Like Cher Horowitz, my main thrill in life is a makeover — it gives me a sense of control in a world full of chaos. And if that makeover involves hair and some dope products, I'm pretty much always on board. So the second I met the guys over at IGK Salon, I knew I had to round up the four of them and force them to head up some major makeovers.
If you don't know them, Franck and Leo Izquierdo, Aaron Grenia, and Chase Kusero are four dudes who have made a name for themselves creating styles and products women everywhere want (even if they don't know it yet). Those beachy, sexy lobs you see all over Instagram? That's IGK's bread and butter. The four guys operate out of three salons — in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City — and recently launched a product line that makes getting cool-girl hair at home so easy.
The pros recently converged at the New York location to give five lucky R29 employees some killer fall haircuts. What's more, they gave us step-by-step instructions on how to style them two different ways — which is helpful, since we couldn't convince the guys to come to our homes for styling sessions every morning. (Better luck next time?)
Ahead, find five fabulous fall haircuts and two chic ways to wear each. Trust me, once you see these looks, you'll be screaming for a makeover, too.
Special thanks to Dream Downtown.
Sarah Halliday — Managing Editor, Snapchat Discover
We shrieked with glee when Sarah agreed to snip her hair for our story. Who knew what the guys would pull off with all that hair to work with?
"I really needed a change," Halliday said. "I'd been rocking the two feet of hair for more than six years. It was time to let it go."
Halliday was also ready to cut her hair for more practical reasons — she used to accidentally sit on it if she wasn't careful. Ouch!
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Halliday was paired with Franck, who quickly got to work dry-cutting her hair. "I added Laid Back, an anti-static spray, and Call Time, a coconut water mist, to her hair before I cut it," Franck said. "Since her hair is a little frizzy, [the products] helped add some control before the cut." Then, he proceeded to cut about a foot off the bottom of her strands.
"When Franck made the first big cut, someone in the room said, 'Oh, shit' — which isn't the most reassuring thing to hear," Halliday remembered. "But I knew that I was going to walk out of there looking like a total badass, so I leaned into my trust."
The result was a shoulder-length, A-line cut with lots of hidden layers to add movement.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
For her first style, Franck gave Halliday some breezy waves. "I have always wanted curly hair," she said. "I felt like a million bucks. It was the perfect, laid-back curly look I had always dreamed of."
He started by curling one-inch sections in alternating directions to create those cool, boho waves. "Make sure to leave the ends of the hair out of the curling iron," Franck says. He added Rich Kid from root to tip to add some texture before spritzing Down & Out, a texturising spray, all-over. "It adds a piece-y texture," Franck says. "We wanted the look to be grungy, but expensive grungy." He finished with a mist of Beach Club for extra volume.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Halliday's second style was a take on the wet look — long and straight with second-day texture at the roots. Franck straightened her hair, then worked in a hair balm as close to the roots as possible. "It's meant to look really piece-y, but still hydrated," Franck said.
And what was Sarah's take on her two 'dos? "I loved the first style, but have also taken to wearing my hair straight, too," she says. Her style also lends itself well to her air-drying technique of sleeping in a damp braid.
"My fiancé liked it a lot, so win!" she added.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Maria Del Russo — Beauty Editor
Yes, I tapped myself for a total hair makeover that was long overdue. My naturally wavy hair had morphed into rough, crunchy curls after bleaching my hair blonde, changing my mind about it, and then taking it back to brown. Basically, I had an unfortunate amount of dead, brittle strands that were in desperate need of some TLC.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Luckily, Leo came to the rescue. Since I have a ton of hair, his goal was to give me a trendy lob. "We wanted to readjust the shape and make it a bit more square," Leo said. "It's a little bit cooler that way."
But to keep my strands from appearing heavy, Leo chopped in a ton of invisible layers. According to him, these layers keep my curls from stretching out, so I'll always have pretty, springy coils.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
For the first look, Leo gave me a blowout — and I typically hate a blowout. (Something that separates me from just about every other beauty editor.) But Leo's take on this style was more cool girl than prom queen, which I truly appreciated.
He primed my hair with a hydrating balm and an anti-frizz spray before blowing it dry with a round brush. Instead of keeping the ends straight, he gave the brush a little twirl so that my hair maintained some movement. Once dry, he added Rich Kid for texture. "We wanted it to look more lived-in — not too perfect," Leo said. This was music to my ears. And, as it turned out, Rich Kid was a perfect primer for my second style.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Using a one-inch Marcel iron, Leo went back in and added a bunch of curls to my style. His technique was interesting — and one I've started employing myself. He'd take a section of my hair (usually one-inch, but sometimes larger) and quickly wrap it around the barrel of the iron away from my face, leaving my ends free. Leo then released my hair and wrapped the same strand once around the barrel toward my face. This added an amazing kink to my strands that looked natural — not like it was done with an iron.
"I wanted to give you a cut that was versatile, because you wear your hair in different ways," Leo said. He's right — before this cut, I'd been air-drying my hair. And while my new length allows me to still do that, I've taken to drying and curling my hair with his killer technique.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Ray Lowe — Fashion Market Writer
Unlike the rest of our girls, Ray had snipped her strands pretty recently. "I had actually cut off a good six-to-seven inches of my hair a couple of months prior," she said. "I was in love with the length, but it was starting to feel a little lackluster and grown-out. I always know I'm due for a new cut once I start top-knotting it five days a week!" While Ray's hair was definitely cute, it also could have used a bit more pizazz.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Kusero decided to give her a shag with some fringe — one of the bigger hair transformations someone could get. "She has the type of hair that's great for bangs, since she doesn't have a cowlick or any natural separation along her hairline," he said. But instead of blunt, short, straight-across bangs, Chase opted for a rounder set that was longer on the sides — kind of like Jane Birkin's iconic style. "It's an easier bang to manage, since you can part it to the side or pin it back," he said.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
The result was total French-girl coolness, which Kusero played into for Lowe's first style. He used a mix of Sunday Funday and Rich Kid for hydration, texture, and to give the hair some guts. Instead of a curling iron, he waved Lowe's hair with a flat iron. He clamped the hair about two inches below the root, wrapped the section around it once, and then pulled it down, creating a soft wave. Once her hair was waved, Kusero added a bit more Rich Kid for texture.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
For the second look, Kusero did something completely different: He gave Lowe a faux bob. "Her face is such that she can pull off short hair," he said. "And I'd given her so many layers that she was able make this look convincing." All he did was take the bottom layers of Ray's hair and twist them up into a bun at the nape of her neck. He pinned it all in place, roughed up the upper layers, and she was good to go.
Since her cut, Lowe has been mimicking the styles daily. "The minute I saw my half-dried fringe, I felt so much chicer," she said. "I glued my eyes to his blowdrying process and vowed to repeat it as often as possible. For having bangs, this hairstyle is surprisingly low-maintenance."
And for the record, Lowe has been rocking this style around the office.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Jacki Huntington — Producer
Jacki is the ultimate DIY-er when it comes to her hair. "I'd been undercutting it at home and then leaving the top to grow out for the past year — basically a super-long bowl cut," she says. And while we love a chick who can cut her own hair, Huntington admits she was ready for some professional intervention. "My hair was okay, but it was pretty floppy and shapeless."
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Grenia worked to get the shape picture-perfect. He started by priming Huntington's hair with Call Time before cutting the sides with thinning sheers instead of clippers.
"This creates a softer short texture instead of a fade," he explained. "Fades can get a little boring." He then texturized the top to remove some weight, but made sure to keep the fringe long enough to allow for styling.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Whoever said that short hair isn't versatile hasn't met the guys of IGK. Grenia smoothed Sunday Funday, a texture foam, on Huntington's damp hair, then rough-dried her strands with his fingers.
"The Sunday Funday smoothed her hair out, while the blowdry gave it a sheen," Grenia says. Then, to make it a little more piece-y, he worked Broken Dreams hair balm through the hair with his fingers.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Huntington's second style proves just how voluminous short hair can be. To create this amped-up texture, Grenia mixed Sunday Funday into his hands with a touch of water. He then took random sections of Huntington's hair and pulled them upward with his hands, shimmying his fingers from root to tip to add more height.
While Huntington has been experimenting with her styles, she does admit she's a creature of habit. "I tend to return to my side-parted ways, or I slick is straight back," she says. Still, we think the short crop is majorly cool. "I always hope that my short hair inspires other women to experiment with shorter styles or — gasp — just shave it off," she says.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Diana De Paula — Campaign Manager
Before her makeover, Diana de Paula had the same fear a lot of girls with long, curly hair have: "I was always afraid of [cutting] layers as I have very thick hair, and did not want to add more volume to it," she said. This was coupled with a very low-maintenance hair routine that Diana felt was holding her a bit back. "I was tired of getting boring haircuts, because it was the safest, due to how low-maintenance my routine was," she said. Grenia took one look at her and knew exactly what to do.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
"All of the action of Diana's hair was happening on the bottom," he said. Bringing up the length would allow that texture to shine further up her hair shaft, since it would no longer be weighed down. But instead of cutting her hair really short, Grenia opted for a mid-length chop. "She likes to air-dry her hair, so I wanted to make sure it was a bit more manageable."
He also added more invisible layers to her strands, which would make her natural texture sing should she choose to air-dry.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Grenia opted for a straighter style for de Paula's first look in order to show her what her new texture could do. He layered in Car Service and Mistress from root to tip for the blowout. He dried the hair in sections, making sure to twirl the bottoms around his round brush to give it a little flip.
It was raining the day of the shoot, so Grenia made sure not to dry de Paula's hair too straight. "Her texture is anti-moisture, so it would just frizz up if we went too sleek," he said. "Our goal is to make it textured, but manageable."
Photographed by Tory Rust.
Grenia wanted to mimic de Paula's natural texture for her second look. So after misting an anti-static spray, Grenia worked a one-inch curling iron down her strands, pulling out one-inch sections at a time. Before each curl would cool, he'd tug at the bottom to create a stretched-out, loose wave. For the final touch, he spritzed Down & Out from the mid-shaft to the ends for bedhead texture. "It's like she just woke up and she's got this sexy, but refined, texture," Grenia said.
De Paula is digging her new look and says the style is conducive to her air-drying tendencies. "I've been putting Mistress in my hair daily, and have Car Service on hand for when I decide to blowdry next," she says.
Photographed by Tory Rust.
The guys of IGK. From left to right: Chase Kusero, Franck Izquierdo, Aaron Grenia, and Leo Izquierdo.
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