Last week, I was invited by L'Oreal to be their guest at the Intercoiffure luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. It wasn't my first time at the event, which is always a showing of who's who in the hairdressing industry.

This time around the crowd was great! Oribe (who is on the cover of this month's American Salon magazine--in the pic above, I'm with Lori Morris, editor for the magazine), Vivienne Mackinder, Malcolm Edwards of L'Oreal, Nick Arrojo and John Paul Dejoria of Paul Mitchell were there along with my friend Scott Buchanan, owner of the Scott J Aveda Concept Salons. In addition to being one of the most successful people in the industry Scott has always been a huge inspiration to me as a man, a professional and an entrepreneur. The presentations done by L'Oreal, Paul Mitchell and Gina Khan, the spokesperson for Logics, were pretty incredible and I captured some of the models on my Flip camera to show you.

John Paul said something that really inspired me and I have repeated it to my staff, my clients and myself at least a thousand times. "The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is simple. Successful people are willing to do all of the things unsuccessful people aren't willing to do." Every time I clean the toilet at the salon or get up at 5:00 am to take the train to the salon in DC, I remind myself it is all contributing to my future success--and I am so grateful for it.

When you watch the video you can see the passion, inspiration, vision and talent all of these people share. The hair is sometimes a little over the top, but it is intended to be. The hair is transformed into gigantic ribbons that look like sheets of wood or intricate ropes tied into up-dos--not so hairdressers will literally bring that to the salon, but to show us there are no limits. It was very exciting and so much fun to be invited.

What was the last quote or phrase you heard that really inspired you? I'm interested to hear--LMK.

About a week ago I got a package messengered to me at the Ted Gibson Salon here in New York. When I opened it, I was surprised to see a note describing this new product and about 12 samples in various shades. It is called Touch Back - it is a temporary hair color that comes in a "marker" so you can literally color over your new growth to hide your grays!

I was completely inspired by the idea and couldn't wait to test it out. I grabbed my Flip camera and hit the streets! I made it my goal to try this out on as many people as I could - men, women whoever would let me!

I have to say - the product is genius. You know what I mean, the kind of product that when you see it your like "Why didn't I think of that?" It is so easy to use and there is no risk! It applies quickly and easily - it even comes with a small comb to hold the hair s you are targeting in place and prevent you from coloring your scalp. The shade selection is so simple and the coverage is amazing! It dries quickly and doesn't flake or feel sticky and you can even brush through it when you are finished. Basically you can hide your grays before a date or a meeting in less than 3 minutes - like I said - GENIUS!!!

I can't wait for you to try it out and see how it works for you - make sure to LMK!

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I would not have to fly commercial airlines anymore! It happens all the time: A first-time guest sits in my chair and I get the ultimate hair color responsibility requested of me. "Do whatever you want Jason" or "I know what you think is best Jason" or "You're the expert Jason." I am always flattered that someone who has never met me before trusts me implicitly with her hair color. And at the exact same time, it can scare the pants off me!!!

When I was a novice colorist, I would take those statements and run with them, coming up with the most adventurous hair color scenarios I could fathom I would pour my heart and soul into giving these women the hair color of their lives. Ultimately, I would finish and hear one of two things: "Jason! You are a genius, this is AMAZING!" or "Jason! You just completely ruined my hair!!!" The latter was usually uttered through sobs.

Now, years later, I have matured as an artist and have fine-tuned my craft so that I can deliver results that meet or hopefully exceed guest expectations. I have learned that what I think is pretty may not necessarily be received as such by a customer. Ultimately it doesn't matter how much I love it--I'm not the one wearing it, you are. I have also gained the confidence to know that everything I do is beautiful--even if you don't think so! If that is the case I can easily change it into something else I love, that you will love too.

During this long, sometimes painful period (which really never ends--shock, shock) I have come up with a few simple questions to guarantee I am on the same page as my guest. These questions are very valuable for you to communicate more effectively with your colorist or stylist and get you the results you are looking for.

• What do you like about your hair now?


• What do you dislike about your hair now?


• What have you done to your hair in the past that you absolutely never want to repeat?


• What was your hair like during your prettiest moment?


• When you see your girlfriends, do you want them to notice you changed your color?


• When you are described by a stranger do you want them to say you are a blond, a brunette or a red head?


• How often do want to be in the salon? Every three weeks, every six weeks, every 12 weeks?

Try them on for size - these simple questions will guide you down the path of pretty hair color. I'd love to hear a story from you on how they worked (or didn't....) LMK.

I was so excited!!! My dear friend Elettra Weideman was in the Ted Gibson Salon not too long ago and said she wanted to make her hair red!!! I had colored her hair red about six years ago and we loved it. She looked amazing! Okay, let's be real: She wasn't chosen to be a Lancôme spokesmodel because she doesn't always look amazing--but I think the red hair color we were doing years ago did have a special little something to do with it.

When she came in for her appointment a week later, she had disappointing news. All right not THAT disappointing--Lancôme had planned a photo shoot for her and they wanted her to be blonde, not red. Needless to say, I scrapped my plans and started a new vision. I wanted something soft and pretty, but at the same time, bold and sexy. I went for a full head of medium and dark blonde highlights and then followed that up with a re-highlight of bold, pale blonde ribbons to give it dramatic movement and sparkle.

She loved it, I loved it, the folks at Lancôme loved it! Do you love it? LMK!

Last week, the brand new October issue of Allure magazine came out. I was completely unaware, because I hadn't received my subscription yet. I was in my office checking out what was happening on Twitter and I got a message from @beauty411 (one of my fav bloggers) congratulating me on being listed in Allure's Best of the Best Directory! I was so surprised! In case you didn't know Allure keeps their Directory selections a total secret - even while they are doing the evaluations, it's a secret! I had no idea my "first time guest" worked undercover for Allure!

To be recognized by Allure is always an amazing honor, a huge privilege and a great surprise. I say I am the luckiest guy because every day I get to do what I love the most - make the girls feel pretty.

Julia Allison returns to her roots as a brunette!.

If you didn't see my post a while back about changing Julia Allison's hair from her virgin brunette to a fiery red, check it out here, so you can get the backstory. That was about 8 to 10 weeks ago and I have been retouching her new growth every TWO WEEKS ever since! That girl worked that look--on red carpets, openings and galas--she was a devastating red head! That's right....WAS!

She came into the salon last week with her fab red ponytail and said she was ready for a change. She was nervous thinking I was going to be angry but actually I was so inspired . And even though I did come up with the PERFECT gloss formulation for her.... I was so excited to change her color again! When I asked her what she was thinking for her new look she said maybe Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie-ish. I love the new look! What do you think? LMK!

Last week I saw my friend Robin's name on my schedule at the Ted Gibson Salon in NYC. I hadn't seen her in over a year so not only was I excited to do her color, I was excited to spend some time with someone who's company I really enjoy. When she arrived at the salon, I was thrilled when she told me I could do whatever I wanted!

As many of you know, I have been mildly obsessed with redheads. Don't get me wrong - I'm intrigued by a gorgeous rich brunette and my love affair with blonds is still in full force BUT right now in fashion and on the red carpets.....there is just something special about a redhead. These moments in fashion don't come along too often so I am seizing the moment!!!!

To keep her hair color looking fresh and gorgeous, I recommended she use Ted Gibson Individual Color Captivating Copper Shampoo and Conditioner -- it will help enhance and prolong the life of her color.

Take a look at Robin's transformation. What do you think? LMK!

I know, polo has nothing to do with hair color! LOL!!! It does however lend a little insight into one of the many places inspiration can come from. I spent one day earlier this summer with my good friend Carolyn Hsu - the brains and beauty behind one of my favorite blogs, The Daily Obsession. She sent me a message on twitter that she had a couple of VIP tickets to the Bridge Hampton Polo Cup opening weekend and invited me to join her. I was super excited by the idea and of course accepted.

I had never been to a polo match before so I was curious about what to wear, what the scene would be like and what I should expect. To get myself prepared, I did some Google searching. I read all about the different ways people participate at an event like this. Being from the Midwest, I of course identified with the "tailgate" party option so I ran over to the specialty store in the neighborhood and bought some fancy snacks to impress my date!

Honestly - I have never in my life been to an event that was less about the actual event. Out of the hundreds of BP's (beautiful people) there - everyone from Kyle McLaughlin and his pretty, funny, smart and incredibly successful wife Desiree Gruber to super hot polo star and Polo Black spokes model Nacho Figueras - almost no one was watching the ponies (that's polo lingo that I learned). Everyone was under the big glamorous tent mingling.

The fashions were fabulous, the people inspiring, the weather spectacular but the time spent with friends was the pinnacle. Have you stepped out of your box recently and tried something new? LMK!

Recently I've been all about the redheads -- it's such a hot color for fall! When Ted brought me on board for a segment with MSN Style Studio to help a new mom liven up her look, of course my first instinct was to take her red.

Check out the video to see how it all came out and then head over to MSN Style Studio for more great videos from Ted.

Becca and her pre-colored hair
before Color Oops

Just the other day I was doing some makeovers for Twin Cities Live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The producers of the show asked that I only use at home hair color and then give DIY tips for at home colorists and kitchen beauticians.

When I got the jpegs of the women I was going to do the makeovers on, I could see some of them had previous color on their hair. I knew I would have to remove the color to achieve my ultimate goal of turning all three women into red heads but I really wanted to follow the request of the producers.

That's when I remembered a product I had come across a while back - it's called Color Oops. I stopped at the store and picked up a couple of boxes and used it on two of the makeover models. I used my flip camera to document the experiment with Becca.

Take a look so you can see the outcome. Have you ever colored your hair too dark and wished you could fix it? Have you tried Color Oops? LMK!