Before opening up First Impressions, Rocio has either worked for or managed LeShoppe for Hair and Nail, Zoe Salon and Spa and Bubbles Salon. She continues to expand her knowledge by yearly attendance and training in New York, Miami and Chicago.  Her hair artistry has been featured in trade magazines.

Besides wanting to replicate the look given by a stylist, most women want to know how to achieve the hair fullness, control, shine and manageability they get at the salon without spending tons of time and money.  But, you know it’s not always as easy as it sounds.

What typically happens is that every 6 weeks or more you go to your favorite stylist, get a look you love and you end up even buying the products that were used and recommended. You walk around that day and get tons of compliments. The next time you’re ready to style, you use all the same tools, but instead you end up not quite achieving the same look. In fact, you may end up looking like a brittle frizzy mess.

What went wrong?

Possibly nothing that a little tweaking and understanding on the use of the tools can’t fix.  Here is a step-by-step guide on helping you get the look you want.  Besides reading the instructions, I’ll also show you how I do each step (and what I tell my clients), when you click on the video link.

Step 1:  Start off with clean hair

• Shampoo with a volumizing or daily shampoo and condition with a lightweight conditioner (any good one will do, I like to use Onesta Strengthening Shampoo and Daily Conditioner).
• Towel dry your hair, detangle and apply a dime to nickel size of emulsified volumizing gel (I use a volumizing gel also made by Onesta).
  See how I do it.
  
  Step 2:  Prepare hair for effective blow-drying
  • Separate your hair at the crown.
  • Blow dry each section of the hair in the opposite direction of where you part your hair to get the most out of your gel and for maximum volume. 
    See how I do it
  • Make sure you’ve removed about 60% of the moisture in your hair before continuing on to the next step.
  Click here for some tips on how to maximize your blow-drying time
  
  Step 3: Victoria Secret’s Secret
  • After blow-drying the top and crown area and before finishing up styling the rest of your hair, use approximately 3-6 Velcro rollers on your crown area.
  • Once again, take a section of hair and over-direct it to lift the roots.
  • If you would like, spray a medium hold hairspray on the rollers.
  • Now you can finish blow-drying the hair that is not in rollers, giving the rollers a chance to set (usually around 10-15 minutes).
    See how I do it
    
    Step 4:  Take out the rollers and add some product
  • After you complete blow-drying, take out the rollers and tousle your hair.
  • If you want more hold, use a weightless paste or a little hair spray.
    See how I do it

Recap and Product Recommendation:

Watch the video as I share with you my product preferences and recap what we learned.

Next week we will look at another way to get Victoria Secret full hair by using a flat iron.  If you have any questions or suggestions for upcoming topics, let me know.

Thanks to Krisi for lending us her hair and time in the making of this video.

Rocio Perez is the owner of First Impressions Salon in Centreville. She and her husband and two beautiful girls live in Manassas.  She can be reached at http://firstimpressionsalon.net/ or at 703.477.3658.