There’s a reason Ted Gibson’s name is one of the most popular in hair: he knows what he’s talking about. We chatted with the on-air personality and entrepreneur about his TV show, Blowing LA, airing on Paramount+ in Canada, his Los Angeles studio, and the summer’s hottest hair trends. Gibson was bubbly, kind, and full of knowledge, leaving us itching for a season two renewal of Blowing LA. Here’s all of the wisdom he had to offer.
Paramount+ Canada’s hottest new show: Blowing LA
“Blowing LA on Paramount+ Canada was a great experience. We filmed it over about two month period. Jason (Backe), my husband, and I had our 26 wedding anniversary dinner on the show. That was beautiful, in this fashion library in Beverly Hills and we had some of our closest friends. It was a beautiful event. We also had our Starring by Ted Gibson salon‘s fourth anniversary party. So there were a lot of parties that happened during this show. There’s also a lot of drama. You’re gonna see things that are heartfelt. You’re gonna see really beautiful hair and makeup. You’re gonna see great clothes. You’re gonna see all of the things that I think that everyone that watches television wants to see,” Gibson says.
And, Gibson says, he hopes the show will highlight the importance a hair stylist has on a person’s life–far beyond the physical. The proof, he says, lies in a juicy celebrity secret he kept to himself. “If I’ve been cutting a woman’s hair for 10 or 15 years, I have gone through lots of things with her,” he says. “She went from getting out of high school and going to college and I cut her hair. She’d go from college and had her first job and I cut her hair. She went from her first job to getting engaged and then getting married and then having children. So what I’m saying is that we as hairdressers are really with the woman for a long period of her life, and we really know everything. Like I knew Angie (Jolie) was pregnant. I didn’t even tell my husband, Jason. I didn’t tell anyone.”
And, of course, there’s no shortage of star power on Blowing LA. “I have lots of celebrities that come and sit in my chair during the show,” Gibson says. “There are some things that happen in episode four and five. I’m not gonna divulge, but you should really watch because there is some high drama.”
These are Gibson’s top summer hair trends of the year:
“I’m gonna start off with a statement: You should know what the trend is, but not be a slave to it,” Gibson says. “Because every single trend is not fit everyone. We live in a time where we can create our own trend. And that’s what’s really fabulous about it.”
The angular bob
Enhanced natural curls
Straighter beach waves
Box braids
Starring celebrity hair stylist: Ted Gibson
The celebrity stylist’s Los Angeles salon is more than just the home of the $2400 haircut. “It’s the first smart salon in the world,” Gibson says. “The reason why we decided we wanted to open a salon is because we knew that the salon model had not been updated in a long time. So it’s kind of like entertainment within your salon. You’re actually in this high eight by eight and a half feet pod, essentially.”
“It’s kind of designed after a first-class cabin,” he adds. “So in these clouds, there are these really beautiful shapes that have LED light strips in it so you can actually just tell Alexa to change the colour in the clouds that you can have and change the lighting experience. If you’ve had a terrible day and you need to be softened, when you come into the salon, you can change the light to lavender. It’s really beautiful and just helps to calm you down. So it takes that idea of just an ordinary salon and turns it on his head.”