Change happens. You can't stop it, you can't change when or where it happens. It comes with little warning, and at times we are left to wonder why? How? We know we MUST have lived through that change, we (okay, I) just don't recall noticing it, as it swept over us.
There are times I wonder about the "beauty" business. Oh, don't get me wrong...I love what I've been given to do. Yet, I know (as you do), that time changes lives. Some for the better. Some for decline.
Looking back on my career, I've seen many changes. All encompassing changes. The mind, the body, and yes, even the soul of humanity. I've seen the superficial, the reality, and the delusional. And in the midst of all these changes, there has been a steadfastness that links them all together. Many will assume I am talking about our God. And it would be true, in a sense, because He is the backbone of all I do. However, this post addresses the ever increasing, saturated market, of beauty. External beauty.
Jean Harlow
The steadfastness I speak of here, is that of the ongoing, unrelenting, beauty industry of which I've been a part, for 37 plus years. And, given time, all the styles of yesteryear, return. The big thing we are seeing now, is the Jean Harlow look (even though no one is admitting it), of platinum blond, which originated in the 30's-40's decade. Some claim it to be the "Marilyn Monroe" look, but in reality, it all started with Ms. Harlow. Monroe didn't hit the scene until the 50's.
Every faze begins as a tiny trickle down from the movie industry and becomes a torrent if given leeway. I saw my first evidence of this trend, about a year ago, and now I have clients asking about the process and the possible damage it may cause, as they begin thinking of going platinum to transition from their now color-treated hair, in order to allow natural graying. Bad call...
The industry has gone from perming the hair in 1905 while the hair is attached to an electrical monster (that produced mainly a head of frizz), to finger waved bobs of the 20's, to protesting hippies and unkept hair of the 60's. And then the 70's brought in a whole new look. Dreads! The Jamaican music, with Bob Marley as its main figure, brought a new fashion. And we can't forget Bo Derek in her movie "10", and Farah Fawcett made her debut during that time, as the world went wild, insisting on having Farah hair. The 80's brought with it the Yuppie (young urban professional) look. The 90's, the "unisex" style, where men and women's styles were one universally. The era of the grunge.
And now...now, there is a general feeling of vulnerability and a lack of sense of the established moral values that brings with it no more uniformed values, only subtle general trends. Actually, advertisements for hair products tend to emphasize individuality and personal choices. At this time, almost everything is allowed: since being "retro", or simply "classic", until the total boldness of "Vivids"...and here we roll back into the Jean Harlow platinum.
I'm sure you've seen many "vivid" colors of hair. Artificial looking greens, blues, oranges, reds, pinks, purples. The colors of the rainbow (ring a bell?). Absolutes seem non-existent anymore. Not in the natural world, at least. Why do I say we've rolled back to the 30's and 40's where the popular color was platinum? A couple of reasons:
1. To produce the very popular Vivids, one must first bleach all existing pigment (color) out of the hair. For best results, the minimum bleaching would be to bring the hair to a pale yellow...only one level lighter than the white. The very fragile white. The, I could snap off very easily, white. (To be fair, it's do-able, if the stylist knows how to care for the hair during the processing). THEN you can add the selected color to make you look one with the most recent trend of Vivids.
2. Now that the Vivids have taken hold, men and women alike are getting on the Platinum train.
AND...I've seen some really attractive platinum hair styles. The problem lies in the process.
We must ask ourselves if this is truly what we want, and for how long do we want it? Is it just a phase we're going through? (Get a wig...there are some really great ones out there). How important is it that I take those kind of chances when stripping out all pigment?
It's just a moment in time. Most likely, it will pass as everything does. Men's pompadours have made an appearance, as well. And with the pompadour, came "white sidewalls", "hard parts", and "razor fades". Strange, they were around during the same era as Ms. Harlow. Hmmmm...
Just a moment in time...