92 SEPTEMBER 2019 | TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM
HORST^P.HORST/CONDENAST^VIA^GETTY^IMAGES(VANDERBILT)ORIBE STYLING BUTTER CURL ENHANCING
CREME ($46), ORIBE.COMSISLEY-PARIS HAIR RITUEL PRE-SHAMPOO
PURIFYING MASK ($95), SISLEY-PARIS.COMDAVID MALLETT GOLD DUST ($75),
BARNEYS.COMPHILIP B RUSSIAN AMBER IMPERIAL GOLD
MASK ($225), NET-A-PORTER.COMof two things: long, flowing Gisele
waves, or the well-set coiffure of the
society page matron. But just as the
Zuckerberg hoodie has eclipsed the
gold-buttoned blazer as a signifier
of wealth, things have evolved with
hair, too. “The modern rich girl
wants to feel pampered,” says hair-
stylist Tommy Buckett, who tends
the younger end of the doyenne
spectrum at the Serge Normant at
John Frieda salon in New York, “but
she doesn’t want to look high-
maintenance.” Buckett cites “subtlety
girls” like the eternally referenced
Diane Kruger, as well as a cadre of
European starlets who walk the red
carpet at Cannes, “looking like they
spent the day drinking rosé by the
pool and walked out the
door.” Don’t kid yourself, he says.
“That’s been blown, tonged with
an iron. It has serums and spray,
creams and tonics.”
With no cut or color of the moment—no
It bob, lob, or...blob—even the most cared-for
manes are skewing “a little more ’70s,” Buckett
says. The millennial embrace of natural texture
has resulted in a looser, less defined aesthetic
that could even be considered vaguely femi-
nist. “It’s all about you doing you.”
Stylist Stacey Ciceron points to women
with both the earned clout and the innate
chutzpah to “flip things upside down”—
as when Viola Davis started showing up
on red carpets with a chicly shaped Afro.
That’s power, Ciceron says. It tells the world
“you can create, be, or do anything you want.”
To Ciceron, who just helped the ne plus
ultra haircare line Oribe launch a range of
products for highly textured hair, “expensive
hair is hair with freedom.”On the most basic level, though, “expen-
sive” equals enviably luxurious, healthy
hair. It’s usually colored, but the color is
never grown out or overprocessed. “This girl
is doing everything right,” Buckett says. “She’d
never touch a blow-dryer without the right
heat protecting products.”
For New Yorkers who never touch a blow-
dryer, period (and even for some who do), the
“hair facial” has arrived, courtesy of beloved
stylist David Mallett. The 90-minute Tokio
Treatment at his new Soho salon involves a
keratin-rich solution applied in four steps.
“People say their hair feels the way it didwhen they were a child,” Mallett
proclaims. “Full of bounce, shine,
life, vigor.” Some spend $350 to do
it weekly.
Mallett’s French clients are
immaculately maintained, but
they go to great lengths to pre-
tend they aren’t. “They say, ‘Pffft,’ ” h e
says, uttering the equivalent of an
eyeroll. They prefer their highlights
muted and painted away from the
root. Some even ask to have their
freshly done strands tied up before
leaving the salon, so no one will
know they’ve been. But never with
a visible hair elastic—that, he says,
is “a sign of vulgarity.”
If you’re willing to take matters
into your own hands, start by zero-
ing in on products tailored to your
hair type: fine or thick? Curly or
straight? Quiz your stylist about
your texture, density, porosity—and
get a pro to build you a protocol. Should you
do so, you will undoubtedly be prescribed a
weekly hair masque, iterations of which are
growing ever more elaborate. The new Rus-
sian Amber Imperial Gold Masque from hair-
stylist Philip B (whose mantra has long been
“treat your hair the way you treat your skin”)
rivals the richness of any deluxe face cream.
A good masque, says B, is like conditioning
“a beautifully crafted leather handbag. If you
restore some of its natural oils, the leather will
look supple and dimensional again.”
It might even make you look like the
woman Barrett recalls spotting one night
at the theater. She had “the most beautiful
hair,” he says. “My friend said, ‘Wow. She threw
some money at that.’” How could he tell? “It
looked like couture hair,” Barrett says. “Per-
fectly done without looking done.”Gloria Vanderbilt gets
coiffed by hairstylist
John Bernard at the
Revlon salon on Fifth
Avenue in 1961.GET RICH QUICK
For hair that always looks like money, here is your arsenal.
CURL WONDER
Formulated specifically
for textured hair, this
nourishing cream
protects coiled strands
from breakage (and
defeats frizz) with shea
butter and avocado oil.PRE-WASH TLC
Enhance the cleansing
power of your shampoo
by giving your scalp
some love. White clay
absorbs impurities,
while java tea extract
normalizes sebum.24 K SHINE
The glitter of cham-
pagne bubbles inspired
the creation of this
shimmery volumizing
powder—use it to give
a simple ponytail or bun
a gilt upgrade.THE LUXE TREATMENT
For luster that lasts for days,
this intensive mask delivers a
blend of peptides,
amino acids, and
silk that will revivify
even the most
frazzled strands.Some of David Mallett’s
clients pay $ 350 a week
for a “hair facial.”