Making the cut: Meet the Boston salon industry's new gaurd

by Heather Bouzan, 05-02-2008

In the Boston salon world, you recognize all the boldfaced names. You see them emblazoned on storefronts up and down Newbury Street, you stuff their eponymous product lines into your medicine cabinet, and you read their sage advice regarding split ends, blowouts, and trends on these pages. But shouldn’t you be keeping a close eye on the up-and-comers, too? After all, they’re the ones who’ll be defining the hottest looks and cutting the A-listers’ locks in the months and years to come. We rounded up eight of the local salon industry’s new guard; commit these names to memory and you’ll be boasting to your friends, “I knew them when ...” in no time.

Melissa DiTocco, stylist at I Soci Salon (8 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.867.9484)

Age: 28.
Number of years in the business: five.
Training: “I trained with the owner of I Soci Salon, Marco Evangelisti, and it was wonderful. He’s an amazing stylist. I was very lucky to have him be my mentor.”
Specialty: “I definitely work with cutting more; I just have a love for cutting hair. I love doing styles that are a beautiful shape with something that adds an edge.”
Favorite product line: Kérastase.
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “My ghd iron.”
Best DIY trick: “I teach my clients and friends how to use a bobby pin correctly. I always say, if your hair is dirty, don’t wash. Do some teasing and pin it up. I am constantly creating new updo styles that my clients and friends can recreate at home on their own.”
Favorite celebrity cut: “My favorite celebrity haircut is Rihanna. I love the variety in her looks!”
Dream person to style: Kirsten Dunst.
Ideal client: “Somebody who is willing to change their look, who’s not afraid to take risks with their hair.”
Personal style in three words: “Bohemian. Contemporary. Urban.”
Extracurriculars: “I’m a foodie; I love going to restaurants. My favorite restaurant right now is Wings Kitchen in Chinatown.”
Ultimate career goal: “Someday I’d like to own my own salon. I would like to carry a salon that’s similar to I Soci. In Boston, laid back, a cool place for people to work.”

Derek Yuen, senior stylist/educator at James Joseph Salon (30 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.266.7222)

Age: 21.
Number of years in the business: four.
Training: “I trained with one of the top stylists here, one-on-one. She taught me a lot of things that I know now, along with the other educators — that’s why I wanted to give back to the salon [as an educator myself].”
Specialty: “Cutting and coloring curly hair. I just love curly hair; it’s gorgeous. I just love to play with it.”
Favorite product line: “I love the Unite line and the Phyto line.”
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “My shears and my blow-dryers.”
Favorite celebrity cut: Katie Holmes.
Dream person to style: “Britney Spears and Tyra Banks. Although I just fulfilled one of my dreams yesterday; I did Kate Hudson’s hair.”
Ideal client: “I like my clients to be friends with me. I like to talk to them like I would talk to a friend. And I like to feel like, the entire session, we’re just hanging out. Not so business-y.”
Stylist inspiration: “It’s probably really cheesy, but the show on Bravo, Blow Out.”
Career high point: “Yesterday, doing Kate Hudson’s hair for Bride Wars.”
Extracurriculars: “I love music — huge, huge music fan. And going out and dancing and having a good time. And travel.”
Ultimate career goal: “I’m hoping to work in a salon, but also [to style for] top fashion magazines and movies and photo shoots.”

Darren Le, stylist at G2O By Giuliano Spa & Salon (338 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.2220)

Age: 32.
Number of years in the business: seven.
Training: “I spent almost four years being an assistant. It wasn’t tough, but it certainly is mentally challenging.”
Specialty: “Mainly dry-cutting, because I am a very visual person. It’s exciting for me to see the instant change right in front of you.”
Favorite product line: “Right now, I am on Bumble + bumble.”
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “My shears.”
Favorite celebrity cut: “I would combine Demi Moore’s long hair with Katie Holmes’s fringe.”
Dream person to style: Brad Pitt.
Ideal client: “A confident woman. I treat everyone equally in my chair, whether you come in with money or you come in without money. I like the women, or even men, who have confidence, who never stop living, who are always onto the next change in their life.”
Favorite part of the job: “Being able to communicate with clients and listen to their story. Their life story reflects on how they feel about themselves, and that reflects on how they want to look.”
Personal style in three words: “Calm in hecticness.”
Extracurriculars: “I go do magazine shopping for inspiration; I do window-browsing for inspiration. I canoe in the summer. You can find me on the beach every weekend in the summertime. I hang out with my dog.”
Ultimate career goal: “I want to become an international hairstylist. I’d be able to work with a designer team and conceptualize the ideas for trends.”

Edward Tedeschi, stylist at Sassoon Salon (14 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.536.5496)

Age: 23.
Number of years in the business: four.
Training: “Most of my training has been through Vidal Sassoon. I’m from California; I trained there, and I did some other training in the advanced academy in Santa Monica.”
Specialty: “I’m definitely a cutter — I don’t color hair. I would say I specialize in women’s mid-length hair.”
Favorite product line: Kérastase.
Can’t-live-without-it tool: Hai flat iron.
Best DIY trick: “Product, product, product. Especially for the upcoming humid season. Use a spray or a light cream moisturizer. Use those before the blow-dryer, while you’re hair’s still wet. Once it starts to dry, it’s all over from there. Avoid heavy oil-based products and move to a light, silicone-based product. Use a lower level of pressure when drying your hair to avoid the flyaways.”
Favorite celebrity cut: “I loved Sienna Miller’s haircut in Factory Girl.”
Stylist inspiration: “It definitely wasn’t a childhood dream of mine. I started off just trying it out. One of my roommates at the time needed a haircut, and I said, ‘Let me try it out.’ It worked out pretty good. The next thing I knew, I was cutting my other roommates’ hair, their friends’ hair, and I had a nice little business going on the side. After that, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I thought I’d try cosmetology school. From the first day, I loved it. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Personal style in three words: “Inventive. Precise. Methodical.”
Extracurriculars: “I watch a lot of 24; Jack Bauer is the ultimate bad-ass. I skateboard; I’ve done that my whole life. I’m into cycling. I love to work out and basically just explore the city.”
Ultimate career goal: “I’d like to become a creative director for Vidal Sassoon. It would be the highest level of my artistic ability within the company. And one day, I’d like to open up my own salon back home. We’ll see what happens.”

Hilary McCoy, stylist/colorist at G Spa (35 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.4772)

Age: 27.
Number of years in the business: seven.
Training: Shu Uemura Atelier Forum, L’Oréal Professionals Balayage Preview, Wella Colors of the World, Bumble + bumble Design Studio, Deva Curl-Cutting Workshop, L’Oréal Cutting Workshop.
Specialty: “Giving clients a look/style they can handle on their own.”
Favorite product line: Kérastase.
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “My shears.”
Best DIY trick: “Always blow-dry bangs down and side-to-side.”
Favorite celebrity cut: “I am really liking how celebs are showing the versatility of the classic bob.”
Dream person to style: “The ‘virgin’ hair that has not been chemically altered and has no significant cut.”
Ideal client: “I love clients who have ideas when they come in and are willing to experiment.”
Stylist inspiration: “I was always curious about the industry, but I think that getting really bad haircuts throughout my childhood really sealed the deal.”
Personal style in three words: “Modern, genuine, creative.”
Extracurriculars: “Right now, remodeling my house.”
Ultimate goal in the industry: “Eventually, I see myself in an educational role, but right now I love being behind the chair.”

Brian Rand, stylist/manager/educator at Shag (840 Summer Street, Boston, 617.268.2500)

Age: 27.
Number of years in the business: eight.
Training: “I started at the Mitchell John Salon in the Financial District. The owner, Mitch DeRosa, he taught me a lot. From there, I went to Liquid Hair Studios in the South End, where I spent a lot of time honing the skills that he taught me. Then I left Boston for a while, went up to Portland, Maine, just to get a change of pace. That’s where I got into educating.”
Specialty: “I don’t know if I really would say I have a specialty — I enjoy working with clients who trust me and allow me to do what I feel would look best on them. Whether [hair] is long or short, I don’t really have a preference, as long as there’s something creative for me to do.”
Favorite product line: “I use the Davines line.”
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “I guess, not to be hokey or whatever, but my hands. I couldn’t work without those.”
Best DIY trick: “I always like to tell my clients, just be realistic with what your hair does. I like to stay in the natural realm. If you have curly hair, work with what you have. Hair looks the best when you don’t try to force it to do something that it’s not able to do on its own.”
Dream person to style: Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Ideal client: “Easygoing. Someone who is open to new ideas.”
Stylist inspiration: “It wasn’t really a planned profession. I was going to art school; I was studying painting. I was always cutting my friends’ hair. I have a cousin who’s in the business, and she showed me how well you can do, what the career was all about. She inspired me to pursue it. And no regrets.”
Career high point: “Honestly, I think in the moment right now. I’m really quite happy at Shag. I really like the crew there, and I really can’t complain. Everything’s falling into place right now.”
Personal style in three words: “Old meets new. I definitely favor classic style with a bit of a twist.”
Extracurriculars: “I enjoy painting a lot, being outside, skiing.”
Ultimate career goal: “Honestly, I haven’t thought too much about it. I want to take it as far as it takes me. Whether that’s where I’m at now, if it’s opening my own place … I’ve always gone with the flow, and it’s taken me to this point, so it’s working out well.”

Andrew Light, stylist/colorist at Stilisti (138 Newbury Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, 617.262.2234)

Age: 29.
Number of years in the business: six.
Training: “Advanced training, I worked with the former creative director for Vidal one-on-one, for cutting. Coloring, I’ve worked one-on-one with people who I’ve liked things they did here and there.”
Specialty: “My specialty is thick hair. I never meant it to be, but it just happened.”
Favorite product line: “For styling products and shampoos, it’s Davines.”
Can’t-live-without-it tool: “I guess my ghd flat iron that also curls.”
Best DIY trick: “For girls who want more volume, you can finger-tease [hair] with a little bit of texturizing paste. Use your fingers to fluff it up at the crown.”
Favorite celebrity cut: Heidi Klum.
Dream person to style: “Lindsay Lohan, because she’s always going back and forth with color, and I don’t think she’s found something that really fits other than the red.”
Stylist inspiration: “I was a music teacher before I was a stylist; my last year, I was like, I have to do something [different]. My criteria were: I knew I had to work with people, do something creative, and work with my hands. A lot of my coworkers had hairstyles from when they got their PhDs. I realized that a lot of people need an updated look and are afraid to change.”
Career high point: “The high point in my career so far has been coming to Stilisti and renting my own chair. Being your own boss, you just feel like you’ve made it.”
Personal style in three words: “Sharp. Light. Colorful.”
Extracurriculars: “Music, full-time. I write and produce electronic music and classical. And I’m in the process of starting a social networking site for hairstylists.”
Ultimate career goal: “My ultimate goal would be to get this social networking site kicked off. I think it would be really good for the business, because so many people I work with don’t have that business sense. Also, I would really like to see in the next 10 years the salon industry become integrated. This is one of the last facets of society to be segregated; I’d like that to change, not to have black and white salons.”

Priscilla Corson, colorist/stylist/makeup artist at Avanti (11 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.4027) and president of The Modern Priscilla

Age: prefers not to say.
Number of years in the business: 15.
Training: “I trained in London for cutting, in Milan for coloring and highlighting, and in Paris for makeup. I’m still taking advanced classes for cut and color in New York.”
Specialty: “Dry cuts and natural coloring techniques — that’s what I’m doing right now. It evolves and changes. Sculpture-cutting is also a form of dry-cutting. I teach my clients to recreate the look I gave them [in the salon] at home. I don’t want them to just look good that day.”
Favorite product line: “I prefer René Furterer. It’s really the best product on the market to treat your scalp and your hair.”
Best DIY trick: “It would be one of my blow-dry lessons, so you could learn all of my do-it-yourself secrets. There are just so many to share.”
Favorite celebrity cut: “I would have to say thank you to Victoria Beckham for making short hair popular again.”
Dream person to style: “I would like to do Katherine Heigl’s color, and I wish I could do Heidi Klum’s cut.”
Ideal client: “A client who changes their hair as often as they change their mind.”
Stylist inspiration: “I took an aptitude test, and hairstyling was at the top of the list, so I went for it.”
Favorite part of the job: “When my client tells me she still loves her hair when she gets home, and I’m the first stylist that listened and gave her exactly what she wanted, and that normally she has to go home and redo it.”
Personal style in three words: “Sexy. Classy. Original.”
Extracurriculars: “Snowboarding, traveling, sailing, cooking. And being with my family is important.”
Ultimate career goal: “The first would probably be to continue to build a fabulous clientele. To be known as a stylist who listens and who is always positive and happy. And to educate and help my clients look and feel beautiful and special inside and out. I’m also currently working on a product that will be announced soon.” @