Young Hollywood Embraces Its Legacy with a
Celebrity Makeover from Stylist Lance Christopher
by Alex Schmidt
January 20, 2004
If you think all young Hollywood is born beautiful and glamorous, think again. Prepping rising stars for the near constant glare of the spotlight is tough work, and Cassandra Gava knows. An actress, a rising movie producer, and a close friend of Governor Terminator (she co-starred in one of Señor Schwarzenegger's earliest, Conan the Barbarian), she's producing a movie that's a virtual roll call of famous movie industry spawn. The Last Goodbye with Faye Dunaway is set to hit theatres later this year; and among others, it'll star Liam (Faye's son), Clementine Ford (daughter of Cybill Shepherd), Alex Quinn (the late Anthony Quinn's son), Dominik Garcia (Andy's gal), Sara and Chad Stanton (niece and nephew of Harry Stanton of '60s sitcom fame) and Kansas Carradine (actor David Carradine's daughter).
But great genes don't guarantee naturally great hair, nor naturally great anything for that matter. To infuse these virgin actors with a bit of the glam they'll need when their faces start hitting screens and 'zines, Cassandra dragged these five to Lance Christopher for what she called "brilliant" styling.
One of the major stars of her newest movie the Last Goodbye, Clementine Ford has strong and beautiful features, but her wavy hair can't decide whether it wants to be straight or curly. In the past, when it's been layered, it's just gotten poofy, and heavy layers have appeared that completely messed up the 'do. What she wanted was a style that she could wear either straight or curly, so Lance cut the hair as though it were straight—in pieces.
That's because curls are like co-dependent people—they always need to be with other curls. Now, when Clementine decides she wants her hair to be curly, the curls will naturally come out, 'cause they'll have all their little friends nearby. When she wants it straight, she'll have wind-blown ends that give a touch of sass to an otherwise streamlined style.
Color-wise, Clementine had already had highlights done in Atlanta, but overall her hair was dull and lacked shine. Lance added brilliance with clear cellophane—Radiance Color Glass, clear with gold luminescence. In contrast with her beautiful, full (but well shaped), dark eyebrows, Clementine is now a seriously striking beauty to be reckoned with. She's reminiscent of Brooke Shields, especially in her natural beauty that doesn't include—and doesn't require—make-up.
Dominik Garcia is another natural beauty, but at 18 she's younger than Clementine. Different from the sexy, mature look that Clementine has, Dominik went for a younger, punkier—but equally sexy—wind-blown rock star look. Dominik's hair was a mousy, flat brown, and the ends were sun-weathered and dry. Her cut was flat and limp, nothing befitting a beauty that will soon be smiling into the lenses of paparazzi cameras.
Creating layers of bangs was the start of something a little more lively. Lance lightened and texturized them, then cut one inch off all the hair length and used a razor to texturize, creating lots of round, messy pieces. Adding highlights of fine butterscotch created more of a sun-kissed look. Particularly at the top, this added color brings attention to Dominik's beautiful eyes and natural eyebrows.
Although Andy kept calling to make sure his daughter's image changes weren't too extreme, he needn't have worried! The side bangs were a sure hit. They create more of a high cheekbone around Dominik's round face by cutting into the bang, without taking off the length. The chunky pieces below the shoulder and the straight, vertical hair higher up make her face look longer and thinner. The light layers on top add more overall body. On top of all those lovely goodies, Dominik also got the gift of more wash-and-wear hair. As opposed to using a round brush, she can just use her fingers to get this glam look.
Alex
Quinn is in his twenties; he's still young. He needed something to bring out his striking countenance and make him look like more of a star. Since he wanted a cut that could be different in different types of shots—a Brad Pitt kind of style—it had to keep some length, but it couldn't be scraggly.
Lance started by shattering the ends and giving Alex a nice shag (no, not that kind—Alex is married!) He kept enough length to make it possible for the hair to be styled forward or back depending on the situation. This is definitely a plus, as Alex does have a bold forehead that needs to be either highlighted or downplayed as scenes or shots demand. The hairstyle enhances his chiseled bone structure, but it's also soft. It kind of makes you wonder whether he's the boy next door or the James Dean coming to pick you up on his bike.
Lance added highlights both to give more life to an otherwise boring color and to add volume! Highlights create body through an optical illusion; and surprise of surprises, they add 20% more volume by damaging the hair! That damage also makes hair more malleable and easy to style. The trick is to add just the right amount of color (butterscotch in this case); because if you add too much, it can do the opposite and not make it full. The base got shined up with a clear color gloss (a Clairol version of a cellophane) just to remove the ash. The result is a Strokes-like hairstyle, very Beatles, very mod, very retro and Ramones . . . and very much on the hippest pulse of our current moment.
Sara Stanton is a beautiful and sweet looking young woman with amazing potential, but her old highlights didn't quite reflect that. They were very golden-looking, almost to the point of being orangey, a tint that did not go well with her face color. Her cut was frizzy on the ends and she needed something much more complimentary, both color- and shape-wise.
To make her sparkle like the celebrity she's about to be, Lance added baby blonde (Frosty Blonde by Wella) to take away her roots and break up the gold.
He cleaned up her ends and gave her long chunky pieces instead of a wispy, waif-like look that flies all over the place. The long bang in the front gives Sara more of a Charlie's Angels style and brings out her features. Now, check out that shot: they could be the new Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, except with way more edge, contrast, and personality (wait didn't we already establish that Alex was married?)
Kansas is one of those celebrity makeover challenges for the reason that she's getting into the movie industry for the acting part of it, not the glam. She's got a totally unique beauty and she hates the trends, so she wanted to keep her long hair, and look like a star while staying natural and real. To get rid of some flatness, Lance started out by adding long layers and razoring the ends.
The key to keeping the length and adding volume but not making it look too styled is to overdirect the cut. When cutting the hair, the hairdresser usually pulls the hair straight up and starts to snip. Instead, he pulls it in one direction and snips it, then lets it fall back to where it's intended to fall. This way, he ends up cutting very little of the length, yet a lot of spread out pieces, thereby adding volume. Lance finished it up with a long bang in the front and, again, a clear cellophane to add just a touch of liveliness.
Of course, the hair on these five is just a part of the iceberg of complete makeovers they'll have to go through before they hit the red carpet. But it's a big part, and according to Cassandra Gava, these young celebrities got with Lance an easy, fun, and successful introduction to the world of Hollywood grooming. . . . Wouldn't you agree?
To book your makeover for your next closeup, call Lance in Beverly Hills at (310) 859-3998, or visit his website at lancehair.com.