KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM With their hair cut and conditioned, these dancers mean business. In front are Regina Maka'ikai'i Igarashi, left, and Leilani Kama. In the back row, from left, are Gail Badajos, Mona Wood, Cathy Ostrem and Karen Kato. They started with damaged long locks that lacked style.

A hula dancer's long tresses
call for faithful maintenance

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By Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.com

One of the staples of women's hula -- in addition to movements honed through years of study and costumes reflecting the theme of the dance -- is the presence of long, flowing hair. That will be evident as dancers take the stage during Hilo's Merrie Monarch competitions beginning Thursday.

A dancer's hair is her prop as it whips around her face while delivering fierce turns during certain 'auana performances, or caresses her shoulders in modern dances that speak of the grace of blossoms or gentle winds.

And while those long manes are the envy of many women, any dancer will tell you the upkeep is murder.

Hair-care solution Nir Zilberman, visiting guest artist for Aveda, runs two salons, dubbed Kriza, in Los Angeles. This is his formula for perking up hair: Nir's Homemade Hair Detox Recipe 1 egg 2 spoons mayonnaise 1 spoonful beer Mix ingredients in a bowl. Apply to hair, leaving it in for 40 minutes under a plastic cap. Wash out. Use once a week to moisturize the hair and remove pollution build-up.

Long hair is prone to split ends and, as basically dead material, shows the wear that comes from daily bouts with brushes, blow dryers, the sun and, sometimes, salt water.

The sight of so much ravaged hair is something that's bothered Nir Zilberman since he started traveling to Honolulu to visit his photographer brother Ronen. Zilberman was in town recently as a guest artist at the Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa at Ala Moana (formerly Malama).

"I saw all these women with big, frizzy hair that is very long, and 40 percent don't want to change.

"It's OK to say no to change. I don't want people to think that they have to change, but sometimes change is good," he said. This may sound critical, but to meet Zilberman is to love his buoyant spirit and well-intentioned desire to help individuals look their best.

"My work comes from my heart," he said. "I look at these women as if they are my sister. If my sister goes out, I want to make sure she looks her best. I don't want her to look harsh. I think a woman should look classy, pretty and feminine."

He was willing to make good on his word, conditioning, cutting and working his magic on a lineup of dancers before the week's festivities. Included were 1978 Miss Aloha Hula Regina Maka'ikai'i Igarashi of kumu hula Aloha Dalire's Keolalaulani Halau 'Olapa 'O Laka; Leilani Kama, a former Miss Aloha Hula candidate whose sister Chrissy is up for the honor this year, dancing for kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho's Ka Ua Kani Lehua; and Karen Kato, a dancer and Realtor who had no desire to cut a centimeter of her 3-foot locks. She generally wears her hair down with tiny barrettes to lift the sides, or twists it into a bun while at home.

KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM Karen Kato's yard of hair was sectioned off, twisted into tight coils and held in place simply with bobby pins.

Most of the women's hair was in need of conditioning and, in many cases, a liberal dousing of Aveda's "Hang Straight" ($16). But beauty need not be expensive, Zilberman said, sharing one of his favorite detox recipes made from an egg, mayonnaise and beer.

While other stylists might look only at the shape of a woman's face to determine the perfect hairstyle, Zilberman factors in the entire body, and says long hair is not for women under 5 feet tall. "If you're long and tall, you cannot have short hair because then your head will look small. And on the beach there are short girls with long hair, below their knees, and all I can see are two little legs. I don't see a body."

Zilberman grew up in Israel and moved to America as a young adult, opening two salons in Los Angeles dubbed Kriza, meaning "wild" in Hebrew. He quickly learned the American way, one in which style often beats substance.

"The truth is that 75 percent of a person's success is about image and 25 percent is about talent," he said. "I don't like it because I think success always needs to be connected to some strength, but the truth is that most things are about image.

"It's the people who look successful in the way they walk around who become successful, because if you feel good about yourself and have passion, you will stand a little straighter, and people will want to talk to you instead of someone who's sitting in the corner who's not happy.

"But I think beauty and confidence comes from within, and it's my job to bring the best of them out."

KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM In hula attire, our models show off their new, improved long hair. Nir Zilberman, left, supervised their restylings.

This meant setting stylist Courtney Kitchens to work on hula student and Realtor Cathy Ostrem, trimming the hair to frame her face. Generally, hair that's long and straight is one-dimensional, registering as a dark, heavy mass.

Kitchens gave Ostrem a side part with swooping bangs and highlights to compliment her features. The end result framed and brightened her face so her smile was more noticeable than her mass of hair.

Kama and Gail Badajos also had the ends of their long locks layered to remove some of the weight, while maintaining the illusion of length necessary for the dance.

Stylist Rachel Seiffert was put to work treating Kato's hair with five bottles of Aveda's Purescriptions essential oil conditioning for body, shine and minimizing frizzies.

A week after the cuts were made, Igarashi said she was enjoying her new, shorter 'do. Only three inches of her hair had been cut, but she deemed it "a lot. You know hula dancers, they only let them cut a half-inch. Length is very important. Right now, my hair is too short for line."

Zilberman acknowledges that it's not easy for women to feel confident when society sends the message that youth and long, lustrous hair go hand in hand. "The hair is part of a culture that says that is what being feminine is about," he said. "At the same time, you have all these women over 40 wearing so much makeup that I can write my name in it, and they don't need full pancake makeup."

Mona Wood admits that even though she runs her own public relations company, Ikaika Communications, she feels the pressure of maintaining a certain look. One reason she clings to her long locks is because others admire them. "I cut it short once, but nobody told me I looked good and I didn't feel attractive."

As a single woman, she adds, "Men in Hawaii just like long hair."

"Something about the culture in Hawaii makes people feel that the hair is the most important thing about them. If they think that that's all they are, that's not healthy. What's important is what's in a woman's head and heart, not her hair," Zilberman said. "I'm willing to tell people the truth, even if it's uncomfortable, and support them."

But one can't undo the damage wrought by a patriarchal society in a day. So Zilberman does what he can, continuing to work on one head at a time.

Indulge yourself; help the planet Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa at Ala Moana Center will celebrate Earth Day from 4 to 9 p.m. tomorrow with an "Appointments for the Earth" fund-raiser. For $50, clients will receive two hours of services that include a foot bath, mini-facial, shampoo, hairstyling and makeup application (for women) or hand treatment with nail buffing (for men). Call 947-6141 for an appointment. Walk-ins will be accepted on an availability basis. All proceeds will go to Aveda's nonprofit environmental organization partners the Green House Network and the Hawaii Nature Center.

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