#Frederic fekkai soho how to#

Name a trait or talent you possess that few know about you: I pilot helicopters. Least favorite smell: Anything too artificial. Who cuts your hair? Robert Sherman at the Fekkai Salon at the Mark hotel and Fabrice at the Fekkai salon in Soho.ĭaily tote or carry-all of choice: The same leather briefcase I’ve had for 15 years. Fekkai spoke to the Cut about his pride of Emmanuel Macron, the vegetable he’ll never eat, and his weakness for eclairs.Ĭleanser of choice: Bastide Figue d’Ete body wash/soap. “The most beautiful people are the ones that don’t try too hard and are just authentically themselves,” says Fekkai.Įasy for him to say. They trimmed the name, updated the formulas, and have resurrected the brand into a beauty and lifestyle collection inspired by the wellness of his native Provence, incorporating what he bemoans as the lost art of artisan and craftsmanship. In 2015, he and wife Shirin von Wulffen purchased a beloved French classic, Cote Bastide. Over the past three decades, his name remains synonymous with luxury hair care today, through both products and seven salons across the country.īut Fekkai himself has moved beyond hair. Salon owners Alain Pinon, Kao Hui, Susanna Romano, Julien Farel, and colorist Sharon Dorram are but a few who honed their skills at Fekkai. Clients had to take elevators to get from their dressing room to their stylist or colorist. A luxury hair-care line quickly followed, as did a move half a block away (thanks to backing from Chanel) to a five-floor space that became Frédéric Fekkai Beauté de Provence Salon and Spa. The notion of forking over $300 for a haircut in the late ’80s raised eyebrows (which were probably also done at Fekkai). His glistening dark eyes would meet theirs in the mirror, and in the spirit of a sexy co-pilot, he would ask, “So. Wearing the salon’s signature crisp lavender shirt and black trousers, clients (like fine, me) melted in his presence. The Aix-en-Provence native wasn’t too tough on the eyes, either. Seemingly overnight, every woman in New York (Hillary Clinton, Martha Stewart, Demi Moore among others) suddenly wanted her hair cut by Frédéric Fekkai (and his name graced the door of the newly built sprawling salon atop Bergdorf Goodman). Massaging the scalp activates your hair follicles at the root by stimulating blood flow, and 'the root of the hair becomes more alive and gives you more lift and shine,' he says.A handsome Frenchman moved from Paris to New York in the early ’80s. Next comes the massage, which Fekkai says is critically important to ensuring your products do their best work. 'Put just enough in your palm, and then apply it only on your scalp.' He explains that you don't need to worry about lathering up the entirety of your strands, because the water will do the work of distributing it for you. 'The right way to do the shampoo is actually not to put it on the hair,' he says (cue jaw drop). While it may seem simple, washing your hair is really the first step in your styling process-everything you do to your hair outside of the shower depends on what you do in the shower, so you certainly want to do it correctly.

#Frederic fekkai soho how to#

This morning, he hosted a group of editors for a fireside chat in his Soho salon to celebrate the launch of his first ever foray into natural haircare, called The One Atelier Fekkai: The Pure Collection, and schooled us all in the most basic of hair practices: how to wash it the right way. So when Frédéric Fekkai-a true beauty legend, no matter how you slice it-serves up haircare advice, suffice to say it's worth listening to.

He's the godfather of the modern hair salon, he managed to bring luxury haircare to the masses via his namesake line (which you've likely on the shelves of your local drugstore), and, in what is perhaps my favorite claim to fame of his, has cut the hair of none other than Hilary Clinton. In the hair industry, you'd be hard-pressed to find a name more recognizable than Frédéric Fekkai's.