Last night, Ulta Beauty hosted the Rusk Post-Emmys Red Carpet Event with special guest and Rusk Spokesmodel, Nancy O’Dell. I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with the Entertainment Tonight host, getting the inside scoop on her Emmys preparations, favorite Rusk products, and life as a mother.
After getting my hair done by the Rusk Stylists, I can certainly see why Nancy raves about the brand. It’s lightweight, it smells good, and most importantly, it works! As someone with fine, pin straight hair, finding quality hair products is nothing short of a miracle. I cannot wait to try out more of the products, and really put that Anti-Humidity Hair Spray to the test when I get back home to the East Coast.
Which of Nancy’s recommendations will you try?
SG: Can you tell me about what went into planning your Emmys look for this year?
NO: It’s always a whole thing. We actually wound up getting crazy busy before the Emmys, unfortunately because of the sad passing of Robin Williams. So we didn’t have a lot of time to plan it as much as normal, but they normally come in with 50 dresses and you kind of narrow it down just by looking at the rack and you narrow it down to maybe 10. Then you try them on and narrow it down to maybe 4 and you decide how you’re going to do your hair and everything and you keep narrowing it down and narrowing it down.
I found this new designer that I loved this year: O’Blanc. I thought it was different, the dress that I wore this year, because I’ve never worn black to begin with; I always wear color. So I wore black and it was just unique in the way that it had lace, but yet it was sheer on the leg so you kind of see through the legs and I was like, “Well it’s just different!” You’re always trying to find something that’s different that you’ve never done before. It’s so hot and I’m on the carpet for so long. So you have to think of things that last for a long time. And the same thing for the makeup, because I was doing black we went for really natural makeup. So you know, it’s a whole thought process that goes into it.
I also had to be up really early the next morning, so we actually had to think of hairstyles that we could easily change for the next morning because I have to do CBS This Morning because I report for them as well. So I was actually on the air at 4:00 AM the next morning. It was a little crazy and a little nutty, but it was fun!
SG: Who do you think had the best hairstyles on the carpet?
NO: Kerry Washington; I liked hers because it was very loose, and fun, and free. I liked Taylor Schilling’s, who had kind of an up do, but it was swept to the side, and it was very texturized. It was just very romantic looking and it went with her dress because her dress was kind of this champagne creamy color that was hand embroidered. I also liked Julia Roberts’ hair because it was, again, very fluffy and flowy. And I loved the little girl from Modern Family. She had her hair up in a little bun- Sarah Hyland. I thought it went really well because her dress was so cute.
SG: So what do you think makes Rusk different from other hair care products?
NO: Well I have been a fan of Rusk ever since I hit LA. It came naturally because I was on-air all the time. Every magazine was asking me different beauty tips and I was mentioning Rusk all the time, especially the weightless hairspray because it’s amazing. It gives you hold, but it doesn’t weigh it down; you can actually brush through your hair. Oh my God it’s the most amazing hair spray ever!
So I kept mentioning that everywhere and the president was like, “Well you kind of really are spokesperson for Rusk because you keep talking about it, so we might as well make it official.” So I was like, “I’d love that!”
The great thing about them is they look at the health of your hair too so you have the styling products, but then there’s also the color lock, the deep shine color lock, so it actually will lock in the color of your hair when you spray it, which is important for me because I have to get my hair colored so much because it has to be completely fresh all the time. And you know low lights will fade, so this actually helps them from fading. Then there’s the deep shine lusturizer cream, which if for some reason I don’t have it in my kit, I panic because my hair is like straw without it. I put that in when it’s wet and it feels like butter, but in a good way. It’s so smooth and silky and it makes the hair drying, styling process easy and it really shines. And then there’s also the thermal shine spray, you just spray it on and it makes it so incredibly shiny. That’s another one of my favorites.
The new line also has this anti-humidity hair spray, which again for me who has to go a long day, it’s fantastic. It also has the health of your hair in mind too because it does the whole color lock as well, so it helps you lock in the colors so you don’t have to get it colored as much.
SG: What are some great ways to incorporate these products into a daily hair routine?
NO: Definitely if you have dry hair, you have to get this advanced marine Deep Shine Lusturizer. I’m telling you it will change your life. The deep shine oil is also fantastic, even if you want to put it in your color when you’re getting your color done. It’ll actually help moisturize the hair. Gotta have that. The Deep Shine Smooth is amazing, because it smooth’s down the cuticle. Everybody needs the Weightless Hairspray- you have to have it, because your hair doesn’t break. You know when you have hairspray that’s too tough and you brush through your hair and you can just feel your hair breaking? It doesn’t happen with this, but it’ll still actually give you the hold. And you have to have some kind of shine spray and that would be the Thermal Shine Spray. Oh! And 12-in-1, you gotta have that! It’s got all the stuff, so you spray it on your hair and it’s got everything in it that you would ever need.
SG: Do you have any big projects coming up?
NO: Well, I’m very excited, I have a Little Ashby app, which is a program for kids that is an educational tool, but they have a lot of fun with it as well. It’s something that’s a passion project of mine because one of the things that I love about my job is that I’m constantly learning, because even if I’m interviewing George Clooney for the 50th time, I’m going to a different location and it’s about a different subject that you’re trying to talk about. You’re learning different things because maybe he’s playing a historical character, so you’re referencing that, and I say that always about reporting. It was a constant learning process and it was constantly changing and I love that about my job, so I thought what a great way for kids to learn via a little reporter app. Obviously kids can’t travel the world in real life so they can via the app. So she’s a little cartoon character and we’ve actually turned it into a book, so I’m hoping there’s a whole book series to go with that and I learned it from my daughter because she loves to play the app games. I saw how much she was learning without even realizing she was learning because it was so much fun.
SG: So speaking of your daughter, has she shown any interest in following in your footsteps?
NO: You know I think that right now her plans would have to be something with animals. She’s not the normal child loving animals; she loves every animal that you could ever name, and to the umpteenth degree. So I think she’s going to be a veterinarian or do some kind of animal charity. She told me the other day that she wanted to open up a home for all of the animals that didn’t have a home. I mean she’s only 7, and I think it’s the cutest thing ever. She said, “Mommy can we build some kind of home on our home for all the animals that don’t have a home?”
It’s like every dog we see, she wants to pet and then every animal show that’s on Discovery Channel. And now we’ve watched every movie in the Doctor Dolittle series at least six times. She’s so cute and just so interested.
SG: What are some of her other big milestones right now?
NO: She’s reading like crazy. There was a huge step after first grade… she’s in second grade now, but the reading that she did and the way that she’s going is incredible. She loves it and I love that. She’s literally like, “Mommy I love reading!” Of course, if you give her an animal book, then she REALLY loves reading, but she loves it so that’s the big thing. She’s always noticed boys, no question. She kind of likes them a lot, which scars mommy and poppy. I think its because she’s got her brothers, so she’s been around them a lot. I think that’s probably why.
SG: And for someone who always has a lot on her plate, what advice do you have for mothers who want to keep family a priority?
NO: Well that’s the biggest thing, is to say: to keep family priority, always your number one priority. I got it written into my Entertainment Tonight contract that I’ll be able to take my daughter to school and I make every event. I make sure that I’m at every soccer game, I’m at every tennis match, I’m at every school singing event and musical program because I remember my parents being there for all the different events and that’s the one thing I remember is that they were there all the time. Now I understand and appreciate that so much, so that’s the biggest thing. I think it’s really, you just have to set those priorities and find ways to incorporate it. I try to either get up and exercise at 4:30 in the morning because I’ll get it out of the way and she’s still sleeping, so it’s not spending time away from my daughter or if I don’t do it in the morning, then when I get home, I’ll play a game of tag with her or a game of dodge ball because it gets the exercise in and you’re spending quality time with them.
Written by Stevie Guarino
