Ted Gibson Beauty Launches Product Line

To celebrate the launch of his new line of styling products, Ted Gibson created a collection of images that capture the essence of the all-American girl.

Even though he’s known for his runway and red-carpet work, Ted Gibson didn’t want any of the girls in this collection to “look too done.” Instead, the images on these six pages have a kind of girl-next-door quality. “It feels like luxury, but not in the red-carpet way,” he says. “It’s American girl glamour.” Gibson’s new line of styling products, which he calls Starring, was created to enable your clients to create the kinds of looks that are entirely within their reach, while helping you to execute looks that have an editorial feel. “I’m a big fan of cinema, so I thought Starring was the perfect name for a product line that’s all about the person using the product, about them feeling their absolute best,” says Gibson. Call it approachable beauty if you like, but none of the looks are overdone or over-stylized. “All of the hair has an ease about it. What we’re doing is allowing a client to create her own star moment,” says Gibson, who, despite his celebrity, did not want to create a line of products with his name on them. Instead, he and partner Jason Backe wanted the line to be the next component in a movement they’ve been creating for the past few years to elevate the hairdresser. “It’s an obsession for us,” Backe says, “and this line is a tool that can help us do that.”

Photography: Damon Baker, Makeup: Gianpaolo Ceciliato,  Stylist: Paul-Simon Djite 

 
“I love decades,” says Ted Gibson, “but what I like to do is take a decade and modernize it.” Eliza (far left) channels Brigitte Bardot from the 1960s, Hazel (center) sports a pseudo-punk look borrowed from the 1980s, while Leomie (far right) recalls Destiny’s Child, the preeminent R&B singers of the mid- to late 1990s. To help Leomie get into the groove, Jennifer Vanell, a member of the Ted Gibson artistic team, added some hair extensions.
 
“I love decades,” says Ted Gibson, “but what I like to do is take a decade and modernize it.” Eliza (far left) channels Brigitte Bardot from the 1960s, Hazel (center) sports a pseudo-punk look borrowed from the 1980s, while Leomie (far right) recalls Destiny’s Child, the preeminent R&B singers of the mid- to late 1990s. To help Leomie get into the groove, Jennifer Vanell, a member of the Ted Gibson artistic team, added some hair extensions.
 
For Gibson, who predicts a trend toward more curl, not just texture, over the next couple of years, this image was one of the standouts. To create Eliza’s luscious, romantic curls, Gibson applied Beautifullest Powerball Styler onto the scalp and worked it through the hair to create volume. Then he worked Runway Ready Volume Mist and Supersexy Foaming Mousse into the hair before blow drying with a diffuser.
 
For Gibson, who predicts a trend toward more curl, not just texture, over the next couple of years, this image was one of the standouts. To create Eliza’s luscious, romantic curls, Gibson applied Beautifullest Powerball Styler onto the scalp and worked it through the hair to create volume. Then he worked Runway Ready Volume Mist and Supersexy Foaming Mousse into the hair before blow drying with a diffuser.
 
This is the typical Gibson girl blowout. “We do these in the salon every day,” says Gibson, who used Runway Ready Volume Mist over the entire head, and then applied Showstopper Volume Gelee from the mid-lengths to the ends. Using a medium-size round brush, he blew her hair dry and set it all in place with Fixed On You Finishing Spray.
 
“I love a topknot,” says Gibson, who calls it the “all-American girl look of the moment” because it’s so easy to do. Gibson tells his clients to tilt their heads forward and pull all of their hair from the nape to the top of the head and secure with a piece of elastic. Then, they simply have to twist the hair upon itself until it creates the kind of look they want. Because Gibson wanted to accentuate Hazel’s jaw line and cheekbones, he placed the ponytail right on top of her head. After spritzing the finished look with Fixed On You Finishing Spray, Gibson loosened a little of the hair at the sides and on top to give it an editorial feel. The key is that nothing should look too perfect.
 
“I love a topknot,” says Gibson, who calls it the “all-American girl look of the moment” because it’s so easy to do. Gibson tells his clients to tilt their heads forward and pull all of their hair from the nape to the top of the head and secure with a piece of elastic. Then, they simply have to twist the hair upon itself until it creates the kind of look they want. Because Gibson wanted to accentuate Hazel’s jaw line and cheekbones, he placed the ponytail right on top of her head. After spritzing the finished look with Fixed On You Finishing Spray, Gibson loosened a little of the hair at the sides and on top to give it an editorial feel. The key is that nothing should look too perfect.
 
Leomie is a Victoria’s Secret model, who is having a major moment right now. “I think that Victoria’s Secret models are what supermodels were in the ‘90s,” Gibson says. “It means you’ve arrived.” Because Leomie’s hair is relaxed and on the short side, Gibson decided to create a look that has a lot of personality, “just like her.” To that end, he used Runway Ready Volume Mist and Supersexy Foaming Mousse all over the head. “The great thing about these products is that you can cocktail them to give you the look you want on every type of hair,” says Gibson. After using a Denman brush to blow-dry the hair—“When working with relaxed hair, you want to make sure the hair at the scalp is very straight,” he says—Gibson pulled everything on the sides into the back and pinned it into a half-up-half-down French twist. The big finish for this look, which he calls a modern pompadour: a liberal application of Fixed On You Finishing Spray in the front.
 
Leomie is a Victoria’s Secret model, who is having a major moment right now. “I think that Victoria’s Secret models are what supermodels were in the ‘90s,” Gibson says. “It means you’ve arrived.” Because Leomie’s hair is relaxed and on the short side, Gibson decided to create a look that has a lot of personality, “just like her.” To that end, he used Runway Ready Volume Mist and Supersexy Foaming Mousse all over the head. “The great thing about these products is that you can cocktail them to give you the look you want on every type of hair,” says Gibson. After using a Denman brush to blow-dry the hair—“When working with relaxed hair, you want to make sure the hair at the scalp is very straight,” he says—Gibson pulled everything on the sides into the back and pinned it into a half-up-half-down French twist. The big finish for this look, which he calls a modern pompadour: a liberal application of Fixed On You Finishing Spray in the front.