This Celebrity Hairstylist is Changing the Way We Think About About Our Scalp

What’s a day in your life like?

I wake up and first thing is dog time. I’m a huge dog lover so I spend a good hour in the morning doing all of our things. Then we go to the office and — if we’re in the office —  we’re creating content, reviewing products, talking about what’s next, we’re on the phone with labs … it’s just constant insanity. We don’t have one single day that’s like another. On the bottom floor of our office I have a salon, and it’s where I do hair for my private clients. Sometimes I have to disappear for half a day to do extensions, color or whatever else and sometimes I have to do a job. Then I come back [to the office] and everyone’s still working and I jump in. It’s like double dutch.

What’s your best advice for aspiring stylists?

Keep your head down and stay focused, because there’s so much to distract you. I always say to stylists, “If the internet disappeared tomorrow, would you still be valid?”. Make sure that you are. Make sure that you have a craft and can do it without leaning on digital. It’s an amazing tool, but it shouldn’t be your only form of validation. If the internet disappeared I would still have a job, I would still have clients. You have to have a solid foundation to stand on.

Who would you consider your muse?

I don’t have one. I don’t have a plan, I don’t have a muse, I don’t have goals. I truly live my life day to day and stay open to the creative process. For me, I’m inspired by so much that there’s no way I could choose a muse. There’s so many people that inspire me but I try not to look at inspiration from a direct point — it’s more like a collection of things in a big melting pot.

What music do you listen to while you do hair?

Aretha Franklin, Alabama Shakes and Whitney Houston. That’s all that’s ever on.

What hair trend are you most excited about for 2019?

Scalp is on the horizon big time. There’s definitely products for your scalp, but a lot of good ones come from the dermatologist or something you have to concoct in your kitchen at home. I want to make scalp care fun and enjoyable. Masks for your face are really fun and I think it should be the same for your scalp. The message is that you need to save all the oils, and then we go to extremes and have buildup. But you shouldn’t switch everything to scalp care, because then you’re going to be over-cleansing your scalp. This is an added bonus to your routine, the ticket is finding a happy medium and doing everything in moderation.

Why did you decide to launch scalp/shampoo?

In the past few years we’ve been treating our face like royalty, and scalp doesn’t get that same treatment. I’m very inspired by the K Beauty movement for skin, and the reason I love it so much is because it’s fun. It’s a process I enjoy with my friends. We’ll put on Netflix and masks and have a good time with it. I’ve never had a product where I was like, “I’m having a great time with scalp”. I really wanted to make it a joyful process so I [focused on] texture and the application process. I really appreciate ease of use. Three of the five products have a pointed tip so you can really get into the scalp easier. Why don’t we have pointed tips on all shampoos? It’s just silly not to have them.

What was the inspiration behind the bold, marine blue packaging?

I think people thought I was going to do purple. I would ask my friends what they thought the next move is and they said purple, so I said, perfect — I’m not doing that. There’s an artist that I follow that uses this palette. It’s something I stumbled on after we developed the whole collection, it was pink and grey, and white and then there was this marine color. That truly sparked it for me. I also have a entire board on Pinterest dedicated to the colors blush and marine together. It’s all interior stuff.

What hair types is this collection best for?

It works for all hair types, but differently. I work with a cosmetic chemist named Nikia Wilson who is black and has natural textured hair. I sat with her and said, “We have to create things that work for both of us, possibly in different ways, but will work for one reason or another.” One person is not necessarily going to use all five of these. You’re probably going to pick three that you love and maybe the other two aren’t for you. Maybe they are. For example, the Daily Scalp & Hair Mask is light enough that you could use it daily if you have fine hair, but it has butters and oils in it and also has a clay base. This type of clay is cleansing and if you use it and have fine hair it won’t get oily, but if you have natural textured hair it’s going to moisturize without being oily because perhaps you want to put a leave-in cream or oil on top of that. It’s layerable in that way. We can’t pretend that it’s going to have the same effect on everyone and I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to test this on my friends and clients who have different textures. I really am trying to make routines for everyone, not necessarily one product for everyone.

What’s your favorite product in the collection?

I’m going to say scalp scrub. I’m so visual and it’s really fun and exciting. The scalp scrub has mica in it so it has a glitter effect but it’s not going to stay glittery in your hair. It truly washes out. It looks like the inside of a geode. It’s sugar based for moisture instead of salt and I put two different sizes of sugar in it so you can exfoliate on a larger level and a micro level. There’s so many oils packed in there it’s like oil cleansing and a pre-shampoo scrub. That’s the one that everyone can benefit from because it’s more moisturizing than drying.