All posts by thenwo

Sometimes you just want a sleek and simple style—like not too simple and not too dressy, but just right. This is a super easy way to be able to go from work to events to parties to … whatever! I love this staircase braid because you have tons of options to get creative with. Plus, it looks a lot more complex than it is. So everyone is always impressed! Check out how I did this braid on Emma:

1. So I started out by doing a simple and sleek low ponytail down the center, parting wherever you prefer and securing with a hair tie or elastic, depending on how thick your hair is.

2. Next, I took a small strand from the pony and wrapped it around the hair tie to hide it. Don’t secure this strand quite yet!

3. Keeping that same strand, I created a loop with two fingers just big enough to wrap the tail of the strand around the ponytail and through the loop, kind of like tying a knot!

4. You’ll then want to gather a new strand from the ponytail and add it into your previous strand, creating one longer piece.

5. Next, create a new loop, wrap your strand around the pony and pull in through the loop.

Continue steps 2-5 until you have either run out of hair to work with, or whenever you want! It’s your braid and you can do what you want with it!

Once I’ve reached the end of my braid, I then simply secure the end with a clear elastic. You can choose to wrap a small piece of hair around it to hide it too, if you’d like.

Viola! Easy, right? I love that as you’re forming this braid, it creates a really pretty staircase effect. If you take strands from around the pony, instead of just one side, I love that it becomes more of a spiral staircase look, too. When you’re done with this braid, you can try adding some wave or texture to the hair left out, like with Emma’s, to give it even more of a polished finish. Try it out! 🙂 – Erin

Credits // Author: Erin Wheaton. Photography: Elise Abigail Randolph. Hair modeling: Emma Chapman. 🙂 Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

So, sometimes you try a new hair method or style and it’s nice enough, but other times you try something new and it is life changing. My hairdresser would always curl my hair at the end of my hair-refresh sessions, but she did it with just a hairdryer and a brush—no curling iron required. I guess I always just figured that it was something only a real hairdresser could do on someone else, so I never really asked about it until one day when I just said, “So, how do you do that?” and she showed me! The great thing about having a method that curls my hair without a curling iron is that I feel like it lasts better than a curling iron does, with less touchups, and since I’m going to be drying my hair anyway, it’s less heat on my hair overall.

Supplies:
-boar bristle and nylon brush (I like this round one and this brush as well for this)
–hair dryer with a concentrator nozzle
-a smoothing leave-in conditioner (optional, but I like this one a lot)

If you just washed your hair, add a smoothing leave-in conditioner and dry your hair to the point where you roots are dry but the rest of your hair is still a little wet (so dry your roots to 100% dry and the rest of your hair to 90% dry). If you are starting with dry hair, use a spray bottle to mist your hair (avoiding the roots), making it slightly damp. Clip up the top 2/3 of your hair, leaving just the bottom section that starts below the top of your ears. Working in 2″ sections (which depending on your hair thickness may be too much or too little, but you can start there) firmly wiggle the top of your hair section into the brush with the hair on top and the brush underneath. Hold the brush with the hand that’s on that side of the body (so on the left side, hold it with your left hand and your right hand on your right side) and hold the dryer in the other hand (so you’ll have to switch hands to do this on the opposite side). Pull the brush slowly downward though the hair a few inches with the dryer closely behind it so that it feels like the dryer is pushing the hair downward. After you’ve gone about 3″, rotate the brush 360° so you are twisting the hair towards the back of your head.

When you get back around to the front again, you’ll have just twisted the hair section above the brush one full rotation. Keep pulling the hair through the brush with the dryer pushing behind it and rotating the brush every 3″ so that by the end of the section your hair has been twisted a few times and it looks like a little loose dreadlock. Set down the brush and the dryer for a second (I leave the dryer on and set it on a heat safe countertop) and use your fingers to “fluff up” the twist by either rolling it between your fingers or by holding the end with one hand and pulling at sections of it with the other. Fluffing it up a bit before it cools will give you a bigger and looser wave overall. Don’t brush through the twist yet though; leave all the twists until your whole head is done. Let down the next 1/3″ of your hair and repeat the process and finish with the top 1/3 after that. Depending on your hair type, you may get a smoother curl by drying and twisting each section twice before fluffing it, so try that if it’s not as smooth as you would like. As a side note, you want to use a brush that will hold your hair in the bristles during the brush turning process, so if yours falls right out, you probably need a different type of brush (maybe with course bristles or more densely packed bristles). The hair not staying in could also mean you are trying to do too much hair at once, so try a smaller section and see if that helps too. Once all your sections are twisted, fluffed, and cooled (like the photo above), use your fingers to comb out your twisted locks and enjoy the waves! If you have one section that didn’t curl as much as you wanted, you can always mist that section and redo it to make it wavier. Sometimes I leave it without product, but I’ll also spray a bit of this on my fingers and run it over the ends to keep them from getting frizzy. I like how well my hair keeps the wave after sleeping on it for a few days, so I usually only have to do my whole head once. But sometimes I do touch up a section or two a few days later to add some new life.

This definitely took me 3-4 times before I felt like I was really getting the hang of it (especially on my less-dominant hand side), so don’t give up if it feels hard and takes too long the first time! You can see a little video of what the brush flip should look like here if you are still a little confused on how to twist the brush. You’ll get a lot faster as you practice and it’s the main way that I style my hair now even though I wasn’t sure I could do it at first. If you’d rather stick with your curling iron, you can also try my mermaid waves method, but since this method uses less heat, I think it’s one that I’ll use most of the time to be a little gentler on my hair … xo. Laura

Credits// Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

Sometimes a quick messy bun is just not enough! When you’re looking for something sleek, easy and simple, styling a donut bun is definitely a go-to. It’s great for when you have a busy day at the office, but transitions easily as an ultra cute party style. So it’s an all-around win, especially for those “second-day” styles when you’re not quite able to let your hair down!

The best part is, even if you have a finer hair texture, don’t worry—using a simple hair donut will add tons of volume to your bun! You can find them in a variety of colors too, to best match your hair.

1. Start with some light texture in your hair, using a smoothing iron or wand. This will give the pieces you leave out some wave and help any stray layers you may have blend better with the bun.

2. Brush your hair up I to a high ponytail (Ariana style!) or wherever you would like your bun to live on your head. Leave out pieces around the face if you have shorter layers to frame and give added style.

3. Using your “donut,” place it at the base of your ponytail, allowing your hair to come all the way through it.

4. Next, spread the hair from your ponytail completely around the bun, hiding it under your locks!

5. Starting from one edge of the bun, use your fingers to slide the hair under and around the donut, pushing it all in the same direction and twisting it around itself.

6. Use a few bobby pins to secure your bun as you run out of hair to wrap. I like to push them straight down into the edge of the bun, until you reach your scalp. Then gently push it in and on its side, hiding it under the bun. Do a few of these on the perimeter of the bun until it feels secure.

Super. Easy. And super cute! Love a donut bun! If you wanted to tweak this a little, you could always put up all of your hair, without leaving any pieces out around your face, to keep it a little more professional. And another option when using a donut bun, is rolling it from the top of the pony to the base, then securing it as normal. If you find you have some stray fly-aways, using a little hairspray and smoothing them down with your hand is super helpful as well. Try it out! It’ll probably be your new favorite second-day hairstyle (or, you know, everyday hairstyle). – Erin <3

Credits // Author: Erin Wheaton. Photos by: Elise Randolph. Hair “modeling” by: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

This is extremely random, but I just thought I’d share a new (to me) hair tool that I’ve been using and loving for the past few months. I recently decided to try a hot air brush, although it seems they are sometimes called a few different things (brush dyer, blower brush, etc.). I have very fine hair and I tend to keep it pretty long. It takes me a fairly long time to dry my hair after showering, so much so that I often just let it air dry. I don’t love spending that long drying my hair, since it’s usually the morning and I’m wanting to get going on work stuff. But I also don’t love using heat on my hair for that long (I do use heat, I just try not to overdo it as I think this keeps my hair looking healthier). But during the colder months, I really don’t like to leave my hair wet to let it air dry because it’s just so cold.

Anyway, I decided to try a new product. I honestly never try hair gadgets so I’m embarrassed to say this didn’t really occur to me for a while. Ha. But finally I decided to try something to see if it could cut back on the amount of time needed to fully dry my hair. I’m happy to report that my hot air brush does significantly cut back on the amount of time I used to spend drying my hair. It also acts like kind of a straightener. I am not able to “curl” my hair with it, although from the photos online it seems to be advertised like you can (maybe I’m just not skilled, IDK).

If you’re interested, here are a bunch of different options I saw on Amazon: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

I bought #3 and I really like it! The first time I pulled it out Trey laughed just because it is quite big—it looks like a giant round brush. I do wonder if the smaller versions might be better for curling your hair while also drying. This is the only one I’ve tried so far so I don’t know, but that would be my guess.

Would love to hear if any of you have used a hot air brush and what you thought. Or, if you have any other suggestions for cutting back on drying time for gals with long, super fine hair, I’m all ears! xo. Emma

P.S. Just to be clear, this post isn’t sponsored. This is just something I started using that I like, so I’m sharing it. We always disclose when things are sponsored to you all. 🙂

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photos: Katie Day. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

This is definitely one of those posts that you will either totally relate to, or, just be like “huh?” Even if you are in the “huh?” category, it still might be a good heads up for you in case it happens to you someday, or, at the very least, just be an odd phenomenon that you can read about that happens to other people! So, there isn’t an official word that I’ve found for this side effect that can happen after you have a baby, but Postpartum Baby Bangs is what I call them, so we’ll just stick with that. I have found quite the community of other moms (and curious observers) when it comes to talking about my hair journey lately on my Instagram stories, so we thought it would be kind of fun to do a post about it too and talk about it all in one place!

Usually you have about 90% of your hair in the active growing phase while the other 10% is in a resting phase, but during pregnancy (1), the amount of “resting hair” rises (due to higher estrogen and progesterone levels). While that can give you an amazing preggo mane, those levels even out after pregnancy and somewhere between three and six months after the baby you start to shed the hair your head has been holding onto all that time (and maybe even more depending on the person). (2) Now, I was warned about the hair loss from friends, etc. but my mom was the only one to warn me about the set of extremely goofy looking baby bangs that grew around the perimeter of her hairline after each baby. Well, wouldn’t you know it that about five to six months postpartum I started losing what felt like allll my hair (I could get about a softball size clump after each shower/hair drying session) and if the thinning hair wasn’t bad enough, about a month later I started to notice some small mini fringe at the front of my hairline in between my part—and that was the start of the hair journey I’m still on 15 months later.

At first, it was so short that it just looked a little odd, but once it started to grow in, it looked like I had a small wispy mustache growing at the top of my forehead and I was horrified. Then it grew longer and looked like a small handlebar mustache curled downwards. At that point, I began to realize that this growth was happening across the front of my hairline (the bangs area) and also down the sides, and oh, also around the back. I had my very own 360° set of mini micro bangs. As someone who never appreciated the micro bang, even in it’s ’90s heyday, I certainly wasn’t suddenly into them now all the way around my head. Apparently, the hair loss thing happens to most all pregnant women in varying degrees, but the full set of mini bangs regrowth is less likely, yet still relatively common. So, depending on the length of baby bangs, you can imagine that a normal cute ponytail (or any type of topknot or updo) was totally out of the question. And, since I also had hair growing back in all around my head, and not just around the perimeter, I had little spiky hairs sticking straight up all along the top of my head since they weren’t long enough to fall over and lay down yet. So I also looked like I had rubbed a latex balloon across the top of my head at all times. Cool!

Do you want to hear a fun story? Great! So about eight months after my “bangs” starting growing, they were finally getting to a length where they were still way shorter than the rest of my hair, but starting to integrate into the whole head and behave a little more (and I finally wasn’t noticing them first thing every time I looked in a mirror). Guess what I realized had just started to happen? Round two! I stopped breastfeeding four months or so before that as my milk production had dried up and I think that’s what trigged a full second round of starting the entire thing over again. That was a pretty sad moment for me, to be honest. I had just started to feel a little better about my stupid hair and now I had to start from scratch again.

This is definitely one of those things where other people probably didn’t notice nearly as much as I did, and people like my husband tried to convince me it wasn’t a big deal, but it didn’t matter. Postpartum life is a rough time in so many ways (along with a lot of joy too, of course) and your body and sense-of-self can really take a hit during that period. It seems like that time is especially hard for a first-time-mom as you are making that huge leap into motherhood and dealing with an entirely new identity on top of everything else. Anyway, it may not sound like a huge deal to some, but for me it was (and still is) one of the more frustrating parts of my postpartum life. If you’ve ever come home with a bad haircut and had to wait for it to grow out, then you get the feeling. It’s felt like I had a bad haircut. Every day. For the past 15 months. Thankfully, my second crop of bangs is just getting to the length where I feel like I won’t think about them as much in another two to three months, so I can at least feel an end in sight there. But that thought also makes me laugh because if it happens to you, it will probably happen with each baby, so once they finally grow out, it’s probably about to happen again with the next kid soon!

I have had some moms tell me that their bangs stopped growing at weird lengths and just stayed there without growing out all the way to join the rest of the hair, so that is also a possibility for some women (and I guess could happen to me in the future too!). The weird thing for me was that my hair only grew on one side while I was pregnant (my hairstylist kept laughing at how lopsided it was each time I came in), but after I had Lola it started growing really fast (which was always a problem for me before having her. So I actually have the longest hair I’ve had since I was 16—it’s also the thinnest hair, but I feel like it’s trying to make up for it with length, ha ha.

Anyway, that’s kind of a long intro to a few tips with how to deal with postpartum baby bangs if that’s something that happened to you …

Consider a different hair color: I’ve gone back and forth between darker and blonder over the years and I was trying the ombre grown out look when the bangs first appeared since it’s more low maintenance. For me, having the dark root line meant my baby bangs were also dark and so they showed up pretty prominently on my pale skin and also stood out from the majority of my lower hair that was a lighter shade. Once I went back to all blonde, that really helped the bangs not stand out as much on my pale skin—a big help! I could see that some people may not want to dye them, thinking it may weaken them, making the grow back time longer. But it was worth any extra time it may have added for me.

Use witch hazel spray to tame the bangs: When the baby bangs got to about 3/4″ long, they would stick up and out in the weirdest directions and I wasn’t sure what to do until someone on my stories suggested using a witch hazel spray to try and tame them—it worked! I would add witch hazel to distilled water in a small spray bottle in a 1:2 ratio (one part witch hazel to two parts water), wet the baby bangs with the spray, slick them down to my forehead in the direction I wanted them to go with a boar brush comb (for some reason that comb works better than a regular brush or comb for this), and let them dry while basically stuck to my forehead. Once they were dry, they actually stayed down without being crunchy or weird looking like if I had used gel or a hair spray—a huge help!

Use scarves or head wraps around the hairline (or hats!) for the more difficult growing seasons: Something like what I’m wearing in the photo above is great for cooler seasons like it is now to hide the fringy hairline (and it can work with your hair up as well), but a cute scarf or turban wrap would be perfect for warmer weather. Of course any kind of hat works too!

Try a different part or bangs: Depending on how your bangs are growing in, switching your part location between side and middle could help hide the new growth better. For some, cutting in actual long “regular” bangs could also help cover the new growth, but ask your hairstylist for their advice based on your hair loss/growth. I used to have long bangs and I thought about going back to them to cover the baby bangs. But my hair had gotten so thin in front I didn’t really have enough left to do bangs, so I had to just wait it out.

Make a hair-growth spray: I wanted to use something to help my bangs grow faster, and since taking biotin supplements never worked for me in the past, I made a hair-growing spray with distilled water, Solubol (it acts as the carrier for water-based sprays), and rosemary essential oil (great for promoting hair growth!). For a 4-ounce spray bottle, add about 16-20 drops of rosemary oil into an empty bottle with the Solubol, mix together and then fill with distilled water. Spray at the locations where you want growth and rub into the scalp gently with your fingertips. I usually do this at night or a few hours before I would wash my hair since it gives your hair a wet look even once it dries, but I’ve also used that to my advantage to slick back my hair if I want to do a ponytail now that the bangs are a little longer. I’ll spray it on the bangs, rub it in, and then brush it all back into a pony and let it dry—you don’t even notice the bangs at all with this method!

Focus on positive physical thoughts instead: With all the body changes that can happen after delivering a baby, this can be really hard at times, but try and divert your attention away from negative thoughts about your body towards positive ones. If you don’t have anything positive to say about your hair at the moment, that’s OK, and remember you still have your gorgeous eyes, or killer legs, or whatever else you’re feeling good about at the moment. I for one found it super helpful to get lash extensions about a year into postpartum life—they just made me feel a little better, even on an average Tuesday, so it was just a nice little lift of self-confidence in a season where it can be hard to find some.

I absolutely don’t want to make it seem like life is all about how you look and that the goal is getting back to not having “weird hair” or anything like that. I think it’s more about how all of a sudden after giving birth you have so, so, sooo many things that are new and uncomfortable and odd and unfamiliar within your own body. So when you also have a totally foreign hairstyle all of a sudden, it can be just another layer of not feeling like yourself anymore. There’s a layer of patience and acceptance that has to kick in, but it can be frustrating in such a whirlwind of a season already, that it may take longer for that to happen than it would in more normal circumstances. I do really think it also helps to have support on all the weird mom things that moms go through (body related or not!), and I know I did feel better about my hair woes when I shared my ridiculous bangs with others and saw that I was not the only one who dealt with them too! If you’re in that boat now or in the future, I hope this post made you feel a little less alone too! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Additional Sources: 1.) American Pregnancy Association. Available at ncy.org/pregnancy-health/hair-loss-during-pregnancy/. 2.) Today’s Parent. Available at https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/postpartum-care/why-postpartum-hair-loss-is-totally-normal-and-how-to-stop-it/.

Hi, friends! Today, we’re rounding up our favorite hairstyles for any occasion. Keep scrolling to see a variety of tutorials like simple, beachy waves, the easiest messy bun, braids for different lengths of hair, and some cute updos.

We love a messy bun that looks effortless, but still put together. Laura’s tutorial is just that—and it’s perfect for anyone who’s looking for a bun with extra texture and volume.

Want to wear your hair part up and part down and still rock the messy bun? This topknot is really cute.

A fishtail braid without all the work? There’s a tutorial for that—the no fuss faux fishtail braid.

Two-strand twists are one of LaTonya’s go-to hairstyles. You can see the tutorial here, along with a few of her favorite hair products.

Rebecca’s half-up twists are a cute alternative to braids. We especially love this look when it’s warm outside and you need to pull some of your hair back.

Amazing, loose waves without using a curling iron.

The flower braid. It looks challenging to do, but it’s not—we promise!

This triple twist ponytail is anything but boring. It has an elegant look to it, but it’s still great for every day.

It’s hard not to include Emma’s fishtail knot braid. It gives us all those summer vibes!

Make your own double-sided head wrap (for half the cost of something store bought) using your favorite printed fabric.

Another way to incorporate fabric? In your braids—like Katie did here. We love this look so much! You can see Emma’s version here.

Speaking of braids, you could say this one gives us … “heart” eyes. 😉

This French twist is super simple and works even better on unwashed hair. Um … sold!

The Dutch braid is a fancier version of a regular braid, and it can make your hair look thicker. We also love this product for thicker-looking braids.

If you have shorter hair, here’s a pigtail version of a Dutch braid.

A sleek donut bun that works on any type of hair—especially if it’s thin or fine.

A five-minute party updo.

Here’s another easy style for a party or special occasion. Bonus points if you add a glitter headband!

If you’re looking for a quick way to pull your hair back in the morning, this easy low bun will get you out of the door in minutes.

We had to include a retro look! Victory rolls—made easy.

We couldn’t be more excited about the scrunchie trend—It’s about time it’s back!! Here are five ways to wear them.

Cheers to good hair days! xo. – The ABM Team

I’ve talked a little bit about my thin postpartum hair issues in this post before, but one way that I’ve been counteracting the thinner hair is with a rosemary essential oil hair growth spray. Rosemary essential oil helps your hair grow faster and can even lead to thicker/fuller hair as well, so it was a great way for me to support my thinner hair and help my awkward hair growth areas grow out faster. This study showed that rosemary essential oil worked just as well as a leading hair growth drug without some of the side effects that the drug produced in users, which I think is such a cool finding to be able to go a more natural route with even better results overall than a drug. Anyways, here’s the easy recipe I’ve been using in case you want to try it for yourself!

Supplies:
-10 drops rosemary essential oil
-1/2 teaspoon Solubol or a carrier oil
-4 oz distilled water
–4 oz spray bottle (amber bottles like this will keep the essential oil potent longer)
–mini funnel (optional but helpful)

Add 10 drops of rosemary essential oil to a 1/2 teaspoon and fill the rest of the teaspoon with Solubol or a carrier oil.

Pour your oils into your bottle and fill the rest of the bottle to the top with water. Give your bottle a shake and spray directly into roots and then rub it in with your fingers a bit. It makes my hair look a little wonky when it dries (it kind of gives it that wet look even when dry) so I tend to do it before bed and then fix my hair again the next day. Spray into hair once a day.

It’s true that it’s a little hard to tell for sure how much this works unless you only did it on half your head or something and compared it to the half you didn’t do it on, but I will say that I have always had trouble growing out my hair and the past year or so I’ve definitely noticed it growing way faster than usual (not sure how much of that is postpartum stuff or the spray but I’ll take it). The study did say that the results were much more visible at 6 months after starting treatments verses 3 months in, so I would stick with it a bit before giving up if you don’t see a difference right away (and with any essential oil recipe, stop using it if you notice any adverse reactions). Hope this simple recipe helps your hair look it’s best too! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with the ACS for Desktop actions.