Hoboken Beauty: My Cut and Blowout at Xquisite Color & Cuts {Before & After}

On Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to get a blowout at Xquisite Color and Cuts at 302 First Street. I had never been to the salon before, but I was excited to test it out (and actually put the blowout to good use — for a JC photoshoot for my “about me” page on HobokenGirl and my photography website). I figured it’s time to put a face to a name.

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day, so when I showed up at the salon I was happy to see the door to the salon open, letting all the fresh fall air in. Milton, the owner, was there and I got to chat with him about the new layout (it’s so fresh and bright – white walls with black & red accents) and the salon in general. I loved how the salon was filled with light (including two skylights) and that there were clients coming in and out – a true sign of a popular business. Here’s a pic after the renovation:

As soon as I saw Carol, my stylist, I was excited about getting my hair done. Her hair looked fabulous. She didn’t have to say much; all I said to her was, “Make my hair look like yours and I’m happy.” She actually asked if she could trim my ends a bit as well – I couldn’t resist.

My before hair looked something like this (a big mess piled on top of my head) :

Scary hair pile. Pre-blowout and cut.

While cutting and blowing out my hair, Carol gave me some great tips (aka stop flat ironing and curling every day, oops) as well as showing me how to make min pin curls before bed to get her amazing loose curls hairstyle. Here she did a few larger pin curls on me, just so you can see how it works:

Carol also trimmed my ends and helped my taking-forever-to-grow-out bangs casually feather out into the rest of my hair (rather than look choppy and obnoxious as half-grown-out bangs usually do). It was a lot of curls at first, but they quickly relaxed into an amazing style, which happened to look a LOT like Carol’s hair. Coincidence? I think not.

Here are some pics from my photoshoot in Columbus Park (the first time I’ve been in front of my camera in a while – thanks to my lovely boyfriend for letting me teach him manual and boss him around so we could snag a few shots):

The best part? When I blow-dried my own hair on Monday after the cut, it still looked great. Usually I haaate my hair the blowout after the hairstylist’s – I just need time to get used to it. But this time, the way Carol cut it, I loved it right off the bat!

My Monday Self-Blow-Dried Hair

What do you think of my blowout/cut?

Have you been to Xquisite Color and Cuts? What has your experience been like? Make sure to book an appointment with Carol (and the other members of Team X) for your next blowout. You won’t regret it!

For more on my photography, click here.