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Zhane Richer of the Venus Spa goes for flamboyant mixed colors. Makeup for Canyon Ranch models is courtesy of Paul Fisher, their clothing is courtesy of bebe. Photo by DENISE TRUSCELLO/ REVIEW-JOURNAL Lisa Welborne has a low-maintenance short cut from the Venus Spa at Caesars Palace. Photo by DENISE TRUSCELLO/ REVIEW-JOURNAL Tanya Vece's wispy and tousled look is from Canyon Ranch SpaClub at the Venetian. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Stephanie Adams has a feathered bob from Venus Spa. Photo by DENISE TRUSCELLO/ REVIEW-JOURNAL Elisa Kemling's textured hair has several tones of coloring. Philippe Bevan works on Shannon Wiedman, whose "club" hairstyle featu6res brilliant red and blue extensions in a "fountain" effect across her head.

Monday, March 19, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

FASHION: Kicky Color

Hairstylists using degrees of shading to add drama, personality

When actress Farrah Fawcett grew long curly locks, so did American women. When Kirsten Dunst went short, so did scores of fans.

Too many American women rigidly mimic Hollywood hairstyles, lament hairstylists at Venus Spa at Caesars Palace and the Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian.

Instead, these hair pros urge women to find a good stylist, and then together work out a personal look that fits their own hair type, facial structure, skull shape and lifestyle.

But, when pushed to name the hottest hair trend of the moment, stylists at both salons agree: It's not the cut. It's color. Multiple colors. Layered color. Oh, and did we mention, color?

They're not necessarily talking about in-your-face bright, unnatural hair colors -- although there's a place for that on the club and party scene. In the workplace, too, depending on a person's job, adds Zhane Richer, a stylist at Venus Salon. Currently Richer's hair has large blocks of platinum, red, reddish brown and brownish black color. Richer finds that in her occupation, the more avant garde her own hair, the more apt clients are to feel secure that she can devise attractive avant garde styles for them: "They assume (from) your look, that's what you can do."

Whatever color a woman selects, stylists are enthusiastic about hair "texture." By the term, they don't mean the literal tactile feel of hair strands. Rather, hair texture denotes a look of thickness and depth that is conveyed when one head of hair has strands of varying, but related colors.

Applying that theory, a head of textured dark hair might have red, black and auburn strands. Blond textured hair could have layers of honey, platinum, strawberry or brown.

"If it's one color, it's flat. It's boring," says Michael Boychuck, a colorist and the director of The Salon at Canyon Ranch. "I'm not saying natural is boring. But if it has more colors, it becomes more attractive, it draws more attention." Bottom line, he believes textured hair has "more movement, energy and vibrancy."

"It creates an expression of life," adds French-born stylist Philippe Bevan, who also is artistic director at The Salon.

A range of colors on a single head can be achieved naturally, by sunning, which creates temporary brighter spots in the hair called highlights. Or more conveniently, a woman can achieve a color range by a variety of coloring techniques. Products in the last decade have become extremely safe when correctly used, so that frequent colorings don't compromise the health or gloss of a woman's hair, agreed all stylists interviewed.

"One week you can be blond. One week you can be red. The next week you can be dark, and have a great time, but not damage your hair," Boychuck says.

Richer sees coloring as a way for a woman who enjoys her haircut to still experiment without losing the style's flattering lines.

"Every day you want a different look. You wear a different outfit. You have a different attitude," concurs Andeen Rose-Clark, a colorist at the Venus Spa.

The contemporary attitude toward coloring hair has changed so much that even dark hair roots can be an asset, rather than an embarrassment. As new growth comes in, it creates a dark layer below the lighter sections of hair above, which have been colored. "It's like a work in progress," says Boychuck. "Each stage (as the hair grows out) is another look."

Aside from the hair trends of color and texture, certain cuts are nonetheless more popular than others. Contributing greatly to a woman's selection of a cut is her lifestyle.

"Five-minute hair" is the choice of many, says Rose-Clark, referring to styles that don't require a lot of styling in the morning.

Richer and Bevan both require any haircut to look good wet, before they do any blow-drying, curling or other finishing touches. Bevan says his worst nightmare would be seeing a client in the supermarket, who looks awful because she couldn't duplicate what he does in the salon after the cutting phase is over.

Lisa Welborne, a local businesswoman who is a sales manager for Sandals and Beaches resorts, sports a prime specimen of the five-minute hairstyle, as interpreted by Richer. In her case, the cut is extremely short, with short bangs and wisps at the back of the neck. "I travel a lot for work, in three states. I was looking for something that looks good, whether it's 6:30 in the morning or 9 at night."

Welborne also demanded a cut that wasn't distracting. "I do (work) presentations all the time. I didn't want to be messing with my hair (falling across my face). I see that all the time."

Natasha Meade, a young, aspiring model, concurs with Bevan on a new style for her that preserved her long hair. But he updated it by tapering the hair that falls at her ears, or forward of her ears, gradually from chin length to the length of the rest of her hair, which falls below her shoulders.

The style is actually a revisiting of the long, feathered look that was actress Fawcett's trademark several decades back. The shorter hair nearest the face can be worn straight, or curled away from the face in what Bevan calls "kickback" curls. Richer and Rose-Clark describe the same feathered curls as a "Christmas tree" effect.

Both the Caesars and Venetian salons are on the Strip and get a good amount of business from tourists. Many visitors request a pampering makeover while on vacation, or a daring do for a special occasion such as New Year's or a wedding.

"We go through five cans of hair spray (each)" on New Year's Eve, doing "up-do's" -- swept-up styles for women with long hair -- Richer notes.

But the Canyon Ranch salon also is prepared to do the reverse: supply extensions that can turn a women's short cut into waist-length tresses. Extensions first gained U.S. exposure with black clients, but they are now made to complement hair of all sorts.

Extensions are expensive. Both Richer and Bevan estimate an extension job as costing easily $500 or more. But newer, better technology partially accounts for the price. Extensions used to be sewn to existing hair. Now they can be glued in, a few strands at a time. Or for a reusable accessory, clip-on extensions also are available.