The Day My Hair Finally Behaved: Inside Pasadena’s Most Transformative Aveda Makeovers

I am Hasblady Guzman, founder of Bokaos Aveda Salon in Old Town Pasadena. After more than 30 years behind the chair, I see the same look on so many faces when they sit down with me.

They run a hand through their hair and say something like,
“I buy all these products, I follow all the rules, but my hair is still a frizzy, thinning, confused mess. What am I missing?”

What you are usually missing is not more products. You are missing a plan that is actually matched to your scalp, your hair history, and our very specific Southern California climate.

Let me show you what that looks like in real life with two of my guests.

Liora’s Story: From “My Ponytail Is Shrinking” To Fuller, Calmer Hair

Liora came to see me on a hot Thursday afternoon, fresh from a work call and still half in laptop mode. She lives in Altadena, works long hours in marketing, and told me she had been avoiding mirrors lately.

“When I pull my hair back, my ponytail is half the size it used to be,” she said. “I have bottles of shampoo and scalp serums lined up in my shower. Nothing is working and I am starting to panic.”

When I hear that kind of frustration, the first thing I do is slow things down. I asked her to tell me everything.

Years of high ponytails and messy buns. A stressful season at work. A couple of at-home color experiments during lockdown. A constant rotation of “hair growth” and “volumizing” products from different brands.

At the chair, I did what I always do in a consultation. I looked closely at her scalp and her hair. Her scalp was a little congested at the crown from product buildup, but not inflamed. Through the lengths, her hair looked fine and a bit weak, especially around the front. Her ends were rougher than her roots, like they had lived through several different chapters of her life.

“Here is the good news,” I told her. “You are not losing hair in clumps. Your scalp looks healthy enough to support growth. The problem is that your scalp is not getting a clean slate and your mid lengths are too fragile to hold on to fullness.”

We simplified everything.

I asked her to put the random mix of shampoos and serums on pause and gave her a very small, very focused plan with Aveda. A gentle scalp cleansing routine a couple of times a week to clear buildup without stripping. A strengthening shampoo and conditioner for daily use. A light scalp spray that she could massage in with her fingertips at night to support density over time.

“This is it?” she asked, surprised. “Three things?”

“Yes,” I said. “But used consistently, not randomly.”

Six Weeks Later: “My Hair Feels Like It Belongs To Me Again”

When Liora came back six weeks later for a trim, she sat down with a different posture.

“I am still not where I was in my twenties,” she laughed, “but my hair feels like it belongs to me again.”

She told me she had stopped shedding as much in the shower and she was not seeing so many little broken pieces on her desk at work. Her scalp felt calmer, less tight, and her hair air dried with a bit more movement instead of falling flat.

At the bowl I could feel the difference too. Her roots felt cleaner, not coated. Her lengths felt smoother, not squeaky.

We kept her plan exactly the same and added one thing in the salon: a targeted strengthening treatment with her haircut to give her hair an extra boost from the inside.

Three Months In: A New Relationship With Her Hair

By the time she came back for her third visit, Liora did something I always notice. She reached back and casually flipped her hair into a ponytail without checking the mirror first. That is usually when I know someone is starting to trust their hair again.

She showed me a photo from before we started working together. In the old picture her ponytail looked thin and see through. In the new photo, taken the week before at a brunch in Old Pasadena, the same ponytail looked fuller and more solid, even though the length had not changed much.

“It is not dramatic like extensions,” she said. “But it feels like I stopped the slide. That was my biggest fear, that it was just going to keep getting worse.”

That is the whole point. Real change for thinning hair is rarely overnight. It is calm, steady progress that you can feel in your hands and see in your photos over several months.

Beating Pasadena Frizz Without Giving Up Color

Where Liora felt like her hair was disappearing, Sabine felt like hers was everywhere.

She lives near South Pasadena, loves being outdoors, and had years of beautiful highlighted hair that had slowly turned into what she called “a frizzy cloud.”

“My curls used to look defined,” she told me. “Now, if there is even a hint of moisture in the air, I get a halo and the ends feel like hay. I keep buying smoothing oils, but they only work for maybe an hour.”

I asked about her routine and heard a familiar pattern. Strong shampoos that left her feeling “squeaky clean,” hot tools on high heat to fight the puffiness, then heavy silicone serums to force everything to lay down.

At the chair, I could feel what was happening. Her hair was dry and rough on the surface, especially through the highlighted areas at the mid lengths. The cuticle was raised, so her hair grabbed humidity and puffed out. Underneath all that, her curl pattern was still there, just hidden.

“Your hair is not the enemy,” I told her. “It is exhausted.”

We planned her service in two parts. First, I refreshed her color with a soft, dimensional blonding that respected the condition of her hair. Nothing aggressive, just enough to brighten and add shape. At the bowl, we followed her color with an Aveda strengthening treatment from the Botanical Repair line to support the bonds inside the hair and smooth the cuticle on the outside.

Back at my station, I switched her styling routine completely. Instead of a harsh shampoo and a heavy serum, we used a moisturizing, color-safe shampoo, a rich but lightweight conditioner, and a small amount of frizz control cream from Aveda’s smoothing family, applied on very wet hair and then gently diffused at a lower heat.

When I turned her toward the mirror, Sabine stared for a long second before smiling.

“I forgot my hair could do this,” she said quietly. “It looks like me again, just on a really good day.”

Her curls were defined and soft. The halo of frizz was gone. Her blonde looked brighter simply because the surface of her hair was smoother and reflecting more light.

Living With The Change

Sabine came back eight weeks later for a gloss and a haircut. Pasadena had given her a little bit of everything in that time. Hot, dry days, a few damp mornings, plenty of time in the sun.

“So, how has it been?” I asked.

“I am not fighting with it anymore,” she said. “I wash less, I use what you told me to use, and when it starts to fluff up, I just add a tiny bit of cream and some water. It settles down instead of exploding.”

Her hair felt softer in my hands. The ends were not snapping the way they had that first day. The combination of gentler cleansing, targeted repair in the salon, and smarter styling at home meant her hair finally had a chance to behave the way it wanted to.

That is what I want for every guest here. Not hair that is forced into submission, but hair that is supported well enough to cooperate.

How We Choose The Right Aveda Routine For You

At Bokaos Aveda, we do not hand you a random bottle and hope for the best. During a consultation we look at three simple things to build your plan:

• What your scalp needs right now, whether that is more balance, less buildup, or extra calming.
  
• What your lengths and ends need most, such as strength, moisture, frizz control, or color care.
  
  

From there we choose a small set of Aveda products that work together, instead of a crowded shelf of things that cancel each other out. Sometimes that includes scalp care from lines like Scalp Solutions or Invati. Sometimes it means repair support from Botanical Repair and a smoothing or curl line for styling. Always, it is tailored to you, not to a marketing headline.

Ready To Talk About Your Own Hair Story

If you see yourself in Liora or Sabine, you are not alone. Maybe your ponytail is shrinking. Maybe your curls have turned into a halo of frizz. Maybe you are simply tired of buying products that promise miracles and deliver nothing.

You do not have to sort it out by yourself.

Come sit with us, let us look at your hair and your scalp, and let us build a plan that makes sense for your real life in Pasadena, not for a photoshoot.

We are tucked into Old Town at Bokaos Aveda Salon, 52 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, CA 91103. Give us a call at (626) 304-0007 or book a consultation online. I cannot wait to help you fall in love with your hair again.