When it comes to creating an effortlessly chic hairstyle, Bryce Scarlett is the master. Hailing from San Diego, Scarlett carries himself with the ease of a laidback Californian—with beachy blonde locks to boot. It’s no wonder his client list includes some of Hollywood’s ultimate cool girls, including Margot Robbie, Gigi Hadid, and Brie Larson, who frequently sport his signature S-waves and luscious blowouts on the red carpet.
Scarlett has been an ambassador for Moroccanoil since 2017 and a devoted fan of the brand for even longer. We met up with the celebrity stylist at the new Moroccanoil Academy in New York City to discuss the brand’s latest range of styling tools, including its newly launched Ceramic Styling Brush, as well as some tips and tricks to achieving red-carpet-worthy hair each morning.
Where do you get inspiration for styling?
“I’m really inspired by fashion, as cheesy as that sounds. I love clothes and designers and stylists. What the girl is wearing is, to me, the dictator of everything. So when it’s for red carpet and photoshoots, until I’ve seen the clothes, I can’t begin. That’s what it’s all about. I’m really into proportion and silhouette. If someone shows me a photo of a gown that they’re wearing that’s really voluminous, I would often balance that out by doing a tight, small head like a chignon, so they feel really delicate in this big gown. Or the opposite—if someone is wearing a super tight, straight column silhouette, I would do some beach waves that are kind of full, so you get some softness since the dress is so structured. I also look at proportions of people’s faces and their bodies and what’s balancing them and helping them look their best. Everything is about the person and how they look themselves. I always need to see a fitting photo so I know exactly how it’s photographing.”
What do you think the biggest trends for hair will be in 2020, especially with summer around the corner?
“I feel like a lot of people are doing the blunt square bob a lot. Everybody chopped their hair off a few years ago and were doing that kind of A-line bob which was really pretty—I did it a lot on Margot. It gave a really glamorous, elongated shape, but I’m loving the blunt square versions of that that are more ‘90s that don’t have a lot of layers to them—they’re blunt and have good swing. You wear them super sleek and straight or tucked behind the ears for a while so you get just a little bit of that natural bend.”
Do you prefer red carpet or editorial styling more?
“I love doing both. Red carpet is like my home base, I feel really comfortable with it. There’s something to me about the images that come from that—they seem to live on. Obviously editorial also [has that staying power], but there’s something about giving someone that moment on the red carpet that I really romanticize and has always made me want to do this job.”
As someone who’s not a morning person, I’m always looking for a quick fix to make my hair look red-carpet-ready in the morning—what are your quick tips for styling?
“The Moroccanoil Ceramic Styling Brush is honestly such a great tool for that. It’s a quick fix for if you have some weird kinks and bumps from sleeping on your hair, or if you need to start from scratch and get a smooth finish. If you’re someone who is not great with a blowout, it’s such a fantastic way to make it look like you got one.”
What are the biggest mistakes people make with their hair?
“People are scared of product sometimes. I think there’s a misconception that too much product is bad and they feel trapped in it. People get scared and think, ‘If I use the wrong product and I can’t get it out, then I’m screwed’. That can happen, but you need to practice with products. You need to find the things that work for you and not be afraid to try—once you find the things that work, embrace them. I use so much product in hair. If you’re looking at a beachy, slept in blowout that I did, there’s probably volumizer at the roots and treatment oil throughout the ends when it’s wet. There’s for sure dry shampoo, for sure texture spray, and probably hair spray and sculpting clay at the ends to finish it off. It’ll look like someone didn’t wash their hair for three days and just has great hair, but in reality, there’s a lot of work in there.”
What are your tips for combating seasonal hair issues when the weather fluctuates from cold to hot?
“Mostly what you’re balancing there is humidity or lack of humidity. You’re either dealing with a lot of moisture in the air or it’s really dry. You’ve got to change up your products, your shampoos, and your conditioners seasonally. You’re going to need something in the summer that you won’t need in the winter and vice versa. In the winter when things are dry, you want to use those stronger masks. You just have to be mindful of what your hair actually needs. Your hair is like skin—in the winter you’re using a heavier moisturizer, so it’s the same approach.”
What do you love about working for Moroccanoil?
“I love working for a company that was started, run, and is privately owned by a really badass woman. [Co-founder] Carmen [Tal] is inspirational and it’s a real epic story what she has built here. I genuinely love the products. I used many of them long before we began working together. It was a really natural fit for me. They have a great range of everything—I don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t do with their line.”
What is the one Moroccanoil product you couldn’t live without?
“It’s the hairspray. The hairspray I have used for years—about 10 years. The guy I assisted was obsessed with the hairspray, so that was my first exposure to Moroccanoil. The hairspray is so multi-purpose to me. It has a really glossy, shiny finish to it. There’s no crunchiness. It does give you hold but it’s really pliable. It is so easy to brush out and you can build and layer it really well. I use it for when I want that kind of—I don’t want to say ‘wet’ look because I think that’s a little misleading. You don’t actually want to look wet, but that really glossy, high shine and definition in the hairstyles (Kim Kardashian does that damp-looking hair all the time)—the hairspray is great for that. You can really concentrate it and put quite a bit in and it gives you that definition and shiny look without you needing to coat your entire head in something. It’ll still be moveable and it’s a much easier approach than having to start at the base and literally saturate yourself in something.”
The Moroccanoil Styling Tool Collection is available for purchase on moroccanoil.com.