Carrie White / Upper Cut

Behind the scenes of every Hollywood photo shoot, TV Commercial, and party in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, there was Carrie White. 

As the “First Lady of Hairdressing,” Carrie collaborated with Richard Avedon on photo shoots for Vogue, partied with Jim Morrison, styled Sharron Tate’s for her wedding to Roman Polanski, and got high with Jimi Hendrix. She has counted Jennifer Jones, Betsy Bloomingdale, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn and Camille Cosby among her favorite clients.

Carrie White’s riveting beauty book (Upper Cut) reads more like a novel then a traditional beauty book. With a career that spanned more than forty-five years Carrie White lived the "Hairdresser Dream", styling everyone from Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret to many top Hollywood actors and actresses. 

Her work has appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, In Style, Allure, Vanity Fair, Ladies Home Journal, Mademoiselle, and Glamor. As one of Hollywood’s most sought after hairstylists, Carrie tells a roller coaster story of hair, celebrities and surviving life in the fast lane. Her engaging, celebrity-filled life story is a captivating tale but it’s her personal story that is at the heart of the novel.

Carrie White was born and raised in Southern California and graduated from Hollywood High school and enrolled in the Lapin Brother Beauty College. Through connections Carrie landed a position in a Beverly Hills salon and quickly made her mark in the all-male field of famous Hairdressers. Within a few years her appointment book was over flowing with celebrities. The list of her famous clients fills the final four pages of her book. 

But behind the glamorous facade, Carrie's world was in perpetual disarray and always had been. After her father abandoned the family when she was still a child, she was sexually abused by her domineering stepfather, and her alcoholic mother was unstable and unreliable. Carrie was sipping cocktails before her tenth birthday, and had had five children and three husbands before her twenty-eighth birthday. 

She fueled the frenetic pace of her professional life with a steady diet of champagne and vodka, diet pills, cocaine, and heroin, until she eventually lost her home, her car, her career -- and nearly her children. 

Carrie White’s book (Upper Cut) carried me back through time to the places and atmosphere of those distant heady days. She made me laugh with her total recall of the aura and feel of the Beverly Hills scene (people and places) that I remember well. I found myself uncomfortable reading about her struggles with fame and drugs and for the thought of her sweet little kids and all the hard times they journeyed through together coming out the other side whole and perfect again. 

With her sharp wit and keen eye, Carrie White has written one of the best stories about life as a world famous Hollywood Hairdresser,  that I’ve read.   I literally couldn’t put it down. 

An unflinching portrayal of addiction and recovery, Upper Cut proves that even in Hollywood, sometimes you have to fight for a happy ending. Carrie battled her way back, getting sober, rebuilding her relationships and her reputation as a hairdresser and today, the name Carrie White is once again on the door,  of one of Beverly Hill's most respected salons.

Star Hair Style / Michelle Williams

Drawing inspiration for the hair styles of the stars has become a national past time. It looks like Hollywood has a case of pixie-cut fever: Joining the pixie stars of the past, (Twiggy, Mia Farrow) Michelle Williams is the latest star to go super short with a platinum blonde pixie with wispy-swept bangs. Though she’s no stranger to short hair, having bobbed her long locks in 2007, her new bleach-blonde pixie has time challenged women embracing their inner pixie.

HOW TO GET THE LOOK: Would you like a hairstyle and color that makes you stand out in a world of long hair mop top hairstyles? If that’s the case take a styling lesson for Michelle Williams and watch heads turn when you show up looking both cute and sexy in a grown up way. To get the look let’s take it one step at a time, starting with a “style cut and shaping”.

LET’S SHAPE IT: Start with a scissor or razor cut contoured silhouette with super short side swept bangs, soft tapered neckline and short wispy hair in front of the ear. This boyish-yet-still-feminine-style lengthens a short forehead and face while accenting cheekbones and eyes. The Pixie-cut is a sassy “time saving” do’ that suits all hair types, especially those with small face shapes and facial features like Michelle. With a few adjustments (trims as it grows) you can easily find the ideal length and shape for your hair, face shape and personal style.

LET’S STYLE IT: Talk about easy…just shampoo, condition and add a dab of shaping gel, styling mousse or nothing at all. To dress it up give it a once over with a blow dry to add volume or straighten unwanted curl and waves. Finish with a pinch of styling paste for a textured effect or a dab of hair polish and your good to go. 

LET’S ADD MAKEUP: What a Pixie style with out makeup? To complement this retro-chic ’do smudge a sparkly pewter eye shadow on the top and bottom lash lines, tuck in a few faux lashes, and finished with a dusting of sparkly white shadow. Finish up with a drop of foundation to the pink lipstick makes “the lips a part of the face, not a separate statement.” Add small diamond studs and you’ve got the look.

NOW LET’S COLOR IT: Star’s change their hair color often for the many rolls they pay and Michelle is no exception. To get the look, her natural dark brown hair color is lightened several shades with cream bleach and followed with a pale blonde or Platinum blonde toner. To keep this up the new growth is lightened with cream bleach and toner every 4-5 week. This bit of hair color magic will cost a few extra bucks but hey; just look what it did for Michelle.

Michelle Williams bold Pixie-Cut is just what it takes to stand out in a world of long blonde mop-top hairstyle. Talk about easy…just shampoo, condition and add a dab of shaping gel, styling mousse or nothing at all. To dress it up give it a once over with a blow dry to add volume or straighten unwanted curl and waves. Finish with a pinch of hair polish and your good to go. The pillow case blonde hair color is a thing of beauty and a work of art. You’re sure to get rave review and your girl friends will be green with envy when you show up looking ooh-so stylish sporting your sassy Pixie Cut. See More Star Hair Styles @ www.georgecaroll.com