Heading in a new direction
In the 1990s, if you were a superstar, or wanted to look like one, you’d take pains to wear your hair dirty, matted and generally looking like you just rolled out of bed after sleeping off the previous night’s revelry.
Ripped jeans, T-shirt, baggy flannel shirt and an unkempt appearance completed the ensemble.
A recent check of the Internet reveals that bedhead — and grunge — are back, but somewhat feminized. Websites are touting jagged, untamed, irregular hair, heavy eye makeup and that “just woke up look.” Or maybe it’s the “never went to bed in the first place” look.
But that is so yesterday for Laguna Beach resident James Morrison, a Glasgow, Scotland, native who started out in the hair business at the tender age of 15, and helped found Toni & Guy USA and the TIGI/Bed Head line of hair products.
Toni & Guy, a hair salon and product company that began in England, became a huge success selling products from mousse to hair wax that helped create that coveted “bedhead” look.
Three years ago, Morrison sold off his interest in those businesses and is now embarking on his first solo salon in a renovated 1927 ocean-view bungalow on North Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.
“I missed the buzz of the business,” he said, adding that he grew up in a family business and wants his children, 1 and 3, to have the same sense of belonging that comes from being part of a familial enterprise.
The cottagey home is relaxing, quiet and definitely not grungy. Tea or coffee is served along with chocolates. Colors and textures are natural and muted, and so are the hair styles.
What’s in now? The beach look.
“Bedhead was on time for the public’s acceptance of messy hair,” Morrison said. “Youth experimented to make hair look punky. But what most people want now is something feminine, suitable and natural. The new trends are glamour, long hair, waves, softer hair, and painting the ends of the hair to make it look like sun highlights.
“It’s come full circle from bedhead.”
Morrison, who has lived in Laguna for 12 years, previously practiced in Newport Beach, from where he hopes many clients will follow him. But he has fallen in love with the “Laguna style,” which he describes as “sophisticated, casual and discerning.”
“In Laguna Beach, people dress down, they keep their hair simple and stylish.”
Just go to Zinc in downtown Laguna and you’ll be surrounded by it, he said.
“Everyone has their own individual flavor,” he said, colored by the city’s art colony roots.
After experiencing huge success, Morrison’s life was touched with tragedy in 2004 when the son of his business partner, a young hairdresser, died in an automobile accident. Morrison responded by creating a documentary, “One Life Project,” in which many leading hairdressers talk about their lives and inspiration.
“It’s the story of a young man and his loss,” Morrison said.
It debuted in 2005 and has been shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, he said. Some of those interviewed include Vidal Sasson, Horst Recehlbacher, John Paul DeJoria and Bruno Mascolo. The film has raised money for scholarships for cosmetology students.
Morrison has also launched himself as a “platform artist,” demonstrating and promoting products, and has also written a book, “The Alphabet of Balance.”
“It’s a book of daily affirmations because stress can make you lose your center,” he said. “Hairdressers are like psychologists. The successful ones have a great chairside manner. They have a way of making their clients feel at ease.”
Morrison believes that hairdressers should above all be good listeners.
“Most mistakes happen because of miscommunication. Clients have a good idea of how they look best. One size fits one; you have to personalize the style to the client.”
Twitter: @CindyFrazier1
Morrison Hair
Where: 1140 N. Coast Hwy.Call: (949) 497-3616
Online: https://www.morrisonhair.com