Celebrity hairstyles

Low profile, but extremely talented is Celeste Tuviera, who — I dare say — is now one of the most talented hair artists in this country. A graduate of Vidal Sassoon, which is the Harvard of hair schools, Celeste has worked with today’s most famous showbiz people, who all swear by the fabulous hairstyles she has done for them.

At the moment, Celeste runs her Symmetria Salon, which has moved to its new home at 17 M.J. Paterno St. in San Juan. Last week I had the chance to visit Celeste at the new location of Symmetria (wow — all of three floors!) and we got to talk about the new hair trends for 2009.

According to Celeste, more women this year will be sporting short hair, especially now that it is going to be summer in a few months. There will be lots of highlights and fringes or bangs will still be in.

For men, the look will be more androgynous. So few of them would opt for short do’s this year, so says Celeste.

During our talk, I managed to egg her on (with difficulty though) and discuss with me what she would do with the hairstyles this year of some of our top celebrities today — if they would agree to it, of course, since that is still their call — and here are some of her suggestions:

Regine Velasquez — Asia’s Songbird is still Symmetria’s chief endorser and Regine remains a dream model for Celeste. But maintaining Regine’s hairstyle isn’t always easy for Celeste because the singer does a lot of things and has to be versatile. Relates Celeste: “She moves from doing major diva concerts to cover of album where her looks have to be classic and simple to Totoy Bato where she has to have long hair.” Celeste claims that it’s difficult to plan Regine’s hair because nobody knows what the singer-actress will be made to do next. Fortunately, Regine is daring enough and so no matter what look Celeste gives her, Regine starts to own it.

KC Concepcion — A regular client at Symmetria, she is the sweetest — according to senior stylist Susan Aquino. Celeste, however, admits that she may also have difficulty planning KC’s looks because, like in the case of Regine, everything depends on the requirements of the young actress’ roles. “But I’d love to chop off that length,” says Celeste. “The short hair is more of her personality. She is a free spirit — a rock chick. She’d be able to carry that off because she is very fashionable.”

Jomari Yllana — “He still looks very, very good and can still give any matinee idol a run for his money,” comments Celeste. “If you ask me what I can do to his hair, maybe I can cut it and add a little bit of color that would blend with his nice skin tone so that it would come out more. He also has a good head shape and I would give him a haircut that would hug his head to show its shape.”

Angel Locsin — “She has a very small face and I’d probably cut her hair short and let the face come out. It’s going to be a short do through the back and a nice fringe through the front.”

Keempee de Leon — “I just cut his hair quite short,” relates Celeste. “On his next visit, I’d like to color his hair because I find it too dark and that makes his features come out too strong.”

Vic Sotto — “He is a very handsome man,” points out Celeste. “But I would want to touch up his gray hair and have less of the tapered, barbered-look. Instead I would give him a young, textured and layered look.”

Pia Guanio — Celeste recalls this series of incidents with Pia: “She came to the salon last Oct. 4 and said, ‘I’m ready to chop off my hair. I’m sick and tired of my long hair. I want a new hairstyle.’ Celeste did as requested and cut Pia’s hair to shoulder length. The TV host, however, returned in December and said: “I’m ready to even go shorter.” Celeste then gave her a hairstyle similar to the Vidal Sassoon classic bob that Pia sports so beautifully on TV these days. According to Pia herself, she’s been getting compliments non-stop because of her new hair. But if she still wants a new look for 2009, expect Celeste Tuviera to still be able to rise up to the challenge.