WATCH: 3 Tips from the Paul Mitchell Squad

The Paul Mitchell team is arguably one of the most powerful education groups in the world (legend has it Vidal Sassoon once famously called Robert Cromeans “the best showman he’d ever seen”). So it was no surprise that the team’s 2017 #thebtcshow presentation was educational, motivational and ALWAYS entertaining (some of Robert’s signature quips included: “I stopped cross-checking my work because I was so disappointed with the results” and, “If at first you do succeed, try not to look so bloody surprised.”) Here are three takeaways from Robert and educators Mary Cuomo and Colin Caruso.

See all the photos from Paul Mitchell’s presentation!

Mary Cuomo’s Teasy Highlight Technique 

To seamlessly blend when creating a lived-in balayage, Mary’s go-to technique is “teasy highlights,” which she recommends doing with a partner. Here’s how to do it:

• Hold the hair taut and backcomb once down the entire strand at an angle (Mary uses the YS Park Teasing Comb). 
• Have an assistant lay a comb on top of the backcombed hair. The reason this is better? “The teeth from her comb help to keep that hair spread so there’s no line of demarcation,” notes Mary.  Watch her technique below.

Colin’s Signature Graffiti Technique

Graffiti coloring (using a spray bottle to apply temporary, vibrant tones) has been around for a while (at Paul Mitchell, they’ve been using it for nine years, says Colin!), but we loved his spin on the technique, which locks in the color better than traditional methods. Colin uses Paul Mitchell INKworks.

• Once the bottle gets low, he fills it back up with Paul Mitchell Soft Spray Hairspray, and uses this to apply the color.
• “The hairspray is alcohol-based, so it locks in [the color],” says Colin. “Sometimes you’ll see people using water, but the hairspray really does make a difference.”
• He then blow-dries and combs through for beautiful, seamless color!

Robert’s Teasy Haircut Technique
We’ll let Robert’s teasy haircut technique speak for itself…

Some advice from Robert if you want to try the teasy haircut in your salon…

• Make sure to lock your fingers while you tease
• If you find yourself not getting a consistent tease, take smaller sections
• Melt the two sides together using overdirection