Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi y'all, this is Virginia Lee. Today we are going to talk all things teen, specifically high achieving teens. What are the secrets to their success? Let's find out on Spill the Tea.
What do Patrick Mahomes, Jennifer Aniston, and Princess Leia all have in common? Iconic hair. Hair can be what someone first notices about you or how you're remembered, or what brings that positive vibe on a good hair day. In a topsy, turvy teenage world, hair is a canvas of self expression. Teens can control the style, the cut, the shape. Is it straight, is it curly, or is it blue? While tipping your mane may sound straightforward, the multi billion dollar beauty industry with their multitude of products has made doing your hair a little more tangled. In this episode, we're going to untangle this knot. Because hide shaving teens have busy schedules. They are pulled in all sorts of directions, like into the pool or on the lacrosse field, with a suit at prom or on the ski mountain. Each of these activities demanding their own style. So how do we make doing hair as simple as the strands on our head?
We're here in a boutique hair salon just outside of Seattle. At the tail end the last cut of the night, we will be joining Andrea Keen, a third generation hairstylist with a 25 year career crafting hair in salons in the city of Seattle and sculpting Runway hair for top designers in New York City, Paris, Miami and la. And now owns her own boutique salon.
Hi, Andrea. Thanks for joining us on Spider the tea. Let's talk hair. I understand that there are a multitude of different hair types. Can you walk us through each one?
[00:01:50] Speaker B: So hair texture refers to the width or thickness of each strand of hair. The three basic hair textures are fine, medium and coarse. To determine your hair texture by touch, take a single strand of hair between your fingers and gently feel its thickness. If you can barely feel it, your hair is fine. If you can feel it disturbing distinctly, it's medium. And if it feels thick and strong, it's coarse hair.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Okay, wait. So I'm feeling my hair and I can definitely feel it, but it's not super strong or distinct. So I think it's medium, but I never would have called it medium because I have so much of it.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: So you can have really fine strands of hair, but you could have high density. So there's a lot of it. Hair density is the number of hair strands per square inch on the scalp. It's the key factor in determining how thick or thin your hair appears. And it can help you to choose the right Hair products and styling techniques.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: According to the American Academy of Dermatology, all human hair has the exact same composition. But the differences lie on a spectrum of shape. Cylindrical to oval, thickness, thin to thick, and the tensile strength of each strand. Where some hair types can fracture with.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Just a brush, but within that, there are formations that go along with that, which could be wavy, curly. And you can identify your formation by allowing hair to air dry without any product. If it dries without any bends or curls, then it's straight. If it dries with bends or an S shape, it's categorized as wavy. When it dries and you see curls or loops, it's curly.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: So with all the different hair types and textures and densities out there, how do I make sure that I'm using the right products for my locs?
[00:03:41] Speaker B: It's a secret.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: Okay, Andrea, let's hear that secret. What are the top five products that every high achieving teen should have ready to use in their arsenal?
[00:03:52] Speaker B: There's a million products out there, whatever age or gender, short or long hair. These are the things that you should have in your bathroom. Heat protector, everyone needs that Dry shampoo, a curl product, something for volume straightening, product that will also help with frizz and something for hold.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: The first thing you said was heat protectant, which I get, because anytime you're using heat, whether it's curlers or a flat iron or a blow dryer, you need a heat protectant to ensure the quality of your hair. But with shampoo, I know there's the normal shampoo that you use in the shower and then dry shampoo, what's the difference?
[00:04:30] Speaker B: So dry shampoo is the most life changing of all the products. I actually keep it in my car as well, just in case after the gym, and it will help to tame the oil and it will also give you a lot of volume. When you wake up with bedhead in the morning and your hair is a little oily and greasy, you can either do one or two things. We think that we need to go and shampoo our hair, which actually eliminates all the oil. But really what you can do is spray a little dry shampoo at the roots and it will take the oil away and give you all that volume back and you'll have perfect hair for another day or two.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: So I imagine there are treatments you can get in a salon for volume, like hair extensions or weaves. But for at home, dry shampoo seems to be the answer. How do we go about using it?
[00:05:21] Speaker B: So with dry shampoo, your application, you are going to Go ahead and section your hair and you're starting in the front and you're going to spray a thin, light spray over each section right at the root. The sections that I'm taking are probably about an inch big. And you're going to make your way down the hair, all the way down by your ears. You're going to do the other side and then you're going to go ahead and do the same, starting in the crown and making your way all the way down to the nape. Usually at this time, after I've sprayed, I will let the dry shampoo sit for about a minute or two. I usually brush my teeth and then when I come back, I will take a brush or I will take my fingers. Go ahead and run my fingers or my brush through my scalp to help spread the dry shampoo.
[00:06:10] Speaker A: All right. I want my life changed. I mean, at least my hair. So, Joy, shampoo is definitely now on my must have list. But you said the word volume. That's a dangerous, dangerous word. You know, my mom is always trying to fluff my hair up and I'm always trying to flatten it back down. I don't want big hair. So tell me what the story is with volume.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: Volume is luxurious. Volume is polished hair. Just as much as the straightest of the straight ironed hair can look polished. Volume can make any day hair look just fantastic. Volume was much more of a trend back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and we hit the 90s and everything went crazy because the flat iron happened and it was just the sleek bob. And it's, and it's kind of easy to do, but it's not always flattering for everybody. You can have fine hair, middle part, flat ironed, straight hair and still add dry shampoo or a little bit of volumizing spray before you blow dry and do all the heat styling. And it will make it look better. It will make it look more polished.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Okay, so volume, volume, volume. You've sold me. And I see how it would frame your face a little, make your hair look more healthy or vibrant or just create like a fresher look. So how do we get volume without looking like the really big rockstar hair from the 80s?
[00:07:42] Speaker B: Number one, always and always dry shampoo. You're always going to do it. Even first day hair. If you want a little bit more umph. Volumizing spray. So many types. So volumizing spray you're going to apply just like you would apply your dry shampoo. It's fluffing your hair out. You know, it's been sitting, sitting there all day and it's just kind of hanging at this point because you've been running from class to class, you've been doing your schoolwork, you're not paying attention to your hair. So it's almost like taking your hands underneath towards your neck, starting and just taking the hair off of the scalp and just fluffing it out with your fingers. Gives it a little extra volume that you might want to have like in a picture or in a meeting. Just gives a little polish to the whole thing.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Like when you're walking by someone cute.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, walking by someone cute. Give your hair a little fluff.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: So we've talked about heat protectant volumizing spray and of course the life changing dry shampoo. Also on your list is straightening and anti frizz products for straightening.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: So for people that have curlier texture hair, that want to create straight hair, the first thing you would start with is definitely, definitely a heat protector because we're going to be using heat to do so. Now for the actual straightening products, there's a plethora of them. Most of them are cream based or oil based. For cream based straightening products, they're usually a little bit lighter and I find are better for fine to medium textured hair. When you get into medium coarse to coarse hair, you're probably going to want something that has a little bit more of an oil base because it will relax the curl a little bit more. And that's all up to your own personal preference.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: And just to clarify, we are not talking about having your hair professionally relaxed in a salon. The products we're talking about on this podcast are only meant for styling at home. So Andrea, how or when do we use these before?
[00:09:47] Speaker B: So you'll put all of these products in on damp towel dried hair with the heat protector and you're going to go ahead and layer on after that whatever straightening product that you've chosen.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: And some people have curly hair, some people have straight hair, but frizz happens to everyone. So how do I fix my frizz?
[00:10:08] Speaker B: Most of us have a little bit of or a lot of it. Frizz. Frizzy hair is the effect of different individual hair fibers running in multiple directions. So any anti frizz product is going to help to smooth and align all of those fibers in the same direction. And so finding the right frizz product for your hair really is based upon feel and what you feel works for you. I find for my very fine, curly kind of frizzy hair, I like a cream base it's lighter. I can apply it when it's dry. I can also reapply it when it's wet. You're not going to want to use too much, so be careful. I usually start for my fine hair with just about a dime to a nickel size in my palm and for my whole head. And when I apply it, I usually start at the ends and I work my way up through the mids and I try to stay off the scalp.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: Now, for all my people out there in the curly world, what do we do if we don't want to straighten out those waves or curls? What if I want locks like Zendaya or Timothee Chalamet's Absolutely Fabulous Hair? You know, how do I start giving big curl energy?
[00:11:22] Speaker B: So curly hair is a spectrum all the way from Z shaped curls, which have sharper angles to S shape. In the middle, you've got corkscrew. You have more of a slinky effect to them. They're a little bit more bouncy. So the truth about curly hair across the board is hydration, hydration, hydration, hydration. If your foundation at the very beginning of your curl process is not hydrated enough, you're gonna notice a lot of frizz.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: And where does this hydration start?
[00:11:56] Speaker B: In the shower. Hydration starts in the shower with a really good conditioner. So when you get out of the shower, you'd want to gently towel dry your hair, maybe a little scrunch, and just leave them alone. Most curly hair would start with a hydration product, perhaps a curl cream. Blow drying is optional. A few crucial tools for shaping any type of wave is a diffuser, a white tooth comb, and a pick.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: Okay, so I've done my hair, I've put dry shampoo in. It has perfect volume and wave, and I love it and it looks great. How do I get it to stay so whole?
[00:12:37] Speaker B: Products, we're talking about hairsprays. They're the most of the hold. And there are workable hairsprays that are styling sprays that you can actually use and blow dry into your hair. They're flexible, they're soft, but they still have a lot of hold. Then you get the medium hairsprays, where usually those are used on styles that are already blow dried, already styled, and you just want them to have a little hold, light movement, but they're already dry. And then there's more of a hard hold hairspray, which is cement, it's not going anywhere.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Okay, listeners, let's sum up what we've heard so far. While there are a ton of different types and textures of hair, everyone needs five key things for all updos down do's or short do's. Heat protector is step number one. Next, don't be afraid of adding a little volume. Straightener can also help with frizz. And not all hairsprays are sticky cement. And most importantly, dry shampoo is your new best friend friend. Each of these products could be thrown at you as a gel, a mousse, a pomade, a spray, or maybe even a cream. Every one of these are only the form in which the product is delivered. Some people may like the feel of a cream over a mousse or gel over a spray because that choice is a personal preference. Up next in the episode, we're going to talk about the three basic hair tools for every teen. Give a special shout out to the alpaca and SK scoop haircut and hear the secret for getting your best hair in 15 minutes. Stay tuned.
Okay, Andrea, we've heard about the basic must have hair products that everyone needs. But what about styling tools? What tools do everyone who has hair need?
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, everyone with hair can have these tools. Well, number one tool for everyone is a blow dryer. Now I understand some of you probably don't blow dry your hair and that's okay. One, it creates volume, it creates polish, it creates style. Number two, if you have curly to wavy hair, you're going to want a diffuser. And a diffuser is really helpful because sometimes you don't want to blow all your curls or your waves out. You just want to like dry your hair as it's curly. And a diffuser is a tool that attaches to to your blow dryer and you can use that to dry your curls into place. So it's almost like a little heat lamp at the end of your blow dryer.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Okay, so number one is blow dryer and diffuser. Depending on your hair texture and personal preference. Once we have our volumized, fabulous blow dried hair, what tools are we going to use to polish it off?
[00:15:19] Speaker B: And if I could bring one tool with me on vacation, it's probably going to be the flat iron. Now flat iron is can be used for all kinds of things. You can use a flat iron to straighten your textured hair. You can use it to polish off your already straight hair. You can also curl and wave hair with a flat iron. It's very multipurpose that way. Flat irons are also especially helpful for short hairstyles. But it's also great for creating bend in waves, especially curling Iron might be too curly. And with a flat iron, you can just kind of bend the piece or two that you want. I actually prefer a flat iron most of the time when styling.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: All right, so blow dryer, diffuser, flat iron. And I want to ask you about this next tool, which is curlers. I see curlers and then I get scared because I think, oh, those are something I've seen my grandmother wear to bed. And I don't want to use them because I don't think that they are a modern enough style. So what is the deal with curlers.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: But how important they are? It's still a very modern style. It just doesn't have a modern presence. Under every great hairstyle is a set of curlers. The reason that we use curlers as a base and to set multiple styles, updos, even down is because of the hole that it provides and the structure and the base. And what that means is when you have a strong foundation of volume, you can create anything from there. Hailey Bieber sets her hair all the time. So does Gigi Hadid and Kate Middleton. When we were in New York and we were doing the Ferragamo show, the first thing we did for all the models was use roller sets for the hair. The hairstyle that Mr. Ferragamo wanted to do was a chignon, which doesn't look anything like a roller set. But without that base of volume, those chignons do not work. Those updos do not work.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: And to clarify, there are hot curlers and then there are cold curlers. Which one do we want to be using?
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Hot versus cold curlers? I'm a fan of hot. I find that the cold curl and spraying the curl after they're in kind of makes a mess and is a little sticky. Sticky. And I think that it leaves indents and isn't as tried, tested and true as the hot curlers.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: I've also seen different sizes of curlers. What do the different sizes mean?
[00:17:53] Speaker B: The size of the curler is going to dictate the size of the curl. If you're going to have a big 2 inch curler, this the diameter of the wave that comes out after you release the curler is going to be 2 inches. So if you want a tight curl, you're going to use a small barrel of the curler. But if you just want volume or a slight wave, you're going to use the medium to the big curlers.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: And if we wanted to learn how.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: To put A curler in YouTube University is your friend, just go ahead and Google it awesome.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: So blow dryer, diffuser, flat iron and curlers. Although most of these tools use heat and I have seen before different temperatures that you can set them to. So which setting should we be using?
[00:18:36] Speaker B: It's dependent on the hair. Coarse hair, you're going to want to use a higher temperature. Anywhere from 380 to 400. Medium 250 to 300 and fine. You want to use a lot less. You want to be 200 is the max. So maybe like 150, 200. Now if you have compromised hair, you want to use the lowest setting that you can if possible because it's more fragile hair.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: So of these styling tools, you mentioned that the flat iron is especially useful for shorter haircuts. And it seemed like you had a specific haircut you wanted to describe and help walk us through how to style it differently.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Are we doing the scoop for the alpaca?
[00:19:19] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Both.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: I mean, both of these are shorter haircuts, but the alpaca was made famous by Patrick Mahomes and the scoop is just super popular right now.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: If you have the scoop or the alpaca, the flat iron is your tool because it can actually help to to bend out the front of the hair. With the scoop or with the alpaca, you can use it to bend multiple pieces to give it that textured look.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Awesome. So high achieving teens are busy being locked in on homework or cooking on the lacrosse field, or besieged by deca. So we don't have a lot of time to do our hair. If we've got 15 minutes before we gotta get out the door. What are some tips and tricks we can do to give our hair a glow up?
[00:20:07] Speaker B: So you have 15 minutes before you have to leave for school. Few things to consider that can make your life a little bit easier. When taming your mane, ask yourself these questions. Is my hair too flat? Does it need some volume? Is your hair feeling a little oily? Is it a little frizzy? Or does it just need a little bit of shape? If we're feeling like it's a little flat and it might be a little bit oily, dry shampoo is your number one fix. If we're wearing our hair down, we still might want a curling iron or a flat iron to go ahead and wave a few pieces back away from the face and polish off the ends, which will help with frizz and style. You can also throw a few hot curlers through the crown of the head and let those sit while you brush your teeth. Eat your Breakfast. Pull them out, shake them out, and on your way you go.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: People with long hair can also throw it into a ponytail, which is like the ultimate cheat code.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: But let's say that we have it into the ponytail and it's still not enough shape. There's always the option to pull out a few pieces around the face and maybe pull out your curling iron and give them a little bit of wave just to soften everything.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: In our last two minutes, I have a rapid fire Q and A with questions straight from hygiene teens that want to know more about hair in a busy lifestyle. Number one, what is dead hair?
[00:21:33] Speaker B: Yeah, so hair quote unquote dies the minute it comes out of your scalp. It's not a living entity.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: Number two, what is a split end?
[00:21:42] Speaker B: If you don't trim your ends and maintain a fresh cut, your ends are kind of like pantyhose and they start to actually rip. That's what happens to your ends of your hair.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: Number three, how often should I get a haircut?
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Usually you want to have a trim every six to eight weeks. The more you cut it, the healthier it will be.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: Number four, how often should I shampoo in the shower?
[00:22:08] Speaker B: Technically, two to three days is really healthy. Your sebaceous glands on your scalp start to overreact if they're washed off and shampooed too much, thus causing oilier hair faster.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: Number five, how do I keep my hair healthy if I spend a lot of time in the pool?
[00:22:27] Speaker B: With the pool, your hair is already going to be wet. So I know a lot of swimmers and they do shampoo daily. I understand that chlorine, if left in, actually eats away at the hair texture over time.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: Number six, if I just got off the tennis court and my hair is an oily mess, what do I do?
[00:22:46] Speaker B: I personally work out every day and I use a lot of dry shampoo.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: And lucky number seven, how do I style curtain bangs?
[00:22:55] Speaker B: Sometimes they need to be re wet and restyled altogether with a blow dryer. Just dampening those pieces and giving them a fresh blow dry forward and then letting them part to the side will create so much polish without having to do anything to the rest of your hair.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: And lastly, let's finish this off with a fun fact about hair.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: The hair that is at the ends, if it's at the shoulders, it's probably been on your head for at least three years. If it's down to, let's say the shoulder blades in your back, five years down to mid back about eight years.
[00:23:35] Speaker A: When you think about hair like that being many years old, you know it's full of memories that way. Your hair has seen the top of the ski mountain. It's been through the SATs with you. It's had its good days and its bad ones. Hopefully this episode helps you get the hair you want wherever you are.
Special thanks to Andrea Keane of Selenite Hair Studio in Sammamish, Washington.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Spill the Tea, where we share real stories with real teens. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Special thanks to our producer, Dr. Melissa Lee, our Chief editor, Natalie Light, and the music composed and performed by Stephen Light.
Opinions expressed or views expressed do not necessarily reflect or represent those of the host. Such views are merely opinions expressed. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm just a teen. I am not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional.
