-I've never been to a curly cut specialist or stylist before.
And the more I think about it, when I was a kid,
I would always get my hair cut by regular hairdressers,
and they would always blow it out straight at the end.
Hi. I'm Melina.
And today, I'm getting a curly cut.
I've had curly hair my entire life,
and I've tried everything.
And I didn't really have those resources,
when I was little, to go on to YouTube, or social media,
and figure out how other people like me were styling my hair.
And no one in my family has curly hair.
For me, having followed Tamara Mowry for a long time,
she has been really inspiring to embrace my own curls
in the way that she's not only just been wearing it naturally,
but doing the work to take care of it,
and keep it healthy, after years of putting heat on it,
is something that makes me want to embrace my natural hair more.
I'm willing to cut off a good amount of inches.
I like the medium length.
I don't want to go so short that it feels
a little too jarring from what I'm used to.
But I'm excited to cut off these dead ends,
and have a fresher, healthier look.
My hair journey really started from my mom and I
doing trial and error,
and finding different curl creams in mousses,
and figuring out what's crunchy,
what's shiny, what textures do I like,
but also not really meeting any stylists in my area
that knew what to do with my hair.
I'm so excited to finally be meeting Sabrina,
and getting my hair cut by somebody who cuts curly hair.
-Hi. I'm Sabrina. Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.
-Hi. My name is Sabrina, and I am a curly hair specialist
here at L&M Salon in West Hollywood, California.
I've been a stylist for nine years, now.
I do all types of hair,
but now, 90% of my clients are curly-hair clients.
What makes a curly hair cut unique
is learning the right tools and products to use on your hair,
and making sure your cut is taken care of properly,
even after the haircut.
My favorite part of specializing in curly hair
is helping people achieve their best hair possible
without having to change their natural texture,
and just working with what they have.
-Tell me a little bit about your hair.
-I've been letting it grow out for most of quarantine,
so I feel like I need some body and volume back into my hair,
and maybe some layers, and framing the face a little more.
-We should definitely give you a lot more layers.
When you style your hair,
are you ever tossing it, like, part-wise?
-I usually part it down the middle,
and then, just because it curls throughout the day,
sometimes I... -Let them go.
I think, because you mostly do middle, we'll go center,
and then, just lots of layers.
-Awesome. -Alright, let's get started.
-Perfect. -Let's go put you in a robe.
-Okay.
-Since we want to keep as much of the length as possible,
we are just gonna cut in some rounded layers.
And then, after that,
certain pieces we're gonna over-direct,
just so it's able to go from short to long,
and have it all be connected.
After that, I start to cut into the face frame,
and I create a guide in the center.
And that's basically where the shortest of the hair will be.
And then, I connect that with the length.
I took Melina over to the shampoo [indistinct]
to give her shampoo and a deep conditioning treatment.
I rinsed her out with cold water,
just to help seal the cuticle,
and give her hair extra moisture and shine.
Squeeze the extra water out of her hair.
I don't towel dry.
And then, I go into styling right away, on soaking wet hair.
After the shampoo, I will give her an anti-frizz treatment.
We brush the treatment through,
and then put a plastic cap over the hair.
And then I take her over to the dryer,
and sit under the heat for 10 minutes.
I apply a leave-in conditioner, curling cream, and a gel.
And once all the product is applied,
I brush it through with the denman brush,
scrunch in some extra gel,
and then, start diffusing her hair.
I'm gonna have her whip her head forward,
and start diffusing her hair upside down,
just so she's able to have as much volume as possible.
As your hair is drying,
do not touch it, just to avoid frizz.
Just constantly, like, flipping it to one side
and the the next, and doing that until your hair is mostly dry.
I know the diffusing process is very timely,
and to make the process a little bit more comfortable,
I gave her this tip on just placing your body on your bed,
and having your head kind of hang over,
and then, just diffusing while you're laying down in bed.
You ready? -Yes.
-Okay. Here we go.
-[ Gasps ] Oh, my God.
It's so pretty, and, like, defined.
♪♪
I love my hair.
I feel so much more confident.
The first thing I noticed was the body, and the volume,
and it just felt more alive, somehow,
and less flat and drab than it was before.
So, I'm really happy with it.
One of my main things was layers,
and wanting to frame my face a little more,
and being able to have little pieces of hair in the front,
for when I put it up, so I don't look bald.
And I talked to Sabrina about it,
and she gave me these fun, like, longer bangs,
which, I'm still learning what to with them,
and how to live with them.
But I'm really excited to first show my new hair
to my little sister.
We look really opposite.
So, she is super tall, with straight hair.
And she's always the one supporting me to look my best,
and be confident.
-When Melina came in, her hair was long.
It was almost all one length.
It had no shape, and it was just lacking
a lot of movement and body.
I loved seeing Melina's reaction in the mirror.
I love it when people can look at their hair,
and genuinely be happy, and just have healthier hair.
My biggest tip to my clients
is making sure to take care of your hair even after the cut.
You want to try to do weekly treatments.
And just know that it's a lot of work.
It takes me 12 hours from wash, to styling, and drying my hair.
but at the end, it's worth it,
when you really invest in your hair.
Curly hair, to me, means being able to embrace your true self,
learning to work with what you have
instead of wanting something that's not who you are.
-I feel like my hair defines me more,
because it just feels more me, and more curly, and bouncy.
And I try to live that lifestyle and personality,
but lately, it's felt really weighed down, and flat,
which affects your energy, too.
So, this definitely makes me want to go out, and have fun,
and feel more confident about myself.
For my first curly cut, this is the perfect length.
It feels right in my comfort zone.
And maybe, next time, I'll go a little bit shorter.
But the bangs were a big first step.
I definitely want to keep coming back to Sabrina,
and a curly cut specialist,
because she just knew how to work with my hair
in a different way that I haven't experienced before.
-Thank you for watching Refinery29.
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