Short, long, curly or straight, we all have a love-hate relationship with our hair.
Hair can be an issue for women therefore, I have the utmost respect of who works as a hairdresser. In my opinion, without exaggerating, working with women and their hair is one of the toughest jobs in the beauty industry, second only to being a plastic surgeon.
Even being a hair stylist is a hell of a responsibility, especially for those who work for big creatives in the fashion industry.
It is safe to say that hair, more even than make up – that is of course important – sets the look and the mood of an entire performance where anything visual and artsy is involved.

Why hair is such an issue?

My father used to say that it cannot be so bad, at the end of the day it, if you do not like it grows back. Errr…yes, but how do you feel in the meantime? With bad hair, your confidence goes out of the window, and you feel completely out of place. It feels like all the eyes are on you looking at your dishevelled look…and judging you!

An example? How do you feel in the morning looking at your mirror and having bad bed hair? It is quiet – or maybe not even that quiet – desperation. You would like to even scream in horror, but then your partner puts that funny look and being all condescending about how beautiful you look and stuff. Of course, it is lovely to hear that interested piece of flattery, but you really know you have to do something about it. Fast. In 20 minutes you will have to be out of the door ready for work. Make up can wait until you hop on the tube, but definitively you have to do something for that hair.
The only option is a super quick shower and even faster blow dry hoping it is not raining outside.

But what is that every women want? Big hair (aka volume) is the almost unanimous reply, and waves. Volume on top, and luscious beachy waves Victoria Secret style.
I have two perfect examples of these two requirements in my own family.
My mum has a long history of battles with her hair. Flat, thin and straight, her hair was not the best and it was a challenge trying to do anything with it.
In the 1980s she followed the trend of having her hair permed. Unfortunately for her, all the chemicals in the world managed only to ruin her hair without adding any extra volume, or curls. After not even a fortnight after the perm, her hair was back to square one, only with extra dead ends to be cut.
Since I can remember my grandma used to go to bed with curlers in her head and spent money on lotions, and any sorts of remedies that promised extra thickness to her hair.
I have personally never had this problem because my hair is naturally curly, so the issue I have is to tame it and defrizz it, and my hair being exposed to the London weather is definitively a challenge. Forget about smooth and lustrous locks for me. In fact, I can assure you that unless I go to a very capable, curl expert hairdresser that can perform a great blow dry, defined and neat curls do not happen naturally just because you have curly hair.

Have your expectations right

It happens that we may have unrealistic expectations on what professionals can do with our hair. For example, I have always wanted to have a fringe. Stubborn as I am, I have often forced poor hairdressers – who were hopelessly trying to speak some sense out of my crazy vision – to do what I had in mind, ending up cursing my own ideas and being unhappy for quite a while.
The problem is that what I was focusing on the overall look, not knowing that I was looking at the styling and at not the cut itself. The styling was the problem because I was completely unable to reproduce it at home. I was lacking the hairdressing skills – and the patience, I would add – necessary to do it right.
Hair and its styling is such a personal thing that finding the right person who understands your hair and your vision is a true rarity.

In reality, the kind of hairstyles you can have depends on the type of hair you have. I have learnt this the hard way talking and observing our make up artists in action with our clients and models on photo shoots.
If you look for conjuring up some big curls out of thin, long and a bit overstressed hair, it is honestly going to be difficult in just the 30 minutes that a trained make-up artist will have the time to dedicate to your hair the day of your photoshoot.

That sexy curly Victoria Secret hairstyle needs a proper blow dry, or hours of set with the right products and curlers, something that is almost impossible to achieve in studio. And especially when wearing lingerie for boudoir, a full head of hair is extremely feminine.
All the training and the products in the world cannot replace the time needed for your hair to set to create – and hold – the desired shape. Not to mention that so many women pictured in magazines very often wear extensions to make it look thicker and richer.
This is unfortunately the reality of things.
So, as we do not wish to disappoint any of the women we photograph, we want to ask for your opinion on this hair issue.

How would you feel if the photographic studio of your choice would not only give you a professional make up artist to prep you on the day of the photo shoot, and also a free blow dry the day before?

It is something that Carlo and I have been thinking for a while to improve the overall experience for our clients, and to give women the confidence of showing off glorious hair, so important to not only look but feel at your best. At the end of the day, a photo is an ever lasting memory of you, so why not making it the best possible one?

Please have your say on this hair issue by leaving a comment below.