Cameron: Hairdresser with sense of rhythm

JAKARTA (JP): Patrick Cameron may be the only hairdresser who dances while he snips away.

With lively music in the background, Cameron dances while his hands busily arrange and cut the hair of his model at a demonstration held by Wella Hair Cosmetics at Shangri-La hotel on Monday.

And as he moves from one corner to another his model follows him everywhere while she holds all his tools of the trade, such as hairpins, hair spray and brush. But, being so active doesn't hamper his work. In less than 15 minutes he has finished putting the model's hair into two buns, one on each side of her head which makes her look like she has the ears of a donkey.

Then on the stage appeared another model whose hair was arranged in several ponytails. Cameron put his hands on her head after dancing with her for a while. He still keeps moving with the music and, voila, in around five minutes she has a new hairdo which reminds us of Lisa Simpson of the Bart Simpson cartoon series on TV.

Well, it is an avant-garde part of what Cameron said is "Patrick Cameron's 1995 Hair Collection".

The other part emphasizes Cameron's basic principle "to create natural, simple styles which bring femininity". Therefore, a diagonal cutting style which lends softness and gradual layers to the hair is one of his preferences.

"I like to cut hair diagonally, it creates a natural impression and makes hair more flexible, you can brush the hair from left or from right or vertically, still you can have a good result," Cameron told his audience who numbered several hundred, some coming from outside Jakarta.

"And it is faster too," New Zealander Cameron who resides in Britain added.

For hair buns, Cameron prefers not using artificial hair.

"It is easy to make good buns with real hair if you know the techniques and emphasize in creating a balanced styling," he said while combing his model's hair.

A lot of hair spray is used to hold the hair. Some people in the back rows noted that Cameron used around half a bottle of hair spray on one head.

To observe and learn new hair cutting and dressing styles from Cameron who was here on his Asian tour, which includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Beijing, is interesting. He pays attention to detail and doesn't mind redemonstrating how to create difficult styles. And he is good in communicating his teachings. Instead of becoming another boring training session, his demonstration was a stimulating show full of humor. That must be the reason why this host of London-based BBC television station's Good Morning program was awarded "Best Educational and Theatrical Show" prize in Wella's annual International Beauty show in the United States recently, because of his hair styling demonstrations. (als)