Plodding on.

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Paul Brown, who owns six salons and day spas, says long hair is definately back. For women, it's a full bouncy look with lots of movement, not a flat style. Women have texture, shape and curls. For men, it's shoulder length.

He recommends having it trimmed every three months, if not every two months.

"Hair with split ends is just like a frayed piece of material," he explains. "If you don't trim the ends, the damage will go up the hair shaft. In Hawaii, so many people are in the sun and in the water. It moves up the shaft of the split ends to create more split ends."

Brown also notes that long hair on petite older women does not work. "It makes them look shorter," Brown says, "Perhaps they should try shoulder length so it has some motion to it." [shoulder length hair? I don't think so]

Brown, who has had his hair to his shoulders in a ponytail for different phases of his life during the 1960s through the 1980s, recommends shampooing every other day.

"I love the business I'm in, and I think hair of any length is pretty, if you take really good care of it," he concurs.

Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, a well-respected kumu hula [hula teacher] and song writer, has had long hair most of his life.

"All of my hula dancers in the halau are told you are not allowed to cut your hair," he says. "You need to let kumu know if you are going to trim your hair.

"In Polynesia, generally, hair is looked at as a mark of beauty and youth," he says. "Not that older people cannot have long hair. It's a tradition after you get married or have a partner, you cut your hair to let people know this is an adult married woman.

He beleives hair is a right of passage. When you experience grief, or a change in your life, people tend to want to cut their hair. "Hair is something that is not only admired by the people that see it, it is also loved by that peroson who is cutting it."

Also following that custom, Native Americans of many tribes traditionally kept their hair long, and they only cut it when someone very close to them died.

Scott Yoshino, film and TV director for Hawaii Pacific Entertainment, has had shoulder-length hair for a long time, except for a short stint from 1999 to 2001 when he cut it for a job.

Yoshino believes that other creative peoples such as graphic artists and photographers are more accepting of his long hair. The Mililani residnet says a lot of the reactions he gets are unspoken.

"I get the looks," explains the TV production professional.

Yoshino notes that when he lived on the Mainland, hw was the minority at a Southeast school, and there weren't any verbal comments about his hair. In Hawaii, the Hanalani graduate says people are more direct and verbal.

"Sometimes, having the long hair confuses people on what nationality I am, too," observes Yoshino, who is of Filipino and Japanese descent. "I have gotten the question, 'What Native American tribe are you from?' I have no Indian blood."

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I think one more part and I'll be done.

That part about petite women looking shorter with long hair is dumb. I am assumming most people who are petite, are well aware of the fact. Like most things, wearing different types of clothes, colors and high heel shoes isn't going to make them look any taller. So why on earth would a person keep their hair short for that fact! Silly. :-X

wrote on Jul 19^th, 2005 at 11:49am:

That part about petite women looking shorter with long hair is dumb. I am assumming most people who are petite, are well aware of the fact. Like most things, wearing different types of clothes, colors and high heel shoes isn't going to make them look any taller. So why on earth would a person keep their hair short for that fact! Silly. :-X

You are so right.  I'm short (4'11") and I look just as short with long and short hair.  lol  

BTW - thanks for posting these, Juri - very entertaining!

Cynde

The comment Paul Brown made about short people with long hair was kind of annoying.  >:( Even if I could afford it, I will definately not go to any of his salons and risk my hair getting chopped off.

No prob, Khrome! I thought this was an interesting article (except for Brown's comment) and wanted to share.  :)

Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed reading this series.  Thanks for posting it!

You're welcome and thanks! :)

We run with a gal who is definitely under 5' (although she won't admit it  ;D) - she has very full waist area length hair and we call her Cousin It - she loves it and I think she looks terrific...g