Beauty Talk with Celebrity Stylist Billy Lowe

We only got to spend a brief moment in time with the insanely busy and incredibly talented Billy Lowe (hairstylist to the stars and expert on all things beauty), but we learned a ton about how to get your perfect look. Read below to get his tips, what the hottest trends will be this season, and what you shouldn't try at home.

Real Beauty: Let's talk trends - what will the hottest trends be for fall/winter this year?

Billy Lowe: We're going to see a lot of bold color with hair. Blonde is either going to be very a extreme blonde, or there will be a lot of dark brunettes.

Another thing we're going to be seeing for fall is ponytails - a lot of ponytails, they're hot, hot, hot, and it's a quick and easy look that can be done in as little as two minutes! This season, the ponytails are higher up than they have been in the past. We're used to seeing a low, classy pony, but this season they're fun and playful and high up at the occipital bone. Note to your readers: To find your occipital bone, draw a line to the back of your head, starting from your nose. That's where you're going to place your pony!

RB: Give us your top three tips for a great cut.

BL: Number one: Get a referral. Number two: Collect inspiration pieces. Take in tearsheets from magazines as visuals of what you want, and try and put some words on paper and describe what you're actually seeing in the photo. For example, "short" may mean something different to you than it does to your stylist. Same goes with "long" and "long layers" It's important that you don't just have a bunch of words put together, but that you actually have a visual to accompany it. Number three: Make sure the stylist can repeat back to you what you're looking for. If he or she can repeat back to you what you want, then he/she has heard what you've said and is going to give you a great cut. Any stylist that's gong to go off on his or her own artistic tangent is just trying to be too artsy-fartsy in my opinion.

Related: The Five Best Haircuts of All Time

RB: Let's say you end up hating your new 'do. Is there a good way to go back to the salon and ask the stylist to fix something? That can be so awkward!

BL: Oh God, yes! But every customer should feel comfortable going back in and doing that. You know, when a salon professional leaves school or a mentoring program, the client becomes the mentor. We have to learn from our clients! A lot of times the client will just move on because she's unhappy with her look, and the stylist never knows what happened, when it was really a simple thing that could have been fixed. (Like, "Oh, I'd rather my bangs look more choppy.") The client truly becomes the teacher, so it's always perfectly appropriate for the client to go back and say, "A little more off the top," as long as it's not a completely different cut or style. And try establishing a good groundwork first, by bringing in pictures and talking about your desired style together.

RB: Do you have any thoughts on at-home color jobs?

BL: Yes. Don't do it yourself! And here's why: Boxed color looks really great on the shelf, but what the viewing audience doesn't see is the hours and hours and hours of photos that go into getting that one perfect photo. A $6.99 box of hair color can turn into a $400 color-correction upset, and then the client ends up spending more time in the salon than is actually necessary. So, if she just goes and orders a single process color, or a glaze, or even a color-enhancing treatment, that's a great way to get amazing color without breaking the bank. She may have walked in and spent $100, but she's going to leave looking like a million.

Related: These Celebs Are Influencing Your Hair Color

RB: We've all heard about specific haircuts that are right for specific face shapes. Are there any rules about this?

BL: No rules - I say, break them all! A lot of hairstylists get hung up on the rules of the game, and for so long we've seen pictures of the heart-shaped face and the styles that suit her; but, I can give everyone the perfect long-layered cut, or the perfect asymmetrical bob. However, if the client can't repeat that look when she gets home, she's going to be really frustrated, it's going to look bad on the stylist, and she may never go back. What a good stylist should try to do is tap into a person's lifestyle to find her a perfect style. We take into account how much time she has in the morning, which tools and products she's comfortable working with, we find out what she's doing in her everyday life, and then we try to create a look that she can manage at home, and that she'll be happy and proud to take care of.

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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.