my shear genius
My hair, I have been told, is very difficult to deal with. It's heavy and there's a lot of it. But it's very fine and straight and is unforgiving to an inexperienced or careless stylist. The base color is a very cool, mousy brown which washes out my pale skin. It was much warmer when I was younger and had more highlights, but five plus years of in-hospital dwelling and general aging has turned it into a very spinstery brunette.
I started getting highlights when I lived in Boston. Someone referred me to this guy. He was a crazy Italian man who was straight. If I had known better, that alone should have sent me running. During the whole highlighting process, he'd whip my head around in horrific angles and start yelling if I moved at all. Every time I went, I'd leave with a neck ache. Over the course of a year or so, my desire of base brunette with a few highlights turned into full-blown blond. That had to stop.
In my last year of living in Boston, I went to someone on Newbury Street. I'm not sure why, but if you're a stylist, and you live in Boston, open up shop on Newbury Street and you'll do fine, regardless of skill. I asked desperately for recommendations for another person to see, and all the answer I ever got was "Just go to Newbury Street." I did. She was ok. A saint compared to Mussolini. I never left feeling thrilled. But I had been traumatized and had little hope of ever finding someone of whom I wasn't scared.
Fortunately for us, we had a built in friend when we came to southern California five years ago. She was born and raised here, and it was only natural that I ask her who did her hair. She referred me to Jen, who had been doing her hair off and on for years.
When I first met her, I was struck by how we were the same age and that she was very fashionable. She could tell I was nervous and asked about what I had been doing (or allowing others to do) to my hair. She was appropriately shocked and sensed my apprehension. The color problem was repaired with the ease of a pro and the cut was perfect. It even grew out well, which is often difficult for my hair, which shows everything.
Getting to see Jen on a quarterly basis during residency hasn't always been easy. I remember leaning forward while she put highlights in the back and actually falling asleep for a bit. Falling asleep under the dryer. Having to stretch my three month intervals to four. Begging her to let me come late and not finishing until 9:30. Every visit allowed her to get to know me better, which gave her a better idea of what I needed my hair to be... pretty much NO maintenance. She learned that I secretly longed to be a deep red color to match my skin and one day, when I told her to do whatever she wanted, she did it. And it was great.
Yesterday I went to see Jen. We did my "summer" look, which means more highlights. If the traditional foil method of highlighting is done with a lot of pieces, my hair turns out chunky. She needed to use a different technique, which she's done before. It's called belliage (belly-azsh) and she takes smaller sections and paints the color on. Less near the root and more at the bottom, much like your hair would behave with natural sunlight exposure. It's something I can tell takes a lot of skill and, let me tell you, this girl's got mad skillz.
Every time I see her, she does something slightly different. Truly creative people can't be asked to do the same exact thing every time. But she always stays within the conservative bounds my profession demands. Occasionally I'll get a little nervous, but it is always fantastic. Now I look forward to getting my hair done. She gets me. She gets my hair. We're so lucky to have found her.
