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Celebrity hairstylist Riawna Capri has one of the coolest looks in the business–her chin-grazing chop is constantly being tossed from side to side (she prefers not to choose a part, ever) and the color is that elusive shade of platinum most of wish we had.
In case you’re unfamiliar, Capri’s currently the go-to hair guru—and BFF—to half of Hollywood’s PYTs (Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev are regular vacation buddies), co-owns Nine Zero One Salon in West Hollywood, is the current spokesperson for Clear Hair Care, and recently launched the beauty blog BeautyCoach.com. So yeah, she’s one busy lady.
Capri found time to catch up with us to talk about her on-the-go lifestyle, keeping that blonde hair blonde, and the best beauty trick in her arsenal.
First of all, how do you keep your hair so blond?
As a hairstylist, I can never have my hair yellow—it always has to be on point—so I really have to make sure I take care of the color. Step one starts with a filter in the shower, that’s so key. Especially for blondes and especially for New Yorkers because the pipes are so old. Sometimes you’ll notice four weeks later after your color appointment that your hair isn’t nearly as pretty as it was when you first got it done. Since our hair is blonde, it’s like a sponge and it’s super coarse, so it sucks up whatever is in the water. Raindrops is actually a shower filter that I created with my partner Nikki and it’s basically Brita for the shower. Not only is it good for the hair but good for the skin too. So, that is first and foremost, collecting all the shit in the water.
And then on the daily shampoo and conditioner-wise, it’s Clear. I use the Intense Hydration line for as much moisture as possible. Again, taking care of the color, shampoo-wise, my new favorite purple shampoo that I found is DPHUE. Justin Anderson created it, I love him. He came out with this vinegar clarifying stuff that you clean your hair with first then you put on the purple shampoo and purple conditioner. Most times I wouldn’t tell my blondes to use purple shampoo and purple conditioner but if you want to be platinum, super white and icy it’s okay if it goes a little on the silver side.
Are you always shampooing and conditioning?
Good question. For us blondes, it’s good to not shampoo all the time. Sometimes I just get it wet, especially with the moisture of the hair, I’m able to reactivate whatever product was in before. I’ll just get it wet and condition so shampoo, condition, and wet.
How do you style your signature cool-girl cut?
I like to cocktail an oil and a smoothing cream at the same time, mix those two together. The kind I use right now is Nu Luxury Oil. I do one pump of that and Unite has a smoothing cream. I do like a dime size amount of that and I mix them together. Dust it all through so it’s all on the ends and not on the roots. Again with the blonde being so blonde, the ends really need to be polished and smooth to look good. There’s nothing worse than fried blonde hair. Oh and Unite’s 7Seconds Leave-In Detangler, have you ever use that? It’s the best! I have yet to find another leave in conditioner that won’t weight my hair down. I use the oil cocktail and then I blow dry it back and forth [without a part]. What I’ll do when I’m done blow drying my hair, I’ll take the whole front section and I’ll bring it forward and set it in a roller and then I’ll do my makeup. Then, I take the roller out and have a natural little front wave.
If you have to give me just one good hair trick, what would it be?
Oh, I know it’s my favorite one ever. After I take the roller out, I brush it back with my glasses to let it set. It’s a really good way to set it. Sunglasses or reading glasses will totally work. So, I leave it there when I’m finishing makeup or driving to work. The thing is when your hair is warm or wet, you can mold it to do what you want it to do. Wherever it cools or dries, it’s where it’s going to stay—hair is like wax.
You’re constantly on the go. Do you have any packing tricks?
Packing wise, my favorite thing ever is to put each outfit on a hanger. Then, put the whole outfit in my suitcase. Like underwear is on there, bra for the day like whatever I’m doing. Utilizing hangers as much as possible, I think is super healthy for me. I also like to take all my underwear and wrap a hair tie around it so they are all together.
Career-wise, what do you think has been the biggest thing you’ve learned so far?
Literally to be yourself. If you try to mold yourself to be someone that you think that person might like, then you always have to be that someone that person might like. I want to surround myself with people that are like me; I’m silly, I’m stupid, I’m funny, I curse, that’s me. I want to surround myself with other people that are like that. I want to attract my clients with similarities. People that are inspirational–that think outside the box. I think that’s why I have such a great relationship with my girls; Julianne [Hough] and Nina [Dobrev], we are best friends. We are the same, we’re silly, we’re fun, we just have a really good time. I think that’s what they appreciate too, is just being you. Having someone that they can spend eight hours a day with.