l was raised in Redondo, 3 blocks from the beach on Ave. E, 5 years after my birth in Encino. I attended Tulita Elementary, Parras, (then Hillcrest), after that Redondo High, and El Camino. I'm a local girl through and through. In my early 20's I spent about a year in San Francisco, and a few years in Florence, Italy in my mid to late 20's, where I worked as a hairdresser. I had a great time in those places, and learned so much, but every time I came back to Redondo I felt like the luckiest person in the world to be from here, snif snif. Sorry, a feklemp moment. The last decade or so I've been commuting from Hollywood, (where the love of my life is), to the South Bay where my clientele is. I still work as a hairdresser, and I still love it after all these years, many, many years. I eventually came to a point where it was time to start my own salon. About a year ago, after an exhausting search, I found the perfect spot on Torrance Blvd. right by El Gringo Mexican Restaurant! I thought the search was exhausting, ha! Then the re-model started! I thought I knew the meaning of work..... only now am I beginning to feel settled in. Don't get me wrong, the salon will always evolve in little touches as they occur to me and I live in the space, (we do spend 75% of our time at work they say). Style , be it in any realm is always an evolution as we grow and change. That's how I approach my personal style, and that of all my clients. They're changing too. The brain and heart aren't stagnant, and our look needs to reflect that. In my blog I'll be posting things I've shown my clients, I describe what I'm doing when I do their hair, otherwise, how can they get a similar look at home, (notice I said similar because let's face it, if they could do it just like me I'd kind of suck as a hairstylist). I want to reach a wider audience, I hear about people making some mistakes about hair-care, and some of them are damaging their hair. Sometimes seriously. One tid-bit to leave you with: Summer is approaching, that sun is a formidable foe! Spray a UV protector, UNITE makes a great one called '7 seconds', get your free sample when you come in for a free consult at my salon, (while supplies last), and for God's sake people COVER YOUR HAIR AT THE BEACH with a hat, towel, turban, umbrella, boogie board, surf board, a friend, a dinghy, sand, whatever you can. Let them laugh, you'll have the last laugh as you sip your drink with pals later with you shiney-BOO-YA hair! Be healthy, Kirsten Monteil Salon name in case you didn't catch it: k. monteil... a salon 813 Torrance Bl, (less than a mile from the water) www.kmonteil.com 424.237.2939
