FOREWORD: Editor's Letter

Hair Apparent

Hair Apparent

Damned if I can recall my first haircut (I am 40, after all), but I sure can remember my last. It was perfect.

For me, the perfect cut entails minimal direction—a No. 3 clipper setting around the sides; blend; trim; square off the back; even up sideburns—and a fair price (i.e. cheap). So I have to hand it to Carina Hassano, my stylist at Hair Cuttery in Edgmont Square. She nails it every time.

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You’re probably thinking: “He’s a guy; he’s got short hair. What’s there to screw up?”

When you’re talking about my unruly mop, plenty. In the wrong hands, curls can kill a career. Mine need to be sheared just so to achieve the right balance of fullness, springiness and control. Take off too little in the wrong places, and what’s left comes to a mohawk-ish point at the center of my head. A few weeks after one of her fellow stylists worked me over in this manner, Carina took one look at the carnage and explained the problem: a hasty, improper blend.

More often, they take off too little, and I’m back looking like Elvis within a week. Oddly enough, this has happened most frequently at high-end salons. I remember leaving one ritzy Center City hair emporium with a head full of mousse and an empty wallet. I would’ve been shocked if the clippings filled a shot glass. Though I’d made an appointment, the wait was 30 minutes. The haircut took all of 10.

A week later, I was at a South Philly barbershop having it all shaved off. I relished the convenience of stubble so much (no conditioner, no gel, no problem) that I bought a set of clippers and did it myself for a while. Then my wife got tired of the convict look, and it was back paying (and praying) again.

For the many of you whose measure of perfection transcends what’s offered at Hair Cuttery, we offer this month’s “Beauty Blowout.” Culled with the help of our readers, the 52 salons and spas selected represent the best in homegrown beauty and wellness services.

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Expect to see many of those same businesses at our first-ever Beauty Blowout special event, a night of hairdos, fashion, makeup and martinis, Oct. 8 at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern. All proceeds benefit Home of the Sparrow, which offers transitional housing for homeless women and children.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: When John Crawford agreed to attend a past lives party hosted by Berwyn hypnotherapist Wendy Goldenthal, he figured it would make for a “wild, kooky, crazy story.” And while the former reporter for West Chester’s Daily Local News didn’t come away from the experience any less skeptical, he had plenty to write about. He documents his adventure in the spirited feature “A Long, Strange Trip into the Subconscious.”
Consider it our one concession to Halloween—minus the sugar rush.

Our Best of the Main Line Elimination Ballot is open through February 22!