Pinterest Copycat

Sometime this summer I had a bride email me a pinterest picture that she loved before our trial. I don't know about you, but I end up seeing the same few pinterest photos all summer long, and I get pretty used to replicating them. This time I decided to so some sleuthing. I hunted down the photos' original website and found out it was from a photoshoot and had a vendor list. I found the hairstylist, googled her, found her website, and then filled out her contact form! I simple said I loved her updo and that brides are very inspired by it and I would love to know her technique. She emailed back right away, and was very appreciative and friendly. She couldn't exactly tell me what she did, but could remember enough to lay out the basic steps.

This experience made me have two realizations. One, people are more accessible than we think! If you find a tutorial or a photo you love, try to reach out to the artist! Praise their work, thank them for putting it out into the world, and tell them you are learning and would love to know their process. Most people will happily share their creativity with you. I think it brings us closer together in the industry, and definitely makes me realize we all have something to share and bring to the table.

The second realization (which I think I already knew, but brought some clarity) is that we are artists! Hair is our art, and just as it is hard for me to replicate the same exact updo twice it is hard to tell someone my exact technique. I think we can learn and grow from others, learn new skills and techniques, but at the end of the day we are ourselves and are innately creative in our own ways and have our own, unique ways of doing things as artists.

It is helpful to remember this with brides. If they bring you a picture of something you are uncomfortable with, definitely reach out and try to find some help. Get some practice in before their trial, talk to your peers, watch tutorials, and even try to reach out to the original artist. Be realistic about what you can and can't do. What I always tell the bride is that you can use that picture as inspiration and recreate the concept with their hair type and their face shape-but it won't look exactly the same. Even if you could make it exactly like the photo, it will still look different because it is on a different person. This is important for brides to realize.

I am always encouraging myself that a bride chose me for a reason, and likes my style. I want to do the same for you-stay in your own lane, trust your own creativity, and know that a bride chose you because she saw something in you and in your portfolio that she loved. Bring yourself and all of your beautiful skills with you! Be you :)

Here is an example of a pinterest photo that was brought to me for inspiration, and below is the actual bride I did. My real bride had really long, thick hair. They are different, but similar in concept and my bride couldn't have been happier!

Pinterest photo: