Watching TV For Hairstyle Requests

Times have changed because I am not watching TV for hairstyle requests

as much.  Celebrities used to dictate the way we wore our hair but with so many social media platforms, everyone and anyone could become a “celebrity”!

As a young hairstylist, I remember being forced into watching TV for hairstyle requests

daily.  I sat through soaps and sitcoms I did not like, to see hairstyles on singers and movie stars.  Some regular requests for female styles were Aaliyah, Halle Berry, Ashante, Destiny’s Child, TLC, Jennifer Anniston, Nia Long to name a few.  For men there were Morris Chestnut, Shemar Moore, Usher, Allan Iverson, D’Angelo etc.  It was a whirlwind  of movie/television watching and magazine buying to keep up with the trends.  Hair salons were stacked with magazines and had to do regular checks to keep numbers down.

Today, social media makes it so much easier to find pictures because there is so much

competition to show it first.  Those days pictures were often exclusive and went to the most influential magazines.  Anyone is a mobile journalist now.  We can browse most platforms for a style that we might like and that person is not a “celebrity” in the strict sense of the word but has style.

I have not had to resort to watching TV for hairstyle requests as often.  It involves more fashion and changed looks now.

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

Books:  “Talking Hair”, “Filling My Head” & “Dreadlocks – A Hairstylist’s Manifest”.