The Jehr Hair

For a moment, I thought Edward Scissorhands was slicing at my mop, the way Jehr went in at angles and penetrated my hair and its shape unlike any other hairdresser I had ever experienced. Since I couldn’t see what he was doing, I trusted that the lightness I felt around my neck might produce a stunning look. After an hour, without blow-dry, Jehr took me back into the bathroom to have a look. When I passed my sister sitting on the stairs, she gasped, “Wow, you finally look like a woman.” I looked in the mirror and it was true. Amanda was all grown up.

Jehr handed me my “prescription,” which came in a tiny Ziploc bag written on handmade Japanese paper. To find out the prescription, you’ll have to have the Jehr experience to find out, but let’s just say it’s probably better (and cheaper) than any anti-depressant. My hair has never been healthier by following this prescription, and I receive compliments from friends on a monthly basis, wondering, “Who does your hair?”

I had to take a hiatus from Jehr when I was a poor writer working on my book in Idaho and abroad these last two years, but I’ve since returned. His prices have gone up, but when you figure that he used to fly to Rome to take Italian clients, charged $1,000 for a cut, and spends time in LA and New York to cut his coastal client base, just over one-hundred is the one frivolous act that I allow myself. Plus, I only need to go to Jehr every four months because the cuts grow out so beautifully.

Jehr’s manifesto on how he cuts hair is simple, but his technique is complex. In it, he shares the roots of his process.

“My first taste playing beauty shop round about was in 1962 listening to Elvis on the AM radio in Queens, standing on a chair (chrome and yellow upholstered dinette set) behind Mom brushing her hair. Putting in rollers haphazardly wouldn’t be too far off base, except I was four years old. Spending time with Mom between two jobs as a single parent was glorious for us. Resisting style change is common, media icons set the stage for the notion of what’s “in.” For instance, Barbie Doll has been around since I put rollers in Mom’s hair, overwhelmingly contributing to women’s hairstyles for over forty years. “The Times They Are A-Changin’” is my inspirational soundtrack, creating new media icons for hairstyles that are more realistic than a forty-eight year old plastic icon as an image and style maker.”

So while most friends are running around every six weeks to cut, color, or straighten, I have one haircut that transforms into four as it grows.