Let’s face it: Lesbians can be a little crazy about their hair. Often misunderstood, occasionally mocked, and as varied as our community, that thing we call “lesbian hair” is a nuanced category all its own. The names are as cool as we are: the buzz, the crop, the fade, the shag, the ubiquitous faux-hawk, and the Big Grandmama of them all, the mullet.
Hairstylist and this season’s Shear Genius lesbian contestant, Dee Adames, knows all about it. Dee has wanted to be on Bravo’s reality competition show since it first aired over a year ago. This year, Dee got her wish and will compete against other mane mavens for $100,000 in prize money and rights to the heady title of “Shear Genius.” The show premieres tonight, June 25, at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo.
Season 2 Shear Genius contestants with host Jaclyn Smith
In addition to competing in the show’s follicle-shaping challenges, the stylists must wield client service and staff management skills as easily as they wield scissors and a flat iron. As Art Director at Peter of London Salon and Spa in Miami, scissor sister Dee brought all her talents to bear, and while she wasn’t allowed to divulge the outcome of this season, she hinted that she “did well” and “represented Miami and our community.”
Dee spoke to AfterEllen.com about staying true to herself on the show, what a $500 haircut will get you, and how she refuses to cut any more faux-hawks.
AfterEllen.com: Did you have fun being on the show?
Dee Adames: I had a great time. I learned a lot about myself and a lot about how I interact with other people. I’m very competitive, but I’m also very focused and very driven.
Dee Adames
AE: I’ve talked to people who have been on reality shows and some of them regret doing it. I’ve heard “never again” more than once. You have no regrets?
DA: I have no regrets in anything that I do. I’d do it again! Why not? Great exposure, great life-learning lessons. It puts you out of your comfort zone, and pushes you to be the best. Why wouldn’t you want that in life every now and then, you know?
This is something I’ve always wanted to do. I said to myself, “I need to be on that show.” And when I got on the show, I was true to myself, as always. I didn’t alter who I was. I am who I am … I hope the viewers get to see that and there are no alterations [because] of reality TV editing. [laughs]
AE: [laughs] Yeah, well, good luck with that.
DA: I just hope that they got my good side.
AE: How awesome is host Jaclyn Smith’s hair up close and personal?
DA: Well, she’s a hair icon just for being on Charlie’s Angels and wearing that sexy, feathered look. She’s a beautiful woman, an amazing woman. She’s very warm, very sweet, and her hair looked great, always. My hat goes off to her stylist.
Jaclyn Smith
AE: If you were going to change her hair, how would you do it?
DA: I wouldn’t change her hair, to be totally honest. She’s known for that style. I respect the stylist who does her hair ’cause I see that he’s an artist and sometimes you don’t have to change something that’s perfect.
AE: You’re an artist in two ways; you’re a stylist and you paint. I just thought of an idea for you, although it’s too late now.
DA: What?
AE: If you had obtained a clipping of Jaclyn Smith’s hair and made a brush out of it, you could have painted something with that brush. That painting would be worth a bunch, because it was painted with Charlie’s Angels hair.
DA: I’d make a killing! Who knows, maybe I’ll meet her again and I’ll be able to snip a clip of her hair.
AE: I’m sure she won’t mind. She probably goes to a very high-end salon. Honestly, Dee, is any haircut worth $500?
DA: It’s not so much the haircut; it’s the experience.
AE: The only one-hour experience I can think of that’s worth $500 involves a room at the W and an escort in a bustier.
DA: It’s about pampering yourself! And if the stylist feels that he deserves $500, and he delivers that experience for that client, it could be a life-changing experience for that client. Hey, if you have the money … $500 probably means nothing to some people. And $500 means a whole lot to a lot of other people.
AE: The most I’ve ever been offered with my haircut was some wine and a bonus scalp massage. Maybe next time it will be “life-changing.”
DA: Hopefully, you get a rubdown and maybe, a make-out session. [laughs] You know, if I’m going to pay $500 for a haircut, I better be making out with somebody.
AE: What would you say to those among us who are still sporting the mullet?
DA: You know, the mullet has transcended into the “fullet” – if you have a mullet, make it a lot more fashionable. You’ve got to blend in that back into the sides. So, let’s stray away from the mullet and get into the fullet, which is a fashionable mullet.
AE: Do you think the classic mullet will ever make a comeback?
DA: I hope the classic mullet would not make a comeback. I don’t know who created the mullet. I think they just got really tired and just stopped cutting the rest of the hair. [laughs] [Someone] somewhere thought it was cool and it just became some type of trend. Or maybe it’s a 50 percent—off haircut?
AE: Yeah, for $250, you get half a cut, no rubdown, a cheap-o wine cooler and a peck on the forehead.
DA: And, you walk out with a mullet.
AE: Faux-hawk: in or out?
DA: I hope it’s on its way out. I’ve been cutting faux-hawks for the past four years, and I am not lying when I say four years. It’s been played out. Played out. Straight up, if I have a guy who sits in my chair, or what I call a “boi girl” who sits up in my chair who wants a faux-hawk, I will refuse. And I’ll talk them into doing something else.
AE: What’s replaced the faux-hawk, then? What’s the hot new lesbian look?
DA: Definitely growing it out, working it towards the fullet. [laughs] Let the back grow out a little bit, let the bangs grow out a little bit, [but] keeping the center short, and keeping the sideburns a little longer, keeping it more feminine.
AE: Don’t take away my layers.
DA: Yeah, layers. And definitely edgy, a little tighter on the sides, longer in the back, definitely longer on the bangs, and versatile.
AE: What’s up with your hair right now?
DA: That’s my haircut, myself right now. [laughs]
AE: Not all stylists understand lesbian hair. If you’re lucky enough to have a lesbian stylist, or someone who gets it, you’re all set. But there’s always the danger of leaving the salon looking like a soccer mom or a poodle. And then you have to go straight home and fix it.
DA: I think stylists are a little intimidated to cut short hair on a woman. They have their own judgments on what’s feminine and what’s not. I mean, I’m gay but I don’t necessarily want to look butch. And then you do have some gay women who embrace their masculine qualities and they want to look a little bit more masculine. The stylist needs to put their judgments aside and give the client what they want.
AE: I think many of them just don’t get lesbian hair needs.
DA: They don’t get it. I think just being in the community and seeing the trend with lesbian haircuts, some will take it more to a very extreme, a very edgy direction. And that’s definitely my style. But I also have a lot of lipstick lesbians [clients] who like that sexy, very Victoria’s Secret look as well. So you have to be able to accommodate both kinds of clients.
AE: Lesbians would be well-served to find a lesbian stylist. They know the difference between a butch cut and a guy’s cut. There’s a subtle but important distinction.
DA: Exactly, exactly. And you know, you have some lesbians, honestly, they’ll go to a barber because they feel like a stylist won’t give them what they want. A stylist might be too timid or aren’t going to feel comfortable giving a fade to a lesbian.
AE: I know some lesbians who go to barbers, but between you and me, it’s because they’re cheap-asses. You know the type?
DA: [laughs] They are cheap.
Season 2 of Shear Genius premieres on Bravo on Wednesday, June 25, at 10 p.m. ET.
