'Blow Out' is coming
to Honolulu

Jonathan Antin, the über-hairstylist whose Beverly Hills salon opening and product launch were chronicled during the first two seasons of the Bravo reality series "Blow Out," is taking his show on the road during its third season, and Hawaii will be one of the stops.

Antin will be at Ala Moana Center's CenterStage Saturday for the taping of an episode on how to achieve "Beach Beautiful Hair," before heading off to Sephora to meet and consult with fans in need of hair-care or styling tips.

JONATHAN ANTIN "Blow Out" taping: Noon to 1 p.m. Saturday Place: Ala Moana Center Stage Admission: Free Also: One-on-one consultations with Antin and his style team, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Sephora. No appointment needed. Call 944-9797.

Yes, there's much work involved, but Hawaii's on the tour just as much for sanity reasons, considering Antin's whirlwind schedule involving product development; deals and partnerships with QVC, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works; and New York Fashion Week, even as he tries to stay focused on his real job of getting people to love their hair.

"Blow Out's" third season, which begins airing March 21, calls for stops in about eight cities in four to six states, and Antin, owner of Jonathan Salon West Hollywood and Jonathan Salon Beverly Hills, made sure Hawaii was included.

"I grew up in Malibu, and my family's been coming to Hawaii since I was 5, about every two years until I was 20," Antin said by phone from Los Angeles. "It's really important to me to be here because I feel like it's my getting-away vacation home. I look forward to two hours of longboard surfing in Waikiki, and I'm looking forward to a round of golf."

Vacations have been rare for the hairstylist since his series began, with its snowball effect on his visibility and on sales of Jonathan hair-care products. A tireless worker before the TV series, Antin is not one to relax and leave his continuing success to chance.

"It's one thing getting here, but it's a whole other thing staying here," he said. "Ten thousand new hair-care products are launched every year, and we want to stay at the top. I'm lucky to have found my way onto TV, but it's never easy."

Antin has been seen crying on camera, and, though normally garrulous, he ended up nearly speechless and shell-shocked when it came time to talk about his product on QVC. Even so, his entire inventory sold out, so he'll return to QVC twice in the third season.

"It's hard to have cameras around all the time, but you just put your blinders on and try your best to do your thing."

BEFORE TELEVISION, Antin had spent about 20 years establishing his name by creating hairstyles for European runway shows and celebrities including Madonna, Kirsten Dunst, Alicia Silverstone and Ricky Martin, who called on Antin to work on his music videos for "Livin' La Vida Loca" and "She Bangs."

Antin's work has also been featured in such fashion and style magazines as Elle, Vogue, W, InStyle, People and Glamour.

He wasn't always concerned about hair, remembering one of his earliest haircuts, at age 5, at the hands of his older brother and sister.

"They just said, 'Sit here,' and I did, and one was on one side, and one was on the other, just laughing and having fun at the expense of their younger brother. I don't even remember how it turned out."

ANTIN'S MOM was a hairstylist, but it wasn't until he saw the Warren Beatty film "Shampoo" that the idea of becoming one himself clicked. He wasn't so much seduced by the glamour -- after all, he was a child of Hollywood who attended Beverly Hills High School -- as by the idea of helping people look their best.

"Most important is the hair," he said. "I know how great it makes people feel when their hair looks good. It's my way of being a doctor, my way of helping people.

"I don't see myself as a celebrity, and it doesn't feel like that to me. It just feels like what it is. I'm a busy hairstylist who just happens to be on TV. I don't even watch the show. I just live it."

Recently, Antin was featured in a New York Times magazine article about the hair-damaging effects of heavy metals in tap water, for which he's developed the Beauty Water Shower Purification System for filtering zinc, copper, lead and iron. It's available at Sephora for $95.

"For years I've been telling my celebrity clients, the day before something important, wash your hair with bottled water. It makes your skin softer and your hair shinier. I never knew why, but I was finally able to work with water experts, and the rest you must see on 'Blow Out!'"