Another year is coming to a festive end. It's been a busy and exciting year, and 2006 promises to be even busier!

As we wind things down here is sunny Florida, I'm thankful for so much. I'm thankful for all the new friends in my life. I'm thankful to be able to share my hairstyling passion with all of you.

I'm also thankful for being in warm and sunny Florida while many of you are raking leaves or shoveling snow and just plain freezing your toukis off. :P

All the best,
Sandy Beach

Posted by Regis Hair |

Hello again all!

Hope everyone came through Hurricane Wilma in good shape. We had a hard time contacting some people here in FL with all the down power. The quiet time really made it strike home how great it is to have our group camaraderie.

With that in mind, I'm pleased to announce the formation of our new hairdressers chatroom. You need Hotcomm software. It's not free, but it's nice because we'll have audio capability plus the opportunities to do regular online seminars with live PowerPoint presentations from top Regis hairdressers around the globe.

My webmaster, Toni_UK, is still working her fingers to the bone setting everything up, but please write down the future room address and keep it in a safe place:

relay9:regissalons

In the future, we're planning on opening up additional rooms to accomodate the hairdressing novices, our Spanish speaking hairdressers, plus an exclusive room for our innovative auto-hairdressingmaven software program.

Plus much much much more to come! So please stay tuned!

Posted by Regis Hair |

Susan, who was so helpful at the Orlando Hair-A-Long, has created these beautiful hair slings. She's an actual Seminole Indian right here in Florida, and you can see she crafted them with an Indian motif.

For all the attendees of the first HAL, watch your mailboxes because we've sent you a present. You'll each be receiving a pair of Susan's wonderful slings. Originally she had designed a Shamu sling which had the famous orca whale on it. She wanted to make a keepsake memento of our time in Orlando, and I actually saw her first prototypes. They were really special. However my lawyers checked it out and we were not going to get permission from Sea World to have Shamu's image on the sling, even though it was just for a limited number of "gifts" and not for a commercial purpose. They were willing to negotiate a licensing fee with us, but we weren't interested in making such a simple gesture into such a big and costly legal thing. Really now, how silly.

Enjoy the gifts everyone!

Posted by Regis Hair |

Like many of you I watched Live 8. I really felt old because like your stereotypical old person, I didn't know or like 90% of the musical (and I use that term lightly) acts performing.

Anyway, let's talk about one guy I did recognize. You know him. He's been all over the news for years now, talking with world leaders and really being a big shot. He's Bono of U2.

Now I remember Bono from the original Live Aid days. He and U2 were relative newcomers back then. They were one of the groups that old people didn't know or like much back then. I didn't care one way or the other about their sounds. The thing that struck me about Bono back then was the mullet.
That was an amazingly hideous hairstyle. Something Michael Bolton spent years futilely trying to emulate.

Twenty some odd years on and Bono is still in deep hair trouble.



Sometimes I see Bono and he's got the Joan of Arc, Buster Brown thing going. That's his "dry" look. Other times I see him, he's got the "wet" look. It's a bit based on the old defunct Pat Riley showtime look of over a decade ago, except instead of Riley's helmet hair gel, Bono is into oil. Maybe some red wine vinegar too. It's a real unappealing scuzzy look. I could smell him throught the screen. I want to wring his hair to dress my salads.

Please call me Bono. Let's fix this hair thing.

Posted by Regis Hair |

Maybe you need to be a hair professional to fully appreciate this. Or maybe a chicken farmer with talking chickens.

savage chickens

Posted by Regis Hair |

Hold on to your wigs, people. A reader (and famed hairdresser in her own right) who lives in England has written me to propose a London Hair-A-Long. How amazing is that?


Dear Sandy Beach,

My name is Aki Watanabe. I am a native of Tokyo, Japan but have lived in Great Britain for the past 35 years. I have studied and worked here as a professional hairdresser for over 25 years now. Your successful Orlando Hair-A-Long has inspired me to try and put together a similar event here in London later this year. I know you are in the planning stages of your next HAL. Have you considered London?

As I'm sure you know, we have quite the avant-garde re-revolution happening here in hairstyle, and London is right in the center of it. I think it would be exciting to have a venue for cross cultural sharing of ideas. We all have a lot to learn and teach each other.

Please contact me if interested.
Regards,

Aki Watanabe
tel xxxx xxxxxxx
Brookmount House
62-65 Chandos Place
Covent Garden, London WC2N 4LP

Wow, what an honor it is to have such an offer from such an esteemed hairdresser as yourself, Aki Watanabe. I'm simply stunned. You can bet the HAL Council will be taking this proposal up immediately. We shall be in touch.

Sincerely,
Sandy Beach

Posted by Regis Hair |

I got another letter after the Orlando Hair-A-Long, and I have to put this one in the "disturbing" category. It really burns me up. So let me address this topic today.

The topic is Black Hair.

Dear Ms Sandy Beach,

I am an aspiring young hairdresser, and I was planning to go to your HAL in Orlando last week. However, I was one of the last minute cancellations. My boyfriend said white people don't know about black hair, and that as a Black woman, I have to go to a school that specializes in black hair run by Black people.

I thought that was crazy. I mean hair is hair, right? So anyway, he was putting a lot of pressure on me not to go so I didn't. Then you show all your photos of the HAL and my boyfriend was like see what did I tell you? Only white people there for white people hair.

You were so happy to see some men attending your HAL, but I did feel funny in not seeing any people of color. Am I wrong? Is hair not hair. Do I have to go to some specialized black hair institute?

-M


M, thank you for writing me. I really wish you were there in Orlando. I'm going to send you the video we made of the presentations and the booklet as my gift. You'll see (and be sure to show your boyfriend too) that indeed "hair is hair."

I know the science of hair. I've studied in the history of hair. Does your boyfriend know the chemistry of hair. I think not. So tell him to stop being glib.

I've done the hair for Oprah, Tyra Banks, Beyonce, Cecily Tyson, Dionne Warwick, Don King, Janet and Latoya Jackson, Robin Givens and Emmanuel Lewis.

Black hair is a color, just like strawberry blonde and summer divine. That's all. Tell your boyfriend I've taken a hot flatiron to the toughest kinks in the world and come out on top. I'm the best of hair. Any style. Yes, any color.

These ignorant stereotypes of hair really outrage me. I don't know why white people insist only on white hairdressers and black people insist only on black hairdressers, yet we can all go to the Orientals for manicures and pedicures without batting an eyelash.

Let's wake up, people!

Posted by Regis Hair |