Tribe Wins Best Design

This weekend in Las Vegas the North American Hairstylist Awards (NAHA) show was held. The salon I work at “Tribe Hair Studio” won the best salon design category this year.

Tribe owner Wendy Farajami had the stations, desk, furniture, and retail area custom built to her specifications. Our 10 station space features: giant light filled windows, local art, two floors, tall full length mirrors, imported Italian salon chairs, 25 foot ceilings, all in a clean white industrial package.

People often ask me how I found Tribe Studio. Before relocating to Portland from Los Angeles, I visited some of the local salons in the area to see if I could find a place I would feel comfortable in. Tribe had a perfect blend of great design, friendly educated staff, and comforable atmosphere. When I first entered the space, I knew I had found my new home. As a colorist I appreciate the natural light that flows through the window onto the clients hair.

Francine with Pink Hair

When you go into a resturant in Los Angeles, there is a good chance that the person serving your food will be a model slash actor. When you go out to eat in Portland, chances are pretty good that your server has some funky style. I walked into my new favorite local eatery Navarre, to find my sever Francine with some really rocked out pink hair. Not only did she have it colored pink, she had dimensional highlights to boot. She put a big blue flower in there to add even more fun. Francine, my wife and I would like to thank you for remembering our son’s name after having met us only one other time, and providing us with some of the most friendly service Portland has to offer.

If you are in East Portland you should check out Navarre resturant on 28th. They serve up delicious small plates of food with interesting fresh ingredients. They also have a cook in the kitchen that likes to parade my son Milo around the kitchen as if he threw the winning pitch at the world series. If your child starts screaming it’s head off, Francine knows how to create a makeshift rattle out of a small take out container.

See you next week.

Post-It Note

She walks in. She’s in her mid twenties, attractive, blonde, blue eyed, with perfect skin. When she was in last time for color, she showed me the picture of Resse with the short eyebrow skimming bangs. I agreed that the bang would look great on her face. Today she brings me the same photo. This time she has a small yellow Post-It note attached to it. She looks up at me “I have some questions” she says. I listen closely, as I glance down at the Post-it note that reads as follows:

- eyebrows or above
- Hip, not mommy
- Bald temples?
- Boys?
- longer on edges

I take her questions one at a time. First, I agree that the bangs should hit at about the eyebrows. Question two, I take a small slice of bang in the front and show her the difference between a bang that is modern vs something that might look a bit out of fashion. Question three, “No one will see your bald areas around your hair recession” I say. Then she drops the Question four “If I cut these bangs, will guys still want to ask me out? I haven’t had bangs since junior high.” She says. I’m thinking to myself that I could shave her bangs and eyebrows both off and she could still get a date. “Yes, guys will still ask you out” I reply.

I cut off the first 10 inches as she closes her eyes. I spend a good ten minutes working on the bangs. I take them up a quarter inch at a time. I stop every now and again to pull the length into a ponytail to see how they will fall when she pulls her hair back. Then I blow dry her face to get the small dry hairs that have lain to rest on her eyelashes. I finish and they look great. Her face is opened up and she smiles.

Twilight Boy

I got an email from reader Sam from Indio, California. It reads:

Dear Jeff,
Can you tell me how I can get my hair to look like the guy on the movie Twilight? I tried gel but it made my hair stiff and crunchy. What would you suggest? Also if I have cool hair like his do you think Kristen Stewart would hook up with me?
Sam
Indio, Ca.

Well Sam there are a few ways to go about getting the Rob Pattinson look. First things first, just stop with the gel altogether. Get yourself into a good Pomade. Use something like Bumble & Bumble Sumo Tech, or Osmo Shaper. Look for something with a matte or low shine finish. Take a big clump and work it through your hands. Run your hands through your hair. Make sure you get some product between your fingers so you can get some separation. Style with your hands. Working the product into dry hair as opposed to wet can make it easier to see and control. It also avoids the crispy wet look. Twist a few pieces up and your done. When you get a haircut tell your stylist you want a cut with lots of texture.

I think the above scenero should work for most men since it is easiest. If you find that isn’t working you can try this:…….First move to Los Angeles. Go to a lot of Parties in the Hollywood Hills. Smoke a few packs of cigarettes a day. Stop showering. Stop washing your hair. Throw away your conditioner. Sleep with models. Go to the gym and work mostly abs. Run your filthy vampire hands through your hair a lot. Get a really nice German car. Make sure it’s a convertable. Drive to Malibu with the top down and stick your head out the window. Park the car on the PCH take off your clothes and jump in the cold ocean water. Follow this up with Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray. Drink a fifth of Jack and drive to the Malibu Hills. Your hair should look almost right. At that point you can call Kristen Stewart and see what she says.

Let me know if this works.
Good Luck

Short Layers

I checked out this months Elle magazine. They have a women in rock issue with Gwen Stefani on the cover. Flipping through the pages, I found an interesting similarity in hairstyles between the above shot of Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and Joan Jett and the Runaways. This retro style looks like a bob with a long tail on the back. It’s interesting to see how really short layering was used on longer hair in the 70′s & 80′s.

This decade, these styles saw a small revival by young hipsters in areas like Williamsberg, Brooklyn and Silverlake in East LA. For a period of time in LA this was known as “the Silverlake Mullet”.