For a whiiile now i’ve been planning to start adding useful content to this site and now that grand opening is commenced, the time has finally come for me to make good on all those promises and provide you with the solid beauty content and professional recommendations that have made me so successful behind the chair.

The StylistAlicia Studios x Maxwell Salon hybrid and the beauty culture that I’ve been working to build here in Kitsap is about so much more than just hair, just photos or just business.

It’s about frickin beauty; Beauty in all of it’s forms- and I happen to be one of the most savvy experts I know when it comes to all things beauty!

This blog series will be focused on sharing my #BeautyBesties!

When it comes to sourcing products for my salon business, i’ve tried some things… some amazing things, from some amazing companies, annnnd some not-so-amazing things/companies. Certain things really matter to me when I’m deciding which products I want to recommend to my clients: Ingredients, ethics, sustainability and performance. You can count on me to share only products that meet my standards here!

One of my favorite brands (and humans) that I’ve ever had the pleasure to be inspired by has been InCommon beauty- let me count the reasons! 

We added InCommon to our beauty tool kit in 2019 and it quickly became one of my go-to brands for simple solutions to hair’s every day needs. Amazingly, this is one of those lines where you can have everything you need for healthy hair with just 4 products in your beauty bag. This is a huge, space-saving plus for those beauty-conscious frequent-flyers! 

Incommon approaches haircare similarly to how you would think of skin care: Cleanse, treat, moisturize, protect. It really is that simple.

1) Cleanse- with Universal Shampoo

2) Treat- spray on one of 3 targeted treatments for smoothing, strengthening or boosting moisture

3) Moisturize- layer Universal Mask over treatment

4) Protect- after rinsing and towel-drying, liberally apply Magic Myst Universal elixir to detangle and protect from daily heat styling, harmful UVA/UVB rays & other environmental factors.

This line checks all the boxes that are important to me as a beauty professional:

Natural ingredients, environmentally conscious, easy to understand, beautiful packaging, easily accessible education/pro-product knowledge and founders who are genuinely for hairdressers. It might sound strange, but that’s not always the case with professional beauty brands and I think it’s important for us to start to recognize that not all lines of professional products are really for us and some of them are profiting from you behind the chair and then using those profits to undercut you at the grocery store. That’s probably a conversation for another day though...Back to the good stuff at hand!

This pandemic was really tough on the beauty industry. I can tell ya, I’ve really been paying attention to the way brands and companies have responded to the crisis we’ve all been living. Riawna and Nikki’s realism, positivity and genuine care for hairdressers shows in the programs and support they continue to provide for us. That might be because they’re just like us- passionate beauty professionals.

Big thanks and shout-out to these profoundly cool and refreshing humans. 

*A little fangirl backstory for those of you who are not familiar with the rad chicks behind InCommon. Nikki and Riawna are two hairstylist bffs, who decided to open a salon together in LA and change the mf’n game. After finding their social media back in 2015, I started following along with their booming careers. At that time, both of our salons were carrying the same product line (Unite) and honestly, those ladies were just who I needed to see at that point in my life. Two young, savvy, hustling, creative women just fuckin’ going for it and being themselves.

After years of being told how I “should act” as the owner of a business, and hiding my true self in favor of people-pleasing, these ladies showed me that’s it’s actually ok to just be yourself. Isn’t that why most hairdressers gravitate to this creative profession? So we can finally just be ourselves. So what if some people don’t like me? I probably don’t like them either. 

If you want to check it out for yourself and support their rad line of products, check out my shopping link. If you’re not sure what to get, I’d be happy to share recommendations based on your hair type just drop a comment or send me a DM.

For pro’s-InCommon recently launched an awesome sharing incentive program (not that I needed any more incentive) so please use my link to shop yourself some backbar and see why I love it so much! Hairdressers supporting hairdressers is my favorite form of community, pass it on. 

Cheers to these two! Thanks for providing daily shower motivation… “If the desert can bloom again,” so can I 💗. 

#beautybesties