Creatives Collide: Artist Session Influencer Series Takes New York

ARTIST SESSION is a legacy event MODERN SALON is very proud of. Hosted twice a year by MODERN’s Beauty and Fashion Director, Maggie Mulhern, Artist Session is for any licensed salon professional looking to learn how to conduct an editorial photo shoot, how to maximize those photographs and how to up his or her profile.

To celebrate some very special friends of MODERN, this year, editors decided to add a twist to the traditional event. Sixteen artists within the MODERN SALON community were invited to New York City to show off their signature work and join together in creative collaboration for the first-ever Artist Session: Influencer Series.

The two-day workshop took place at Collective Plus (CO+) Salon in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, a backdrop that beckoned for creativity to flourish. Eight influential colorists were paired with eight influential stylists. Each duo were challenged with collaborating on a look that would become part of a collection for MODERN’s August Game Changers issue.

Day one kicked off with peer-to-peer education, in which each stylist taught a technique he or she is most known for on social media, IRL. Yes, that means Antonio Estrada taught his badass braids, Shelley Gregory showed how to achieve pastel rainbow color and Christopher Smith blew attendee’s minds with a wet-hair balayage technique. Additionally, Danielle Keasling and Nanci Lee from Great Lengths—the extension sponsor of the event—gave a tape-in extension boot camp before the artists got to work with the extensions. And Jerrod Roberts of styling product sponsor R+Co recreated his style from the Anna Sui F/W ’18 show at Fashion Week on MODERN Senior Editor Jamie Newman.

On day two MODERN’s team of professional makeup artistry, lighting and photography experts joined the event. Despite being the first editorial shoot for many attendees, the artists brought their A-game and master skills to show their work can transend their Instagram feed to the pages of MODERN.

For information on MODERN’s October Artist Session, visit modernsalon.com/artistsession.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
As the wet line sponsor, R+Co provided artists with its entire line of stylers, shampoo and conditioners to use exclusively to style hair. Great Lengths, the extension sponsor, brought in its new GL Tapes tape-in extensions in various hues for the teams to choose from. Phorest Salon Software captured photos of the event and invited attendees to learn more about its product. The social stylists smile for a selfie in between demos on day one. Each artist teaches a 15-minute lesson on one of their best known techniques.

Sydney Lopez is best known for her vibrants and pastels on Instagram. CO+ Salon invited her to use their space for two days, and called Editor in Chief Alison Alhamed and asked if MODERN wanted to get involved— and Artist Session: Influencer Series was born. Starting with a natural level 3 Lopez lifted to a level-9 gold. At the root she applied equal parts Pravana Vivids Violet and Clear and color melted various panels of Vivids on both the natural hair and on blonde GL Tapes extensions. After coloring the extensions, Antonio Estrada and Lopez applied them from the occipital down. After cleansing with Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner, they blow dried using Rodeo Star and Tinsel smoothing oil throughout. Hair was prepped with Trophy Shine + Texture Spray and then curled with a 1.25" iron. Estrada created a French infinity braid in the Mohawk section, and added vertical infinity braids below. More texture was added with Skyline dry shampoo powder, and the look was finished with Outer Space flexible hairspray.

Jessica Scott Santo is an educator for Sunlights Balayage, so it’s no surprise she wanted to create a beautiful, blonde balayage color—with kisses of pale pink—for this collab (the model is actually Scott’s younger sister!). Santo balayaged with Sunlights Balayage Lightener, used with Olaplex, and glazed with Wella Illumina 9/60 double pastel. Using extensions provided by Great Lengths, she colored some with Joico Color Intensity in Rose. Alexa Grace Chwarzynski is known for her bridal and extension work on Instagram, and these voluminous waves show off those skills. “We utilized the extensions to give our color and style definition, and to add more shape and volume,” Chwarzynski said. She prepped hair with Rodeo Star mousse and styled with Outer Space. Added volume was achieved with Trophy texture spray and finished with Vicious spray to set.

Often taking the stage with Joico, Ricardo Santiago put Joico Intensity hues to work for this vibrant color combo. On the GL Tapes, Santiago and Alison Valsamis added pops of color in yellow, bright pink, lime green and purple. Valsamis micro braided them before incorporating them into the hair. Santiago used six color formulas on the natural hair, many of which were metallic. Valsamis used Chiffon mousse to prep for blow dry and styling. She then played with different widths, weaves and textures of braids. For the cover look, she rope braided a Mohawk section utilizing Trophy shine + texture spray to braid and pull apart the pieces. Vicious spray set the look.

Pastel hues are so quintessentially Shelley Gregory. She seamlessly blended cotton-candy shades on this previously virgin-haired model using L’Oréal Professionnel color. Fashion Week veteran Katie DeLuca contrasted the modern color with an elegant, classic victory-roll style. DeLuca used Park Avenue blow out balm to blow dry. She sprayed curls with Trophy Shine + texture spray and finished with Outer Space. “I love the fragrance of the R+Co products; I couldn’t get enough,” DeLuca said.

Although Christopher Smith doesn’t use his vibrant L’anza VIBES every day in his suburban-Chicago studio, he was certain he wanted to take his model blue. He used VIBES colors to create a shadow broot of blue and smoke that faded into teal and baby blue (blue + clear). Saretta Bowerman is known for her color expertise on Instagram, but she’s also a master of braided styles and updos. “We added a full head of custom-colored GL Tapes to match the model’s color,” Bowerman said. She prepped the hair with Tinsel oil and set the curls with Galaxy hair spray. To add length extensions were adhered before she created the mermaid-esque fishtail
braids. The look was finished with Trophy for shine and texture.

Holly DeCastri is everyone’s biggest cheerleader on Instagram, and is just as encouraging in real life. First, DeCastri prelightened hair to pale blonde using Aveda Enlightener. She achieved this vibrant color using Pulp Riot, melting Aquatic on roots into Noir at the midshaft, and a custom mix of Lava and Fireball on the ends. Detra Smith, an Artist Session regular, has had her work grace the cover of MODERN many times. She used Rodeo Star mousse for volume at the base of the style, Waterfall for a shiny, smooth blowout and Outer Space flexible hairspray for working in sections. The pair used four rows of GL Tapes. Smith used Grid setting spray with heat protectant before creating spiral curls with a 1" Hot Tools Curl Bar and then spread them into waves. She crocheted some extensions into tiny adornments worn as a fascinator on the crown and added feathers to it.

Master colorist Jennifer LoPiccolo loves Instagram because it has given her a place to reach clientele and teach independently. LoPiccolo used Joico Intensity colors on the natural hair and on the extensions. Heidi Marie Garrett Villa is best known for her bridal work and braids, incorporating a romantic braided crown into this style. Villa strategically applied the GL Tapes throughout to allow the beautiful contrasting color to pop through the braids in the finished look. “Our model already had beautiful natural texture in her hair, so I incorporated Sail soft wave spray while creating her updo and finished with Outer Space,” Villa said. “We wanted to play with the juxtaposition of edgy and sweet, and the R+Co products really helped to create the softness in the overall updo.” Fun Fact: the model had an undercut that runs from ear to ear up to the back of the crown!

Colorist Nora Dababneh prides herself on her quick and clean color skills, which came in handy when the first color application didn’t stick on the model’s porous strands. Dababneh used all Joico Intensities colors to achieve a pastel muted look with pops of brightness for a contrasting color. Utilizing a color melting technique, she started by sectioning hair into four quadrants and sliced 1-inch partings. Then, she applied a formula consisting of Titanium, Amethyst Purple and Black Pearl at the root, melting into a combination of Soft Pink, Pink and Clear at the ends in vertical slices. Next, she alternated colors—a combination of Light Purple, Orchid and Clear, and Mermaid Blue, Titanium and Clear—applied from mid-shaft to ends but continued to use root color throughout. Since Alexandra Wilson made the MODERN SALON 100 in 2017 with fewer than 1,000 followers, her braids and topsy turvy boho ponytails have earned her more than 17,000 eyes on her page.  “I was going for a boho, braided look so I needed all texture I could get,” Wilson said. She used Skyline Dry Shampoo Powder to help hold a tease, and Sail Soft Wave Spray to add volume and texture. Wilson used Outer Space Flexible Hairspray as a working spray and Vicious Strong Hold Flexible Hairspray to finish.