We Gave Three New Yorkers Summer Hair Makeovers

By Jihan Forbes, Allure

Ah, summer. A time for drinking outside, sweating, and not wearing pants for months on end. It's also as good a time as any to adopt a whole new hair look — especially if you're caught in something of a style rut. And why not? Between day parties, trips to the beach, and outdoor happy hours that last past 8 pm because the sun is still out, summer is a time to be seen — and if you're going to have eyes on you about town, you might as well have a fresh look to go with it. With this in mind, we decided to give three New Yorkers summer hair makeovers, with the help of the extremely talented styling team at the Nexxus salon in New York City. With Nexxus Salon colorist Patrick Kyle and hairstylist Nicole Casamassima, we gave Zulay, Keyaira, and Paola all new summer looks that suited their personalities.
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Read on to find out about the makeovers and how the Nexxus styling team achieved each look.

Zulay

Zulay has worn her hair long for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity for her not only to try a new look, but to give back. She decided that if she was going to cut off 8 inches of hair, someone might as well benefit. "I'm donating it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths, a non-profit that makes wigs for cancer patients," she told Allure. "I chose them mainly because they give their wigs for free. It always feels like a problem to me to have this much hair. I need to keep in mind that it's not and that other people would appreciate having it."
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Normally, Zulay takes a low-key approach when it comes to her hair. Originally, she was looking for a lob, but when Casamassima went in to cut her hair, she left a little bit more length than what she may have first envisioned — all for a good reason. "I talked her out of going as short as she wanted because it wasn't going to be feasible for her every day." Zulay mentioned that her hair retains a bit more of a curl when it's shorter, but as it grows out, it gets a ton of volume towards the bottom but stays flat on the top. "Instead of doing regular angles around her face, I cut into it so that she has pretty pieces. When she does wear it natural and when it air dries, it'll fall a lot better," Casamassima said. The longer layers she added should help make maintenance a bit easier for Zulay once she washes her hair at home.

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"I changed the weight distribution of it so that she can blow it out, it'll somewhat lay, and there will be less work for her to do." To smooth Zulay's emerging waves post-styling, Casamassima used the Nexxus Humectress Encapsulate Serum, before spraying on Nexxus Comb Thru Volume Finishing Mist for movement and shine. Casamassima wanted Zulay to be able to maintain her new look with as little effort as possible, so she recommended Nexxus's Vitall 8-in-1 Masque, which is packed with ingredients like coconut oil, soybean oil, and keratin, which should keep her hair in tip-top shape as it grows out.

Keyaira

Keyaira is a total product junkie, testing out all types of jams and jellies to keep her kinky/curly hair extra luxurious, moisturized, and defined. She is not one to skimp on the TLC, and because she is so obsessed with maintaining her curls and coils, she pretty much sticks to the same hairstyle, letting her gorgeous texture take center stage. "I rarely change it other than straightening it four times a year, generally for the same four occasions. Two times because I get bored, and two times for special occasions," she said. Leave-in and deep conditioners are her BFFs, and she only switches up her hair routine so her strands don't get used to a certain product.

Keyaira had colored her hair only once before — "when I was a fresh 18, a ratchet red color that cost me like $6 from the beauty supply store and made me look like I don't know how to spell the word ambition." Given this previous color mishap, a balayage look was the perfect, mature, summer refresh for her. "I've never done anything this drastic," she said. Initially, she was looking for something with darker-hued highlights, but Kyle convinced her to go a bit lighter. She wound up being very pleased with the brighter blonde color. "I'm glad I made a drastic change, and you don't have to squint like, 'oh, did you change something?'"
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To take Keyaira from her rich dark brown hue, Kyle used bleach to lift the color. "In order to really get it above that sort of super brassy stage, you need to use some bleach," he told us. He painted on the color, focusing on the ends and taking extra care around the front of her face. "I let it bleed a little bit closer in, just so it would give more of a dramatic effect and look more believable. Typically, the sun kisses your hair more around your face than anywhere else." After using a level 7 toner on the front and 8 on her strands in the back, he washed her hair with Nexxus's Therappe & Humectress System to help rebuild the broken bonds and replenish nutrients lost from the bleaching. To style her curls with some heat, he used a combination of Nexxus's Exxtra Hold Defining Gel and the brand's Mousse Plus Volumizing Foam to keep her curls defined.

Keyaira is quite understandably very pleased with the way her hair came out. "I can't wait to do the same styles that I'm comfortable with doing on my own, but they'll look completely different," she said. "I'm excited to go to the beach, chill out, and see how it looks."
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Paola

Paola had never colored her hair before, so she saw this as a perfect opportunity to do something really bold. "I've always preferred to have a natural look, no makeup, low-maintenance," she said. "If you're gonna take a step, might as well be a big one." Paola wanted to spice up her mile-long jet-black hair with a bit of color — a gorgeous pink ombré. She says she kept the length in part because in her culture (Paola is half Ecuadorian), haircuts are a rare thing. "I'm still keeping with my roots, but it's also a way of trying something new and not being so shy."

Kyle and his team lifted Paola's color towards the end of her hair to a pale yellow. "Once this color fades, the client needs to be left with something beautiful," he told us. "The goal was to get her to that pale pink, lilac kind of place." He used demi-permanent dyes on her, mixing TiGi Bed Head Color Trip dye in pink and violet hues that should fade into a "pretty ombré blonde." He noted that the color should last up to two months on her before she needs a refresher. In the meantime, she can use the Nexxus Color Assure Shampoo and Conditioner to maintain the shade.
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After getting her hair to the desired color, Kyle shampooed and conditioned with Nexxus Diametress Shampoo and Conditioner for some volume. Then, he went in with a bit of the brand's Humectress Encapsulate Serum to help along the repairing of her hair and progressively reconstruct and fortify her newly-dyed strands. He finished off with Nexxus Mousse Plus Volumizing Foam to add body and movement to the hair.
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As for Paola, she was quite thrilled with her hair and knew her five-year-old son would love her new color. "He considers it a rock and roll color, so he'll be really excited," she said.

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