Insider Hair Tips From Celebrity Stylist Oscar Blandi

When your hands regularly grace the manes of big-name celebrities, including Kelly Ripa, Naomi Watts, and our very own Drew Barrymore, chances are you’ve got some pretty interesting stories to tell. Luckily, not only did style god Oscar Blandi share anecdotes featuring the likes of Emma Stone and Molly Sims, but he also revealed a few of his best tips for beating bad hair days and battling split ends. Get ready — you may want to take notes on this one.

Blandi's portfolio, of course, speaks for itself, but it wasn't always that way. His client list is what it is in part due to friend and mentor Kevyn Aucoin, the late great makeup artist.

One of Blandi's best stories involves being practically stood up by Lindsay Lohan. After waiting hours for Lohan, Blandi was so short on time that he was forced to nix his initial style idea and instead just tuck all of the star's hair into a fake bob in a rush to get her to an event. Luckily, everyone totally thought she'd actually gone for the chop, and the dramatic incident ended up getting them both tons of coverage. (Nice one, LiLo.)

While Blandi does have a repertoire of hilarious stories, it didn't compare to his arsenal of hair tips and tricks. Blandi surprisingly admitted that he’s pretty low-maintenance when it comes to styling and dealing with those dreaded bad hair days.

Although Blandi’s known for more of a sleek look, he admitted that the beachy waves we’re seeing everywhere these days actually make his job way easier. When asked how he achieves those waves, he laughed and mimicked a spray-bottle motion with his hands. “All I do is blow-dry the hair sleek and straight, and then whip out my bottle of water, and give it a little spritz. This gives the hair a wavy texture without the frizz of just letting the hair air-dry," he explained.

What about when you wake up with a tangled nest of dirty strands? Blandi's advice: “Don’t overdo it. Analyze the situation, try some dry shampoo and a blow-dryer, and if that’s not working, just throw it into a tight pony.” The worst thing you can do is mess with your locks so much that it leads to breakage. Blandi recommends being gentle and treating your hair right but also taking advantage of heat styling tools.

Unfortunately, Blandi wouldn't cop to a way of camouflaging split ends. You can, however, avoid them by ditching the bogus products and doing what most hair stylists recommend: Get frequent trims, even up to every three to four weeks. The good news is the cut doesn't have to break the bank. Blandi knows that most women can’t afford to drop a few hundred on a haircut every few weeks, so he explained that the only real difference between a $50 dollar haircut and a $650 haircut is the salon experience — not so much the cut itself. If you’re worried about your hair looking too short from those frequent salon trips, well, don’t. Your hair is more likely to look short and choppy when your ends are unhealthy. But, those frequent trims will keep your hair looking thicker, more even, and longer, too.

While having a celebrity hairstylist's tips is invaluable, the truth is, Blandi's frank commentary on what it's really like working on famous people's hair is what sticks. Blandi broke it down like this: “Some people spend five minutes with a celebrity, and walk out with a head so big they have to turn it sideways just to get out the door.”

“You eventually get over that feeling of, ‘OMG. I’m working with a celebrity,’ and start to realize that all they want is to get their hair done like any other normal person would,” Blandi went on. At the end of the day, he’d rather just be himself than waste his energy trying to please and cater to these celebrities' every demand. His clients trust him, so he’s able to trust himself — and that’s when you really know you’re at a good place in your career.