Nicholas Carbonaro is a hair stylist based in Ithaca and this week at Rose Cafe, he gave some helpful tips and tricks for college students about self-care. His expertise really shined through as he gave advice to individuals specifically geared towards their haircare questions. Surprisingly, there was not a large difference in the number of female and male students who showed up to the event.

One question that I asked is how I can put in the least effort, least amount of money, and maintain the health of my hair (i.e. avoid bleaching and harsh chemicals) but add color to my hair as a change from the all-black natural hair that I currently have. He recommended that I try balayage. I decided to research more into this style and I discovered some interesting things. For instance, this style is also known as “painting” for its natural look, lightened highlight look. Leading experts recommend the balayage look for people with natural short hair that is curly/wavy in texture. This is the exact type of hair that I have (look below!)

Some other points that I found interesting is the economics behind hair dressing. For instance, Carbonaro explained why female haircuts are so price heavy, it’s because it takes longer for the stylist to cut the hair, and you are paying them hourly rather than by the amount of hair they are cutting. Also, I found out that many of the shampoo products that exist under large companies such as L’Oreal which have high end brands (salon luxury brands) and lower end brands (i.e. Garnier) use essentially the same ingredients. Finding the the shampoo and conditioner best suited for hair type is the key to maintaining healthy hair. Also, I found out that curly hair has more surface area exposed to the air/sun/environment which is why it easily gets damaged. So, conditioner is very important for everyone but especially people with curly hair.

Carbonaro also made the interesting connection between opportunity cost and self-care. People often complain about the high price of a good haircut, but they don’t realize the value or worth of the money. For instance, someone is willing to spend money on a night out partying, but when it comes to self-image, and self-care, they become very considerate about pricing. I guess the overall message was that life is about decisions, and self-image is something that should be valued highly especially in certain industries related to business which is what I am interested in.

Also, a side note, Carbonaro was the Madame Toussads artist who made Donald Trump wigs and he told us that they received over 100 page document of corrections to the Trump statue that they had created (even though, everyone would agree the statue looked like a replica of Trump)!