You may have been hearing the buzz about New Leaf's 1st Style 101 Event.

It went something like this...

This is what 99.9% of women look like in the bathroom while trying to recreate the salon blow out.

Well...maybe minus the platinum blonde hair, perfectly tan skin and pouty lips. But, hey, we all sense her frustration, right?

Anyways, clients always tell us they can NEVER make their hair look as fantastic as it does when they leave New Leaf. On a positive note, hairstylists can stay busy. On the negative side of things, who wants a style they can never recreate again?

Our clients are New Leaf's business cards, so what good is it if you look great when you leave the salon and it never looks like that again?

Enter STYLE 101 EVENT.

Clients reserved their 30 minute private lesson with me (Courtney) for $25, all of which went towards styling products at the end of the session. So the class was pretty much free:o)

The best part? Clients got to CHOOSE what they wanted to learn!

We had 10 clients join us on their day off from work, and here is what we worked on:
...fun updos
...the proper blow out
...curling techniques (for short and super long hair)
...converting frizzy curls into sexy Sarah Jessica Parker Boticelli ringlets

And we had some serious FUN!

We had styling products, hairdryers, diffusers (for those curly girls out there), salon quality curling irons, flat irons, brushes, teasing combs, and pretty much anything else you could think of to make styling much more enjoyable.

The $25 went towards the tools/products she needed at home to achieve the look...clever!

Also, each client went home with a personalized note (like a sticky post-it) listing the products and tools that were needed and a step-by-step guide on how to recreate the style.

You know how we always brag about Snap! Photography? Well, Mariah (a Snap! girl) has a beautiful 7 year old daughter named Vianne that loves all things hair related. She can even braid--remember, she's 7! I see a future New Leaf-ette in the making...

Mariah brought Vianne so I could teach her a few of our fun updo tricks.
Here is Mariah honing her skills...

And making fun of the 'serious' hairdresser face in the mirror..which was hard to do because we were laughing so hard.
She looks like a hairdresser, not a photographer, right?

In celebration of lists (because I am a crazy list-maker...thanks, Dad!), here are the top 5 'tips' clients took home on Monday that I thought needed to be shared:

1. Backcombing (or teasing) is a lost art. A little backcombing in the crown area (with a rat tail comb) makes a boring ponytail party ready. If your fine hair looks great after a blow out for 1 hour, then falls flat...backcomb!

2. Section your hair in 3 parts when blow drying. The extra 30 seconds it takes to section actually saves time and the blow dry comes out smoother.

3. To make beachy (not prom) waves in your hair, use a 1 inch Hot Tools curling iron and leave the ends out of the iron. You want your hair to look haphazard, like you weren't even trying.

4. For naturally curly girls, never, NEVER wrap your hair in a towel after the shower. After using DevaCurl's Low Poo and One Condition, squeeze out the excess water with your hands and apply Deva Curl's AnGel while hair is still wet. Scrunch with a microfiber towel. Why? As soon as your curls start to dry without product, that's when frizz forms. Product needs to be applied as SOON as you get out of the shower.

5. Professional styling products please. This is not for hairdresser's health, it's for our sanity. Women invest quite a bit of their hard earned paychecks on their highlights, color, glazes and then wash it right down the drain with drugstore shampoos (I shall not name names...except that we recommend drugstore shampoo when the color is too dark...coincidence? I think not.)

When you think about salon products as insurance to protect your color investment, the cost is not that much. PLEASE invest in a great shampoo and conditioner. Ask your stylist for advice.

This day was not just about the clients learning things. I learned why my photos (I am a closet wanna-be photographer, but stink at taking photos) look awful. LIGHTING! Mariah taught me a little trick that I MUST share with you...

Here is Vianne's braided bun 'do WITHOUT PROPER LIGHTING & TOO MUCH FLASH...

...and WITH PROPER LIGHTING WITHOUT FLASH.

Secret photographer trick: Turn off your flash. Stand with your back against the natural light, so your subject is facing into the light.
Snap away (bad pun.)

This was Mariah's handy work with our camera...quite different from mine but I get it now!

Thanks to everyone who joined in on the fun for our 1st Style 101 Event! Everyone was asking if we are going to do it again, so we'll be hosting another one...date to be determined. We'll keep you posted!