Bad hair day? Not for Making the Cut winner

Dennis Lee remembers waiting at his uncle’s salon and sitting next to celebrities like Heather Locklear and Diane Keaton.

He recalls one interaction in particular.

“You’re cute,” she said.

“You’re Cher,” he replied, star struck.

In these afternoons spent at his uncle’s Beverly Hills shop — his uncle being the world-famous hairstylist Allen Edwards, whose name graces multiple high-end salons — Lee became acquainted with the hair industry. He watched as his uncle cut, colored and styled clients’ hair, and as his mom, a manicurist, worked away making fingernails elegant.

Since the trade ran in Lee’s family, becoming a hairstylist himself seemed natural.

Add to that his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from San Diego State University, which he obtained in 1982.

It was easy to transfer his artistic skills to hair, since coloring is like painting and cutting hair is like sculpting, Lee said.

“Art and hair go hand-in-hand,” said the 54-year-old Laguna Niguel resident, who has been doing hair for more than 30 years. “I don’t think you have to be able to draw or paint, but you have to have an artistic eye. You have to appreciate creative works and have your hand in that.”

He said he also has an advantage in the industry since he has been styling hair for so long.

“I think we have the feeling of a lot of the decades today,” he said. “You’ll hear that some hairstyles are ‘60s influences or ‘70s influences. I can really adapt to that since I grew up around those styles. Some of these younger stylists can’t do that.”

Some of his past clients have included runway models and the royal princess of Saudi Arabia.

Lee, who currently works at Armando Joshua Christopher Salon in Newport Beach, was named the top hairstylist in Southern California by the Making the Cut competition, held at the Avalon nightclub in Los Angeles in October.

In the live competition, which is in its third year — the first two years it was held at the Observatory, a live-music venue in Santa Ana — the competing hairstylists are judged on three models whose hair they have styled beforehand and one haircut that they have to do on stage in 20 minutes.

Last year, Lee competed for the first time in the competition, which receives more than 1,000 applications annually, and was named runner-up. After being so close to winning, Lee was determined to snag the no. 1 spot.

“I’m a really competitive person,” he said. “I told them, after that first competition, that I was going to come back the next year and win. … When they announced that I won, my knees buckled. I just felt like I was on cloud nine and so excited. I was honored to just be there, but to win it, that was just the best achievement I’ve had ever.”

Lee said a big reward since winning the show has been the exposure and gaining more clients.

Scott Fontana, creator of Making the Cut and owner of Christophe Salon in Newport Beach, said Lee was selected because of his versatility.

He also said Lee’s on-stage beach wave cut on his redheaded client made the stylist stand out, because it was a look that could be for everyday wear or the runway.

“Dennis is very creative. What really stood out with him among the other finalists is that he’s pretty well-rounded,” he said. “It was runway work, salon work, magazine work. He nailed every aspect of the industry.”