This article originally appeared in the June 2016 issue of ELLE.
They're not beach waves. Don't call it ombré, either. At the Ramirez Tran salon in Beverly Hills, cut-and-color duo Johnny Ramirez and Anh Co Tran have their own term for the look they've perfected: "lived-in hair"—and they take the "lived-in" part seriously. Clients at their three-year-old salon first see Tran for a cut, then follow up with Ramirez, who bestows highlights depending on lifestyle choices, like how often someone wears her hair down and how much time she spends at the gym. The pair's ability to make women shine—at a party, in downward dog, or running errands—is exactly why celebs like Rashida Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Kristen Wiig keep coming back for easygoing layers and natural hues. High-maintenance hair? Not on their watch.
What's your color philosophy?
Johnny Ramirez: After age 18—blondes see it most—hair color gets a little deeper, and at some point, after enough color corrections, we forget what our natural color actually is. I like to go back to that palette you were born with, so I ask clients to bring photos from when they were a kid. Those are the tones I put back into the hair.
What if someone's lifestyle doesn't allow her to be at the salon every few months?
JR: Some clients tell me, "I don't want to see you for eight months," so I re-create a root so that when the natural hair color grows out, it blends with that. Even if someone says that they want to stay really blond, I still go back and create a fake root.
Speaking of going blond, what's this we hear about a banana test?
JR: Before we start, I tell my assistants: "Here's five bucks; go buy yourself some bananas." I lift everyone who wants to go lighter to the shade of the inside of a banana and deposit color from there. It's a neutral base that isn't white—which means fried—and it keeps the hair from oxidizing and turning orange.
Are the cut and color equally important to add dimension?
JR: We think so. We've had clients come in for color, and then another hairdresser at a different salon will chop all the work off, which defeats the purpose. Anh has always been very respectful with the way he cuts. If he wants to do something a little more fun and edgy, I'll follow his lead and highlight pieces that will complement his layers to add depth.
Is there a cut that fakes volume for thinning hair?
Anh Co Tran: Ask your stylist to create shorter layers that sit underneath the top layers—those will boost the longer ones to create fullness. Of course, products help tremendously; mousse is making a huge comeback.
Beach waves have been in for a while now. Are they here to stay?
ACT: Yes, but we'll see them evolve. Right now, that's the '70s look, and everyone is cutting their hair. If you look at photos from back then, girls either had that Debbie Harry length or it was superlong. And the '90s thing is superbig as well, with a gritty, almost dirty texture—plus that Cindy Crawford hair flip to the side, which is so sexy. I remember a Helmut Newton photo of her—that image stays in my mind anytime I do hair.
How do you create that Cindy look?
ACT: The same way you do beach waves: by curling small sections with an iron, but rather than shaking the hair to separate the pieces when you're finished, you brush it out and make it fluffy.
