Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Photo: S. Mahinsha

Making mane matter Viji at work

“Colours fascinated me from childhood. This led to an avid interest in international fashion magazines,” says Viji. Thus began Viji’s romance with hairstyling and designing.

A disciple of Javed Habeeb, Viji claims that there is an increasing consciousness in both men and women about the importance of hair care. A L’Oreal club member, Viji opines that Malayalam films have played a pivotal role in this transformation. His hair styling and designing experiments on actors have become style statements. The smart and slick hair styles of Prithviraj and Jayasurya in ‘Swapnakoodu’ are emulated to this day. Trained by the world renowned Shwarzkopf stylists, Viji says he adds his Midas touch to actors to suit their character.

According to Viji, Malayalees have a misconception that application of oil is essential for healthy hair. In fact oil is needed only for the scalp. Applying it on the hair causes ‘frizziness,’ resulting in perpetual ‘bad hair’ days.

While hair straightening is still popular, Viji says customers do not want the flattened look. Uneven cutting, he says, adds that panache to clichéd flat hair.

‘Bounce’ and ‘Uneven laser cut’ are the popular cuts now, he says. Multi-coloured streaks are currently the ‘in’ thing. Defying the conventional belief that one needs to choose a colour that suits one’s complexion, Viji emphatically says: “Today people are going in for global colours. Anyone can use the hair colour of their choice without looking appalling.”

Viji plans to begin a state-of-the-art hair lab soon. This is to facilitate people to diagnose their hair texture and enable one to test the protein content in one’s hair. If any anomalies are diagnosed, the lab would enable the customer to find an appropriate chemical treatment for his/ her hair.

The lab would also help test the hair strength and elasticity. The studio is also planning to enhance its computerised hair style selection process. This enables the customer to select a suitable hair style. The customer’s picture is taken and then he/she can select an appropriate hairdo from the choices available online and take a printout.

“There are specialized spa treatments for damaged hair on account of stress, fast lifestyles, unhealthy food habits, dust and pollution. There are specific remedies for dandruff and spilt ends. There are protein treatments as well as ones to add shine, softness and volume to your hair,” reels off Viji.

With his innovative ideas Viji’s fashion statement is simple: mane issues matter.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail