Renowned hairstylist Alessandro Calvio casts a spell with scissors

Internationally acclaimed hairstylist Alessandro Calvio employs a self-cultivated technique of snipping hair strands in a approach that adds volume though inspiring a length. Pics/Suresh Karkera

We are are taken aback when distinguished Italian beautician Alessandro Calvio asks us, “Are we vegetarian?” only as we take a chair conflicting him during a recently refurbished Taj Salon. We curtsy meekly, wondering how he figured it out. On cue, a light auburn-haired stylist points during tufts of frizzy hair personification peek-a-boo underneath a keratin-treated, limp, poker-straight tresses and smiles, “That’s due to iron deficiency. You need to embody Vitamin C, B12 and iron in your diet.”

We make a mental note of a prescription, deliberation it is from someone who has to his credit 25 years of work experience, that includes training during a age of 16, operative with famed brands like Rossano Ferretti and Daniel Galvin, and being crowned as one of a ‘best cuts’ for UK by Tatler repository this year. Not to discuss a luminary register that includes Jade Jagger, Pippa Middleton, a Princess of Qatar and Sri Lankan import Jacqueline Fernandez.

Since he arrived from London early this week to yield his services exclusively during a swish SoBo address, his appointment diary has been booked. “I will be here each quarter, for 10 days,” he assures.

Shape ’em
Before removing down to business, Calvio chats with us about how we conduct a hair — from a approach we brush it to a magnitude of blow-dries. He suggests we use a fingers to dry a hair, when we protest about separate ends. “I don’t follow trends. we have cultivated my possess technique, and we like to cut hair according to your personality. we love, honour and listen to your hair. It calls out to me,” he says in a Zen-like mode. After a discerning hair wash, we start a styling session. “We need to supplement a bit of volume here,” he says as he tousles a hair on a crown. As we consternation what he has in store for us, he ensures, “I will figure and covering a strands on a inside though don’t worry, your length will stay a same.”

Texture talk
Watching Calvio during work is like examination a conductor approach an orchestra, despite with a brush and a span of scissors. Our strands, split into sections, play a pleasing harmony in his hands as he twists, snips and shapes them finely.

At unchanging intervals, he asks if we are gentle and indulges us in a freewheeling conversation. “Indian hair is one of a best in a world. It’s clever and silky,” he says, also pity his adore for Indian food, generally Prawns Gassi given his wife, Vanita, is a Mangalorean. And if we contingency know, Sonam Kapoor and Eva Green are on his celeb-hairstyle wishlist.

Then, he builds adult a dash with his scissors that play a symphonic balance as he frames a face with tresses and “texturises” them so that “our conduct feels lighter and a face looks slimmer”.

It indeed does when we check ourselves in a counterpart after a blow-dry (“always keep it during delayed speed”) and curling-with-brush process. Later, when a crony compliments us for carrying a good hair day, Calvio’s correct difference ring in a ears, “When we step out of a salon, we should not demeanour like we have had a haircut. It should demeanour natural.”

Available till: Nov 30 (he will lapse in a few months)
Timing: 10 am to 6 pm
At: Taj Salon, The Taj Mahal Palace — Mumbai, Apollo Bunder, Colaba.

Tress appeal
If we have curly hair, don’t brush it when dry. It will turn frizzy
To equivocate frizz, use sulphate and paraben-free shampoo, afterwards request conditioner, leave-in conditioner and serum
Best approach to character your hair: Rub your hands to furnish healthy oil and scrunch a hair on your crown. It will give volume to your hair. To supplement volume to a roots, scrunch upside down

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