Special offer: Leave a comment at the end of this blog to receive a FREE Lauren Bates Hair gift certificate.
Such a pleasure to
meet Scottsdale-based Lauren Bates, a talented hair stylist and image
consultant, behind most major runway shows in AZ. Her success is powered
by her creative artistry and her passion to help clients project their inner
beauty.
Putting Lauren in the spotlight is a
long list of accomplishments and collaborative projects with several big names
in fashion and entertainment industry, such as Gretchen Rossi, former Real
Housewives of Orange County star; Michael Costello, Project Runway designer who
has dressed Beyonce, Celine Dion, etc.; Jordan Wessel, Miss Arizona USA 2014;
and Academy Country Music Awards, to name a few. Most recently she has been appointed to join the Oribe team
to assist backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week SS15 in New York this coming
September.
To no surprise,
Lauren remains refreshingly humble and down to earth. I am lucky to be able to
shadow and chat with her during her fashion show behind the scenes stints with Brave Wings Fashion Show and Summer of Fashion (photo credits Desert Rh1no Photography).
Prepare to be surprised about her secrets, favorites and helpful hair care tips.
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| Model: Brittany Brown Make-up: Jessica Fierro Hair: Lauren Bates Headpiece: Karla Medina |
CS: How
did you get started in the art of hair styling?
LB: My hair stylist of many years
encouraged me to seek out beauty schools my senior year of high school, I had
been accepted to every college I applied to but didn't feel I belonged.
Once I visited the beauty school, it immediately felt so right. On
my first day of [beauty] college in 2007, I knew I made the right decision!
I was born for this!
CS: How
old were you when you realized that this is what you would like to do when you
grow up and how did you know?
LB: I was a competitive dancer since
the age of 3. We were required to take make-up classes in order to get
ourselves ready for the competitions. I fell in love with make-up and
originally went to beauty school to pursue a make up artist career but fell in
love with hair!
CS: If
you were not a hairstylist today, what field would your career be in?
LB: If I were not a hairstylist
today I would have pursued a career in wardrobe styling or clothing design.
I am SO obsessed with following every fashion week! I work on
editorial photo shoots at least once a week and I am not only styling hair but coming
up with wardrobe. I've found that I prefer styling a look from head to
toe; I feel that if the same creative mind does the complete look then the goal
of the shoot is more easily interpreted!
CS: If
you could style one person who would it be? And why?
LB: In this current moment, I would
love to do Kylie Jenner's hair! I truly believe that she is carving the
direction of where fashion in general is headed. I would love to pick her
brain on the inspiration behind her hair right now.
CS: What
is your favorite - cutting hair, coloring hair or styling hair (i.e. up do’s,
bridals, events, etc.)?
LB: My favorite part of hair
dressing ALWAYS changes; I would have to say that today it is styling.
However, a few months ago I completed the intense and famous Vidal
Sassoon Cutting Academy! Ever since, I have been obsessed with evaluating
everyone’s face shape and deciding what combination of cutting would suit [them]
best!
CS: What
would you advice us who are always wanting to have gorgeous hair?
LB: I have a close friend that has
helped develop some major hair care brands such as Bumble and Bumble, Oribe and
Living Proof. He meets with master chemists very often and just recently
shared something so interesting with me. My friend was asking this master
chemist about sulfates and the chemist replied, "Would you like to know
what the worst ingredient for hair is?" He responded yes and the chemist
told him, "Water! The most harsh thing that hair goes through is the
dehydration of H2O whether it is done with a blow drier or just air
dried." So my secret is, STOP washing your hair so much! :)
CS: What
is your favorite product and why?
LB: My favorite product without a
doubt is Dry Texturizing Spray by Oribe!!! It is Oribe's version of a
"dry shampoo" but it really is so much more! It adds an insane
amount of volume without doing any backcombing! Dry is always my base of
any up-do or even an every day style!
CS: What
is your favorite hair equipment and why?
LB: Hmm, my favorite hair
equipment...All of my favorite tools are made by different companies.
Blow Dryer: Paul Mitchell because it is lightweight, quiet and lasts
forever. Round Brushes: Touché
because of the dense bristles and perfect grip. Flat Iron: Croc for its smoothing factor. Curling Irons: Enzo and Hot Tools
because of their huge range of options, quality and longevity. Styling
Products: Oribe I can't even begin to explain how amazing these products are,
try it once and you'll be hooked!
CS: Since this is
a fashion event, describe to us your fashion style.
LB: My fashion style...I feel like I have two sides to my style.
Half of me loves structured contemporary pieces in strictly black or
white that work with angles, but then I have days of loving the loose boho/free
people style; and some days is a mix of the two! I love combining soft
and hard in the same look, meaning structure and flow or shine and matte in the
same look!
More on Lauren’s
personal preferences ~ she is obsessed with Green Tea and always hated coffee; can be a morning or night person, always available; still trying to
figure out who her favorite super hero is, but has too many to list fashion
icons! And finally, not publicly known
fact a second ago is.... Lauren loves to
research aliens!
Like I said, Lauren
is such a doll! Mark my word ~ this
sweet gal is primed to achieve more successes!
Remember to leave a comment to receive a
FREE Lauren Bates Hair gift certificate.
Get your FASH on, keep styling and make a
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XOXO,
Sheila
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