Possessed Hairstylist

I can't get enough.  It may be time for therapy.  Hair and beauty is an obsession.  Reading articles, writing, building a make-up /hair kit, wanting to photograph every client, and finally craft a portfolio, producing my own fashion show, doing hair at the LA and New York Fashion Weeks, traveling to Paris to rest, study and be inspired, giving to groups of people around the globe.  The ideas don't stop!  Even the thought of owning my own salon ran through my mind over the last couple of months, but how could I?  I wouldn't have time for all the other interests I have.  Are these all manifestations of one and the same?  Or am I completely psychotic? My creative energy overflows into my sessions with clients.  Today marked by awesome color combinations, and silhouettes made clients, and I, swoon.  And yet, I  raced the clock all day long.  I want a day with some clients, hair color in the am, lunch, and then haircut, style, make up and photograph in the afternoon.  I want to illuminate the beauty inside people.  It sounds so civilized. 

I am ready to let go of the pictures I have put in place about my life as a stylist.  I am ready to walk in the shoes before me, and break them in.  Unchartered territory is where I am heading.  I trust what I know, and I know I will take me wherever I go.  I want to meet with beauty professionals in the industry who are working the runway, who really get team work, who work to bring out the best in people. 

 I want to create beauty.  I want to bring out the beauty that resides in people, and it's not tall, thin, and blonde.  It's wrinkles, it's grey, it's whatever a person brings to me, and allows me to work with them.  I want to tell their stories.

To Go Grey or Not

I finally understand why some people look better without their grey hair showing.  Year ago, I was trained in a salon that believed no one should color their hair...I went with it for awhile.  But then I grew as a stylist and trained myself in hair color, I liked to learn, and frankly would get bored just cutting.  Providing hair color services in the salon created variety and more range in my skill level, a stream of income I wouldn't have had, and a whole world of creativity opened up for me.  Even so, I am very open to people showing their grey hair.  I've never said, "you must color your hair." It took a long time to understand the nuances of hair color shades, and tone, in short, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them.  But it's not until recently, that I learned why some people absolutely should color their hair.  I never put together why some people look amazing with grey or white hair.  I knew it had some to do with these people usually were Winter types.  I never asked myself, why?  Winter types, or Summer types, or people have cool tones in their skin.  Grey hair, in all its varying tones, is cool in tone.  You put the two together and it's fabulous, especially when they have a great hair cut as well.  The look is congruent.

But, then you take a person who has warm tones in their eyes and their skin, and they are wearing grey hair, it's all wrong.   The warm tones in their skin and the cool tones of the hair, don't mix, so the person wearing it feels "Off" somehow.  These are the people that really ought to color their hair.  Warm, or natural tones look best on them.  This realization is allowing me to look deeper into the question, should I grow my hair color out?  And, if a client has been coloring their hair for a long time, and they don't know what they have underneath, I suggest they grow it out to see it.  Then reevaluate.

I don't buy that everybody should color their hair, and I don't think it necessarily makes a person look old.  If there is a vibrancy going on inside, a youthfulness, a positive attitude, a person will shine even more so, if their color is right for them, even if it is grey.  It is a look of elegance and simple beauty on the right person.

Sometimes the obvious takes awhile to sink in.

Color Analysis

I attended an evening about image for men and women.  The event is called "A Follow Up."  Anybody who has ever had their colors done by Jennifer Butler, and guests, may take a bag of outfits that they question whether or not they work, and Jennifer will say yeah, or nay.  Watching this process is quite remarkable.  She invited me along to talk about hair, and the changes I would make with the hair of volunteers who were willing to get up on stage.  Jennifer is the queen of color analysis.  I have seen many artists, and she is fabulous at identifying what to accent, finding the feminine within a woman, and the masculine within a man, not to mention what that person's color palette will be, what line designs work best with a particular body type.  This, I'm sure only scratches the surface of Jennifer's repitoire.

Her art seems to consist of her ability to see the essence of a person, and also what quality in that moment does a person want to emphasize, i.e. maybe the client is job hunting, dating, on the board of a women's league, or a high- powered corporate leader.   She seems to operate from a high level of intuition, along with years of training, and a background in fashion. 

She will put together a book for you, that is all about you.  It becomes a valuable resource, whether you are just now dusting of the precious jewel of you, or a veteran fashionista.  Just the few events I have attended, I have seen major transformations occur in people.

The evening was filled with laughter, and ahahs.  I was able to witness not only somebody who is truly gifted, and is living from her essence, but I also saw a generosity that spilled from her to her guests.  Part of the evening consists of the opportunity to let go, and give away the outfits in the bag.  At first, you can see the reluctance of some to let the garments go.  Then, as Jennifer gave the item to somebody else, and seeing how it was so right for that person, people began to see the magic in letting go.  People gave away everything from very expensive, designer clothing, to T shirts and purses.

I think it is a vast body of knowledge that can be helpful to the hairdresser.  Knowing the line designs of clothing, proportions, color, tonal values and how they work with hair, and why is vital information to a hairstylist.  I want to know more for own self-expression, but also in being even more skilled at my craft in helping people manifest their inner beauty on the outside.

I walked away with a confirmed feeling that although color analysis has been around a long time, it will continue to change people's lives as they step into who they really are meant to be.  And, the person who offers the service with as much experience, knowledge, and intuition as Jennifer, is the professional I will see. 

Make Up Class

I just returned from LA. My friend and I attended a make up class for hairdressers at Fred Segal. I loved learning a bit more about how to apply make up. What seems so easy, is quite difficult and takes lots of practice. Once again, I was humbled, as the teacher corrected me on the way I was holding the brush, smudging away the make up I just applied, or correcting color choice. It's not as if I don't know how to appy make up, but it felt as if I knew nothing. My fingers fumbled as I brushed under the eyes, as if I had n ever held a brush before. I either brushed on too much contour on the cheeks, or not enough. I glued eyelashes to her forehead, or they fell off onto the lap of my model, or I yanked them off before opening the tweezers. There is really an art and finesse to it all, isn't there?

Seeing how make up can enhance a person's beauty, and not detract, is absolutely amazing. And, it's not as if we have to wear it everyday. But to know how and why, so that you can do it if you want. Education is freedom.

This one model came in, she was 56. She was a classic beauty, but surrounded herself with people who told her she needed to do something to change her looks, even plastic surgery. She was sabotaging herself with her make up...black liner under her eyes, no mascara, dark brown shadow on her lids, blush bright circles mid cheek area. Terrible!

I'm telling you, she was a changed woman. Natural make up made her look not only younger, but gorgeous. The green of her eyes is what you wanted to gaze right into. Her spirit became light, she twinkled as she left the class, wanting to call her boyfriend, and kids.

Layer upon layer, of smoothing, shaping, emphasizing, brightening. "Up and out." Our make up instructor, Rebecca DeHerrera, would say, over and over, and over. Rebecca was fabulous. She is not only a talented working artist, but she knows her stuff, enjoys her work, and is a great teacher.

The two-day class was set up pretty well. We had plenty of models ranging in age, ethnicity, and looks. It could have easily been a three day class. First day, theory and kit introduction. Next two days, models. I think they were free-forming it a bit. My friends kit, which cost $1600. didn't come with what a working make up artist uses. The brushes were not good quality.

The lighting needs an overhaul. It was terrible! Not enough of it, and shadows everywhere. The Fred Segal complex itself is very unattractive, but inside was quite something with high-end retailers, a great luncheon counter, and wonderful art in the salon.

Overall though, I learned plenty! Now, I feel more confident doing make up in the salon. Next, I will pursue make up for editorial. Next, I will pursue make up for editorial. And meanwhile, I can't wait to help others bring out their essence even more, and help them shine.

Barbie

Okay, I've been avoiding telling you this. But admission has to do with beauty, in some twisted way. On Sunday, my daughter had her fifth birthday party. All was well, her three friends, her Nana and Bapa, her nanny, and her two kids, all came to celebrate her day. Her auntie came as well. Well, this auntie had different values and struggles to keep in alignment with her values. Who am I kidding, we all do. But there is a way, she resists my boundaries with my own child. She has been wanting, and lamenting, that I do not want her to take my daughter to a Princess Ice Show. She says in front of the group, something like, "I've been thinking about this, and I think you need to not make this a big deal." Okay. I should mention, that she has a masters in social work.

So, we have the cake, and then the gifts. I have to admit this makes me uncomfortable and feel out of control. We all watched as my daughter, painstakingly so, unwrap her gifts, legs crossed and all. She is not a ripper, she, with care and ease, removes the tape, and so on. You get the picture.

She gets to the bag my sister gave her. It is full of individually wrapped gifts, excess is what she knows. First, there is a four-strand bracelet, chunky in style. Then, a necklace, a jewelry box, a large floral print shirt that cinches in at the waist, with a three-inch-in-diameter sparkling, rhinestone ring, right underneath a bra line, is she had one. For a grand finale, a Barbie.

She unwrapped it, and, of course, she hadn't seen one before, as far as I know. She exclaimed, "Barbie!" like she was a long, lost friend. She wanted to open the box then, and there. I whisked it out of her hand so quickly, and said "Later, we have guests now."

I wanted to cry, die, and pummel my sister. I felt betrayed, and like her actions were passive-aggressive. I couldn't even look at this Barbie. I flung it high up into the closet. The gifts felt like they were for a woman, not a FIVE years old. Not my five-year-old.

I did cry. I talked to clients at work. My grounded older clients said, don't sweat it. Let her have them. There is no harm done. The more you resist, the more your daughter will want them.

My partner said he overheard our daughter playing in her room. She was sitting on the bed, looking at her valentines from school. Of course, there were a few Princess theme valentines. She told them, "You know, my mama doesn't like you."

I laughed, and then I felt sad. I can't get anything by her. She is tuned into me, more than anybody I know.

I came home from work on Monday, pulled the exiled Barbie down out of the closet, and gave it to her. It is disgusting for me to look at, nothing real about her. My daughter is playing with it a bit, she complains that the plastic shoes come off too easily.

This is worth a therapy session I am sure. But for now, Barbie has made her way into my home and I am bereft. and still digesting it all.

Thrills

There is nothing more exciting to me as a hairstylist than to help a woman feel beautiful.  On Saturday, I had a client who wanted to play.  We had determined ahead of time that we would do some hair color, which we hadn't done in a very long time.  We also decided we would take a photo. She had white and gray hair, mixed with 20% of her natural level 5 to 6, with a cool tone.

This was my approach.  I sectioned off the hair with a Pleating section, a type of zigzag section around the parietal. Pleating is from one of Teri Dougherty's collections.  Then, instead of using one color on top, I used a brick laying pattern, with the same size sections.  I used a Majorel, level 4, 20 vol. on the bottom of the zigzag, and 8.13 (1/2), 8 (1/2), 20 vol. on top triangles.

The results were wonderful,  a little more dramatic than her natural look, with a sparkle.  She loved it, and I think she left feeling a bit better about herself.

I'll upload the photo as soon as I figure out how.  

High Heels

I've often wondered why it is people find high heels attractive to women.  It visually seems off balance to me.  It makes women look like they are teetering, distorting their bodies into a forward position.  They certainly can't run.  Although maybe they would just kick them off.  Or, maybe they would be dropped at the curb by their lover, so they wouldn't have to walk.  Not so attractive either. The idea of heels on hairstylists is another idea I haven't been able to wrap my mind around.  So we stand all day, at least four days a week at the least, and wear heels?

 I remember when I first started doing hair 27 years ago, I wore spike heels to work every day.  The older stylists I'm sure thought I was crazy.  They wore cowboy boots.  Oh, yeah those are better for your feet.  There weren't many options for fashionable, comfortable shoes then.

A couple of the stylists at work wear heels every day.  I marvel at how they do it.  They can't walk very fast.  They have beautiful legs, and no apparent varicose veins, unlike my legs, which have squiggles all over the place. 

 Is it cultural?  Both are the second generation from other countries.  Some of it seems like they just don't think it's sexy to not wear them.  I missed that part of the beauty school program, where we needed to dress sexy for work. 

These same stylists tell me that in the large, more prestigious salons, you are expected to wear high heels.  And they are unkind if you don't adhere to the off-kilter, sexist, misogynistic, dress code.  I guess I wouldn't last two minutes in a salon like that. 

Yes, as hairstylists we get to play, and be creative with our dress as our self-expression.  It's fun.  Where I draw the line is when it comes to discomfort and deformity.

These Z Coils are my favorite!   They are an example of my kind of shoe for work.  I'm not saying I don't wear heels, I just don't wear them 24/7 at work, where I stand most of the day. 

Alopecia

I pass up most Google alerts, but this one caught my eye.  A premature bald woman takes her mother into a salon for her 77th birthday to have her hair and nails done.  A situation that would have traumatized her before.  In fact, she gave up going to them, thinking they were places for people with hair, and she didn't belong. I am moved by her courage, and the inner work she must have done on herself to be confident enough to walk into the salon.  A situation that could have turned heads. 

 Although, I like to think of hairstylists being sensitive to all types of people with all sorts of obvious physical differences, it depends on where you go.  Not all salons are friendly, and in fact, are quite full of themselves and give the profession a bad reputation.  Salons can intimidate and make people feel unfomfortable.

As I read Cheryl Carvery's post, I recalled a client I once gave a haircut to, rather, I gave her very expensive wig.  I worked in one chair salon.  It was private, and I know she appreciated the quiet.  She developed alopecia right around sixteen years old.  She too, seemed to have courage and an inner strength that I felt moved by. 

The wig sparkeled with a level 7, a mid-blonde, with honey highlights.  We were about to shampoo, she held the sides to keep it one her head, and it slipped off.  Her pale, bald head exposed, she reached for the wig with a quick hand and put it back on.  The moment seemed longer than most, discomfort made me tighten and want to take care of her.

As I combed and cut, she shared her history.  I felt honored to be with her.  So much wisdom wrapped up in one woman, who I thought was attractive with, or without hair.  We cut a very modern shape into the hair, long strands fell to the floor.  It was then that she decided to tell me that this beautiful wig was $2000.  I trembled at the thought.  One wrong snip could drain my bank account.   What if she didn't like the cut?   The pressure felt heavy on my chest, until I realized I could sink or swim.  My choice.

We dried her hair and she loved it.  I felt I was given a gift of tenderness, a rare opportunity to expereince her vulnerablity, and therefore experience my own.   I had no choice to look at my own discomfort, and own fear at seeing baldness. 

I think the more women like these can enter salons, own their baldness, and allow us into their human condition, the greater the healing.  One act of courage after another frees us all.

More on the Aging Stylist

Now, I can see the other side.  My post the other day about being an aging stylist, the crone of the salon, and talking about the assistants and young stylists, has led me to this:  these younger additions to the beauty industry who have no fear of tattoos, (a California fetish), or changing their hair as often as they can, and pierce their bodies, will be sixty years old someday as well.  (I wonder what their tattoos will look like)  How they will defy their age?  Sixty will look completely different for them, as it will for me from my mother's generation.  Kudos to them for doing what they please with their look.  For being willing to look different from everybody else, in terms of their hair. I can't tell you how sad it is for me as a hairdresser to see older women, say around fifty years and older, who start restricting themselves, telling themselves they need to look older now.  They don't play anymore,they dress down, then they give up completely, barely changing out of sweat pants. It doesn't have to be this way.

Calling all Green Hairstylists & Hair Salon Owners

Back in the saddle.  It's been a few days.  I get rusty when I don't write.  I've been consumed with with researching for an article I want to write. It's about making Green choices in the beauty industry; hair salons the focus. Last night I was out with another hairstylist/friend, and I realized through talking with her, that I am passionate about this topic.  And, in my research so far, there is not a lot of information available.  In other words, I don't think being Green has really hit hair salons yet. 

So, I have a request.  If any salons, or stylists have decided to go Green, please contact me, and let me know what you are doing in the salon to help the environment. I will be submitting the article to various magazines.

Thanks.

Anne Sagendorph

I have known Anne for probably 20 years. For as long as I have known her she has been a Business Coach.  She used to sit in my friend's chair and we would exchange hello's while she received a few variations of an asymmetrical, Sassoon cut.

One day, I decided to work with her as a client, and my business changed.  In my sessions with Anne, I became clear about, and acknowledged the value I offer clients.  My thoughts about my business crystallized before my very eyes, and I created a statement for myself and my business, that would symbolize this value.  I use this statement on my website.  It gives people a strong sense of what I do, and who I am before even meeting me. With Anne, I received permission to actually charge what I think my services, and time, are worth, which created a huge shift in feeling reciprocated, and loving my work even more.

I love my work so much, she eventually came to sit in my chair. Her hair seems to change as much as I see Anne shift within her business of coaching people. Now, it is not uncommon for her to ask for something different every couple of months to match this ever changing being. The change she would allow herself to move through in her work, is now reflected in her hair. 

We have uncovered her femininity, her angelic, whimsical, and playful self.  We've done splashes of yellow, magenta, olive green, and rose tones, some would say it's a funky look.  II don't know if her hair is funky, but it's safe to say she has found her "look", and yet delights in seeing a picture with short bang, and saying, "How about if we move in this direction."  This is a woman who could not bare to see her forehead, and who had one style for a very long time.

She is more herself today then I have ever witnessed her be before. She is sassy, adventurous, and smart, and truly gifted as a business coach.

You go Anne.  And thank you for the gift of doing your hair and trusting me to create for you.  This is a woman who redefines the age of 60.

For more information on the best business coach ever, check out:  www.beyondbusinessasusual.com  

Feeling Poor and Ugly

Because of the way she carries herself, unafraid of who she is, unafraid of looking different, my client Francois is somebody I loved the minute I met her.   Always giving a yes to my ideas for her hair, after-all there is always a chance we shall land upon something better.

"A big girl" she calls herself, as if to saythe sensuality that oozes from every cell of her body, or the way her nose turns up, and her green eyes flirt, she will not get what she wants.

Artistry is the fiber from which she is made, generosity abounds beyond her ability at times and most people's capability, and yet where both are concerned she is an expert.

As she said to our friend, "It's one thing to be poor, but another to be ugly and poor."  Feeling the pinch financially, having the appointment set, but not knowing if she would be able to do it.  I bow to you Francois, and for me and your good friend to give to you your hair services because money is short...is nothing short of an honor.

I can only say, our ties go way beyond the confines of time and space.  We must help each other, and together is easier, even though individually we may hurt in our own particular ways.

Because it is the right thing to do.  And you would do the same for any of your friends.

The Politics of Beauty

Beauty is ancient and yet so controversial. If I let on that  I am interested in it, I may be shunned or seen as non-progressive, non-feminist,or simply vein. Beauty, not just looking good on the outside, requires  a journey inward, a tapping into the mystical, ethereal world that lives within and across all time and place. Jewels line the path that lead into ones own inner life, if I am strong and daring enough. The jewels are bright and glimmer like sunlight when the darkness of the night comes.  I must shed all that I know,or perceive or have heard about what beauty is, and discover what is true for me--naked in the dark. The senses become pronounced, breathing becomes easier and enlivens my body, melting the delusion away.

But the ego doesn't want to let go, I want to hold onto the anger, it's much easier than looking at myself naked in the dark. Just keep breathing, that's it, let it all go. Pretty soon the eyes begin to  shine.  People want to know what I am doing. A man looked at me in the cafe this morning as I passed.

This pathway of breathing into my own awareness, stillness, and livliness, invites joy into my life.  It spills over and manifest itself in the detailing of the feminine expression, in whatever form that may be, whether one is male or female.  The obvious is through what fabric I drape my body in, and haircolors I play with, or whether I decide on layering my hair or not, short or not, etc. etc.  Beauty is the marriage of the internal and the external.

The Power of Beauty

Beauty lies within a woman's soul.  Whether she wears a refined, smooth, bob, a pixie, or a glamorous, long, look.  Her beauty reveals itself through her eyes, in the way she picks up a glass, or the way she interacts with a child.  It's revealed in nothing short of everything she does. And yet a woman's beauty is not a prescription, but indescribable, and elusive.  The expression manifests itself as differently as we are individuals, as varied as  the many species of flowers that speckle the earth.  So when a woman sits in my chair, and her eyes twinkle, she says what is on her mind, and she is leery of looking like every other woman, or even a movie star, then I know I'm dealing with a woman who is in touch with herself, her inner beauty, her soul.

"Mommy hair" is an infliction of the American woman --long blond hair, with tiny hi-lites everywhere.  A look of someone who is trying to look like what they think it means to be a woman in the American culture, instead of creating the culture itself, using herself as the canvas.

The power of beauty permeates in what she chooses to wear and how she wears it, whether it's a hairstyle or an item of clothing.  Dressing for herself as if she matters, placing attention on the face, hair and clothing, as well as tending to the inner life, give a woman an undeniable beauty.  It creates an energy that makes people smile as they pass her by, they have to look, and yet, this resonance has nothing to do with trend, and needing people to look.  She knows it is her much needed contribution of Beauty to the world, and we are the recipients.