September Cover: Desert Bloom

There has always been something fascinating about the bohemian lifestyle, from Hemingway’s “Lost Generation” to the Beats who were celebrated in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Today’s cultural nomads or Gypsetters have managed to combine the carefree lifestyle of a gypsy with the sophistication of the jet set. Think artists, designers and other free spirits who have created bohemian enclaves in places as diverse as Ibiza, Spain, and North Goa, India. New York Times journalist Julia Chaplin explored the lives and lifestyles of these gypsy jet-setters in Gypset Style, Gypset Travel and Gypset Living. Now Sonya Dove has put her spin on Gypset by using Hairdreams extensions, which allowed her to create longer, more intricately detailed hairstyles from interwoven braids to a bold fringe mixed with tousled curls and texture.

 
 
 
Here, Dove used Hairdreams Volume+ TopHair to create a sexy fringe, while the Laserbeamer NANO System allowed her to create natural fullness and length by invisibly integrating 100 percent real human hair into the model’s own hair. “I love the look of hair naturally blowing in the wind,” says Dove, who liked the idea of juxtaposing a sexy, disheveled hairstyle with high-fashion glam. “Designers like Roberto Cavalli bring the Gypset lifestyle to life with beading, jewels and ornate accessories from around the world adorning the body and hair.”
 
To add length and fullness to her model’s hair, Dove used the Hairdreams Laserbeamer NANO System—additional hair strands are permanent, which offers more styling possibilities than ever before. “I liked the idea of incorporating jewelry and pieces of metal into the hair to give it an edgy look,” says Dove, who knotted the hair on top, leaving it unadorned. Then she created knots on the right and left sides and added a gold ring to each knot.
 
Again, Dove used the Hairdreams Laserbeamer NANO System to provide infinite styling possibilities. Here she wanted to create an asymmetric look so she started a small braid behind the model’s left ear—she calls it a surface braid. Then she added hair across the forehead. “When I came to the right eye, I just braided the ends of the hair,” says Dove, who wanted the extensions to duplicate the model’s natural deep roots and lighter ends. “People think they can’t braid their hair or put it up if they have extensions, so I wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to do just that.”
 
To add thickness and length to her model’s hair, Dove used the Hairdreams Laserbeamer NANO System. To style the hair, Dove created a deep parting on the left side before taking out a U-shaped section in the crown and pinning it out of the way. All the remaining hair was pulled over to the left shoulder and gathered into a low ponytail, which was wrapped with gold twine. “It’s a little tribal,” Dove admits.