little red riding hood

Photos by: Alfred Espin

I love pictures outdoors. I forget how beautiful nature can be while being in New York. The closest thing that I see to nature, is the trees in planters in font of my building!

Krystal is one of my most vibrant friends. She is a definite diva. I enjoyed this shoot especially because she was so versatile in her poses. She even climbed onto a broken tree hanging over a huge ditch for me. It was soooo scary and we had so many close calls to her falling off the tree. LOL!

Hairstyle:
She has a mohawk already. So I needed to figure how to play it up and make it fun besides putting it up into a obvious mohawk. So I figured why not do cute braided buns!
I applied some Regis Pomade through out her hair. I tied the crown section of her hair into 4 ponytails. I braided some red extension into fishtail braids and wrapped them around her ponytails and secured them with bobby pins. I made some tighter than others so they weren't exactly the same and so they also stood at various heights.
I then used a flat iron to flip up the back portion of her hair. To finish off her look, I used some Regis Texturizing Cream to the sides of her hair and brushed them down.

hunting in the concrete jungle

Photos By: Alfred Espin

New York city is one of the most amazing cities that I have ever lived in. Yes, people say it all the time, but it honestly is a place of its own. The convenience of everything, the shopping, the delicious restaurants, all the beautiful people, and fall time in New York is the best!!!!

But as amazing as the city is, it can also be a dark place. Drugs, hustlers, streets piled with garbage and rats running rapid. This concrete jungle devours the weak.

Hairstyle:
I left the crown section of Shana's hair out. I used Regis Texturizing Cream on her sides to slick it into a tight ponytail. I also sprayed it down with Regis Volumizing Spray and used a dense boar bristle brush to snatch those sides and baby hairs.

I wrapped her ponytail with 18" weave. Then I applied some cream on this as well and created three large bun/pin curls type things and fastened it with bobby pins. There wasn't a real strategic way of doing it, I just played with it till I liked it. I then did the same with her bangs.

Instead of doing a regular pompadour, I wanted to create a little more interest in the front. So I teased it of course, to build some volume. I wanted the front to be cohesive and flow with the rest of the hair, so I rolled and pinned it down adjacently to the other buns.

dress up your own way

Photo By: Tony Lapid and Daeng Boonmanee

Tyrone and Chantelle are super cute, yes we know, but they have their own style. I though it would have been fun to dress them up a little but infuse their style with it as well. Tyrone kept warning me from the jump, that this was not his aesthetic at all, but I reassured him that he will be fine. By then end, he tried to run off to the club with the outfit on. Chantelle on the other hand was excited the minute I pulled the dress out. She immediately equated sparkles=glamour. At the end, she looked absolutely divine.

The Hairstyles:

Tyrone and Chantelle are both wearing the same weaves that I had done in the earlier pictures.

This time for Tyrone, I smoothed his hair out with a flat iron. I applied Regis Pomade in his hair and tousled it with my fingers a bit. Pulling pieces randomly and playing with it till I felt comfortable. Yes his hair cut is a little edgier, but I wanted to create a more modern come-over to fit his look for the day. So we swept it over, but didn't make it perfectly done. And for the back, I curled the mohawk under. I finished the look by spraying Regis Volumizing Spray for a firm hold.

Chantelle's hair is in bohemian curls. With the dress and the rabbit fur coat, I thought about Beyonce. I gave her higher layers to create more volume and so there also wouldn't be so much weight on the bottom. I defined her curls with some Olive Oil Sheen Spray. I applied Regis Pomade in her hair as well to give it a texture and I especially used it on her natural hair. Reason being, I wanted it to bond with the weave. With it being really windy and us on top of a 30 story building, I didn't want it to flap around and for people to see the separation. Chantelle has thick natural hair (no relaxers or any other chemical treatments), which meant applying a little more heat to beat the tight curls down as well. We then pulled all the curls apart and teased it to make it more fuller.

more woman... means more beauty!

Photos By: Alfred Espin

I've always been criticized for having such a broad idea of beauty. But I honestly believe there is beauty in everything in life. When I started putting together my hair portfolio (same time as when i started this blog), I decided that there wasn't gonna be any exceptions to this. I wanted to use everybody I loved.

I went on with my plans and shared it to a few friends who were in the fashion industry. I was horrified by their responses (but I shouldn't have been surprised). They all told me that I MUST be selective with my models. If I wanted to get hired for a gig, I had to find girls who weren't "girls from around the way." My book must have as much "white" models as possible. "You only get one chance, and you must be fierce in this delivery," I was told. It honestly shook me up. I started feeling insecure and fed into it for a minute and almost completely gave in... Until I was awaken by Tanisha.

I see her almost everyday. And everyday I always think to myself how gorgeous and sweet she is. She has such a presence and exudes so much beauty through her smile and laughter. And not to mention, that she dresses for the GODS!!! We were talking one day about finding beautiful and flattering clothes in bigger sizes was such the task. At that moment, something finally clicked in my head. I decided that had to have her in my book!

We are constantly bombarded by images and fed ideas of what beauty is "suppose" to be. We live with false perceptions and kill ourselves to achieve being "beautiful." Life is beautiful, and we all posses it. In response to the person who told me that I needed to be fierce in my delivery; being fierce to me, was never bound by color, size, or height. As my girls and I would say, "it's how you serve it to the masses honey!" And sweety, Tanisha always GIVES it to the girls!

The Wig:

Its a custom wig. We fitted a wig cap on Tanisha. And made the actual wig on her. The reason why I did this, was so that it would sit properly on her head. I started gluing the hair on by the nape of her neck. And you just keep stacking strips of hair right on top of each other. Refer to my second posting on the step-by-step process.