Hair

While feeling good is a common byproduct of doing something good, it isn’t very often that after some charitable deeds one gets to walk away looking good as well. But that is exactly what about 200 visitors to Paul Mitchell Beauty School got Sunday. The school hosted a special charity event where various hair stylists from Orange County turned out to cut hair for OC AIDS Walk. Hair cuts were $20, facials were $15 and all the money was donated to the foundation, which will have its culminating event Saturday at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

You might learn a lot about the world while sitting in the hair stylist’s chair at Generic Youth. It would help, though, if you speak four or five languages. The scruffy youth boutique on the Westside prides itself on recycling — among its products are discarded keys and sweat shirts knitted out of old beach towels. Last week, Generic Youth launched a salon on one end of the store to complement its clothing racks, and when it came to decorating the stylists’ cabinets, the owners took the sustainable approach again.

This corrects an earlier version of the story. Christine Shively didn’t know the bald woman she saw coming out of the hospital’s cancer ward last summer, and she hadn’t crocheted in more than 30 years. Still, with time on her hands, and the woman’s image fresh in her mind, Shively went home, brushed up on her skills and began crocheting brightly colored “chemo caps” she would then donate to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Knots-Of-Love, the organization Shively founded in her Newport Beach home, was born within days.

Gina Forestieri had a herculean task to complete last week. The stylist at the Splitends salon in Costa Mesa had to learn how to cut hair in a new style with a new group of clients — and with cameras constantly in her face. As far as the New York native is concerned, that was no big deal. “I’m definitely made to do this because I’m not shy,” said Forestieri, who was filmed for the Style Network show “Split Ends,” in which two stylists trade salons and have to adapt to their new environments quickly.

The Paul Mitchell School in Costa Mesa was awash in a sea of red Friday. Red balloons, flowers, clothing and hair were symbolic of public support for the American Heart Assn.’s National Wear Red Day. Clients dyeing and spraying their hair red, or sporting bright red polish on their fingernails, included heart attack and stroke survivors, and family members participating in memory of someone they had lost to heart disease. St. Joseph’s Hospital representatives provided free health screenings and raised public awareness about the risk factors involved with heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women in America.

It’s not likely that a bald man would be approached by strangers in public asking sympathetic questions about how he’s dealing with the after effects of chemotherapy. Bald women, on the other hand, are easy targets for that type of invasive public scrutiny. Thea Chassin, the founder of Bald Girls Do Lunch Inc., a New York-based nonprofit group for women with alopecia areata, would know. She’s been bald for 10 years. Chassin was in town recently to host a Bald Girl’s luncheon at Maggiano’s restaurant in Costa Mesa, the first time the group has visited Southern California.

Robert Curtis may not turn a profit in the first three months of 2008, but for the time being, money isn’t the top thing on the hair salon owner’s mind. Curtis’ salon, Hair Studio 409 in Newport Beach, plans to let customers name their own price for haircuts and other services through April 1. The owner realized in recent months that many of his clients were feeling the brunt of the sluggish economy, and he created the limited-edition offer to give them a boost — and also to send a message to the local and state governments, who he wishes would lower taxes.

Bald Girls Do Lunch, Inc., a New York-based nonprofit group for women with alopecia areata, a form of hair loss, is coming to Southern California for the first time. The lunch is designed to create a supportive environment in which women can feel comfortable discussing their condition. Thea Chassin, the group’s founder who has been bald for 10 years, said being able to share details with other women with alopecia areata builds resources and resilience. “Friends and family mean well, but it’s a relief to talk to someone in the same situation and get tips on living openly and happily with this condition,” she said.

A court hearing for an alcohol-related probation violation for former Oakland A’s all-star pitcher and “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Matt Keough was rescheduled Friday for Jan. 14. “He’s committed to getting treatment,” said Joseph McGinley, one of Keough’s attorneys. Keough’s wife, former Playboy Playmate Jeana Keough, sat in the back row of the courtroom talking with an attorney before the hearing was rescheduled. She declined to comment to reporters.

George Parros keeps a secret under that tight hockey helmet. The Anaheim Ducks right wing grows his hair long during the year for Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides wigs to children who have suffered medical hair loss, and gets it cut just before the holidays. Last year, Parros had his girlfriend wield the scissors at home, but Saturday, he decided to make it a public spectacle. The Newport Sports Museum by Fashion Island hosted Parros’ December ritual, with the Ducks star and nine other volunteers getting in the chair to donate their locks.