LISA OLIVER! THE SALLY HERSHBERGER SALON! TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM CELEBRITY HAIR GURU!

Meg here! When you hear the name "Lisa Oliver" you know you're talking to someone that knows who the major celebrity hair players are in Los Angeles. Like the Jimmy Choo heel and the Birken bag, getting your hair colored at The Sally Hershberger salon is quite the status symbol.

Lisa Oliver has been in ridiculously high demand there! Someone better hope Sally isn't the insecure type. I leapt at the chance to have Lisa give me a new color (Hello fiery redhead Meg). Of course when she was finished, my hair looked amazing. Sitting next to me I chatted with another client of Lisa's. She is from BOSTON! I know, I think even I looked at her like she was crazy. She flies from Boston to LA every 6 weeks so that Lisa can do her hair. I probably wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't had the conversation with her. I mean, I'm from Boston. That's a bitch of a cross country trip.

It is not a rare tale, well-heeled women from all over the US fly to see Lisa Oliver regularly. She is one of the most respected hair gurus in town and her client list reads like the Academy Award announcements. We are talking very A-list.

For those of us that are not able to get to Los Angeles-and jumping on a flight every 6 weeks isn't feasable, I wanted to get into the brain of Lisa Oliver and see if she'd tell us some hints and a little about herself.

Meg: Does God know best?  Should you really stay within one to two shades of you own when picking a color?

Lisa:   You know part of me really wants to give you a straight answer, like a yes or a no...And part of me wants to say "Yes” to the question.  But the longer I am in this industry...going on 25 years of my life...the more I want to say, that there really is no more rules to this game at all.  There's time when that rule might apply or can apply, and then you have a client or meet with someone new and you're looking at their skin tone, their eyes, their features and then "right in that moment" you realize that with this person some sort of "space" opens ups and you have that "epiphany" and realize that all rules that used to apply, don't apply here.  That is where every hairdresser has the chance to come alive and see what he/she is made off.  Our chance to perform and put our let our work speak for itself...and when done right, almost any person can "pull off"  just about any type of haircut or any type of hair color, key word..."done right."  For the most part, I like to keep someone’s color at the roots maybe 2-3 shades lighter and then “push” the highlights a few more levels than at the roots, when you do that you have a lot more room to create different looks and you have a lot more options to work with.

Meg:  What is the hardest color to pull off?

          
Lisa:   The question is not “which color is the hardest to pull off”…it’s how far a woman can bring the “antithesis” of her natural color into a realm that best works for her and best suits her lifestyle.  For example, a woman who is naturally dark brown and wants to be a blonde, or as close to blonde she can get, it becomes very difficult for the colorist to make it a more cultivated color, to look natural and tasteful.  With that being said; I would say, 2 of the hardest colors to wear, would be anything that is too dark for your skin and the “old saying” applies, the “Older you get”  the Lighter you should keep your hair, so Dark Browns and Reds would be the most difficult to wear, especially as you age.

Meg: What celebrity’s hair, do you think always looks good?

Lisa: Jennifer Aniston, Gisele Buchen`, Resse Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Beyonce, Molly Sims, Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet  & Qwyneth Paltrow & Eva Mendes…and Anne Hathaway

Meg:What products do you suggest maintaining color?

Lisa: Shu Uemura Moisture Velvet Shampoo & Conditioner, Rene Furterer “Fioravanti Spray Leave in Conditioner” , Loreal Colorist Collection Shampoo and Shu Uemura Silk Oil, apply on dry hair, it works as  protector & leaves the hair feeling like silk. 

Meg: What makes you love hair?

Lisa: Well, that is not an easy question!!!  There are so many facets to being a Hollywood Hair Colorist, the one thing I would say about loving hair or doing hair, is for most people, hair is one of the most critical features on a person, man or women.  It is something where people feel extremely vulnerable when it is not done right or they are having a “bad hair day” we’ve all had them and suffered through those days…”trying to keep our minds on something else”  and it never seems to work.  So, knowing that Hair, is that critical to people, it is the one thing that I know I can “make a difference” for people.  I get intuned with people and make them and their hair, “My Business”.  I love working on or around the 8th CHAKRA –the CROWN and Top of the Head”  it is a very powerful place on the human body, so, I love and respect that part of someone’s body, so that it becomes why more about hair, it becomes an opportunity to “touch”  someone in a very special way.
There is a lot of love present when working on that part of a person’s body, what is present is for me is,
Spiritual Love, Compassion, Peace, Thoughtfulness, Focus and Cosmic Love. As you can see, it is why more about something other than this thing called hair.  It is living and there is a lot of life present…sometimes more than “what meets the eye”.  Then there is the aspect of doing hair color itself, working up close and personal with people is “A very cool thing I get to do everyday” and make people “feel great about themselves and boost someone self-confidence”  and make them “look and feel sexy!”
 I get to it is like being a painter and everyday I get to create anywhere from 10-20 painting’s a day!  “How awesome is that!”   I am surrounded by the of most talented hairdressers in the world, the energy that flows just among my co-workers makes me love doing hair even more, the “vibe” of a salon is super critical…and the clients pick up on it real quick. They can tell if there is an “energy” that is feeding the hairdresser, they “feel” it when it’s working and they “feel” it when it’s not, the Energy in a salon is a powerful thing and should never be messed with or taken for granted. I have the opportunity to be Creative & Fully Self Expressed, I paint hair and listen to cool music all day long and all the while, love and feed off the people I work with, I feel like I have the coolest job in the whole world.  I am in the service business and that is what I love to do most, serve people and make a difference.  Isn’t that what we all want to do anyway?

I think you all can see why Lisa is one of the most incredible hair stylists in Hollywood. My personal experience with her and her assistants and the salon as a whole was magical. They really make you feel comfortable and her artistry speaks for itself.

If you live in California (Heck if you live in Boston) you should treat yourself to starting the summer beautifully. Book a visit with Lisa, you may not win an Oscar but you'll look like you could!

Any of you ladies ever had such a great hair salon experience that you would fly cross country if you had to recreate it?

Book An Appointment With Lisa Oliver

I didn't have a picture of Lisa-so I used one of one of her little known clients!