"Can I Wear ... Celebrity Hair?"
Three women who dream of having celebrity hairstyles they see on TV and in magazines find out from Gretta if they can pull off their trendy looks.
"Can I go blond?"
Aisha, 25, is dying to change her hairstyle, especially since she's going to be starting a new job and will be meeting all new people. She admires the blond look that other African American women have achieved, like Beyoncé, Tyra Banks and Eve, but worries how lighter hair will look on her. "I'm afraid if I went blond," Aisha says, "people would think I'm a little bit crazy!"
Gretta explains that going blond is not an easy step to take. "The most difficult thing to do chemically is to lighten hair," she says. "The reason why is that it's the most damaging. But if you stay within your skin tone, you can enjoy some lightness." Gretta thinks that the celebrities Aisha mentioned were blonder than she should be, but they were still able to give her a more lightened look to match her skin tone. "We gave her a little more warmth, a little less highlights," Gretta points out. "You can see, it works for her."
How does Aisha feel about her new look? "I'm so glad that I took a chance, and I love it," she beams.
"Can I wear braided pigtails?"
"I'm a little blah," Mary Lou says about her look. "But I'm a mom, and I have no choice!" This 40-year-old doesn't want to give up on her hair just yet, and thinks that a cute look might be braided pigtails. Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and the girls from High School Musical can get away with it, but can she? Mary Lou worries, "I'm afraid if I wore pigtails, I would look like I'm in second grade!"
Gretta cuts to the chase. "I think if you're out of your teens," she advises, "you shouldn't be wearing two pigtails. I've done hair for 15 years, and no one has sat in my chair and said they wanted to look like Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island!" But as Gretta demonstrates with Mary Lou's new look, there is a happy medium. "I think small, subtle braids used within the hairstyle that's normal for you gives a pretty soft look and gives you a youthful kick."
Mary Lou is pleased with the new 'do: "It makes me feel like a younger mom now!"
"Can I wear an asymmetrical look?"
Rebecca 29, has had the same hairstyle for as long as she can remember. Ever since receiving a "boy's haircut" when she was little, Rebecca has kept it long. Though easy to throw up in a ponytail, she would like to try something new to celebrate her 30th birthday, like the asymmetrical look that Victoria Beckham sports. "Can I pull off an edgy, asymmetrical hairstyle with my girl-next-door personality?" Rebecca wonders.
"This is taking a lot of hair off all in one hit," Gretta says about Rebecca's new shorter look. "The thing is, it is modified -- we took out the severe edge, but she's still edgy. Not as dramatic as Victoria's, because it really doesn't go with her. Rebecca is sophisticated and soft, and the haircut should be completely about you, not about someone else's look."
"I love it," Rebecca says. "I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders ... literally!"
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