Anne Hathaway at the National Board of Review Gala

Wella Stylist Sascha Breuer created an edgy, rocker chic pixie for Anne Hathaway at the National Board of Review Gala in New York City earlier this week. I had wondered how she would grow her hair out after she cut it for Les Misérables. I think she looks darling - even though I think long hair is more glamorous and eye-catching on her.

Here is how her pixie look was created was created by Sascha Breuer for Wella Professionals.

Here are Sascha’s tips on how to recreate this look.

• Blow dry hair while shaping with it to one side with fingers to ensure the natural texture stays intact.
• Spritz the hair evenly with Wella Professionals Ocean Spritz Beach Texture Spray for added “gut.” Don't ask me what gut is.
• Once the hair is completely dry, use a ceramic straightener on individual sections to enhance the hair and bring out the straighter, rock-chic feel of the look.
• Mist some Wella Professionals Stay Firm Finishing Spray directly on your fingers and define single strands without weighing your hair down. “This way, the spray stays on really light and your will let your hair look and feel natural, even though it has a strong hold level,” says Sascha. 

The products used were Wella Professionals Ocean Spritz Beach Texture Spray and Wella Professionals Stay Firm Finishing Spray.

Love Hathaway's look in a Saint Laurent tux, Givenchy custom vegan shoes, and a Jill Milan clutch. Now I must see the movie. Hathaway was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. I expect to cry through a good bit of it, so I'll go alone and sob.

Photos courtesy of Wella Professionals

Trendy Hair Styles for Spring and Summer

While hair styles have never been neglected in the overall fashion dialogue, this year our hair has become a critical part of the "look." From color to cut, hair has taken center stage. You can enhance your look without buying new accessories - just use your hair! Wella and Avon are showing us how.

Wella showed us unique use of color at New York Fashion Week. See my original post here. As you might expect with a dynamite look, celebrities jumped on the Wella bandwagon. Courageous fashionistas and dye-divas are sporting the trend, including Ashley Olsen, Kelly Osbourne, Drew Barrymore, and Lady Gaga.

Cynthia Rowley caught onto this trend after her Fall ’10 show. Wella master colorist Eva Scrivo created the colored extensions for Cynthia's show, and the designer loved them so much she went back to Eva’s salon and got her own hair colored with navy streaks! Check out Wella's Web site for tips, looks, and more.

Classic - and more accessible and affordable - hair trends are also blooming with the spring flowers! Tippi Shorter, Avon Global Stylist Advisor, has worked with some of the top celebrity and fashion elite to create simple, "girly" spring styles that any woman could wear on a casual spring day or to a black-tie event.

First, a word about Tippi. Tippi’s hairstyles have topped the shoulders of many beauty icons: Diahann Carol, Beyonce, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Vanessa Williams (I can't even tell you in this post how much I admire Vanessa Williams!) among other actresses, musicians, and supermodels. Recently, she joined the Avon team as one of the Advance Techniques Global Stylist Advisors. With Avon, she helped create the latest looks backstage at New York Fashion Week and helps women achieve runway looks at home.

Tippi knows the tricks for creating this season's top trends. She refined five wearable looks with pizazz.

• Bohemian Ballerina - A fresh, young wispy look to amp up simple designs in your wardrobe this season
• Wavy Volume - Pump up the volume of your soft, romantic tresses with an edgy, high-fashion style
• A Deep, Defined Part - Accessorize with a clean, defined part instead of cluttering your style with accessories
• Sleek Ponytails - Take your style from shabby to chic with this sophisticated twist on the classic pony
• Change Your Color - Makeover Your Look

You can create the Bohemian Ballerina if your hair is long enough. Prep wet hair from root to tip with Avon's Advanced Techniques Volumizing Mousse ($4) to enhance natural shine and create volume. Using Avon's Advanced Techniques Cushion Brush ($9), blow dry hair section by section to distribute the product and create texture. Then gather your hair tight to form a pony tail at the back crown of the head and secure it with a ponytail holder, keeping all sides flat. Holding your hair at the end of the ponytail, twist the hair firmly in one direction to form a spiral knot. Secure it with bobby pins.

On the sides, muss the little wispy hairs to add some depth and texture (and sexiness). Lightly spray with Advanced Techniques Hair Spray ($4) to finish the look and make sure your creation holds.

Got wavy hair that will never pull off the sleek Bohemian Ballerina look? Try Wavy Volume, also created with Advanced Techniques Volumizing Mousse and Hair Spray, but with the addition of Pillow Curlers if your hair doesn't dry into the look naturally.

These are easy trends to adopt, and they will take you through the hot months of summer looking and feeling cool.

Avon has a special right now on its Advanced Techniques styling products. You can select three for $9.99! You can't beat that for a deal. I'm going to order the three that look like best bets for me. One will definitely be the Volumizing Mousse!

Photos courtesy of Wella and Avon

Wella at New York Fashion Week

After seeing the fabulous blow-outs by the Red Door Spa team in New York, I have a rekindled interest in hair styles! So, straight from New York Fashion Week, here's a peek at two adventurous looks - similar in that ponytails were the feature, but different in hair color, which ranged from daring to daily. If you have long hair, you won't need the extensions used to create these looks. Just follow the step-by-step directions.

Wella professionals and lead colorist Eva Scrivo crafted runway looks to complement the Cynthia Rowley and DKNY Fall 2010 collections. I'll tell you about the products and techniques that were used to create these hair fantasies, where extensions were all the rage!

At Cynthia Rowley, the look was a sleek, natural ponytail accented with the striking contrast of an artificial colored hair extension placed off center for an added tuft of textured fringe.

Hair Color Used

Wella professionals used Koleston Perfect Special Mix hair color shades to completely saturate natural hair extensions with the rich, vibrant, jewel-toned shades of the clothing collection. The sophisticated nuances of the Special Mix shades turned Rowley's color fantasy into a reality on the runway. The multi-dimensional tones and layers revealed sensuous colors in a range of shades, each time embedded with an element of surprise. The models actually blended with the clothing.

Products Used

System Professional Ultimation: Strong-hold hairspray with long-lasting hold and maximum shine.

Step-by-Step Styling

1. Section hair off and working from back of the head to the front, preparing hair with System Professional Ultimation hair spray for added texture and shine.
2. Create texture within each section by using a combination of a curling iron and crimping iron for non-uniform waviness.
3. Place Wella colored hair pieces that have been crimped within sections of the natural hair so that the extensions blend in seamlessly.
4. Pull the hair back into a soft ponytail at the nape of the neck with the ends flowing naturally, while allowing the streaks of color to show through for added dimension.

While this was done in dramatic fashion for the runway, any woman could translate this look into everyday life with extensions or highlights that coordinate with her "natural" hair color, as the Wella professionals did at DKNY.

The DKNY look was a refined side-swept ponytail, projecting a sexy equestrian vibe with a subtly strong, yet not too masculine look.

Hair Color Used

Using Wella Professionals’ new Blondor collection to achieve the palest of blondes, and both the Koleston Perfect permanent and Color Touch demi-permanent collections to create a gorgeous palette of naturals, hand-painted extensions were created within the natural color palette of the models’ hair - not quite as daring as the Rowley look. The range reflected beautiful dimension in a variety of hues - from medium brown to a beautiful spectrum of blonde shades.

Products Used

• System Professional Volumagic: Natural hold styling foam for long-lasting volume
• System Professional Hypercurl: Provides texture and definition to curl patterns

Step-by-Step Styling

1. Prepare damp hair with System Professional Volumagic and blow dry with a large round brush, creating a soft wave and giving direction for the side part.
2. Rake hands through hair to loosen the waves, pulling to the side of the part and fasten the low-side ponytail.
3. Leave hair on the opposite side of the ponytail loose around the face to balance the asymmetry of the look.
4. Lightly smooth System Professional Hypercurl on the length of the ponytail for separation and added texture.

The DKNY look is one you might want to create at home; ponytails will rock for the rest of this year. Of course, if you have a flair for hair, you could give the Cynthia Rowley look a whirl!

Photos courtesy of American Pop