As many businesses continue to close across the country as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s becoming harder and harder—and less of a priority—to go out to the nail or hair salon to get our pampering on.
And as self distancing continues to change the way we look on a daily basis, we need all the help we can get to look and feel our best during online meetings or while simply FaceTiming your friends, family and loved ones.
Not to worry: celebrity hairstyle Chris Appleton is here to give us his best tips for how to perfect your FaceTime look—depending on your hair type.
If you’re not familiar with Appleton, just think of all the times you’ve swooned over Kim Kardashian or Jennifer Lopez‘s hair. He was behind many of their best hair looks including Lopez’s voluminous waves during her halftime show performance at this year’s Super Bowl and he’s responsible for the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star’s sleek and chic straight hair looks.
So while many of us put a pin on touching up our hair color or getting a trim during these times, Appleton tells E! News that it’s all about “looking cute with what you’ve got.”
Appleton says that one of the best ways for hair to look, especially for FaceTime, is to simply braid your hair in two parts. “It’s always my go-to and you can prep it the night before,” he adds.
Especially if you have longer hair, the two braid hairstyle will help you “keep the roots flat.” Once you’re over the braided look, “you can take it out and you’re going to get this very beautiful and undone kind of biblical wave—it’s a really quick look,” he explained.
“[After] people catch you on FaceTime, you can brush it out in the morning and [add] a nice amount of texture in the hair and you can pull the part around and you don’t have to keep it in the middle,” the hairstylist said. “It’s just a really nice beautiful textured way to [make your hair] look effortless and undone but in a controlled manner.”
If you have curly hair, Appleton recommends that it’s best to try braiding it whenever you wash it. “It’s good on the second day too,” he adds. “But it can sometimes be hard to control the frizz or like after a few days it can kind of fluff out too much.”
He added that he “really loves” it when people with curly hair rock their hair in a top knot. Specifically, “an effortless top knot.”
Why you ask? “Curly hair is always nice when it’s soft around the face and you get those little soft baby hairs, it looks very cute, approachable, it’s very casual and sexy,” he explained. “So I think for curly hair that’s always very pretty.”
Appleton also suggests going bold and accessorizing your voluminous curly hair. “If it’s gone a little haywire and you’re mad trying to get the look that you need, you can also use the bobby pins to just crisscross them over in the front to control it around your face and let it be wild in the back,” he shared.
If you have short hair, Appleton suggests to have it “slicked down a little bit.” Use any products you have at home that help with frizz to really get that slick hair look and you can also play around with your hair by accessorizing it.
“A really cute way to accessorize it would be to use some bobby pins, you can crisscross the bobby pins and kind of go down the frame of the face,” he explained. “That way you’ve got a little bit of detail which is a fun way to accessorize shorter hair because it’s something you can’t tie back but you can still accessorize and make look cute.”
If Appleton didn’t cover your type of hair or the type of hairstyle you might be itching to try, you can also catch him every day 1p.m. on Instagram Live for his latest show “An Apple a Day,” where he’ll give fans and followers a 20-minute live session on all things hair and beauty.
“We’re going to cover all the things that you’re missing right now,” he said. “We’re going to cover everything from hair tips to fitness to mental clarity to motivation on Instagram—everything.”
E! News also spoke with another renowned celebrity hair stylist Cesar DeLeon Ramirez about his best tips for looking your best on FaceTime.
The Puerto Rican hairstylist has been in the industry for over 20 years and he’s the magic behind your favorite celeb hair looks including Kourtney Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Ciara, Christina Aguilera and Normani, just to name a few.
The award-winning celebrity hair stylist shared that “great lighting is so important” when you’re on FaceTime. “If it’s during the day, I always sit in front of a window that lets in really good warm sunlight [and] at night, I set up my ring light,” he explained.
He also suggests keeping the makeup and beauty look minimal, “just focus on clean skin, a nice brow and flirty lashes.”
“Before anything, the most important detail of all is being well groomed,” Ramirez advises. “The person on the other end will mostly see your face, hair and makeup. So, I always make sure my hair is clean and done but not too overdone.”
He explains, “You want to look natural and lived in like you aren’t trying too hard to look good.”