After deciding where you want to go with a hairstyle - its time for PREP. I always start with some sort of curl, to add bounce, volume and bend, so the style falls in place effortlessly and saves you time. It also gives you a 2in1 hairstyle - meaning your client can finger comb their hair the next morning and be out of the door. A great added bonus for your bridal clients or others staying away for the weekend. PRODUCTS & TOOLS Below is a list of my favourite hairstyling products and tools. (click the product to find more details & try) All are lightweight, making them great for any hair type, plus they smell amazing and help you achieve lasting hold. WELLA EIMI These first two are my favourite combo of all for lasting curls, be that a bouncy blow look, beach waves or a polished curl. Perfect Setting Spray Body Crafter Flexible Finish NON AEROSOL hairspray If you follow my steps for curling (watch the tutorials) you wont need any heavy creams, that can spoil your prep work and make hair appear grease. Where you need to use something this is a favourite of mine. Velvet Amplifier SALT SPRAY By far my personal favourite. Bumble & Bumble salt spray is the best on the market. Lightweight, adds great texture and the pump works so well to disperse the product. Salt spray can be used for beach waves (obvs), a little can be added with the products above to help curl very stubborn hair, and if your curls are too perfect, add a little though at the end and pull on the curls for a slightly more relaxed look. Surf Spray by Bumble & Bumble POLISH & SMOOTHING SERUM Moroccanoil Treatment Oil (mini) Moroccanoil Glimmer Shine Spray PINNING YOUR CURLS FOR LASTING HOLD For hair that drops curls, you will want to pin your curls in place whilst they are hot. These are the best clips for that! If you have created a hairstyle with some hair down and you're not going out straight away. You can re-pin in large sections, to take the weight off the curls to prevent dropping, once you are happy. Curling Clips BEST CURLING TOOLS I've tried many different tools for curling in the past and these I find are the best for performance and value for money. BABYLISS PRO Dial A Heat large ceramic curling iron Perfect for big bouncy blow looks or styles that just need smooth & bounce BABYLISS PRO Dial A Heat 24mm ceramic curling iron By far my most frequently used iron. The perfect curling iron to create Hollywood Waves, Beach Waves, Bouncy Curls, Relaxed curls for both hair up and hair down looks. You can watch my video over on Instagram where we create 6 different curls with this one curling iron. BABYLISS PRO Dial A Heat small ceramic curling iron I always have a small iron in my kit, especially if you are a wedding hair specialist. These are good for working on short hair clients if you need more height and grab. They are also great for creating mermaid waves or funky beach waves on short hair. BABYLISS Tight Curls Wand The chopstick curling iron is amazing! I don't use it very often but I LOVE IT! You can create some wickedly playful hairstyles for festival and nights out that have a 70s disco afro vibe. This is also great for natural curly hair clients, work with their natural curl and quickly enhance curls and tame frizz at the end. BABYLISS PRO Conical Wand Waves for days with a conical wand. I always have one of these in my freelance hair kit just so i'm prepa red. You can't always know what hairstyle requests you will get. This gives you a bit more diversity in curl, unpolished ends for lived in waves. Its also makes perfect for creating quick hollywood waves. I hope you find these hairstyling products & tools useful. Some have been in my kit for years and I still have clients comment on how amazing they smell and commenting on how well their hair stayed in place. If you try out any of the products or tools let me know how you found them in the comments. Try out the videos to help you with curling and be sure to tag me in any of your work @HarryJonAcademy. Some products may be affiliate links but this does not affect the price you pay. I recommend only products I use in my kit and I know will benefit you at home. Thanks Clare HJx

A HOW TO; EYELINER THAY STAYS IN PLACE Frustrated that eyeliner on your waterline never stays put?!? Let me give you a quick fix for that... A seriously smoky waterline is probably my most requested makeup look and my clients always comment on how; 'my makeup was still on the next day' 'that eyeliner didn't budge all night'. As a professional hair & makeup artist, one of my MUSTs is, if you are trusting me with your face and paying me to apply your makeup, then your makeup (or hair) should be staying in place until the next day! LETS MAKE AN EYELINER CAKE! Its simple. And it doesnt need to be black either you can do brown, grey, blue, orange... I'll tell you more about that at the end of the post, so keep reading! If you prefer to use a pencil eyeliner that's fine. I prefer a gel eyeliner. ONE because you can be more precise, TWO if its a wooden pencil you minimise the risk of getting anything in your eye and THREE its creamier so there is more to cake. My all time favourite gel liner is Precision Gel Liner from Illamasqua BUT gutted to see its disappeared from the website and probably discontinued!! Why do they do that with great products! So a good alternative is Lasting Drama Gel Liner from Maybelline . Its dryer than Illamasqua, which means you have to work a little faster with it if you are wanting to smudge and create a real smoky look but for the waterline it works a treat. Plus, it comes with a small brush, perfect for makeup application around the eye... Or in this case IN and its a fraction of the price at £8.99. If you are a professional makeup artist then you'll want to decanter a little to apply to your client. Load up your brush, keep it thin but cover all bristles so there is no risk of poking in the eye. That will cause watering and is the biggest nuisance! Gently lowering the bottom lash line to give you a clear waterline to apply to pat your brush from one side to the other, covering the waterline. Clean of the residue from the brush when you have done both eyes. With the same brush, take a matt black eyeshadow and pat over the top of the gel. Being careful to not overload the powder as it will fall in the eye. You can pull as much as you like to smoke out onto the lashes and under the eye as you feel comfortable with and suits the eye shape. Now, any black will do the trick but not all shadows are as long lasting as others. So try it out and let me know over on Instagram which combo you used and how well it lasted! You can find me here @harryjonhmua BEYOND BLACK... There is a world of colour. You might want to go for a softer look and try brown, grey or bronze Holiday or a festival? Change the vibe up for bold bright or pastels! You can literally do ANY colour and you don't need a different pencil or paint for every colour. Check out this YouTube video I made showing you the above eyeliner technique in action and how to do smoky or bright.

If you are ready to become a professional makeup artist, then this post is for you! I've been in the hair & makeup industry for 20 something years now. I've worked on catwalk, underwater shoots, music videos, TV, ran my own studio and had a successful 5* freelance company ' Harry Jon Hair & Makeup' since 2009, which packs in tonnes of weddings, events, date nights, prom, fancy dress & Halloween hair and makeup. To say I've plenty to share with you is probably an understatement! Good makeup skills is non negotiable. You will often have clients you have NEVER met before. You can be tight on time. You've no idea what the client is trying to explain because everything she's saying contradicts. THE INTENSIVE MAKEUP COURSE 💫 Good makeup comes with practice. That's why the makeup course has been designed as a 3 day intensive, with 6 case studies and full support. So you can get out into the real world and get real experience. THEORY is online, so your 3 days is COMPLETELY HANDS ON PRACTICE. MODELS, We ask all students to bring a model each day, so you get as much hands on time as possible. (we prefer students not to work on each other, because why pay for a course where you have to sit being a model for someone else??) COURSE times are 9.30am - 4pm at our studio base in Winsford, cheshire. Course sizes are intimate so you get the most out of the help & guidance. There's also payment plans with Klarna to make it more accessible. Each day is 2 in-depth looks. Practicing each look. Each look having different applications. Brows, Base, Eyeshadow and everything else to maximise the amount of technique you learn.

December often catches up with us in Jan - so in this very dreary month, so we have to learn to fake it til we make it to summer sun and get a healthy glow... By completely cheating! Now, i've always had a really dehydrate skin since having children. I'm so bad at remembering to drink water and i'm really trying to make a conscious effort to drink my 8 glasses a day, so this has become an every day cheat for me. Sometimes a tired complexion needs a little help to look a bit fresher, a bit healthier. Its nice to look in the mirror and think, wow my skin looks pretty good today. Because, as superficial as you might think it is. When we look good - we feel good. When that war paint goes on, we can take on the world. So here's my hack, cheat, tips to a gorgeous and natural fresh faced glow with very little effort. First glide over with a pretty highlighter like Dior shimmer brick , I love this because it gives a soft glow and you can work with different tones of the brick depending on your skin tone. Plus, use a smaller brush to add some to other areas like you eyelids, tearduct, nose or lip. The shimmer brick is a powder so its important that goes on first, otherwise it can go patchy over cream. Sweep it across the biggest part of your cheek and up to the temples so it bounces the light of the high curves of your cheeks. Next, gentle pat a cream blush over the fullest front part of your cheek. I love Illamasqua Cream Blush in Laid (pinky) This product lasts ages! You can use it as a cream blush or on the lip too. If pink isn't your tone and you prefer something warmer, I also have Rude (orange) which is gorgous too. Now, please don't be shocked at the colours, they are vibrant but they give you a beautiful flush of colour, which you can build up if you want more. Just use a little, pat onto the cheek and without adding any more product continue to pat until its blended and looking how you like. You can see a quick video on how to add highlighter and cream blush here on Instagram which shows you the simple steps in action. If you have a maturer skin and your 'apples' have started to drop then apply slightly higher where you would want your cheeks to be. No big smiles when you do this either because as soon as you relax your face, your fresh rosey glow could be a low glow and we dont want that!

I get clients who message to say. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! I got so many compliments and I didn't need to top-up my lipstick all night!" So, here's another video for you! This time of year is the perfect time to learn a long lasting red lip, especially with Valentines Day right around the corner from Christmas... Hell, we love a red lip ANY time of the year! Its just 2 products MAC RUBY WOO FULL SIZE £15.75 RUBY WOO MINI £12.50 PIERRE RENE LIPMATIC SHADE 4 £9.50 I've included a link for the mini but looking at the price its a bit of a no brainer to go for the larger size. These two products combined are unbelievably good! The lipmatic pencil is waterproof, it is so creamy so it doesn't dry out and crack like some other liners. As its waterproof, its perfect for preventing bleeding lipstick and for creating a base for your lipstick so it lasts for hours. Team it with a matt lipstick for a match made in heaven. The perfect red lip that lasts Through a 3 course meal Through cocktails Through a girls day out AND the important one - that was still in place after wearing a mask! Get over to YouTube, watch the video for my tips on; h ow to apply red lips that last, balance your lip shape and even get a fuller lip so you can cheat lip fillers.

Every red lipstick has a different undertone, which is great news for you because there is a shade to suit everyone. Get my favourite 5!

If you are a mum like me, then time is of the essence! Mornings are always mental, kids on a go slow, you look like a cave woman. GO, GO, GO! We need that magic wand to fix our face, so we don't have to. NOW, if you are saying to yourself "I could never recreate this makeup" or "I'll never be able to learn to do my own makeup" We are going to change that. You're a woman - You can do anything!! Makeup is just makeup at the end of the day Makeup is just makeup at the end of the day, its there, quite simply, to make you feel good, to enhance your features and like anything else it takes a bit of repetition to nail it, it gets easier AND faster the more you do it AND if you really don't like it, it washes off. Makeup should feel you It should showcase your best features and make you feel more alive. GRAB YOUR MAKEUP BAG Thursday 11th 2021 @ 7.30pm I'm hosting a free Master Your Makeup class With a quick and easy morning routine. No eye makeup - just a quick radiant base. HAVE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS... MOTIVATION Drop me a message. info@harryjon.com With Master Your Makeup in the subject heading. Let's empower you and master your makeup PRODUCTS WE'LL BE USING My favourite illuminator is MAC strobe, this is a smaller size but it will last forever! TIP: When you think its all gone, chop the top off and there is still loads inside. I'm currently using this Foundation from Maybelline, which is a gorgeous radiant foundation with added hyaluronic acid to help hydration... something we apparently now need after 25!!! Sleek has some amazing palettes. Super affordable and good quality so try this Contour palette which we will be doubling up to define the eyes. For highlight my favourite BY FAR is MAC Soft & Gentle. This is perfect for creating a gorgeous glow on all skin types. I use it to highlight, blend in stronger highlights, add shimmer to eyelids, brighten the inner eye, get a sunkissed glow on the cheeks. Definitely worth the investment. I love this combi palette from Sleek for Blush/Bronze/highlight A great quick grab palette . Mascara I always grab a Maybelline - for you guys in my kit its waterproof and I find that Maybellines waterproof mascara last the longest. Brow - Without a doubt HD Brows are the best. They do great multi use powders, brushes that last so well, pomade, pencils... Possibly some liner thrown in for the days you want a bit of extra effort.

If you thought you could never go rogue on Halloween too create an amazing DIY Halloween look - have a word with yourself! On my little mission to get you all mastering your own makeup, i've put together a skeleton look. Its easy to create Its online so you get right up close to see how to create You work with me step by step It only need 3 main products AND Its so adaptable So you could go all out skeleton But then you can add flowers or glitz and gems for a sugar skull makeup Add latex and blood for gore Do just half a face for more glam There are so many options for this look, if you want to tweak it for your own DIY halloween costume. Tickets are just £6 You'd be crazy not to join

If you are just starting out as a freelance hairstylist or already out there and looking for ways to condense your hairdressing kit - then this is a must. Priced at just £30... Yes, £30! The Babyliss Pro Dial A Heat curling iron has such extreme versatility that it is a must have in your kit! I've been using these irons for as long as i can remember and i now teach my students with these too. There a great tool to get started with, ceramic so they have a kinder approach to hair whilst smoothing it into perfect curls and they are the perfect size for fine hair too. The 24mm is just the right size to create waves, curls, those Princess Kate effortless curls, my signature 'Curly Blow without The Blow', Hollywood waves. AND not only that, but by adapting the directions you can get even more finishes! The Babyliss Pro 24mm Dial A Heat Curling Iron gives endless possibilities. Grab yours here This blog post contains affiliate links. This does not affect the price you pay and i only recommend products and tools that i use and highly recommend. You are not obliged to purchase through this link but this does help support Harry Jon