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The look for fall can go soft or sleek
By Valerie Miller |

IT MAY SEEM easy-just flip through a few magazines, get a feel for the newest styles and colors and then stroll through your favorite store to pick out a stunning fall wardrobe. But that’s not all it takes. If you want to be in tune with fashion, your look must be right from head to toe, created by the perfect combination of hair, makeup and apparel.

So what’s in store this fall? The key is to keep hair short, baring the nape, full of volume and movement. The primary beauty focus is on the face, with eyes and lips played to their fullest, as hairstyles create the perfect frame.

Individuality and self-expression are vital this season. Identical cookie-cutter hairstyles are making room for a new concept in design. The look begins with the cut, but you must interpret it to suit your own personality. “Today’s woman has a different way of looking at things. No longer does she identify with just one look,” explains Jean Louis David, a New York hairstylist and salon owner.

And this fall promises to be as diverse as it is expressive. Fashion encompasses both ends of the spectrum. At one end, the look is soft, subtle and glamorous; at the other, there’s a stronger, more tailored menswear look. Hairstyles follow suit, creating two distinct styles for fall.

A sense of elegance is emerging. Dallas hairstylist Paul Neinast describes it as a combination of Thirties nostalgia and Eighties sophistication. “We have a new air of opulence and glamour,” Neinast says.

Last year’s bob is growing up; its lines are softer and more interesting. Hard geomet-rics have lost their appeal. Geri Cusenza of Sebastian International hair products refers to this change as a “blurring of the bob,” with added layers and increased textures. Unlike the blunt, sleek bob of last season that was brushed away from the face, the new bob is directed toward the face with wispy bangs, wavy tendrils or daring layers.

Dallas/London stylist Alan Stone interprets the new direction in his “Forward Bob,” a hairstyle that increases height and dimension. Layers are heavy, broken and almost unkempt, but the charm remains.

Volume also plays a major role. Bruno Dessange, owner of salons in New York and Paris, says that “a haircut is a question of volume above all.” It is the fulfillment of movement. Hair is thick, interesting and full of life, and a style that sits still won’t work.

Mia, of Mia Salon on Oak Lawn, believes that the key to achieving volume is in the cut. A technique called “under-layering” creates this effect, she says. Hair is cut shorter close to the neck and is stacked to its fullest and longest point, which provides a full base for hair.

Texture is essential. Without it, the new bob loses its drama. Layering provides great texture, but waves and curls shouldn’t be ignored. New techniques in perming can create an abundance of looks. Soft waves can now be applied to give six weeks of body and control. Half-roller perms simply add lift at the roots without adding curl. Spot perming makes different textures throughout a single style possible. Stylists suggest finger-drying and scrunch drying (scrunching up hair with the fingers as it dries) to maximize texture and volume.

The continuing emphasis on menswear in women’s fashion has created a new look for fall: the trouser look. Hairstyles to complement this look must be a delicate balance between feminine and masculine. It takes a special cut to top off a pair of pants and balance a heavy jacket. Trouser styles call for the shortest of short cuts, with the nape as bare as possible. With the cut close to the neck, the attention turns to the top and front of the head. The style can be very tomboyish, cropped close in back with light, floppy bangs, or more sophisticated, with added direction and control. Ric Bishop of Ric Bishop Salon describes this as an “overlay” cutting design. Longer layers are cut over shorter hair, softening the bare nape and forming a cap of height and volume. The look is carefree but controlled.

The textures of these menswear cuts are highly creative. Many are multi-textured, combining busy curls and soft waves or spiky bangs and smooth sides. Dessange has developed a method of architectural perming in which the permanent is precisely set to create the total effect of the cut.

Ponytails offer a sleek, fashionable alternative for longer hair. The hair is pulled away from the face, creating an impeccably sophisticated look. The loose ends are tied with bows or gold and gem-stoned ornaments or are twisted and braided into silky elegance.

Another major element in hair design is color. Joan Miller, director of hair coloring at Alan Stone Salon, calls it “the ultimate cosmetic for hair this fall.” Coloring no longer means covering hair with a solid coat of color or frosting strands pulled through a plastic cap. Highlighting adds movement |o hair, directs light forward and provides an overall lift to the face. It often serves as the actual focus of the cut, creating a unique look in itself. Dayton Mast, owner of L’lm-age, refers to this technique as limelighting. Hair is shaded rather than distinctly highlighted, and the result is an illusion of movement and direction.

Strategically used, color creates texture. Vidal Sassoon uses two or three colors, slightly altered from the hair’s base color, and applies them in chunks, checkerboards or mosaics. The effect is subtle, but full of interest.

Fall hair designs don’t end with cuts and colorings, however. “The finish is the most important part of today’s haircuts,” says Blake Boyd of Paul Neinast. “A woman, especially if she was raised in the blow-dry era, has to realize that in order to get the look she wants, she’ll have to use the Dippity-Do of today-modern gels and mousses.”

Styling products have taken on a new importance this year, with the final look relying on special touches to make it a smashing success. Light and foamy mousses work best with longer or softer styles. They add body, fullness and light control without weighing hair down or changing its natural look. Gels provide stronger hold for short or sleek hair. Wet or spiky looks are created by finger-styling with gel, then letting hair dry naturally. Gel applied to the hairline creates lift and added fullness. These effects can be revived with just a spritz of water.

If this sounds a bit too stifled or restrained, don’t worry-creative opportunities abound! And on top of that, many of them are temporary, allowing for both Saturday-night excitement and Monday-morning back-to-business.

Gels and mousses are available in a wide range of colors, from gold and amber to red and violet. Just foam in a palmful of colored mousse and become deliciously strawberry for the evening, or simply frame your face with gold-tipped bangs or blue-black wisps. Neon gels can add spikes of color anywhere. Experiment with a hot pink crown or a bright green ponytail.

Wigs are also making a comeback as a means of having more than one hairstyle, color or texture. The new wigs are available in every imaginable style, from elegant to sporty to punk. Technological improvements have transformed the fake-fur look of Sixties wigs into a realistic option for today.

Fall makeup looks directly accompany these fashion trends. Like the two directions in hair design, the two makeup styles are quite different but equally beautiful. The new softer bob calls for the same touch in makeup. The look is pale and subtle, but very appealing. Colors are muted, and shades seem somewhat “off.” The emphasis is on mustard yellows, grays and odd greens. Dallas makeup artist Gail Hayden describes the style as monochromatic, with a single color highlighting each part of the face. The eyes are swept with one color, often yellow or gray, complementing them with soft contrast. The lips are pale but noticeable, and the color is simple, making the mouth appear stained rather than drawn on. A very undefined cheek is restricted to a blush of color high on the cheekbone. The completed effect is one of gentle glamour-soft, face-framing hair moving above the shoulders, highlighted by subtle but striking eyes and lips.



The dramatic hairstyle of menswear-in-spired fashion calls for an equally dramatic face. Makeup is deep, vivid and strong. Eyes are smoky, often brightened by electric blue liner or violet mascara, and lips are full and defined. According to Glenn Roberts of Elizabeth Arden, “Everything on the face is balanced, but as with a fine painting, there is a point of emphasis, and this fall the emphasis is on the lips.” Here again, the cheeks are almost nonexistent, a “no-cheek” look, as Mia describes it. Shadowy eyes and deeply toned lips are the attraction, creating a truly sensuous face to bring out the woman in the trouser look.

Fall fashion has a spirit all its own, and every woman should interpret this spirit into her own unique style. The concepts are distinct, but the variations are limitless.

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