeans tend to be hungry for what’s happening in New York. Milan also is a fashion center, so Italy has almost a rivalry with New York, and the two approach hair and fashion very differently. Italian fashion is classy, put-together, beautiful, handsome. New York is more about what’s going on in the streets.

On this tour I was collaborating with George Garcia, an up-and-coming Redken artist in the color category.We had about 125 models from the Mancini Agency come in the first day for casting. We were looking for females to cut and color, so those models had to be willing to change, and I also was looking for some long hair for dressing and finishing. George and I selected 12 models who were open to doing what we wanted to achieve. We prepped them that first day and also finished some of them so that the next day we could kick things off with a brief presentation of finished looks. Talco, an Italian design group with a trendy boutique, supplied the clothing. They had some wonderful stuff.

The story I brought from New York was that, in hair, short is the new long. I base that on what’s happening on the streets of Manhattan and what I see celebrities doing. So we talked a lot about “beyond the bob.” What’s next?

The look coming up is very Mia Farrow, dated but looking fresh again. Keira Knightley is wearing that, and for the older woman Sharon Stone is the new Jane Fonda. Fringe is getting longer; crowns are getting shorter but long enough that they can either be spiky or lie flat, smooth and sleek. You also can tuck the hair behind the ears and make it look even shorter. Right now versatility is very much key, and short hair is the most versatile look you can have.

Not everyone wants to have hair that short, so mid-lengths are big, too, and volume is coming back. Think of Marilyn Monroe when her hair was chin-length, curled, wedgy, stacked out. Rene Russo wore it that way in “The Thomas Crown Affair.” Also, there are secrets to giving clients with longer hair some options, like pulling the hair into a ponytail so it looks like a bob.

Tricks like that were part of what I wanted to share, and I have a lot of them! I showed the Italians how to crimp the hair and then go over it with a curling iron. Crimping isn’t new, but now we’re using a mini-crimping iron followed by the curling iron. From a distance it doesn’t even look crimped, so all you see is this unique consistency, a different pliability.

The day following our presentation and discussion, the stylists all came back and we had a hands-on workshop. They each had a mannequin, and I walked half of them through a haircut while George took the other half for a color hands-on, and then after lunch we switched.

Italian stylists are some of the best finishers in the world. I love to read Italian Vogue, where you can see how skilled the finish is. But we introduced something different: blow-dry as you go. As soon as you cut a section, blow it dry. That gives you more control over the finish, and at the same time you can tweak the haircut. At Redken we always say, “Go for maximum results with minimum effort.” Today the finish sells your work, because there’s a lot of Hollywood glamour, and this new blow-drying method really motivated the Italian hairdressers.

So I talked about how this is the year of finishing and I introduced Italy to my line of Sam Villa tools, which I’m developing through my new company, Allvus. Every time I dropped a comb, I let the person who picked it up keep it. I also gave away a pair of scissors to everyone who answered a question right. It was fun! I showed them how we use our hot tools in unconventional ways to make curls look different.

Watching the Italians’ skill level made me think that here at home we need to work on our finishing skills more. The Italians have great eyes and hands. I came back totally excited and motivated to make myself an even better finisher. But they like a lot of structure and rules, so I had to show them why Americans are all about breaking rules!

For the following two days I conducted a “Train the Trainer” program. I took all of the Redken artists and trained them in the Redken way, which is making the audience the hero. How? As the facilitator you help the audience discover the information rather than just giving them the information. Today’s audience is more intelligent than ever, so you must be interactive to keep their attention. I had to break into the Italian culture—Milan was a tougher audience than Rome—and replace it with the Redken culture, which is full of energy. You know when you’ve walked into a Redken classroom, because everyone’s up and clapping.

The Redken way is just contagious. An older gentleman, maybe close to 70 years old, was in the room to help with the sound and technical part of the “Train the Trainer” presentation. By the end of the day, he was jumping up and clapping! He wasn’t even a hairdresser, but he told me, “I’m walking out of here a different person.” Amazing!

I really enjoyed my two weeks there. I’m Mexican, so I can understand Spanish and could pick up a lot of the Italian I was hearing. I do love the Italian language. I also really love the food! I spent one day just walking around Rome, ordering cacio e pepe, which is a spaghetti type of pasta with cacio cheese, olive oil and cream. I was looking at the architecture and seeing how people were dressed, what their hair was like. I listened to their music, watched their music videos. Doing something like that for a day is how I “fill my fish bowl” back up. There’s nothing like traveling to replenish your creative fish bowl.

Sam Villa Premieres at Premiere Orlando: What a Reception!!

2008-07-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

I hope that some of you were able to attend the Premiere Orlando Beauty Show on June 1st and 2nd, because it was a great show and I'd like to thank everyone who showed up at the Sam Villa™ booth. This was our first real show; we introduced our combs, brushes, scissors and accessories, and we had the BOBology DVD for sale as well. Everyone was lovin' it! We had 15 to 20 deep watching us demonstrate. I was blown away by the way that looked from the platform. We all had the best time even though I do feel bad that our crowd literally knocked over the booth next to us!

It's cool that Premiere draws attendance from all over the country as well internationally. And the show floor is so clean, so well laid out. At most shows, I'm on a big stage, kind of removed from the group watching me. But at Premiere, we were all together. People could touch me. Many did!

That sort of intimacy brought back memories of growing up in this industry working in the "pit" at beauty shows. People were walking by, and they'll watch you for a few minutes but it's difficult to hold their attention. They want to move on. In my early days I had to figure out how to keep them there long enough to catch the value of what I was trying to give them. With that experience behind me, I'm pretty good at it now and can coach our other educators, too.

Industry friends - people from Redken and others - reported back to me that we had the biggest crowds for any booth at the show and that the whole place was into the buzz about our new tools. I've been in the industry long enough to know how amazing that is. Seeing this incredible welcome to the industry for the Sam Villa™ line is so personall fulfilling and humbling for me because it comes from the people I admire most in the world - hairdressers.

We're taking it slowly, making sure we get it right. We won't come out with our crimper, flat iron and blow dryer until late this year or early '09. I get a lot of emails commenting about how beautiful our product packaging is, so I know it was worth taking time with that. We tried to present the same beauty in our show as in our packaging. Our models were as pretty as our booth! I'm lucky to have Redken's support and access to any Redken models who aren't booked the day I need them.

Hair education isn't just about technical skill. When I teach, I also focus on the ties between communication, health and wealth. Communication with the client builds wealth in our industry. We have to get the consultation to make a big comeback because of today's economy. In the old days, we sold a look. But now women "buy people" more than they buy things. So if you want clients to "buy you," you'll have to learn to sell yourself through effective communication.

Health comes into play, because the hairdresser cannot work with a sore body. That's why as I demonstrate a cut, I'm always talking about the proper way to position our bodies and hold our tools as we cut hair. For example, we designed our scissors with a forward-set thumb rather than an offset thumb because that forces a healthier hand position. We have boar-bristle brushes that really grab the hair and allow you to stretch-dry hair without hurting your shoulders.

I love giving sylists ideas for earning a better living and living a better life. That's why I never get tired of being an educator. I like to show you how to use tools and methods that will give you maximum results with minimum effort. When you're able to do a cut in just 20 minutes, you can spend the rest of the appointment providing clients with an experience. You can give them a great scalp massage at the shampoo bowl or take a minute to offer them a cup of coffee. People come into the salon from whatever they were just doing, and it's our job to calm them down. When you master that, you'll see your earnings increase!

My communication these days is with the sylists, and the Premier Show made me realize how rewarding that is for me. There will never be another show like Premiere, since it was the first for the Sam Villa™ line. But if you missed it, I promise there will be more opportunities to see the excitement I'm talking about. Can't wait!