No matter what I do, it always looks the same.
I'm Ruth, I'm 50 years old,
and I'm from Lincoln Park, New Jersey.
And I have absolutely no idea what to do with my hair.
I've tried many different products on my hair.
Nothing seems to work.
It's very curly, it's very dry,
now it's turning gray. (chuckles)
So, it's usually up in a ponytail.
It always looks so frizzy.
Every salon I've gone to,
I've asked them to do something different
that's not going to look like a mushroom
on my head or something different, something stylish.
But nobody can ever make suggestions
other than, you know, the short layers.
(upbeat music)
When I'm not at work I'm generally
in my jeans, sweatshirt, yoga pants,
always wearing bigger clothes to hide everything. (laughs)
My First Aid Squad sweatshirts
are pretty much my wardrobe every day.
My kids tell me I dress like an old lady. (laughs)
They don't like my style.
They're very honest. (audience laughs)
I'm a single mom of three boys, 24, 23 and 16.
My life has always revolved around my kids.
They were my priority.
At one time, they were all in three different schools
and I always tried to help out
and volunteer for each one of them.
My typical week can be very busy.
I work a full time job, go to school,
and volunteer with the First Aid Squad.
(truck door shuts)
I've been doing it on and off for about 25 years.
Fortunately for me, my two oldest boys
are on the squad with me.
A-1 Lincoln Park, we'll be in route.
(upbeat music)
We really think she deserves this makeover
because between her work life and family,
and then coming here and helping people,
she doesn't have time to work on herself.
Now its time for me to put myself out there.
(whooshing)
She's a very busy single mom of three.
She volunteers at the school.
She's part of the Emergency Squad along with two
of her three sons that are here with us today.
So, we're joined by her sons.
She's always put the kids first.
Yeah. She's 50.
So Kyan Douglas is here and he's been working with Ruth
because Ruth feels like it's,
well, it's Ruth time in her life.
Yeah, and she deserved it.
Yeah.
And you boys are just adorable. (boys laughing)
Your smiles are a mile wide and I'm so thrilled
that you're here to support your mom.
Thank you. Very nice of you.
Poor Ty, he had a perfect attendance until today.
I know. (all laughing)
Its okay.
But I think it's for a really good cause.
So, she had a lot of hair.
You said maybe more hair than you've ever seen.
Really, I mean, in all the years
that I've been around hair,
she has as much hair as anybody.
I mean just-- A mane, okay?
A mane of hair, yeah.
And this is the before. Yeah.
In her EMS jersey, there. Yeah.
The boys were not complimentary to mom's style.
(all laughing)
Previous to today, you guys did not peek.
I did not peek. No.
Are you happy with how everything turned out?
I am, we really, like, tamed down
the situation and she looks beautiful.
Ruth, are you ready?
Are you alive?
(upbeat music)
(audience cheering)
Look at those shoes.
Aw, boys.
Your hair looks glorious. Thank you, it does.
They did a great job. Yeah.
It's amazing.
Do you feel that now they've kind of tamed it
for you that you can handle this?
Oh, absolutely.
I'm like 10 pounds lighter and I'm excited
about that alone. (all laughing)
No, but just the color is so natural and beautiful.
I love the cut. Yeah.
Like, the way the hair moves is very beautiful on you.
Very, very attractive. Thank you so much.
They did a great job.
Are you happy? (blows raspberry) Yes.
(audience laughing)
(Rachael blows raspberries)
Duh. (laughs)
She had, a lot of hair, like I said.
We took out two ounces of weight.
She, her hair was too long though.
Ruth has incredibly curly kinky hair and it was too long.
So it was weighing her down.
We brought it up about seven inches
to have it be a more mannered-
But it looks so much fuller and healthier.
Ironically, it does.
The thing is it was very over-processed.
It was very dry, she had done way too many highlights.
The highlights had gotten out of hand.
So, what I decided to do was bring it back
to a more natural look for her,
but still with very beautiful honey highlights
in there. It's really rich.
You look so elegant, really.
You can see, look at all the curls and the movement
that she has in there. It's really great.
When you have hair that's the appropriate length,
and then you take out the extra weight,
you feel like you're taking away,
but you're actually adding to it.
It creates so much more movement.
There's freedom of movement in the curls,
in the layering. Yeah, and I love
the tousled curl vibe, like the whole thing, it's just-
Yeah, and with this cut, especially because of the length,
she'll be able to towel dry, put in a little product,
and then air dry and walk away.
Wow. (audience applauds)
So, it'll be very easy for her when she is,
on the weekends doing the EMT thing.
I want that hair, right? (laughs)
And that dress is just, it looks so comfortable.
Is it? Yes, it's very comfortable.
So, who helped you out with the hair today, Ky?
My friend Victoria at Spoke & Weal
and Jenna at Spoke & Weal
with the cut and color, respectively.
(audience applauding)
(whimsical chiming)