Is there a profession more social than a hair stylist, someone whose job not just requires but benefits from chatting? (For conversation’s sake, we’re discounting party planners and hopeful potential nominees.) There’s no denying that when done right, salon chair conversation is some of the most pleasant, and if you’ve had the luck of finding a great stylist—the kind you follow around town, even hop on a plane for—then you know what we mean. Our example? Lee Rittiner at Alen M – Femme Coiffeure.
He’s a coiffeur to the stars—Mila, Tiegen, Ringo (yes, Star), Cameron Dallas—and believes that the recipe for success is “80% you and 20% what you can actually do.” But we’ll let him tell you all about that—and about the VERY key differences between Snapchat and Instagram. Here, the feeds he checks on the rare occasion he doesn’t have someone in his chair.
Says Lee:
I’m a bicoastal celebrity hair stylist based in the city of Lost Angels: LA. I was trained by the industry’s best: Oribe, Serge Normant, Sally Hershberger and many others. I’m 30 years old now, and I have been doing hair for 10 years and some change. I work in LA, Miami, and New York, and I do it all: mens, women’s, styling, red carpet, photo shoots, tv, movies, editorial, music videos…you name it, I’ve had my hands in someones hair in every situation possible. I not only work with movie stars like Mila Kunis and Chrissy Teigen, rockstars like Ringo Starr and John Legend, but I also work with tons of our modern-day celebs like Rocky Barnes, Jay Alvarez, Sazan Hendrix, Jack and Jack, Alexis Siren, Cameron Dallas and many many more. I love cutting women’s hair, but mens hair is my vice. People have told me I have one of the largest male clienteles in LA, and GQ said I was the best thing to happen to a men’s haircut since gel. I’ll take it. But in truth, people are my thing—hair is second. I got into this career because making people happy is what I want and LOVE to do. I can talk to anyone about anything, anywhere, at anytime. Hair is 80% you and 20% what you can do.
Even when I’m not cutting hair, I’m checking up on my favorite people, clients or people who aren’t clients (yet!). I wake up with Instagram, and I wind down with it at night, but I really love Snapchat. It’s the future. It’s interactive in a way that Instagram isn’t, and I get to live vicariously through people. But the best part of Snap is the freedom to add so many things to a story versus Instagram which can feel weird if you upload two or three in a day. You have to be really strategic about timing, come up with a catchy caption…Instagram can feel like work. Plus, being spontaneous makes Snapchat fun. I can’t filter or edit my life like some people do on Instagram to make their lives, work and personalities seem a certain way…However, since Instagram’s more permanent, it’s a good way to get familiar with new people. Here are the good guys—my favorite to follow in both places 😉
