Any glamazon will tell you salons are as good for a day of gut-busting laughs as they are for a head of beautiful hair. I’ve heard some of the funniest jokes and seen the most colorful characters in beauty salons over the years.
VH1 is bringing that comedy to the small screen with its newest soon-to-be-hit, Beverly Hills Fabulous which debuts tonight at 10PM. The show follows the “Emperor of Hair” Elgin Charles as he manages his famous multicultural salon on Rodeo Drive and plots hair industry domination.
Lucky me, I got the chance to interview him before the show’s debut and you won’t believe all the hair tips I learned along with the scoop on his castmates and celeb clients (like ex-wife Jackee’ Harry).
Check out the trailer below:
Hilarious, right? Here’s an excerpt of my Q&A with Elgin:
Coutura: What was it like to open a multicultural salon in Beverly Hills?
Elgin Charles: Well, I moved to a storefront on Rodeo Drive because I wanted people to see me and see that I had my game together. When we came over, we came over blazing with all our clientele and it was a shocker to Beverly Hills. People came around and were looking in the window and it just felt awesome. But after fifteen years, I have to say I love Beverly Hills and they’ve been kind to me and it’s the best place ever to work.
Coutura: You’ve earned the nickname “The Emperor of Hair,” and are the go-to stylist for celebrities like Star Jones, Diahann Carroll and your ex-wife who makes a cameon on the show; Jackee Harry. What are some of your favorite hairstyles that you’ve created for them?
EG: Star’s been very supportive of me, she even put me on The View a couple of times to demonstrate my technique. She’s also a big fan of the Elgin Charles unit, which she actually named. It looks better, lasts longer and you don’t have to worry about weaves slipping or changing after a couple months. Star wanted to rock a medium length flip with a lot of flair so I gave her that look for The Insider. Whenever she comes to the West Coast, I create her look and no matter where she is, I supply all of her hair.
Ms. Carroll is more into the color. She loves her hair to be free-flowing and full with fierce curls that loosen up as time goes on. She loves warm medium golden brown with soft golden highlights coming through it, and I think it’s so pretty on her.
For Jackee, I would always give her a layered shag cut because she loves bangs. And bangs are very important for Jackee because of her forehead. I always tease her and say she has a fivehead (laughs). I either give her a laser-cut with a lot of layers or big barrel curls with a lot of fullness. With Jackee the bigger the hair is, the bigger her personality is.
Read more of my interview with Elgin Charles at Uptown Magazine.
Kisses,
Coutura
