"So, I think a feature on celeb hair would be good, what with the New York Times rating Blake Lively's hair so highly," I said to my Evening Herald editor when we were discussing story ideas. "Go for it," she said.
So I did. I checked to see what you guys reckoned and indeed, Blake's barnet came out on top. Emboldened, I commenced research. I picked the supporting 'slebs (Posh and Cheryl, of course) and set upon the task of getting some expert opinion from some of the nation's finest tress-dressers as to how these ladies go about getting their gruaig looking so glam.
For Victoria and Cheryl, it was a cinch. I got reams of quotes and info, in fact, I couldn't shut my experts up, as they extolled the virtues of both manes and postulated and pontificated as to how each strand was teased to perfection. But while that part of it was all going very well, I was beginning to panic a little about my leading lady.
BECAUSE NO ONE HAD HEARD OF HER.
Advertised
Yes, that's right. Not one haidresser I rang, and I rang several, had any idea AT ALL as to who this blond glamazon who stars in one of TVs hottest shows, Gossip Girl, was. "Blake Lively? Who's she?" queried one, with another cutting me off with a "never heard of her." I tentatively suggested that another might check the internet to see who she was, to be met with an astonished "look at a COMputer!?"
Ok, this was going badly. This was going reallllly badly. I was becoming wildly desperate as Thursday arrived and nary a piece of copy was filed, Twitter was taking the brunt of my frustration and I was on the verge of tearing my hair out. I was even starting to think that I was going to have to invent a bloody hairdresser and fabricate the tips myself, when I hit on a solution.
I called Billy Orr. Billy's a bit of a brilliant multi-tasker and he does hair AND makeup. His hair hat is based at Dublin's Kazumi and I knew he'd know, not only who she was, but how to get her look. And sing hosannas to the king of kings, he did. Straight on the job he got and called me back within 20 minutes with a huge list of product to use and tips to try in order to channel Blake's lovely locks.
Want to know what he told me? Aha - well, that's a story for another blog post, so you'll have to come back on Monday for more!
