JANUARY  2003

She'd had practically              
the same style since          
birth...now look!                    
Ellie Boe, 19, student: I don't spend time on my makeup
or hair-I guess I don't even know what to do," says Ellie,
a college sophomore who plans to be a kindergarten teacher.
Hair pro Gad Cohen lighteded up this natural blond and
gave her a style even a cutphobic would love:
face-framing layers.

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     glamour beauty

3 Steps to Cashmere Hair!

Ever walked out of the salon wondering why you can't get your hair that glossy and touchable? Here's a heads up: You can!

1 Get into condition For every hair type, "conditioner is the key to gettting silky strands," says New York City stylist Gad Cohen.To get softhair that won't just hang there, steer clear of your scalp when you apply conditioner (which will weigh down hair) and concentrate on the ends. "The last two inches are the driest and most abused sections, "Cohen explains. The more Sahara-like your hair is, the creamier the conditioner should be.

2 Know the pro blow-out secret "Hair should be damp, not soaking wet, when you start blowing it out," warns Cohen. Brushing when hair is wet can cause breakage, which leaves strands looking like Brillo. Instead, blot with a towel until hair is half dry. Blow-dry three-inch sections in one move from roots to ends, holding the dryer just above the curve of a round, natural-bristle brush and aiming downward. Don't dry from beneath: A gust of upward hot air will ruffle your hair's outer layer, creating frizz.

3 Keep hair goo-free Now that you've got smooth strands, maintain 'em by choosing styling products that won't feel like glue. Avoid heavy waxes and stiff hairsprays and reach for a styling cream; pros worship Kiehl's Cremme with Silk Groom ($29, 800-543-4571), which does a great job of taming flyaways. Rub a dime-sized dab between your hands, then work it into the ends, starting at the back so you don't wind up with too much on the wisps around your face, whichcould make them look stringy.

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  Voguebeauty
editor: amy astley

headhunting

What does a girl do when her tried-and-true hairdresser migrates to another city? Rebecca Johnson lets three of the best in the business go over her head.
The professionally beautiful are different from you and me. They are prettier, yes, but they also have a lot more help, and their help is better. Or, is it? A few weeks ago, I called my usual salon for a hair appointment only to be told my haircutter had gone, moved on to who knows where and who knows what? Once again, I was in search of a haircutter, a process almost as dread-making as finding a new shrink. Instead of my usual approach — canvassing friends, taking my chances with whoever was available at a good salon — I decided to satisfy an old curiosity. Are famous hairdressers, the ones who cater to the rich, the famous, and the professionally pretty, that much better than the people who cut the hair of mere mortals? To find out, I booked appointments with three of the country’s top haircutters — Garren, Gad Cohen and Art Luna — each of whom is famous in his own way. What, I asked each, would you do with my head?
Gad Cohen: Real Life Chic
Hair is in Gad Cohen’s blood. The son of a hairdresser, and one of nine children, five of whom are now stylists, Cohen began helping out at his dad’s salon when he was fifteen. By the mid-eighties, Cohen was running with that pack of handsome, high-living hairdressers who capitalized on their talent by opening their own salons on Fifty-seventh Street in Manhattan, what was then a sort of corridor of coifs. It tanked. And small wonder. The qualities that make a good stylist — artistry and sensitivity — are not what makes a good businessman.
Cohen regrouped by keeping his A-list clients — models; actresses he calls "iconic," like Glenn Close, Peggy Lipton, and Isabella Rosellini; and TV anchors like Paula Zahn —- and working out of his home, the ground floor of a brownstone in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. The décor is eclectic — a Warhol over a mission leather sofa and a big white dog that licks your hand in greeting — but it all fits with Cohen’s warm personality and utter sympathy to our widespread obsession with hair. When I hinted that maybe women are too neurotic about it, he vehemently disagrees: "They have reasonto be! I’m very neurotic about my hair. I cut my own because I don’t want to make anyone else feel bad."
There isn’t a hairdresser alive who doesn’t give lip service to the idea that hair should first of all make the woman look pretty. It’s a line I rarely fall for — these guys have big egos and they want you to notice the hair — but I believe Cohen when he says it. "Whenever there’s a big event, women always think they have to have this major hairdo," he says. "I remember once Glenn Close flew me out to L.A. for the Academy Awards. She had this fabulous dress and she wanted a hairdo to match, but I just gave her something very simple. It’s the same with women who are getting married; they always want this big hairdo, but when your hair competes with you, that’s bad."
But enough about Glenn — what about me, me, me? I shook my hair out of its ponytail and Cohen began fussing. A small furrow appeared on his brow.
"Did they cut your hair with a razor?" he asked, examining my ends. This is something I have noticed before. Every hairdresser, from the loftiest stylist down to the mall clipper at a SuperCuts ($8 a head! Any head!), feels compelled to malign whoever was there before. It’s all part of the seduction: Stick with me, they promise, I’m the only one who really understands your hair.
"I like your length," Cohen pronounced when he was done assessing, "but there’s too much volume at the bottom. A lot of people get this, I call it the cocker-spaniel effect, The color is OK, buts its kind of salon-y."
"Salon-y?" As opposed to what? Brownstone-y??
"When you go to a salon for highlights," he explained, "they always give you a whole head of it because that’s what’s popular right now and they want to give you your money’s worth, but you may only need a little. A lot of colorists are just technicians. They don’t think about where the light falls on the head.
Basically, Cohen wanted to take me back to my natural brown, add his own highlights, and work with the layers in some complex way that would not be interesting to anyone but me. I was sold, but it didn’t seem all that different from what I already had. "True," he agreed, "But when I do hair, it’s made especially for the woman. It’s going to have the right proportions, with the right details. If you go to a place like Jean Louis David, they are going to give you the same haircut they were taught to give everyone else. I think of it as the difference between couture and off-the-rack." It certainly had the couture price: $250 for the cut, $250 for color. I went on with my search.

 Stylist/client:
getting the message

In the days when haircuts came with names — remember the Flip, the Poodle, the Shag? — a woman ordered up a look as if from a menu. Today, the focus is on individuality — and fewer cuts look the same. Thus, more responsibility falls to the woman to convey her needs: "Input works both ways," says Gad Cohen, in NYC.
What helps? Bringing pictures — not to copy but simply to show what you think is attractive. Be open. "I want to know not only how you wash and treat your hair," Gad continues, "but also what you wear and how you like to look." Most of all, he says, he likes to know your hair "history" — what cuts you’ve been happiest with: how your look has changed.
Women who find themselves too intimidated to speak up in a salon — and surprisingly many women do — are probably going to the wrong salon or are with the wrong stylist.
When hair meets hat
You want a hat this season that’s going to focus on the hair, not detract from it. Why? Just listen to stylist Gad Cohen: "The direction for hair has a forties influence, but with a much softer edge for the nineties. The styles are just too beautiful to be hidden . . . and yet there is no better accessory for them then a hat." As for which one, consider the beret — perfect because its both small and flexible. Other good choices include driving caps, derbies, fedoras and bowlers. . . all of which are right on target for a seaon that’s going to be full of menswear.

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 Hair now
Women speak out on needs, A.M. to P.M.

Adds Gad Cohen, "The simplest hair is often the most beautiful — but it can also be the most difficult to do."
  

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 Allure reporter

Beauty — Fitness — Food — Style — Science — People — Places — Trends — Tricks

Call them haircut overachievers: It seems that many women with short hair are obsessed with getting it cut. And reshaped. And recut. Sure, they have plenty of good excuses. One woman who takes phone calls at her biweekly salon appointment says, "Oh, it’s my roots I’m touching up." Hat designer Anne Moore, who is recoiffed every four to six weeks at New York’s Frederic Fekkai Beauty Center, has a legit reponse: "My hair has to be in shape because I take my hats off all the time so people can see them. But is this perfection quest warranted? Apparently so. According to many stylists, a return trip every six weeks is necessary. "Short hair should be freshened up," says cutter Gad Cohen. "You’re not cutting it to make it short; you’re cutting it to give back its shape." Especially with the new, shorter-than-short cuts, the sides can start to get full, the bangs can become too long, and the proportion can be lost. An alternative for this hair obsession? "Buy a hat," says Moore. "It’s cheaper in the long run." — Martha McCully

 Adding Volume

"Blow-drying your own hair."

"Blow-drying your own hair," says designer Carolyne Roehm, "is like patting your stomach and rubbing your head at the same time…impossible." Indeed, anyone who’s tried to duplicate the finished look that a hairdresser achieves seemingly effortlessly knows how difficult blow-drying can be. Either the round brush gets tangled and stuck at the roots, or worse, hair gets caught in the motor. Whatever the hitch, the untrained can fail miserably. To most women it is an unsolved mystery.
But if babies can be made in test tubes and a space probe sent to Venus, blowdrying hair should not confound us. And sure enough, New York City hairstylist Gad Cohen, has over the years, developed a fail-safe technique. "you have a method and know where you’re going," says this blow-dryer extraordinaire.
Cohen’s method (which he demonstrates on these pages) is designed to give event the most nondescript hair lots of style. Whether it’s a chignon, a 60s retro coif, or cascades of gentle curls he’s after, the basic routine is the same. First he applies light mousse or setting lotion to the roots to make the hair lift at the hairline — the way Cindy Crawford’s always does. Then he dries the hair until it’s slightly damp, scrunching with his fingers and blowing in the opposite direction that the hair grows. Finally, he wields a round brush, or even Velcro rollers, to give a specific shape and curve to the basic cut.
While one of the cardinal sins of blow-drying is damaging the hair with zealous overdrying, the problem for most people is not giving it enough time. Few women are as methodical as Cohen, for instance, who clips the hair up when it’s still damp and dries it in sections with a round brush, working from the nape of the neck up to the crown. He specifically avoids rolling the hair in the brush, because that creates a tangled mess. For extra volume Cohen places the brush at the roots, letting the hair hang over the bristles, then moves the brush to the ends with the blow-dryer following. After about three strokes this way on each section, the hair is dry and smooth and ready for the finished look to be created.
Which brings us to the style argument. Some people equate "blow-dried" with Farrah Fawcett’s cliché wings or Melanie Griffith’s Working Girl pouf, but the blow-dryer is not at all limiting. Cohen gets a slightly messy, wavy Botticelli look by crinkling the hair with his hands and drying with a diffuser attachment. For the opposite effect — flat and sleek — he clamps sections of the hair at the roots between two round brushes and pulls the brushes to the ends of the hair with blow-drying following. To make sure that fine, straight hair will hold a full-blown style, he places Velcro rollers at the roots of the hair when it’s dry and drapes it over the rollers, rather than rolling wet hair, which gives an overly sexy look.
Like putting on makeup, blow-drying gets easier with practice. It becomes another way to bend the rules of nature, to transform wash-and-wear hair one day into a bombshell coif the next.

 Beauty Directory

Gad Cohen
Fine Hair

Don’t be discouraged by Cohen’s almost insultingly robust head of hair or the deep fluff of his Old English sheepdog, Beau. Cohen, a master of fine hair, gives an intelligent, sleek cut that actually seems to build volume. The trick, he says, is "Fake layering": little, imperceptible pieces that hold the hair away from the scalp. OK, it won’t transform you into Ann-Margret but you won’t look like Pee-wee Herman either. Cohen snips with blistering speed, then, with a blow-dryer and a round brush, coaxes hair into soft, bouncy fullness. There are no salon luxuries (like shampoo sinks) in Cohen’s charming garden apartment, but who can quibble when this man clearly works magic? Price: $250. Address: 313 West 22nd Street. Phone: 366-0302
 

 Cutting Remarks

The trick to big hair is in the scissors

A cut that works with your hair’s texture is the quickest route to fullness. Here, Gad Cohen’s suggestions: For wavy, curly or coarse hair, Cohen recommends keeping the back and the sides of the hair blunt or slightly "bevelled" (cut so that the underneath parts of the hair are slightly longer than the overlying parts). The crown area should be left relatively long. For some lift in the front, have your stylist cut a few subtle layers in key places around your face. For medium textured hair, stick with a variation on the bob: Have your stylist "bevel-cut" hair (see explanation under "For wavy, curly or coarse hair"). A few wispy layers in front in front will also keep this type of hair from lying too flat. For fine hair, Cohen suggests subtle layers in the front and a few more layers at the crown. For short hair, don’t crop the front too much: Longer pieces can be styled to create volume around the temples for a fuller overall effect.

 Love Me Do’s

Affairs of the hair for spring

Want to set off sparks and break a few hearts this season? What does it: soft, sexy, sophisticated-looking hair. "The key is in a cut that gives hair a beautiful line, lots of versatility," says Gad Cohen of Gad Studio in NYC. Here, the long and the short of the new day and night looks, plus tips to help you create them.

 The Shine

Hot Styling

Not all hair behaves the same way, so Gad recommends these two different drying and styling techniques...
FOR FINE HAIR: After shampooing, apply a light setting lotion on the roots of hair at the front and sides of the head. (Avoid the crown-it weighs things down.) "This adds a bit more volumne to places that don't have much bulk,"explains Gad.
FOR WAVY HAIR:Since this type of hair tends to be coarse and takes more effort to straighten out, it's important to moisturize first with a leave-in conditioner.

LHJ

 the crop

"This look requires almost no work," says Cohen. "All you need is a cut every six to eight weeks to kep the line fresh_and the confidence to carry it off."
 

 The Shag Story
Lois Johnson

"This is sexy hair," says Gad Cohen, one of New York City’s most in-demand hairstylists, of the new shag — the hottest, freshest haircut in years. "Women love it because it’s a way to have sex appeal without having big or long hair — plus, it’s very low maintenance. The new shag looks great air-dried straight out of the shower, or quickly blow-dried to boost volume and movement. The hair is cut to look tousled in loose, uneven layers that frame the face — it’s a run-your-fingers-through-your-hair style, what I call a controlled mess."
You’ve seen the cut — lots of models have it, and it’s all the rage in Hollywood, with such celebs as Melanie Griffith, Ellen Barkin, Meg Ryan, Priscilla Presley and Jessica Lange among the many converts. The look is so popular because it’s personalized, not cookie-cutter precise. "No two cuts will look exactly alike but will vary according to a woman’s hair texture, facial features, and head and neck proportions," says Cohen. The bangs are always long but can be pushed to the sides, and the sides can either be swept in front or tucked behind the ears. The new shag works for everyone except for women with very curly hair."
Are you ready for the kindest cut? Here’s how to get the look.
 

q u  o  t  e  s     "   "  

"Gad is a genius. He is the God of transformation! His work on women is done with amazing style and technique. I love the idea that he is quick and has tremendous confidence. Gad looks at a woman and knows exactly what is right for her. He is the king of straight - he knows how to blow-dry straight hair beautifully giving it life and style. He has a touch that when he creates for black tie, the results are special and elegant. Gad enjoys making women beautiful - every woman should be touched by Gad!"

Felicia Milewicz Beauty and Health Director, Glamour

"Gad never fails to make me look gorgeous! He's such a pleasure to work with on shoots. On what's hot-he's always in the know. And to top it off, he's a doll!"

xxoo Emme