Highbrow Hippie Blog

Hanging with my friend, director Alma Har'el is the best way to end the 2023 awards season.I’ve been coloring Alma’s magnificent curls for over 15 years now, when we both were new to LA with just some big dreams in our heads. Even though she lives on literally the other side of the city, she’s loyal to the bone to Highbrow Hippie, so to get the chance to help style her hair when she attends the final night of awards season was a no brainer. I get pure and utter joy just being a spectator and a cheerleader.

The absolute highlight of the week. Sandy and sun-kissed golden curls for legendary artist Calida Garcia Rawles, an esteemed member of this year’s host committee for Frieze LA.This was my second time working with Calida on her overall look, and we decided to go with this electric blue DVF sequined wrap dress from my collection, in honor of our alma mater, Spelman College.

Since we landed on stress as our conscious living theme for March, there has been a lot of talk about what it is and how to identify it. A google search yields many different results, but for our purposes we are defining stress as a physical or mental response to an external cause. To put it simply, it’s a reaction. Our bodies are designed to handle and process stress in small doses, but when it becomes chronic it can have serious effects on all systems of the body including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive systems. Think about how you feel when you are stressed - your body feels tense, your breathing is shallow, your heart races, your stomach might hurt or you may feel nauseous.

When we opened the doors to the atelier, our dream was to create a space - our version of a salon -  where clients could find respite and escape from the world.  Where, when they sit in the chair, they can slow down, get still, and feel the ease and tension of modern living dissipate.  Since opening, we’ve continued to be intentional in offering solutions that aim to destress modern living. That being said, this month we’re focusing the conversation around stress. Too much stress comes with an array of negative side effects - both in the short and long term - and it’s a topic, especially in the last few years, that lands in our chair more often than not.  

About last night!…Our beautiful and talented client- director, writer and producer Idil Ibrahim, attends the NAACP as part of the Queen Collective filmmakers for her film, ‘In Her Element’.The Queen Collective is P&G’s signature talent development initiative, created in partnership with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit Entertainment, and Tribeca Studios, aimed at accelerating gender and racial equality behind the camera. Now in its fourth year, this wonderful sisterhood is enabling even more black female and non-binary directors to produce original documentaries and for the first time a scripted short, sharing their perspective through film.