Ask Sabrina!

Hairdressing has always been a part of my life. I literally grew up in my mother’s salons. Teething on rollers and later highlighting my doll head’s hair in the salon was child’s play for me. I remember being a young girl passing hair pins to mom as she styled hair behind the scenes at one of the Saks Fifth Avenue fashion shows. Being there that day and helping my mother was like seeing my own dolls come to life. And what a life it was! I knew then, that I had to be involved in this industry and bring fantasy to reality.

My father was also a major inspiration to me. As an accomplished and nationally awarded fine artist, sculptor, and painter, he encouraged me to explore the concepts of design regardless of the medium in which I chose to work. To embrace the call for design interpretation, whether sculpting in bronze or marble, painting in oils or watercolor, or even designing in Florentine mosaics, his example taught me to approach people with the same appreciation for their individual qualities just waiting to be stylized into their unique potential.

I attended Vintage Academy in the beautiful Napa Valley. This school with it’s grand instruction taught me the classics of precision hair design and sanitation. Upon getting my California Cosmetology license, I spread out a little. While working in my mother’s salons in San Francisco and Sonoma, I also became an assistant in the prestigious 77 Maiden Lane Salon of San Francisco’s Union Square. There I learned the fine details of cutting and styling hair. In addition, my new found love became hair color! The late Master Colorist, George Fisher allowed me to assist him in his creations. He performed miracles, and I took notes. A lot of notes! To this day, I put to use his color techniques in my own formulations daily.

Education is of the utmost importance to me! I love the process of learning, and I love to learn new things! I’ve taken countless courses with so many great artists. Below are some of the great artists I have enjoyed working with and being trained by.

• Color workshops with Carmine and Beth Minardi; celebrity color gurus of NYC.
• Cutting and styling shows with the couture hair designer, Frederic Fekkai.
• Attended class with San Francisco’s Gary Gerard and a class with the Redken® NYC Design Team.
• Learned the challenging French style of cutting and hand-painted color techniques of Balyage from the renowned team of Jameson Shaw of Atlanta’s Buckhead Fame.
• The most inspirational classes that I am proudest of having attended are those of the great Yosh Toya. His cutting techniques have become my own; natural to me, because of his fine personal direction during our sessions together. I can remember way back when I assisted at 77 Maiden Lane Salon, learning his techniques from fellow stylists who graduated from his rigorous training program. I always wanted to be one of those graduates too. I am pleased to say I have reached my goal many times, and continue to benefit from his past personal attention.