Preparing for your Hair Styling Appointment

How to prepare your hair for your wedding day or special event hair stylist

Hair by Rachel Pivetta. Image courtesy of
Natalie Skoric Weddings

There are a lot of methods and myths floating around about how to best prepare hair for professional styling, one of the most common myths being that you must have 3 day old unwashed hair for styling for a style to hold - this is a big no, and will actually only hinder the styling products being able to penetrate the hair to do their best work. So how then should you prepare your hair for styling? I’ll be only too happy to break it down in helpful bite size pieces!

Washing the Hair

Hair should be washed the night before your event. Do what the professionals do - shampoo the hair twice. The first lather of shampoo lifts dirt, oils and after rinsing, the second application of shampoo actually cleans the hair and scalp. Make sure that you really get in there and give the scalp a very good clean. You can use a smidge of conditioner or treatment from mids to ends, but make sure you rinse it out really well. If you are hoping for a curly or wavy down-style and you know your hair doesn’t hold too well, try and avoid conditioner and treatment all together.

The exception to this rule? Very short pixie length styles, which are best washed just before the appointment as they typically require to be wet down with product - and be blow dried anyway.

Drying the Hair

Hair should be towel dried after washing and then blow dried to smooth the cuticle. This will help to create shiny, beautiful and co-operative hair for styling. Simply blow dry the hair cuticle smooth using a good brush with good tension, directing the blow drier nozzle downwards from roots to ends. The easiest brush to use for most will be a paddle (flat) brush as you can cheat not having to stop and section like you would a round brush, (although round brushes are more superior as will will get much more tension when drying, and it will create better lift at the roots).

It’s also highly recommended not to straighten your hair following washing and blow drying. It hinders the style, in that the hair won’t hold or shape as well as it could, hair and ends can look really dry, and sometimes there are client created tension lines at the roots.

Products

Use salon quality shampoo and conditioner or treatments only. In essence, salon quality products will provide superior results to supermarket brands because they are formulated with a larger portion of high grade ingredients to protect and nourish the hair, rather than strip, weaken and leave unwanted residues. For those that have a lot of product build up on their hair, you may need to consider a salon quality clarifying shampoo weeks ahead of your event to ensure that old buildup is removed so to not impede your desired style.

You may use a heat protectant when you are blow drying, but please do not apply any oils, leave in conditioners or treatments, or any other styling products. It’s very difficult for a stylist to work with a hair base that is not a nice clean slate. It may mean that your style won’t turn out as intended, limits the styling possibilities for your hair, or at worst - you’ll need to wash your hair and start the process again!

Hair Extensions

Clip in human hair extensions should be washed, clean and bone dry - using the same cleaning and drying methods as above with a few exceptions - that they are dried gently and that washing and drying is done ahead of time. The bands where the hair is sewn together (weft or tape) like to hold moisture and they don’t always dry with a blow drier or overnight. It’s important to wash hair extensions even if they are brand new to remove some of the chemical residue that’s applied to them for the packing and display process. They should be dried gently - avoid too much or any tension and just blow dry downwards. Always use a heat protectant.

Securing the Hair Back

Need to get your hair out of your face before your styling appointment? Yes! You can absolutely tie your hair back but ensure that you use something that won’t create creasing, or too much tension that flattens the roots. Some good examples are a claw clip or silk scrunchie. Avoid using thin or tight bands, or hair clips.

All in all I hope this helps you prepare for your hair styling appointment to get the most out of it. And also, I know your stylist will love you if you do.

Rachel Pivetta is a Multi-Award Winning Gold Coast Makeup Artist, Hair Stylist and Educator passionate about guiding Brides with expert advice, and helping upcoming makeup artists and stylists navigate the world of bridal.