It’s hard to find a great hair stylist. The “perfect” stylist needs to have so many talents beyond cutting and/or coloring. We need someone who listens to us talk about what we want to do with our hair and help us understand what we can — and cannot do– with our hair. Someone has to help us understand that we can –or cannot– wear that hair color or that the cut would be disaster for our hair texture. It’s not always easy finding someone who can be that diplomatic and good enough to handle cut, color, styling and knowing how to break down a celebrity hair style or cut.
I think I have found one of the holy grail hair stylists and she’s based here in Los Angeles. Based out of THE BUNGALOW salon in West Hollywood in meter-heavy Third Street. (There is a reason I tell you there are lots of parking meters!)
Here’s a look at the interior
The cool part is that I got to meet this celebrity stylist via my friend Gina Gomez! I had seen her go through a couple of color and style morphs and I loved what I was seeing. Gina is a great “connector” and she introduced me to Colleen Conway! Colleen may not be a “name brand” to you but she is very much a name that’s well known for red carpet and event hair styling, video & commercials as well as tons of editorial work with everyone from models to major celebrities.
Her career is stellar having worked with name photographers and directors on photo shoots and videos; a fabulous array of advertising clients and magazines including Glamour, Glamour UK, People Magazine, Elle, New York Times, Page Six, Apple, Sears, Carl’s Jr, Crystal Light and T-Mobile.
The Deschanels: Zoey and Emily
Milla Jovavich
Her celebrity clients run from A to Z including Britney Spears, Kristen Stewart, America Ferrera, Zoey Deschanel, Chloe Moretz, Mandy Moore, Natalie Portman and Amy Adams! The list of her clients is so substantial that I had to COUNT how many there were! She’s done such diverse looks that it’s hard to pin Colleen Conway down to just one theme or style. Knowing her celebrity work — as well as the styling she has done on people I know– I would say she’s eclectic in creating interesting hair styles and the styles she creates via cuts, color and other treatments evoke the vibe that the person in the chair wishes to reflect from red carpet glam to beachy waves to edgy rocker chick and everything in between.
Kate Spade Ad Campaign
Another ad campaign (check out the hair– such great style!)
I was invited to come in and get a cut or color and talk to Colleen. I was definitely up for doing that! I made an appointment with Colleen. Such a great hair stylist, she asked me what I was looking for. We talked about color which was a tweak in the base color and adding in more highlights. The color tweak was really important since the color was shifting (again) due to the crazy hot weather going on in So. California. The story of my hair is always interesting to stylists and colorists as they hear what I have done (and not done) to my hair.
By adding in more highlights I would emerge with a lighter, sunnier blonde. SIGN ME UP! While sifting through my hair, Colleen decided to give it a cut to balance out the significant amount of hair growth I had and help shape it to better show off the highlights. I was there about 2 hours + and I had such a fun time talking to Colleen about her career and how she got started in the UK and then moving to NYC then to Los Angeles. She is no stranger to New York Fashion Week or any of the amazing events in NYC or LA. She is often in demand but she is very selective about what jobs she accepts. Now married with a couple of children, she feels that she wants to focus on family though she does take some travel assignments. We talked about raising a family and how much work it is and how handling children in LA and with the celebrity factor mixed in, life can be quite challenging.
What I noticed is that Colleen doesn’t miss a beat with her clients. She is very approachable and easy to talk to. She’s at good at girl talk as she is about style and color talk. Her suggestions on my hair color were terrific. The cut was stellar -chopped off dead ends and blunted the bottom and other layers and worked in some symmetry on the sides. I was glad to learn that my hair wasn’t really longer on the right but the hair was just straighter.
Here’s one of the shots that came from that session with Colleen. (I sparkled with blonde-ness all the way home from LA).
I would like to mention that Colleen’s assistant was terrific. Very friendly and wanting to make sure I had water, tea, anything I needed to be comfortable during my time waiting for my hair to process! When Colleen was finishing up the color process and went to cutting, I wasn’t afraid or intensely focused on the cut. She is 1) that good and 2) that reassuring in her manner. I have walked away from places with cuts that should not have been done. That is not the case with Colleen Conway. I knew the celebrities she worked with (some I have actually met) and based on Gina Gomez’s great commentary about her cuts, her coloring technique, I was definitely in safe hands.
Here’s a shot of Gina, with her most recent cut. She previously had very long, gorgeous hair. (Thank you Gina!!)
During the conversation, it turned out we had several people in common reducing the connections to 6 degrees or less. I enjoyed meeting her thoroughly. When I left I felt like a million bucks. Considering super hot LA afternoon that day, I was a fast-toasting million bucks. While I was sweating, I was rocking blonde-y locks and looking amazing!
Gina also did a piece on Colleen Conway in January of this year! You can find it HERE on GinaGomez.com and here is the photo of Colleen that she used! You can find out how Colleen got started in the hair business and the super-important things that she brings to the table. Colleen is a very special person whose personal aesthete, talent,consistency and dedication to her work is what keeps even the most fickle of celebrity clients coming back to Colleen Conway!
While I could give you the rundown on this great salon and their great product mix (including not only selling Oribe but USING Oribe on clients), the point is that this salon is an easy-going place to hit without a lot of celebrity attitude. It’s comfortable and the staff are very friendly whether you are a celebrity or Jane Doe. I would HIGHLY recommend that if you are seeking a new look for the holidays or for the new year, you want to book Colleen Conway out ASAP.
I have seen my own look tweaked with such attention to detail that Colleen was able to tell me why one side of my hair is longer than the other ! It was not due to improper cuts, It was because one side of my hair is straighter than the other side (an AHA moment)!
While I was “comped” for this haircut and color, this has not affected my ability to write honestly about the salon or the stylist. I appreciate greatly the time, talk and the treatment I got but I am sharing what I really felt and learned about Colleen Conway. Honestly it comes down tho this: how can one ignore a bad cut or a color that has gone wrong? Exactly… one can’t. . How can one ignore a great haircut, color and stylist? It’s impossible because every time one looks in the mirror (which I did a lot), one is reminded of who made you look that terrific! Colleen Conway– a multitude of kisses.
Thank you to Bungalow Salon and most importantly to Colleen Conway for her time
Find Colleen Conway on Pinterest HERE. Reach out to the Bungalow Salon to book some time with Colleen before the holidays… or start the new year off fresh with a great new cut and/or color with her!
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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I love how natural everyone’s hair looks. Yours included!