Photo: Rindoff/Dufour/French Select/Getty Images
“I’m really nervous,” was the first thing I blurted out when I sat down. It didn’t help that the day’s drizzle had kinked up my tresses.
When it comes to hair, I am fiercely loyal—and resistant to change. I’ve been going to the same hairstylist for nine years, sported a bob for five and have pretty much had bangs for my entire life.
But when I heard that this week, New York’s Cornelia Spa at The Surrey Hotel was hosting celebrity stylist Billy Yamaguchi as a guest expert in residence, I decided it was time to cheat on my hairstylist.
Yamaguchi has used his Feng Shui Beauty techniques on the likes of Lady Gaga, Deepak Chopra, Jennifer Aniston, Phil Jackson and Charlize Theron. He is constantly on the road, regularly appearing in salons in Los Angeles, Austin, Hawaii and other locations. According to feng shui, all energy can be categorized as one of five elements: fire, earth, metal, water or wood. Yamaguchi claims he can identify a person’s energy and customize hair, color and make-up to reflect it. “When you look good, you feel good and you perform differently,” he says.
My consultation began with four questions about my personality, lifestyle and the colors I thought were representative of both. I chose yellow and green. Yamaguchi determined that my elements were earth (“kind and giving”—I’ll take it!) and wood (“social”). Later, when presented with an array of blind essential oils for a sniff test, I ended up gravitating to the wood and earth scents.
As a wood element, he predicted that I like to keep my hair color and cut natural and simple (correct) and suggested a few tweaks: my long hair could use more movement with swingy layers and my natural dark brown color could be woven with rich red highlights for contrast.
For each element, he has a specific color technique. As Yamaguchi and his assistant wrapped my new highlights in foil, he gave me a prescription of foods to eat to alkalinize my body, suggestions on how to dress to compliment my round face and meditation tips to help quiet the constant chatter going on in my own head.
And whether you believe in feng shui or not, when my hair was blown out, I was blown away by the color and movement. I would have never gone this red on my own, but I’m glad Yamaguchi coaxed me out of my comfort zone. My walk home in the rainstorm was decidedly bouncier.
So how can you tell if your hair feng shui is off? “Are you losing your vitality? You can tell,” he says. “It’s being lowered by stress or you’re not focusing on yourself. You need to be the CEO of your own thoughts.”
In the coming months, Yamaguchi’s site will re-launch and eventually provide video consultations for people who don’t live near his salon locations.
Yamaguchi will return to the Surrey exclusively every 8 to 10 weeks to see clients in New York. Book an appointment at Cornelia Spa at The Surrey.
