The thing I'm most nervous about is
having my hair poof out if it gets too short.
Hi, I'm Zippy, and today I'm getting the big curl chop.
But before you see my transformation, subscribe below.
I guess my hair history has mostly been a
lot of long hair, but I did cut
it right before I started college, so it was about shoulder
length.
And in college I did experiment with some
color so I did purple, dark blue.
And then this was red before it faded
out.
I've always wanted to go to a curly specialist,
but the price point and timing just never
quite worked out.
My name is Irinel de León.
I'm a celebrity hairstylist and curly hair advocate based
out of Los Angeles, California.
I think I'm best known for curly hair,
for writing tips for curly hair, but also a lot of
my celebrity work as well.
I feel like there's been an
increase in the amount of women that go for it.
And that is the most liberating
thing you can do is embrace your natural texture.
Hi, I'm Irinel.
Hi, I'm Zippy.
Nice to meet you.
What are we doing today?
Doing a chop.
How much do you want to take off, do you think?
Probably like around ten inches.
Ten inches, okay.
That's pretty substantial amount and I'm super excited for
this transformation, so.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Let's do it.
Since we're cutting off a lot of Zippy's hair,
the first step is I created a ponytail,
I braided it, and then I used the clipper
to remove a bulk of the length of the hair.
Alright, we're doing it. Here's your hair!
Here's your hair!
Oh my god.
The second step will be to cut the perimeter
of the hair with
my shears.
This just creates the length that we're trying to achieve,
in addition to just evening everything out.
The next step will be to create layers
in the hair using my fingers and
my shears.
So just kind of lifting it up and cutting it as I
go, just to make sure it has the
appropriate shape that we're looking for.
I'm going to go in and use a spray bottle and
wet all her hair.
You always want the hair to be extremely wet when you're
applying product to curly hair.
This ensures that you're getting frizz free curls,
and they're extremely defined and they're doing the best
that they can.
Curly hair is incredibly complex.
So it's important that you go to someone that actually
knows what they're doing, understands the science
behind textures.
That's a funky brush.
This is a curly hair brush.
Woah.
It's incredible.
Next, I'm going to follow up with Ouidad Take Shape
plumping and defining cream.
This works incredibly well for anyone with medium to
thicker textures.
I'm using this to provide her hair with all the hydration
that it needs and I'm applying this in
sections.
So I'm starting at the nape of the neck, making
sure it is saturated with water.
I'm breaking the product through with my fingers and then
I'm taking a Denman brush, and I'm brushing
it through the hair through each section.
I'm grabbing it at the root, shaking it and also
scrunching.
When you scrunch, you should always be hearing
it.
This ensures that you're getting extremely
frizz free curls.
The next step will be to take the Out of Thin
(H)air volumizing jelly by Ouidad and I'm using
probably about a quarter size on Zippy's hair.
I want to make sure that her ends are
extremely hydrated and gives it that bounce
that it needs, especially after the haircut.
Once I'm done, I'm going to take a microfiber towel.
I'm just squeezing a little bit of it out to make
sure that it's not dripping wet and it also enhances
the natural texture.
Next, I'm going to follow with the Dyson supersonic blow
dryer with the diffuser attachment.
I'm going to go in and begin to diffuse
Zippy's hair on low speed and low heat.
A pro tip
will be when you're diffusing, make sure you're utilizing
the prongs inside the diffuser.
So those little sticks that you see inside the diffuser are
actually meant to lift the hair from the root to
ensure that the hair doesn't stick to the actual scalp.
Now that the hair is dry, you'll notice that there are
clumps in the curls.
I'm going to go in with a little of the Ouidad Revive and
Shine dry oil mist, and I'm going to spray
a little bit on my fingertips and I'm going to start to
declump the
curls.
To finish, I'm going to go in with a pick to make sure that
you're getting a little extra body.
Okay, open your eyes.
Oh my god.
Oh, wow. There's so much volume.
I know, so different, right?
Yeah.
I loved working with Irinel.
She really understood
what I wanted and also what my hair needed.
This is basically like 10, 11 inches
off your hair.
I feel like you just got rid of your old life.
Yeah, I'm a new woman.
Seeing Zippy's reaction in the mirror is
what I think I always aspire
to see when I'm working on any kind of client.
That is one of the biggest reasons that I love
my job the most, is to make a positive
impact on
someone else and make a change to
have them look and feel a little bit more confident.
My hair definitely feels more energized.
It's not as dry and it feels
healthy again.
Getting the big curl chop definitely felt empowering and
also really freeing.
I think having long hair is definitely a security blanket
and cutting it off was kind of like a fresh start.
Thank you for watching Refinery29.
To watch more videos, click here.
And to subscribe, click here.