EDITORIAL
Summer Looks for Summer Locks
Think Blonde.
Hairdressers Unlocking Hope
Big Hair: It's Glorified In The New Film 'Hairspray,' But Modern Variations Can Be Found From Red Carpet To Runway
Richard Calcasola On The Red Carpet at The 2007 Oscar's
7/1/2008 3:42:55 PM
Summer Looks for Summer Locks - Richard Calcasola
I’m happy to report that this summer promises to be one of the most fun, healthy, sexy hair seasons ever! Why is this summer any different? Great new haircuts, great new treatments, fabulous new technology that minimizes all the crazy, unmanageable, insane textures that come with the ocean breeze.
It all started last fall/winter with the neo-bob trend. You have so many options with all those new variations of the cut, along with treatments that can relax and tranquilize the unmanageable character in your hair’s DNA. Women can feel confident that there’s hope in having manageable good looks without all the work. In spite of all the trepidation that comes with a new hairstyle, women have begun to take little risks in “releasing some hair.” Releasing? Just a gentle way of saying cut your hair. This momentum has lead the way to newer looks above the chin but below the ear. It has fueled the next step in hair trends that are sexy, touchable and easy. Almost, and I repeat, almost, wash and wear.
The look begins with an expert haircut. Try to find a stylist that understands your uniqueness and life style. Whether your hair is easy to manage or difficult becomes a no brainer when you add fantastic hair color and the latest semi -permanent relaxers. Relaxers will get you through the entire summer without the summertime blues. By now, it’s understood that there is no such thing as a great haircut without great color on glossy quality hair. Keep in mind the relaxers provide options; you can still wear it with texture or curl whenever you want.
If you kept your New Year’s resolution you should be looking your best, feeling your best and ready for the best summer in spite of everything we are reading in the papers, politics, the economy, housing market etc. Those things are pretty much out of our control. The things you can control are how you look and feel. Your favorite professional is in a position to help you with all these exciting ideas.
As for the professionals, we are very inspired by the opportunities. The long, laborious, straight blowouts that have been so popular in the last few years are beginning to give way to more individuality and less copycat hair. We are very excited to exercise our expertise in all the things we study regarding technique, chemistry and personalized style.
Along with a good consultation, that includes pictures to communicate with, not to duplicate, a little trust and some creative license…you can look great, in and out of the water. Have some fun; the commitment is not very long term but your commitment to change, fun and a renewed sex appeal should be forever. After all, it’s a hairstyle not a tattoo! Have a blast don’t forget all the protection this summer and I don’t only mean sun. Uhhh, hair too!
8/17/2007 3:48:37 PM
Think Blonde. -
ntercoiffure America/Canada new collection forecasts a deceptively simple elegance for Fall 2007.
NEW YORK: It’s the brightest color of the spectrum… yellow. It’s confident but emotional, creative yet cautious. Blonde pushes us to the outer limits, yet has the power to ground us. Blondes are irrational, extroverted, and optimistic. They bring adventure and creativity to your look.
The new collection from Intercoiffure America/Canada, “Think Blonde,” combines elegant yet street-friendly cuts with rich color and make-up, exemplifying Intercoiffure’s vision of today’s beauty and fashion trends.
Presiding over the design team is Richard Calcasola, second vice president of Intercoiffure America/Canada and North American Creative Director of parent organization Intercoiffure Mondial. “Today’s look, which we have expressed in this collection, is all about refinement. Long gone are styles that shout ‘look at me’,” says Calcasola. “It takes a moment to recognize the complexity behind the apparent simplicity of this collection.”
“We chose blonde because it so often is used to express luxe in the beauty industry. So much consumer attention today focuses on luxury services—luxury products, luxury travel, luxury lifestyle,” continues Calcasola. “Blonde is expensive, both in dollars and time. Women who choose blonde know that their hair will require scheduled salon maintenance, personalized cleansers, conditioners and treatments.”
“Looking expensive doesn’t simply mean the client must spend a lot of money,” Calcasola concludes. “ What it really means is choosing a salon that can achieve the nonverbal look of luxury without the distraction of avant-garde cuts or color.”
The new focus on refinement requires a greater sophistication from the professional, who must be better informed, very familiar with healthy, quality haircare products, and know the difference between style and fashion. The professional must also know how to personalize all phases of their work to meet the client’s needs.
Color for the “Think Blonde” collection is the work of quintessential colorist Gina Khan, creative director of Intercoiffure’s new Haircolor Council. “My vision for this collection expresses complex glamour,” says Khan. “The blondes are very soft shades, with subtle infusions of color such as gold, strawberry and platinum. The dimension is not defined lines, but rather very diffused color for a very soft, sexy yet wearable blonde.”
“What sets the make-up apart in this collection is the mixture of textures and the use of cool and warm colors,” says Lori Neapolitan, who co-chairs Intercoiffure’s Make-Up Council with Mary Miller. “Our color designs are reminiscent of make-up from past eras, from the classic 20s style to the wild colors of the 80s, but kept current by the choice of color balance and by creating a flawless, almost naked skin.”
“Think Blonde” is the annual beauty and fashion trend collection from Intercoiffure America ? Canada. Intercoiffure is a forum for the beauty industry’s elite—more than 250 salon owners representing more than 2,200 salons, and employing more than 27,500 professionals. The average annual sales volume for an Intercoiffure member ranges from $1.5 million to $85 million. In addition to their economic clout, Intercoiffure members set the creative and quality standards for the industry.
For more information, including technical notes, please contact Richard Calcasola at (516) 333-3511 or rcalcasola@aol.com.
“Think Blonde” Credits:
• North American Creative Director, Richard Calcasola for Maximus Spa/Salons
• Photography, Luis Alvarez for Aquage
• Hair Color, Gina Khan for Gina Khan Salons
• Hair Styling, William Sasek for Maximus Spa/Salons
• Make-up Design, Lori Neapolitan and Mary Miller
• Assistants, Sucely Giron, Glendy Aguilar-Rubio
8/17/2007 3:31:42 PM
Hairdressers Unlocking Hope -
Richard Calcasola founder of the award winning Maximus Spa/Salons has joined forces with world renowned Vidal Sassoon to form Hairdressers Unlocking Hope.....
Visit: http://www.behindthechairexchange.com/unlockinghope
7/26/2007 6:22:01 PM
Big Hair: It's Glorified In The New Film 'Hairspray,' But Modern Variations Can Be Found From Red Carpet To Runway - Joseph Amodio - Newsday
Toes tap, hips gyrate, shoulders shimmy---but the hair never moves. Not a wisp. Not a lock. That's the ultimate irony of the new film "Hairspray," which opened Friday. For 107 minutes the film is relentless, with its soulful rhythms, nonstop energy, costumes in eye-popping shades. But the hair, which serves as a symbol for a decade and a generation, is in lock-down mode.
And, of course, it's big. Very big.
"Yeah, if you bumped into it you could hurt yourself," Richard Calcasola says, laughing. A stylist and owner of the Maximus Spa/Salons in Westbury and Merrick, Calcasola recalls the teasing and back-combing of bouffants, beehives and other stiff styles of the 1960s.
Many female moviegoers of a certain age who see the film will no doubt recall their own voluminous hairstyles---and either blush with embarrassment or wax nostalgic. (Long Island has, after all, shown a distinct fondness for big hair in decades past.)
While local hairstylists don't see the look returning anytime soon---at least to those extremes---they can't deny that in some ways glamour seems inextricably linked with hair height. Whether stately (Marie Antoinette, Jackie Kennedy), sexy (Farrah Fawcett, Pam Grier) or just plain mall-rageous (Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack in "Working Girl"), big hair will always have an appeal that defies explanation.
"Women definitely feel sexier in bigger hair," Calcasola says. But each era brings its own version of big, he explains.
"Hairspray" displays the shellacked version. Every actor on screen had to submit to the "hair chair," says the movie's hair and wig designer, Judi Cooper-Sealy, who scrutinized high school yearbooks from the early '60s to create the looks, from Queen Latifah's stately beehive, adorned with pincurls, to Brittany Snow's uptight version, to Michelle Pfeiffer, in puffed-up Marilyn Monroe waves gone awry. And, of course, there is Great Neck's movie newcomer, Nikki Blonsky, in her perky, Marlo Thomas flip (with a different headband in every scene to match her every outfit).
These days the undeniable queen of big hair is bluesy Brit singer Amy Winehouse, who told Entertainment Weekly recently that her towering beehive-like 'do can add as much as six inches to her petite, 5-foot-2 frame. "I've never met anyone who's got bigger hair than me," she bragged to EW. "That's my secret weapon. ... I'm nothing without my hair."
For the most part, though, volume today is more restrained than in decades past, hair experts say. It isn't measured in inches but has a more natural, waved look.
Like Elle Macpherson and Sienna Miller, who attended banquets in Italy for designer Valentino this month in wind-swept up-'dos, tendrils adrift. Or there's always Beyoncé Knowles, the modern-day queen of extensions and wigs.
Big hair is no longer just about hairspray.
Somewhere, if it can, the ozone must be breathing a sigh of relief.
How To Spray
Stylist: Richard Calcasola, Maximus
Spray tip: "It can't look too done---you must be able to run your fingers through it."
His spray: Volume Power Spray by Profound Beauty for Maximus, 7.5 ounces, $26, a pro styling tool that shoots out of the can microfine styling particles at 75 mph. Go to profoundbeauty.com for salons that sell it.
5/1/2007 12:20:59 PM
Richard Calcasola On The Red Carpet at The 2007 Oscar's - ABC's
EVERYONE WANTED OSCAR
BUT THE LADIES TURNED HEADS…
The Oscars are the most anticipated award show of the year however, the arrivals on the red carpet always eclipse the actual telecast.
Richard Calcasola, North American Creative Director of Intercoiffure was on the red carpet this year, styling hair and being a guest on ABC’s “From Head to Toe.” Richard fills us in on who was gorgeous, gaudy and everyone in between.
REESE WITHERSPOON, NICOLE KIDMAN, GWENTYH PALTROW, BEYONCE -- The clear trend with hair was straight, sleek, shiny, healthy hair. We saw Reese with youthful fringe, Gwyneth with her silky locks, and everyone with well cared for hair. It’s not about the hairstyle here, it’s just about great hair. And for truly healthy hair I recommend profoundbeauty’s hair care collection. Each of these women will be receiving profoundbeauty.
HELEN MIRREN – Helen looked magnificent. Her hair was appropriate and classic and the length was exactly right. Her color was fresh.
PENELOPE CRUZ -- Penelope’s hair was too severe and frumpy. It appeared there was a braid added to the back – the color didn’t match. It should have been lower, it was too high. Nothing exciting.
KATE WINSLET AND CATE BLANCHETT – Nothing more to say than understated elegance. They are always correct.
JENNIFER HUDSON – Her hair was soft, romantic and no sign of frizz.
JENNIFER LOPEZ – At first glance I thought this was a wig but it could have been curled and pinned to a fabulous, sexy length. It was a bit contrived but it had sex appeal. The length was refreshingly shorter.
Richard noticed the theme of the evening was personalized beauty. “Personalized beauty begins with Truly Healthy hair. There are issues that are specific to your hair and products have to address each of them…you really need to go to great salons to get the right advice and products…I highly recommend the profoundbeauty collection because they really stand for personalization.”
A red carpet must have was profoundbeauty’s Volume Power. Blasting out of the can at an astonishing 75 miles per hour, this miraculous spray created tons of volume without putting a lot of product in the hair.
Visit Richard at his Maximus salons in New York and visit www.profoundbeauty.com to obtain your own personalized regimen. You may not be accepting an Oscar anytime soon but you should always look red carpet ready!