When you walk into Jamie DiGrazia's Chicago salon, you're immediately greeted by a sense of warmth. Located in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, Logan Parlor offers its clients a range of services from beard grooms to advanced hair color techniques. But perhaps it is best known for its gender-neutral pricing structure, where services are charged based on timing, hair length and stylist level.
DiGrazia is a NAHA Winner and nominee for Men's Hairstylist of the Year. In addition to MODERN, her work has also been featured in Allure and the Chicago Tribune. The level 5A Redken artist is known for her expertise in working with hair of any length and texture and her cutting transcends styles.
In what is yet another stellar representation of her skills, DiGrazia recently created a total transformation on this client who hadn't cut his hair in more than two years.
When the client moved back to Chicago after spending time living in South America, he turned to DiGrazia to make his hair goals a reality.
His hair, which had lightened naturally from sunlight and reached his mid back, was cut off and donated to Hair We Share, an organization that was formed in 2014 and provides hair solutions at no cost to men, women and children throughout the U.S. who are experiencing hair loss due to medical conditions.
"Overall, I was so humbled to see someone wanting to transform themselves and the lives of others by offering their hair for donation," DiGrazia says. "It has to feel liberating to remove and let go of such a sacred and personal part of themselves. As your hair grows so do you, and cutting it off can be a release, not just literally but spiritually as well. I love being a part of this transformation for people."
The Transformation:
DiGrazia began with a clarifying shampoo to prep the hair for donation (she recommends Redken's Cleansing Cream Shampoo). She then sectioned his hair in ponytails all around the head with minimal overdirection.
"Sectioning this way will guarantee getting the most length for your donation," DiGrazia says. "Rubber band at the top of the section and about halfway down the hair length. Decide how much hair you would like to leave behind, and use your base rubber band as a guide for where you would like the link to be by moving the rubber band up and down."
She then cut the hair between the scalp and the rubber band.
"I would suggest using a clipper such as Wahl Professional's Cordless Detailer LI to not dull your sheers to remove hair for the donation," she says. "They cut clean and sharp and worked great for this transformation."
DiGrazia then cut/clipped clockwise around the section for softness to remove length while also cutting each ponytail off. From there, she wetted the hair back down and blowdried it into a style before cutting for the final shape.
"Always be sure to check with the organization on how they would like the hair packaged," she says. "From here, you can really spend time sharing how to style and maintain your guest's new look."
DiGrazia's Toolbox:
Redken Cleansing Cream Shampoo
Redken Shine Flash 02 Glistening Mist
Redken Dry Shampoo Paste 05
Wahl Professional Cordless Detailer LI
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