Benny the Beautiful.

My friend Benny asks me almost every time I talk to him if I made beautiful hair today. “Did you make beautiful hair today?” Of course I did is my usual reply. I always try to do my best work. Every day, on every client. Some days are always better than others, and some days it’s more of a routine. I am driven by creativity and not by a pattern of what a specific style or look is. Benny is a natural blonde. Or he was years ago and now has settled into what former blondes hate to be considered, “dirty blonde.” I don’t remember if I asked to do this, or maybe I just did it on my own but decided to put a little lightener in his hair to “break the base.” I don’t think I even knew what that term was back then but it means to almost break the seal of the hair strand to allow for lightening, and future oxidation to occur naturally. So in Benny’s case, lighten the dirty blonde base a fraction so that it would then naturally lighten more and more with time and sun exposure. I’ve done this with other people, including myself, and had great results. It’s not a harsh chemical recipe, but necessary enough to lighten the hair a tad. After doing this with Benny’s hair I felt it was subtle enough that not many people would notice, but it would just be enough to look back like his younger blonde hair used to be. It was summer and when I now look at pictures from a vacation we went on together, I realize that his hair was more orangey/yellow than the blonde I had envisioned. Of course it’s a source of amusement to us now, not to mention the hideous ponytail I was sporting. Did I mention this was probably in the late 80’s or early 90’s? Either way, not my best work. I still use that method of “breaking the base” with other clients, including myself, but have mastered it much more than I did in the past. By the way, that day I did not make beautiful hair. Ah the memories..