CampaignsEditorialHair onlyLos Angeles

ODELL

Session hair for the set

Odell Reyes does hair for photographers, brands and magazines, booked by the day. Wet looks, braids, finger waves and hair that moves in the wind. Kit room in the Arts District.

  • A braided crown woven with gold thread, seen from behind in golden light03 / Gold thread
  • Close-up of 1920s finger waves set flat to the head, a pearl earring07 / Finger waves
  • A model on a white set in a black turtleneck, her hair blown out into a halo by a wind machine11 / Wind
Session day $950 · $150 holds itHold a date →
A woman in strict profile against charcoal seamless, her hair set in a glossy, sculpted wet-look wave
01 / Wet wave, charcoal seamless

Fourteen years on set. 1,100 session days. Zero makeup.

Hair only, so it’s one line on the invoice and one person who answers for it.

A model in a black turtleneck mid-step on a white cyc, her curls blown out sideways by a wind machine

Wind.

Campaign · Culver City, May · wind machine at full · blown out round the night before so it rose in one piece

A crown braid woven with gold thread, seen from behind in warm window light

Gold thread.

Editorial · Arts District, FW27 · crown braid, gold thread woven in from the nape · 2 hours, no glue

Wet to dry in twenty-five minutes. Nobody waits.

Every look change is planned the week before, on a look sheet with the minutes per look.

Close-up of glossy black finger waves set flat to the head, a pearl earring

Ten hours. Same wave.

Editorial · Pasadena, January · finger waves, 1926 · set wet with fingers and a comb, dried under a hood · 75 min

A woman in a white linen shirt walking through the high desert at golden hour, her long hair blown back

Thirty mph.

Campaign · Lucerne Valley, October · golden hour, 30 mph gusts · hair prepped to move, not to sit

A mirror-gloss low bun seen from behind against a pale plaster wall

Gloss.

Lookbook · Vernon, June · mirror-gloss low bun · brushed back wet, set under a scarf for 20 minutes

Twenty-six photographers have booked a second day.

A denim label’s LA campaign, three seasons · a haircare launch · a swimwear brand in the desert · two independent fashion quarterlies · nine album covers. Names on request.

A session day is $950. Half is $550. A test is $300. $150 holds it.

Session day: 10 hours from call, hair only, any number of looks, lunch included · half day up to 5 hours · test up to 4 hours, weekdays · second stylist +$400 a day · overtime $125 an hour in half hours · kit included, wigs, extensions and gold thread at cost · paid-media campaigns get a written quote · the $150 comes off the invoice.

Hold a date →

The day, 07:00 to 17:00 Scroll sideways →

  1. Call

    Kit set up beside the set. Irons heated, the steamer filled, the fan tested at every speed.

  2. First talent in the chair

    A sleek look takes 40 minutes, a braid 90, finger waves 75 plus drying. All on the look sheet.

  3. Odell, seen from behind with a tail comb, smooths a sleek ponytail on a seated model beside a camera on a tripod First frame

    Odell stands by the monitor with a tail comb. Flyaways are fixed between frames, not in retouching.

  4. Look change

    Wet to dry in 25 minutes. Down to up in 15. Planned the week before, so nobody waits.

  5. Lunch

    Thirty minutes. Hair under a scarf so the set holds through the sandwiches.

  6. Wrap

    The last frame’s hair matches the first. Hair gets brushed out and conditioned before talent leaves.

Odell Reyes, late thirties, close-cropped hair and a short beard, in a black tee and a clip belt, arms crossed against grey seamless

Odell Reyes

I learned on my cousins: six braids before dinner in my aunt’s kitchen in Boyle Heights, and nobody left until the parts were straight. Five years assisting taught me finger waves from a woman who set them with bare fingers. If it needs clips to hold, she said, the set is wrong.

Now I do hair only. I work beside your makeup artist, keep to their clock, and make sure the hair in the last frame is the hair in the first.

What comes in the cases

The hair kit laid flat on black concrete from above: irons, brushes, combs, pins, clips, sprays and shears in rows
  1. 1Curling irons, 3/8 inch to 2 inches
  2. 2Flat irons and a crimper
  3. 3Round, paddle and cushion brushes
  4. 4Tail combs and wide-tooth combs
  5. 5Pins by the hundred, in black, brown and blonde
  6. 6Section clips, a dozen of each
  7. 7Gel, pomade, wax and spray in three strengths
  8. 8Shears, for extensions cut on set

Plus two dryers, a hood dryer, a steamer, a floor fan with a speed dial and a leaf blower with a diffuser cap. Products tested on every hair type, coily to fine.

The finger waves held for eleven hours under strobes. My retoucher asked who did the hair.
Nadia F. · Photographer, Echo Park
Thirty-mph gusts in the desert and Odell treated the wind like a second stylist. Every frame moved the same way.
Theo B. · Photographer, Highland Park
He works beside our makeup artist like they’ve shared a kit for years. The chair never stalled.
June A. · Producer, a haircare brand
We got a look sheet on Monday with the minutes per look. We wrapped forty minutes early.
Camila O. · Art director, a denim label
The kit room, empty: a white cyc wall, an octabox on a boom and a styling station with a mirror under factory windows

The kit room.

Arts District · a white cyc, a styling station and the cases · tests on weekdays, 4 hours

Arts District, downtown Los Angeles. Shoots anywhere.

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Odell, Arts District Kit room and test space, downtown Los Angeles. Address with your booking. Open the map

LA County and Orange County: included · Palm Springs, the high desert, Santa Barbara: a half-rate travel day plus mileage · out of state: the day rate per travel day plus the flight · the street address comes with your booking.

Before you hold a date

Do you do makeup?

No, hair only. Bring a makeup artist you trust, or ask and I’ll send three I work with. We share the chair and the call sheet.

What counts as a session day?

Ten hours from call, lunch included. After that, overtime is $125 an hour in half hours. A half day is up to five hours for $550.

How does the $150 hold work?

It holds the date and comes off the invoice. If the shoot moves, the hold moves with it once, within 60 days.

Can you work on every hair type?

Yes. Coily, curly, wavy, straight, fine, relaxed, locs. I started on braids, so tell me the texture and I’ll bring what it needs.

Do you shoot outside with wind?

Most weeks. Send the location and the forecast. Desert and beach days are prepped differently from studio days: less product, more structure.

Do you invoice brands?

W-9 and a certificate of insurance on request, invoices net 15. Campaigns with paid media get a written quote.

Do you travel?

Anywhere in LA County and Orange County is included. Palm Springs, the high desert and Santa Barbara are a half-rate travel day plus mileage.

Hold a date

Pick the shoot date and hold it with $150. Odell texts you the same day for the moodboard, the call time and the hair types in the chair.

  1. 1Service
  2. 2Date
  3. 3Details
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