STYLE SPOTLIGHT: LAUREN

Welcome to our second Style Spotlight! Lauren is rad as hell, and we just love her grey hair. She's so cool, let's just meet her already! 

Want this look? Book the Chroma Hair service.

YOUR HAIR IS AMAZING. WE HAVE TO START THERE...

What inspired your hair look?
My hair inspirtation came from my favorite color grey. I wanted grey hair for years and extensively searched for a stylist who could help me achieve it. I went through one failed attempt a while back that faded to a horrible bleached blonde. A couple years ago I found Mishi and she agreed to embark on this hair adventure with me, the rest is history!

What is your hair regimen?
Because my hair is so heavily processed,  I try to take really good care of it. I rarely wash my hair—only once every couple weeks to preserve the color as much as I can between salon visits. When I do wash it I leave Olaplex 3 ($28) in my wet hair for 15 minutes, then use Rene Furterer's Okara Mild Silver Shampoo ($29), and leave it in for about an hour. Then I wash that out and do the Absolu Keratine Mask ($52 )for about 15 minutes. For in between washes I usedry shampoo. I try to use very minimal heat styling, but I've enjoyed practicing with my Caruso steam rollers. I'm so busy my day-to-day routine consists of brushing my hair and running out the door.

Blow Dry or Air Dry?
Air dry! With everything I do to get my hair color perfect, I try to use as little heat styling as possible! I usually blow dry just a bit so it's not soaking wet, then let it finish air drying. 

Top 5 favorite hair products?

1. Rene Furterer's Okara Mild Silver Shampoo! ($29) It's my number one product for keeping my hair color looking great.
2. Bamboo Kendi Oil ($25) I use it all the time, usually on my ends.
3. Dry shampoo ($28) I used different brands, but it's a lifesaver since I wash my hair so infrequently.
4. Oribe Maximista Thickening Spray—I love big hair, and this builds volume and smells amazing!
5. Elnett—The classic! Still the best hairspray I've ever used!

What’s your best tip for someone with your hair on a budget?
Grey hair is probably not a great choice for someone on a budget. It takes a lot of upkeep and maintenance. I would say just be realistic about what you want to spend, but definitely only go with someone you trust and take really good care of it.

Lauren is wearing Harputs' Own

What is the coolest thing you own?
I have a WWII-looking rusted out bomb sitting in my living room. It's pretty awesome. 

What current fashion trend you're over?
I was hoping that trends were over! Really, though, I hope that the world's appetite for low-quality, cheaply made, trend-driven clothing decreases. It's bad for the environment, more often than not is made by extremely underpaid workers, and contributes to a culture of wasteful consumption.

Let's talk career...

What do you do for a living?
I'm the Director of Product Marketing a startup called Pantheon. I specialize in the developer tools space.

Coolest thing about your job?
I'm always learning. I have to be constantly learning new things and improving to stay engaged, and there's never a dull moment when it comes to my job. I also really love working with developers, who I tend to get along with well.

What are you passionate about?
I'm passionate about being the voice of the user, data, and always staying curious! 

And you live in San Francisco...

 Describe SF in three words...
"It's so expensive" 

Would you ever leave?
I'd like to live in Japan. And if our gentrification problem doesn't improve, I'm not sure I'll want to live here forever.

How long have you lived here?
I was born and raised in The Bay! I stayed for college in The Bay and have lived in San Francisco since.

What is the best way to decompress?
I love to play records, watch movies or Rick and Morty (the best show on television right now) with my boyfriend, go on hikes, and gardening.

FOOD & FUN

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Four Tet

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I've always wanted to be able to use the Force. 

Favorite word?
Galaxy

Favorite curse word?
Putain—a habit I picked up living in Paris and never shook!

What's the wildest thing you've ever eaten?
Hmm...I ate crickets and grasshoppers recently—that's pretty out there. They were really tasty. I've also eaten ox penis.

If you could have one last meal, what would it be?
There's a Vietnamese dish that consists of a whole roasted fish that you cook and then roll spring rolls with at the table that is simple but just so good, and reminds me of my childhood.

Name your favorite restaurants in San Francisco?
We're lucky to have such awesome food here.
I love Bar Tartine.  

REAL TALK. WHAT IS THE PROUDEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE?

I was out in the desert shooting guns with my friends. We were trap shooting and I'd never shot a shotgun before. The guys weren't having much luck. When it was my turn, the guys were all about to make fun of me because the shotgun was about as big as I am and I was standing there in this billowing white desert getup with feathers sticking out of my hair. I did not look like I could do this. My friend started pulling and I started blasting those clay pigeons out of the sky, one after another. When I was done shooting, all my friends shut right up! I was pretty satisfied with myself.

Thanks, Lauren! 

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Initially, when I did Lauren's hair I bleached it three times starting with the mid lengths and ends. Later, I do the roots since it has to sit for a shorter time then the rest of the hair. Her toner is the ashiest toner possible, which is 911 and 802. We always use the Olaplex and Powerdose treatment to keep her hair healthy.

Top 10 tips for curly hair

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10 tips for Curly Hair

We know that it can be hard out there for our curly haired ladies. Likely you've gone from the phase of trying to hide those wondrous curls to accepting your wild mane. But how do you tame it and give it all it needs? Morphic is here to the rescue with tips on shampooing, conditioner and style. 

Tip #1: 

Use sulfate free shampoo. And don’t over shampoo as it can dry your hair out. Once or twice a week is perfect.

Tip #2:

Condition your hair twice. The first time your hair absorbs the conditioner, and the second time the conditioner becomes a primer for your styling product.

Tip #3:

Add hair oil to your second round of conditioning. It will add shine and control the frizz. 

Tip #4: 

Noodle that hair! On your second conditioner application, apply throughout, lightly drizzle water, and use your fingers to comb your hair and create the perfect curl separation (aka noodling). Drizzle water again, but don't rinse the conditioner completely out. 

Tip #5: 

Find your part before you start to style and then flip your hair. This will help keep your hair patterns in place after styling. 

Tip #6: 

Glaze that hair! Flip your hair over and apply your styling product in the shower. The hair needs to be super wet so the product can get distributed evenly with an open face palm (aka glazing). This leads to more volume, better curl separation, and less frizz. And don't use a towel to dry your hair - just scrunch and squeeze the water out. 

Tip #7: 

 Get little hair clips (pictured below) to lift up each curl vertically to give it volume.  You only need to apply them to your part and crown. 

Tip #8: 

Dry your hair with your diffuser using the high air flow and high heat setting. A good way to do it is to tilt your hair to the side until you get to 50% dry. Then you let it air dry the rest of the way.

Tip #9: 

When you visit the salon, don't come in a ponytail. Come with your hair styled the way you want, so that when Mishi uses the dry cut method, she can follow your curl pattern. This really helps stylists give you the cut you want. 

Tip #10: 

Embrace your curls and treat them with LOVE! 

Products we recommend:

We recommend using the Karite Intense Nourishing Oil for your second round of conditioning. It has intense nourishing capabilities, and we love it - go for the Seven Conditioners lustre or color product, depending on your hair type. Remember that conditioner usually runs out 3 times as fast as shampoo, so it's more economical to buy the bigger version. Currently the Seven line of products is only available in salons, including ours. We'd be happy to ship some right to your door. Just select the "STORE" tab. 

Clippys

Credits:

Hair: Mishi Nova

Model: Jasmine Flores

Photographer: Christina E. Campbell

The Road to Healthy Asian Blonde

Have you heard the news? Blonde hair color for Asian women is IN!

The time for adventurous Asian hair color has arrived, and as a hair stylist, I couldn’t be more thrilled. And while this is exciting news, I don’t want us to rush going blonde too fast, and forget about hair health. When taking Asian hair to a blonde color it can take two to four sessions to get the color just right. Think about it this way: on the hair color spectrum platinum is 10 and black is 1. Asian hair tends to range between 1 and 3. When you process, you should only go up by 3 to 5 levels in the spectrum so that your hair remains healthy. Of course, there are amazing hair saving products like Olaplex that we can add on to your color service, but it’s important to not forget your basics of coloring.

I have a wonderful client, Janice, who has been with me since June 2014. She started out with black hair on the spectrum at a 2, and her goal was a golden blonde ombre. Here's Janice before we started:

To accomplish her brilliant blonde, I did 6 color services over the span of 3 months. We built the color up over time, and trimmed her hair every other session.  We have finally gotten to our golden destination, and now we just upkeep her hair with partials and mini express services.

The proof is in the picture! Just look at that beautiful, healthy, blonde hair! It glows! You’ve got to trust the process, and not rush it so that your hair remains healthy and vibrant for the long haul. Give us a call if you are interested getting your blonde on!

More on Janice’s Formula:
Blue Platinum 40 vol
Toner- 10.12 + 9.11 Dia Light  6 vol
Olaplex 20 mins

Credits:
Hair by Mishi Nova
Makeup by Emi Navas
Photography by Christina Campbell

Burner Braids Time!

Headed to Burning Man this year?

The wondrous Brenda the Braider can style you in a braided crown, warrior braids, a fishtail, effortless cornrows, or anything else your creative mind can dream up! They'll start out tight and slowly loosen over time allowing them to last your whole trip!

Book your appt online ----->http://www.houseofmorphic.com/booking/

Appointments go fast so don't miss out!

Check out some photos of Brenda's work for inspiration!

INSPIRATION: GOOD Hair!

FABULOUSLY GOOD HAIR! 

For our last Hair Movie Night, we featured Good Hair, the documentary narrated by Chris Rock. Naturally, my challenge was to commit myself to learning about black hair. While doing research, I loved getting the chance to talk with people about black hair. After giving it some thought, I decided to share what I learned about black hair that makes it different, how I like to cut and shape afro hair, tips for afro sheen, and where I got inspiration for the shoot!

I'm loving pro-natural afro movement. Morphic’s very own resident photographer, Christina Campbell says about her own hair, “Its a rebellion against what young people’s moms were saying about straightening your hair with chemical relaxers.” She sees it as loving her culture by not assimilating to the most mainstream way to wear your hair.  

So, let's get technical for a second. What gives black hair its characteristics is that the cross section of the hair fiber itself is more of an elliptical/flattened shape than other hair types. This is why it takes on a helix shape. It also has extra surface area and therefore the texture is easier to damage.

I approached our model Thea’s hair by first taking a large hair pick to it and starting at the bottom and brushed the hair out until it was at maximum expansion. As a long time hairdresser, I was able to feel the areas that were uneven and I started in the spots that needed the most length cut. I then went back and trimmed the whole thing around, from one side to the other, in a round shape, keeping it a little shorter at the nape to keep the hair off her shoulders and more in the air.  

For color, I mixed up some non-ammoniated Platinum and applied the solution on the foil and used the old-school “shoeshine” technique. I went around with freehand brush strokes and spread it evenly. The idea was to create a halo light effect even when its not backlit. I rinsed, shampooed, and conditioned and afterwards spread around the Bamboo Kendi Oil to nourish the hair. We finished with Rene Furterer Gloss Spray. It retained a really gorgeous sheen!

My inspiration, I looked to 70s trends and Pam Grier's great hair in the film Foxy Brown. Solange Knowles is also doing a great modern take on this right now.

Credits:
Hair: Mishi Nova
Makeup: Emi Navas
Photography: Christina Campbell