Santa doesn't just wake up with his holiday look. In Westerville, Ohio, the magic happens at Shag Hair Studio.
About 20 years ago, a Santa cold-called the salon, stylist Stacia Cohagan told Central Ohio's Spectrum News 1. That phone call led to a busy holiday season for Cohagan ever since. She's now up to about 80 Santas.
"It ranges on what they need," Cohagan continued in a segment the TV station aired recently. "Some guys just need a hair and beard trim, but the majority are looking for the full thing—bleaching the hair, the beard, toning it all out, doing the whole Santa look." Even the eyebrows are included.
One Santa, Doug Baird, reported that with practice Cohagan has cut the service time from four hours to about an hour and a half.
An Honorary Santa
As word spread, Cohagan became known as "Stylist of the Santas" and was made an honorary member of the local group The Buckeye Santas. The group's founder, Mike Smith, appreciates that the professional touch makes all the difference.
"I look really great," Smith says. "I wish I could curl it the way she curls it, because it looks dynamic when she does it." Cohagan knows how to make a Santa look his merriest best.
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