Pro Tips: The 15-Minute Finish - Flat to Fabulous in 15!

How many times do you find yourself with 30, or even 15, minutes to get ready for a big event because life happens? As a professional stylist, we face this issue all the time. With practice, you can achieve a styled look in 15 minutes!

Step 1: Style Dry Hair Only: Don’t waste your time or arm strength on trying to blow out sopping wet hair. We work smarter and not harder by rough drying your hair to 70-90% dry before we even consider using a round brush. Use a highly absorbent towel and squeeze as much moisture out of your hair.

Step 2: Use a Primer Product that Cuts Time: Whether you shower right before you get ready, or wash your locks the day before, use one of these primers and cut your dry time by 30%. Paul Mitchell’s Super Skinny Serum is the epitome of a little goes a long way. A pea-size amount applied from the ends of your hair up to a couple of inches away from your scalp will smooth, condition and seal strands, leaving hair silky, shiny and frizz-free in any weather. Awapuhi Wild Ginger MirrorSmooth High Gloss Primer primes the surface cuticle of the hair for a smooth, shiny, polished look and controls unruly texture. KeraReflec blend with Abyssinian oil and thermal protectors restores moisture, adds shine and helps shield hair. Apply a small amount to clean, damp hair and style as desired. Using one of these products, even if you airdry your hair, will get it ready for the 15-Minute Finish! Then, add a styling foam, like Awapuhi Wild Ginger Hydrocream Whip Styling Cream. It hydrates and smooths thirsty hair while delivering a long-lasting, crunch-free hold with an elegant silky finish. The Awapuhi extract and light conditioners balance moisture all while creating healthy and gorgeous-looking volume. The product is paraben free and color safe. 

Step 3: THE Curling Iron:  Even if you have day-old hair, the use of the right hot tool can make it look like you just stepped out of the salon. My go-to is the 1-1/2" HOT TOOLS Professional Extra-Long Barrel Curling Iron.

Here’s how to pull off the look: Gather a section from the recession points in the front of your head (the corners of your forehead) around to the top section of the back of your head and clip that up. Then, placing your thumbs behind each ear and reaching back along the protruding bone of the back of your head (the occipital bone), gather that hair and clip it up. Heat the Curling Iron, whose width mirrors most round brushes, to a temperature between 350-450 (for finer/overprocessed/highlighted/lighter hair, use a lower temperature, coarser/darker/healthier hair, use the highest temperature).

​Take a 1-2” vertical section from the bottom third of your hair, spray with Paul Mitchell’s Hot Off the Press to  and, keeping the “tongue” of the curling iron facing forward, open and close the iron as close to the root, and as close to the hinge of the iron, begin turning away from your face, whilst tapping the handle, allowing the hair to wrap around the entire shaft. Once all the strand is wrapped on the iron, count to ten and then slide the hair off the iron. Allow each ringlet to cool and set without moving or toucing it. Repeat with each section until the entire head is curled. Once that happens, run your fingers through your hair, or use a wide-tooth comb. Flip your hair to where you usually part your hair and then you end up with a bouncy, polished look.