Road Test: Inversion Haircut

If there is one thing I'm fussy about, it's my hair. But, when I find a hairstylist I can trust, the floodgates to any and all hair possibilities burst open!

That's how I feel about Ashley Hanna, celeb stylist at Mizu New York (opens in new tab). She took one look at my long, ombré hair and promised to never, ever chop it off. I breathed an enormous sigh of relief.

So, when Ashley needed a hair model, I jumped at the chance, not knowing I would be in the chair of the salon's co-owner, Damian Santiago, an expert in "inversion." This asymmetrical style of cut uses a razor, and left my hair neck-length in the back, past my shoulders in the front, and with tons of layers.

The result is one of the edgiest haircuts I've ever had; however, my long hair was no more. And while I loved the cut, I was completely baffled about how to style it.

That was until I visited Ashley, who went at my shorter locks with my new favorite hair tool, a clip-free curler. She wrapped a quarter inch section of hair clockwise around the barrel and held in place for about 20 seconds, leaving two inches at the end, uncurled. She then released the section and wrapped the remaining two inches around the curler, this time counterclockwise. The result: beachy, anti-Shirley Temple waves. The love for my new cut? Just doubled.

To get the look at home, try the Amika Deep Purple Tourmaline Clip-Free Curler (opens in new tab), $99.

Lindsay Leff is a beauty industry veteran who created Kiss and Wear (opens in new tab) to showcase her favorite products, dissect celebrity beauty looks, and teach others how to live with style.