Try These Hair Products for Volume, Curls and a Frizz Free Look

Shannon Smyth
Try this Sculpture Foam from @pearsonknight for hair volume and natural waves via @agirlsgottaspa We're big fans of celebrity hairstylist, Pearson Knight, around here. He's styled hair for New York Fashion Week, is at the beckon call of A-listers and most recently can be found at Russell + Hazel in Minneapolis. So when he launched his own hair care line, I knew I had to try it. Pearson sent two of the four products from his line that he felt would best suit my hair type. The line is comprised of Sculpture Foam, Beach Grit, Straight Shine and Texture Mud.  Sculpture Foam: This curl and styling elixir also gives you volume. I have naturally wavy hair that I tend to flat iron and blow out, since the waves are never really uniform and make me look more like I just rolled out of bed (less in a sexy way and more in a messy way, on some days an 80's way.) PK's Sculpture Foam is lightweight and has a pleasant scent to it. It took some trial and error to figure out that 1-2 pumps is all I need for my fine hair. It's easy to think you need a lot more of this frothy foam than you do because it feels like there is nothing to it. But trust me, a little works! I apply it at my roots to get lift and volume when blow drying, but the best curls actually come from applying the elixir before bed. If I shower in the evening and apply it while allowing my hair to air dry, I wake up to soft, wavy volumized hair. Our editor, Gail, has naturally curly hair and it made her curls look sooooo good!  
This Straight Shine from @pearsonknight creates frizz free locks that'll make every day a good hair day. via @agirlsgottaspa Straight Shine: This blowout lotion can be used on its own or paired with the Sculpture Foam, as it's main objective is to decrease frizz and increase shine. It's texture is literally like a creamy lotion, but it isn't heavy. Again, since I have fine hair, that is a really important attribute for me. It has the same fragrance as the Sculpture Foam, but with both products the scent disappates once in your hair. The one thing that immediately caught my attention with the Straight Shine is that it helped my round brush grip my hair better. Usually I am fighting with my hair dryer and round brush so that the hair doesn't lift and cause frizz. With the Straight Shine my hair actually stayed on the brush from beginning to end. This made my blowout look so much smoother and meant less work for my flat iron. Used together, you get volumized hair with soft curls without the frizz. Isn't that every girls dream, or just mine? You can find Pearson Knight's hair products online at www.pearsonknight.com Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!

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The Beauty Bar at russell+hazel

Gail Lewis
@rhstore beauty bar in Minneapolis via @agirlsgottaspa russell+hazel, a Stillwater, Minnesota-based company that is renowned for their sleek, stylish and uber functional home and office products, recently opened their flagship store in the cutting edge North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. (That's me at the computer! ---> also me) The new store goes beyond binders and notebooks and offers a selection of beautifully curated products such as home accessories, leather goods, jewelry and to our surprise and delight, beauty products plus an appointment only style studio in collaboration with celebrity hairstylist Pearson Knight The Beauty Bar @rhstore via @agirlsgottaspaThe Beauty Bar @rhstore via @agirlsgottaspa We are absolutely in love with the selection of natural, eco-friendly, non-toxic beauty products that are available at the beauty bar.  From skin and body care products to makeup and hair care, the beauty bar offers a complete solution of beauty products. It is apparent that a lot of thought went into selecting the beauty brands that were chosen. Hard to find cult favorites such as Mullein & Sparrow, Board and Batten, Rituel de Fille, Kosas Cosmetics and New Zealand based Sans are just a few of the amazing natural, eco-friendly brands that you can find at the russell+hazel beauty bar. The Beauty Bar @rhstore via @agirlsgottaspaThe Beauty Bar @rhstore via @agirlsgottaspa We've interviewed celebrity hairstylist Pearson Knight on a few occasions at NYFW, so we were thrilled when we heard that he was collaborating with russell+hazel for the in-store style studio.  Guests are able to book hair services directly with Pearson at the exclusive, by appointment only, one chair, style studio. The style studio is also the only brick and mortar store that carries Pearson Knight's newly launched namesake line of hair products (which you know we'll be reviewing soon!) Pearson Kight style studio and hair care @rhstore via @agirlsgottaspa The new russell+hazel flagship store is more than a just a retail store, it's an experience. The space is light, airy and absolutely gorgeous.  The mix of products is unique and eclectic and will make for some amazing gifts come the holiday season.  Our only complaint is that there is only one russell+hazel flagship store! (We'd love to see a few more so that everyone can experience this!) @rhstore flagship in Minneapolis via @agirlsgottaspa If you're in Minneapolis, stop by and say hi! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!

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Lani Tropical Hair Treatment - Cruelty Free and Vegan

Gail Lewis
Lani Tropical Hair Treatment review via @agirlsgottaspa Lately a lot of my beauty obsessions have been due to my other obsession, Instagram.  Thanks to Instagram I've discovered beauty products and brands that would have otherwise never been on my radar. My most recent IG beauty product discovery is Lani Tropical Hair Treatment. I was immediately intrigued by  their gorgeous beachy IG pics, amazing packaging and the fact that the hair treatment is both 100% natural, cruelty free and vegan. Getting my hands on Lani Tropical Hair Treatment was a bit more difficult than I thought and I was close to giving up. Then I just happened to walk into Urban Outfitters and almost squealed out loud when I saw that beautiful turquoise bottle sitting on the shelf in their beauty area. I've been using Lani Tropical Hair Treatment for two weeks now and absolutely love how my hair looks and feels after each use. It takes my hair from dry and dull to shiny and hydrated even after I colored my hair. I normally apply it to my dry hair, place it in a top knot and leave it in my hair for almost an entire day. If you do not have the time to leave it in your hair for that long, it is recommended that you leave it in your hair for at least 30 minutes. Lani Tropical Hair Treatment review via @agirlsgottaspa. Great for textured and thick natural hair. Vegan and cruelty free. It's also recommended that you shampoo twice then condition as usual after using it, but depending on how my dry my hair feels, I'll just shampoo once to leave a bit of the treatment in my hair without weighing my hair down or leaving it too oily.  I also love using it as both a hair treatment and curl tamer whenever I opt to leave my hair in it's naturally curly state. Please keep in mind that I have thick, highly textured hair so this may not be the case for someone with fine or even medium hair. There are not a lot of hair products that my hairstylist Pearson Knight (Elle genius awarded hairstylist) approves of, but after reading the ingredients in Lani Tropical Hair Treatment (Camellia seed oil, Coconut oil, Kukui nut oil and Macadamia nut oil) and after seeing firsthand what it has done for the condition of my hair, he encourages me to use it every time I wash my hair. He has even started using it, especially after a surf session. As I mentioned above Lani Tropical Hair Treatment can be found at Urban Outfitters online and also at the Third Street Promenade location in Santa Monica.  I just hope that Urban Outfitters starts carrying the Lani Tropical Body Treatment in all stores as well, since I was too late to purchase it online before it sold out! Have you tried this hair treatment? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! *Disclosure: affiliate link

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Try This Before Cutting Your Hair

Gail Lewis1 comment
For the last month I have been giving serious consideration to cutting my hair.  Maybe it's just me wanting a drastic change for the new year, or perhaps I, like so many others have been tempted by the slew of celebrities that have been sporting shorter and edgier do's in the past couple of months, whatever the reason, shorter hair is really appealing at the moment. I've mentioned the desire to go shorter a few times to my hairstylist Pearson Knight, but he's been pretty hesitant, which is understandable especially considering that I have been known to ask for a drastic change without considering my lifestyle and hair texture, then regret my decision a week later.  (Can you relate?!) Instead of giving into my pleas to just chop it all off, Pearson suggested that I try wearing my hair in a faux bob, similar to the shorter length I was considering. He told me to try this for a few days to a week to see if I really liked the way I look with shorter hair or if I just wanted to be a part of the latest hair trend.  So I did as he requested and tried a faux bob, which was accomplished by pulling my hair into a loose, low ponytail at my nape and securing with a binder, I then left the ends of my ponytail in the binder.  I then slid the binder down my nape to gain a bit of space so that I would be able to roll the ponytail under and secure with pins to the base of my scalp.  When securing my hair with the pins, Pearson suggested that I criss-cross the pins so that it would be more stable and have staying power.  I then pulled the desired amount of hair over my hair and towards my jawline to create the desired length and fullness and lo and behold I had myself a faux bob! At first I loved how much lighter my hair felt.  It was also weird how naked my neck felt and my features stood out a lot more with shorter hair.  After trying the faux bob a few times, my faux shorter hair lost its novelty and I kept thinking about how much I loved my top knots, side braids and ponytails.  Needless to say I decided against going with shorter hair and instead went with shorter layers, which I LOVE.  If you are considering going shorter I highly suggest trying a faux short hairstyle before taking the plunge! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! for more beauty reviews! Watch our reviews on YouTube. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!

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Hairstyle How To: Creating the Perfect Ponytail

Gail Lewis8 comments
Just like me, you've probably thought that creating a ponytail is just about the easiest hairstyle to accomplish. I mean how difficult could it be? You grab a hair tie, pull all your hair back and secure it with the hair tie and voila! Well as I have learned, mostly from being on set and watching hairstylists, that way is just fine and dandy, but if you want to create the perfect ponytail you have to throw a few additional steps in there.

How to Create the Perfect Ponytail

Step 1: Create a part from ear to ear (from the back of the ear, across the top of the head to the back of the other ear.) Step 2: Clip the front part of the hair out of the way and tilt your head back slightly (to ensure that it does not end up saggy or buckles.)

Step 3: After deciding on placement (low, high or middle of the head), brush rear portion of hair into your hand loosely holding it, and with the other hand grab the ponytail tight against the head and secure with a hair tie.

Step 4: Release the top section with your head still tilted back slightly and brush front portion directly into the other section of hair (trying to avoid disruption of the other ponytail, but don't be afraid to brush the hair straight into and over the previously created ponytail) and secure with an elastic hair tie in the exact same way as above.

Step 5: Using hairspray for fly-aways, lightly smooth and spray fly-aways with hands or a fine tooth comb...only lightly skimming the top of the hair.

Bonus step: If you would like to make the ponytail sleeker or dress it up a bit, try grabbing a small section of the ponytail near the elastic hair tie and begin wrapping it around the elastic to hide the hair tie.  Secure wrap with a hair pin and bobby pin making sure that the pin is not visible.

And there you have it, two versions of the perfect ponytail...thanks to amazing hairstylist Pearson Knight for walking us through creating the perfect ponytail!

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