Confessions of a Celebrity Hairstylist

“Stars don’t ever  look into mirrors. Their mirrors  are the people… and if those people  tell them they look great, they  believe it blindly”

The worst part of my job is dealing with stars’ hygiene issues. I know of a leading Bollywood actress, known for her glossy lips and boyfriends, who has almost an inch of dandruff on her scalp. Some stars don’t even believe in taking a bath before showing up on sets. And hence body odour is also a major concern. They come straight from the gym and plonk down in front of you.

Stars are the most insecure people in the world. So the hairstylists who survive are the ones who make stars believe that they are the best looking of the lot. Stars don’t ever look into mirrors. Their mirrors are the people surrounding them, and if those people tell them they look great, they believe it blindly.

There is a lot of competition among hairstylists as well. We are constantly in a struggle to make sure we are the ones who ‘invented’ a hairdo. Some celebrity hairstylists who think they created India’s hairstyling revolution now credit themselves with the birth of many a hairdo. And that’s crazy, because these styles have been around for donkeys’ years.

Stars will do anything for a freebie. They won’t even pay for a hair wash. They get everything done free, from their nails to spa treatment, at leading hairstylist salons. What they give in return are movie contracts. So if a star never has to pay for anything at your salon, you could be lucky enough to style that style for his or her next movie.

Most celebrities are not nice to people who work with them. They treat everyone like hired help. I have actually been asked by a leading actress to strap on her heels for her; I told her that was not my job. And they never want to hear anything bad about themselves. I am pretty honest, so I have told celebrities that this hairdo or that make-up could make them look old or fat. Those are the magic words. They often descend to earth after you say that. But some of them can get pretty vicious if you step on their fragile egos.

(As told to Aastha Atray Banan)

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arindam