Ethan King of Ron King Salon has been fascinated by curly hair, and has worked to learn everything he can about curls, coils and waves. To that end, he trained with Nubia Suarez, who created the Rezö Cut and Rezölights. He now is the Rezö Curly Global Educator.
NaturallyCurly: What made you decide to become a stylist?
Ethan: Growing up, I never knew what I wanted to be. I only knew one thing: I enjoyed making things beautiful. I got so much happiness from creating and transforming things into beauty. After going through some different professions I kept getting pulled back to the suggestion by friends and family of being a hairdresser, which did not appeal to me for some odd reason at all.
My first experience with hair, besides the normal chopping of my sister’s Barbie dolls hair off, was when I was 16 years old. I walked in on my friend glueing extensions to the back of her head. I quickly gasped in horror, quick to offer help. I assisted in glueing them in with the cheap foul-smelling rubbery glue. She asked me “how does it look?” I replied with “A whole hell of a lot better than the mess you had going on back there!”
After that, she always asked me to help her glue her extensions in. Ever since then I had an interest in making hair look good I just didn’t know I would eventually make a career from it. Years later I decided to give it a shot in cosmetology school even with the hesitation I had from the fear of failure.
Being a male in the industry is quite scary at first. Being in a class filled with girls whom all had years of experience styling their own hair compared to me who didn’t have any experience besides chopping Barbie dolls hair off and fixing a botched extensions.
A couple months of school and I soon realized I LOVED doing hair and I was actually good at it! I had all the girls in my cosmetology school asking me to help do their hair because no one else could manage their mane. Making people feel beautiful is so special and makes so proud to be doing what I do.
NaturallyCurly: You recently became a curl expert. What excited you about working with curly hair?
Ethan: What drew me to curly hair was seeing the impact that an amazing transformation could do for someone who had gotten bad hair jobs for years and years. The stories that I heard from women with curly hair were so heartfelt and devastating compared to what other people experience. These women have been told for years that their natural texture was “unprofessional”, “messy”, “crazy”, “unkept” and “ugly”. Everyone should love what is on their head and I want to show them why it’s so beautiful.
NaturallyCurly: What do you like about working with curly hair compared to working on straight hair?
Ethan: Curly hair to me is so powerful. Seeing a woman embrace who they were meant to be and rocking something so fierce and strong is just unbelievable to me. Curls are all so different and unique. Being able to create big full shapes without teasing the hair……um yes please!
NaturallyCurly: What has been the impact of learning the Rëzo method?
Ethan: Rëzo has completely changed the way I do curly hair. Being a part of the team as a global educator has opened up so many opportunities for me. Getting to travel world wide and work with so many different textures has only broadened my experiences. Curls used to scare me to death! I didn’t understand them. The only way to get better at something is just practice and educate yourself properly. Rëzo has blown my mind since day 1.
Ethan: Do you feel that a consultation is key before cutting or coloring a client’s hair? If so, why?
NaturallyCurly: With any service consultation is super key! People have different perceptions of every adjective. If you ask ten people what “volume,” “warmth,” “shorter” or “layered” means to them, I guarantee you that you will receive a variety of answers. Pictures are extremely helpful as most people are visual.
Ethan: Who are the stylists that inspire you?
NaturallyCurly: First, my top inspiration is Ron King, my husband. He has shown and taught me so many things as a stylist and as a businessman in this industry. Without him I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Nubia Suarez is my other inspiration as a stylist. So much passion in one tiny woman cannot be explained through words. I am not the most spiritual of people, but one thing I can say about her is that she has one of the most beautiful souls. She genuinely cares about women and the empowerment that they get from their hair. For a woman who doesn’t have curly hair, she understands everything about them.
NaturallyCurly: What are some tips for replicating the look you get in a salon at home?
The best three tips that I can give to my clients at home are:
- When styling, make sure you have your hair completely saturated with the most important ingredient for moisture, water!
- Take the time to apply products section by section and do not use too much!
- Dry your hair 101% before you touch it and shake out your curls. Not 100% but 101% !
NaturallyCurly: Do you have a favorite curly cocktail?
Ethan: My favorite cocktail for perfect curls, would be Rëzo Moisturizing Shampoo and conditioner and then raking the Oribe Priming Lotion through the hair and then applying the Oribe Curl Gelee section by section. After diffusing, I use the Rëzo Curl Serum to lightly rub into hands before breaking up the curls to help break the cast beautifully.
