This past Saturday I trekked up to Santa Barbara for their film festival where I was working with Cate Blanchett. I've worked with Cate for years, and I have to say that she is THE dream client; she knows her fashion and she is such a risk-taker. With her I've learned to be a risk-taker as well and follow my inspirations and believe in them. Most of the hairstyles I've created on Cate were well received and a few were not, but I stand by them all!

For an evening in Santa Barbara with Cate I had the incredible opportunity to work with the hair ornaments from the Chanel Haute Couture collection; feathers made from gold! Just to hold these pieces in my hands was amazing. When I showed them to Cate, she loved them and wanted to use them, just like I knew she would.

Like I said, I've worked with Cate for years so we never spend too much time analyzing how she should wear her hair, we just decide "up or down" and with the Chanel feathers in my hot hands, we knew the hair had to be up to showcase these pieces of art. Cate has naturally curly hair and I just wanted to enhance that texture, so I mixed the new Biolage Molding Souffle and the Shine Endure Spritz in my hands (yes, I have the new Biolage stylers in my kit, and trust me...they ROCK!) and I mixed the products together and then raked it through Cate's hair. I used a half inch HAI Elite curling iron to define some of her curls. Then I really went to work! I took the hair along Cate's hairline and separated it, then took the rest of her hair and just played, trying to find the right chignon for the look I was craving. When I say I played, I really mean I PLAYED! It is such an amazing feeling to just let go and I became an artist and hair was my medium. I twisted and sculpted her hair until I created a shape that I liked. If asked, I couldn't say if it was a French twist or a bun, it was literally a shape I molded and pinned in to place. Then I brought out the feathers and placed them where I thought they looked best. There were 2 feathers, one large and one small, and I knew I wanted them to touch on one side. When I finally found the right placement, I secured them. These pieces were on combs, but they were very heavy (and VERY expensive) so I wanted to make sure they wouldn't slip out, so I used countless bobby pins to secure them, and just for good measure, I sewed the large feather to Cate's head with a flat tip embroidery needle.

When Cate left for the red carpet that night I was almost unable to form sentences. It had been a while since I felt so proud of a hairstyle I created, and that night Cate had given me the chance to feel like a real artist. I packed my kit and enjoyed a glass of champagne, but knew I still had to travel back to Los Angeles, so I said my goodbyes to everyone. When I walked out of her cottage, I saw that it had started raining and initially thought about running to my car, but instead I decided to let the raindrops fall all over me, and I just laughed! I was so high on a creative level that the rain felt fantastic, and I ended up dancing in that rain. There I was with my huge suitcase full of supplies behind me just dancing and laughing in the rain! It was such a fantastic moment and I'm so glad I let myself take it in and enjoy it, I mean....come on, I'm just a hairdresser from a small town in Florida, but there I was leaving the cottage of Cate Blanchett after sewing CHANEL hair accessories to her head! I can't think of enough words to express how much I love my job!!!