Long Beach resident and curly hair specialist Richie Roman was recognized for his talent with textured hair in his nomination for the Texture category at NAHA 2012. His many years of experience and expertise in the industry give Roman the ability to give some great advice to newcomers in the hair business. Roman’s passion is clear; and while his inspirations may be somewhat unorthodox, they allow him to create stunning hair masterpieces. Learn more about Richie Roman in our interview!
BANGSTYLE: Can you give us a little background info on yourself?
Richie Roman: I am a curly hair specialist. I’ve been doing hair for 17 years. I live in Long Beach, Calif. I’m crazy-passionate about textured hair, and I’m nominated in the texture category at NAHA this year.
BANGSTYLE: What are your favorite hair trends right now?
RR: I love the ombre! It gives the client a lot of room to stretch the appointments out and do more fun things with their hair that they wouldn’t normally do because it’s at the bottom and can grow out. I also love the curls and the perms— acid perms and laser perms. I love the return of texture. In my experience, over 80% of our population has some degree of texture in their hair; everybody just tries to fight against it instead of trying to work with it to see what it does. I’m really excited about that.
BANGSTYLE: What’s a hair tip that you recommend to your clients?
RR: My biggest hair tip is that when you do ponytails, don’t do what I call the “bald-headed ponytail” which is when you pull your hair back so tight that you look bald-headed from the front. Leave a little bit of texture, flip your hair upside down and rake it, then pull a ponytail so that you have some depth to the hair instead of just a bald head.
BANGSTYLE: How would you describe your ideal client?
RR: My ideal client comes in and tells me, ‘Do whatever you want and make me feel pretty because I’m a G rated girl, and I want to feel like an R rated girl.’ Our website is RRatedHairbecause I like the sexy, not over-the-top, but I like sexy. I think hair is an accessory.
BANGSTYLE: What made you want to become a hairstylist, and how did you get started in the industry?
RR: I’ve done hair pretty much since I was about four or five years old. My mom had five sisters, and I was always in the kitchen doing hair cutting, coloring, perming, and relaxing. When I turned 18, I went to beauty school and just kind of went from there. I’ve always loved it. It’s always something I dreamed about. It’s all I look at. The first thing I look at, when I look at people, is their hair.
BANGSTYLE: Who/what inspires you?
RR: Shapes inspire me. Right now, I’m really inspired by shapes of clouds and smoke. My collection is called Radioactive, and it’s inspired by nuclear power plants—the way the smoke kind of crinkles its way out. Rusty metals inspire me, as well.
BANGSTYLE: How did that even come into your focus?
RR: I don’t know. Everybody always goes to the pretty, shiny, and new; but if you look behind it, there’s always a rusty wall or brick beat up wall, and that attracts me more. Taking a picture in front of something like that has always been more interesting to me than taking a picture in front of a poster. I’m always attracted to the cracks and crevices.
BANGSTYLE: What’s your signature hairstyle, and how has it evolved?
RR: My signature hairstyle is my dry curly cut. I cut all my curly hair clients with dry hair. The curl lives in dryness, so it should be cut in dryness. It’s evolved over the years with the products and technology so that people are now starting to slightly embrace the curly hair client. My products give me a lot more play room now, where before everything had silicone, parabens, dyes, or alcohol. I used to be limited to three things I could mix together and make happen. Now, I have eight different products I can choose from. The rule of curls is that no two curls are alike, even on your head, so sometimes you need two or three products on your own head. Now, there seems to be an option for everybody.
BANGSTYLE: How long have you been working in the hair industry
RR: Professionally, almost 20 years now… but really my whole life. Again, I’ve always been a child hairdresser. All the cheerleaders and girls in school got their hair done by me.
BANGSTYLE: What are some of your career highlights?
RR: For me, NAHA is the biggest career highlight I’ve had so far. I’ve had some work published in Celebrity Hairstyles, and I was super- proud of that because I’m a pop culture victim; I love magazines and TV shows. We did an episode of Tabitha Salon Takeover, and that was huge recognition. It was very big for us.
BANGSTYLE: What are your future goals?
RR: I want another baby. It’s not a professional goal, but my big goal right now is that I want a second baby. I would eventually like to do more editorial and celebrity work and less salon work. I like the creativity of that side of the industry.
BANGSTYLE: Boy or girl?
RR: Boy. I’d take a girl. God, give me a girl. I’ll take her, but I want a little boy for Tallulah Rue to have a brother.
BANGSTYLE: So cute– what would you name him?
RR: Rocket Milo
BANGSTYLE: Do you have any advice for new hairstylists?
RR: Yes. Master the basics. Learn how to do a great haircut, learn how to give a great blow dry, learn how to style a wedding up-do, then do the avant garde, then do fashion. Learn the basics first.
BANGSTYLE: Which celebrities are rocking the best hairstyles right now?
RR: I loved when Janet Jackson cut all her hair off and went for that super short, shaved, almost androgynous look. Loved that. I’m always in love with what Drew Barrymore does with her hair. Pink just went back to that light cotton candy pink color, and I like that on her. Super fun.
BANGSTYLE: What would you say is the best thing about your job?
RR: I tend to be talkative and social. Working as a stylist, I have a job where I can be social, play with hair, and get paid. I get to go home, relax, and not burn everybody out because I’ve talked, gotten all of my news, gossip, and fashion out of the way at work.
BANGSTYLE: What would you say you’re doing to push the boundaries in the hair industry?
RR: I like to educate as many stylists about how to cut curly hair, how to manipulate curly hair, and how to treat its fragileness. People think it’s this beast, this monster, but it’s really fragile, dry hair that needs attention. When you treat it right, you have a client for life. I like to educate people in texture. Stylists are taught to pass an exam in beauty school; we’re not really taught how to deal with every kind of hair we’re going to encounter in the industry. We’re working on mannequins with almost-perfect hair in a controlled environment, and when clients with different hair textures come in, we’re kind of just like, “Oh, she has a lot of hair; what do I do?”
BANGSTYLE: Words to live by—hair motto?
RR: My life motto, which I hope to get tattooed on my chest someday, reads, ‘I don’t want to be the boss. I just want to be the best.’ I’m super competitive. I don’t want to run the salon. I just want to be the best.
20 Things: Richie Roman
1. Movie- Head Wig and the Angry Inch
2. Song- “Control” by Janet Jackson
3. Fragrance- I tend to be sensitive and allergic, so natural body scent.
4. Brand- Rusk
5. Hairstyle- Naturally curly
6. Product- Devacurl
7. Shop- Macy’s
8. Restaurant- Anything Chinese
9. Bar- I don’t drink so an oxygen bar
10. Food- Chinese or Puerto Rican food
11. Drink- Hypnotic
12. Website- behindthechair.com
13. Celebrity- Janet Jackson
14. City- New York
15. Pastime- Watching The Golden Girls
16. Memory- Stealing my friends’ heads on Barbie dolls, sticking them on twigs, and then sticking them in the ground and playing hair.
17. Season- Fall
18. Book- Invisible Life
19. Author- E. Lynn Harris
20. Want- I want to win my NAHA award, and I want my makeup artist to win her NAHA award (Jeanne San Diego)
