Some of us are using this time in isolation to become amateur hairstylists. Actual Atlanta-based hairstylist Heidi Oley is using it to give her boyfriend, Geoffrey Clark, a new, pop culture-inspired ’do every day.
On March 21, he was Cindy Lou Who, complete with a rolled-up fringe and vertical ponytail. On March 24, he had Princess Leia’s famous buns. Four days ago, Clark was your favorite Troll doll. Oley tells the Cut that she came up with the idea for her own personal hairstyling Project Runway after closing her salon, Chroma Station, due to COVID-19. “We came to my family’s empty cabin that’s very secluded a few weeks ago. Since Geoff can work remotely, he asked me what I would do with my spare time, and I told him I would watch some educational videos. He offered his hair if I wanted to practice anything because he likes having his hair played with, and about 20 minutes after that, I said that I was going to turn him into George Washington.”
Normally, Clark has a head of soft-looking, shoulder-length hair, which Oley describes as “luscious.” But over the course of five weeks and armed with time, limited heat tools (including a hair dryer that broke midway through creating punk spikes) and no mirror or fake hair, Oley has transformed Clark, a very patient hair model, almost 20 times. Each look takes about 10 to 30 minutes to create and execute, she says. They even make their own costumes and then shoot in the woods.
Time to briefly put down your own scissors, pause your daily debate about whether to give yourself bangs, and visit Oley’s Instagram for some early Halloween ideas including a re-visit to your early aughts prom hairdo.