John Simpson, Hair Color Extroirdinaire

An award-winning stylist from Pittsburgh, PA stylist will be one of our next presenters for TheCuttingEdgeHairShow.com

John Simpson of Lewis Salon recently won the Best Haircolor award from the Professional Beauty Association during the 19th annual North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) – the color at left is from his award-winning collection, in which he wove different “stories” of texture and color.

He used brilliant blondes, matte browns and many more techniques to create “something that not only inspires others” but also re-inspired him to get creative with his work. His collection features several photographs of different cuts, color, and style combinations.

In the journey from the idea, through the creation of the line, and finally to the award, he said his biggest challenge was to make sure he actually followed through and “did it!”

(Photo courtesy http://www.babak.ca/)

Short and Sweet, or Crazy and Wavy

While the hair world is buzzing about styles like Posh’s new pixie or Rihanna’s latest iteration of the bob, a new, converse trend is moving through Hollywood and trickling down as well. It requires a bit more maintenance for some than rolling out of bed with a close-cropped wild cut (likely put into place by a funky stylist wielding pink scissors)!

Today’s longer trends are leaning towards sleek waves and loose curls, a la Meg Ryan in her most recent movie, The Women. Some people have naturally wavy, gorgeous hair (damn them!) but many will be struggling through curling irons, curlers, special sprays, serums and shampoos.

If your hair ends up looking like Meg Ryan’s we say, it was all worth it!

Imagine Having Your Hair Stolen!

Any kind of robbery would be traumatic, but imagine being robbed of your hair! That’s apparently what happened to one hotel clerk in Minnesota.

Kristine Rippon claims a man suddenly cut off her ponytail, then ran away – she says the man walked into the hotel and asked her if she would consider cutting her hair, to which she responded that she wasn’t interested. Rippon — who hadn’t cut her hair in 17 years — says the man asked if her hair was real, and she let him touch it. She turned to walk away, but the man grabbed her ponytail and cut it off. And we’re guessing he didn’t use speciality or high-end styling shears! Sounds like he grabbed scissors hair and just ran off!

A witness told police she thought the man paid Rippon for her hair. Officers are waiting to check surveillance video from the hotel.

Thanks, Vertical Clearance!

We took a break from scissor sharpening yesterday to head over to Vertical Clearance salon in San Francisco to shoot a couple segments with their stellar stylists.

We filmed with Kelle Schlax and Tiffany Barrios at the salon. Kelle demo’d a color blocking technique followed by a mod British shag haircut and Tiffany demonstrated a unique color correcting technique – perfect if you have clients that want a drastic color change, or if they’ve attempted to color their hair by themselves!

Stay tuned for their completed, edited segments on the CuttingEdgeHairshow.com!

Bronx Teen Goes Mobile

To those that know her, it’s no surprise that Bronx native Ozemary Feliz is aspiring to start her own hairstyling business. But she’s not planning on opening your typical salon. Instead, she’s hoping to put her salon on wheels!

As a little girl, Feliz would go to the beauty salon with her mother, and  watch and absorb the techniques and products in front of her. She’d notice the hair scissors and professional shears. She no doubt learned about scissor sharpening and styling all different types of hair. Now, she’s hoping to put all that learning and observing to use and open her own mobile hair salon called Rolling Beauty.

She says her mom was her inspiration. “My mother was always in a rush and sometimes she couldn’t make it to the salon,” she said. “So, I learned how to blow out her hair and dye it.”

Before long, she was doing her three sisters’ hair and creating  styles for her friends.

To make her dream a reality, Feliz is getting a little help from BizCamp, a two-week summer program by the nonprofit National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.  An intensive program at Columbia University in Manhattan is geared toward teens interested in starting their own businesses.

She plans to launch Rolling Beauty in the fall even as she’s finishing up her last year of high school.

Beauty Salon in a Cow Pen

It’s easy to imagine an impromptu salon or styling station being set up at, say a fashion show, or backstage at a Broadway musical. But in a barn? Definitely an unlikely spot to find something stylish. But that’s just what happened when on Washington state 4-H member – who was also a “dairy ambassador” – forgot all her styling equipment on the day of the fair. Fortunately, she didn’t have to run out and buy scissors or hunt down a hairstylist to give herself a new ‘do. Instead, Katie Nickels headed over to a friend, and fellow 4-H’s member’s barn where she knew she would find everything she needed.

“This is a Katie and my type thing,” Trista Peterson said as she brushed through Katie’s hair with a scotch comb, the same instrument the Stanwood 4-H member uses to fluff up her cows before competition.

According to a local paper, this wasn’t the first time the pair had to improvise since Katie was elected to her position by the Dairy Women of Snohomish County. In the past they’d gone so far as spraying Katie’s hair with the adhesive they use for the cows.

By 9 a.m. the morning barn meeting had taken over the row of stalls next door, and Katie’s hair was finally finished. Crisis averted!