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Hairstyles turning heads

A Red Deer hairstyling shop turned heads recently with an exhibition of coiffures that even Lady Gaga might have considered over the top.

A Red Deer hairstyling shop turned heads recently with an exhibition of coiffures that even Lady Gaga might have considered over the top.

Electric lights, a bubble machine and an apple tree were among the features that Divas Hair and Tanning incorporated into its follicular creations for the Hair Wars Supreme Salon Tour in Calgary last month.

One of 10 hair salons selected to participate, Divas sent 13 models onto the stage and was rewarded with a second-place finish and the opportunity to compete at the Hair Wars regional finals in Las Vegas in July.

Salon owners Stacy Caithcart and Jessica Baker, and stylists Buffy Joss, Nancy Duhamel and Bonnie Chapin, primped and prepped their subjects into a human illustration of Earth’s beginnings and man’s fall from grace. Entitled Garden of Eden — Six Days of Creation, the show portrayed light, heaven, Earth, water, animals, Adam and Eve, a serpent, an apple tree and the sun, moon and stars.

“We started at 7:30 that morning and everyone went on stage at about 10:30 (p.m.),” said Caithcart of the event, which was attended by some 1,400 people.

Preparations actually began two months earlier, after Divas was accepted into the first-ever Canadian edition of Hair Wars — a styling competition that dates back two decades and encompasses cities across the United States.

Competing against Divas were salons from the Calgary and Edmonton areas, with Twisted Banana Hair Studios of Sherwood Park declared the winner.

“Really cool to be involved and see the finished product,” summed up Caithcart. “A lot of hard work and a lot of headaches.”

She described the countless hours of planning, designing and creating that went into Divas’ submission. These included obtaining and moulding hair, weaving it around and through accessories like battery packs, and attaching all manner of props.

Elaborate costumes and makeup completed the models’ look, with Youlea Zilkowsky of Red Deer’s Ze Zano Clothing contributing her designs and even serving as one of the models.

Most of the other models came from Deja Vu Modeling, with Caithcart’s 17-year-old son Taylor Maxwell playing the role of Adam.

Red Deer Reptiles even supplied a python to complement the “serpent lady.”

“I was optimistic, because I knew we had a good theme and I knew that we were being kind of controversial with the whole Garden of Eden,” said Caithcart, whose own styling resumé includes more than 40 shows.

Baker and other stylists at Divas have also competed in the past. They felt Hair Wars would increase the profile of their Riverside Meadows salon, which has been operating for about three years.

Despite its success at Hair Wars, Caithcart isn’t sure if Divas will now take its act to Las Vegas.

“It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of money,” she said, adding that a decision has yet to be made.

That hasn’t stopped Caithcart and Baker from pondering possible changes to their show for the regional finals. With many people claiming that the Mayan calendar forecast the end of the world in 2012, they’d like to append an Armageddon conclusion.

hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com