Sally Herschberger
People from around the globe flock to have their tresses chopped into one of Sally Herschberger’s famous edgy haircuts.
(All images of Sally Herschberger from the 2007 Bravo Network – Shear Genius – all rights reserved).
It doesn’t matter she’s one of the highest priced celeb stylists at $800 a pop which includes only a haircut. And only a haircut. The pre-cut shampoo and post-cut blow out and styling are performed by Sally’s assistants who are more often then not male.
Even though Sally is extremely expensive and hard to get into see, she has a very long waiting list because her clients want only her talented hands cutting into their strands. Her fame recently accelerated when she appeared on reality TV’s Shear Genius as a celebrity judge.
Sally told Allure Magazine in 2001 “telling her life story is exhausting”. That’s because Sally has been interviewed so many times about her life and her famous clients she has become understandably jaded in her feelings.
Rumors in the hair and movie industry point to Sally as being the inspiration for Shane McCutcheon in the Showtime series The L Word about a group of lesbian women and their lifestyles.
Although Sally is most famous for Meg Ryan’s often copied hip shag hairstyle, she also created some incredible haircuts and styles for the likes of supermodel Kate Moss, Sandra Bullock,Donna Karan, Renee Zellweger, Heather Graham, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hillary Clinton, Faith Hill, Julia Roberts, Cindy Crawford, Gretchen Moi, Jane Fonda, Callista Flockhart, Winona Ryder, Natasha Richardson, Neve Campbell, John Mayer, Kate Capshaw, Steven Speilberg, Tom Cruise and Courtney Love….to name a few.
Over 20+ years ago the eighteen year old Sally began her spectacular hair career in Hollywood (by way of her birth in Kansas). As the story goes, while still in beauty school the wanna be hairdresser became an apprentice to Arthur Johns, a well-known Hollywood salon.
From her very early days as a hairdresser Sally has continued to grow and evolve as a creative force. Sally made her mark in the big hair 90s by transforming the ho hum shag cut into an iconic hairstyle. Since the birth of the Herschberger shag she has continued to impact the world of hair.
In the early 2000s when Sally felt she was becoming typecast in her hairstyling career she jumped to the world of fashion in order to push her own personal creative envelope.
Sally is a long time fan of the Meg Ryanesque shag although she changes things up to work with current fashion and hair trends. She also likes extreme hairstyles including modified mullets.
The famous Celebrity Hairdresser told Allure Magazine her hair designs at times have been inspired by hairstyles of famous rockers including:
Marianne Faithful
The female rocker was the originator of “hippie chic” hairstyles with sexy strong bangs and really really shiny strands worn either straight (via a hot iron) or with some wavy texture. While Sally told Allure she was a fan of waves, she definitely does not like ringlets.
Pat Benatar
Famous for wearing “punked up” bobs, Pat had hairstyles that would not quit. Sally likes cuts similar to the original Pat Benatar style that are layered around the crown with the back cut into one length with jagged edges. Sally told Allure she likes the punky Benatar look styled very feathery via mousse while hand picked throughout the perimeter for tiny flicks along the ends.
Chrissie Hynde
Rocker Chrissie was known for wearing androgynous cuts that were borderline extreme crafted from an array of foreward cut angles throughout the hair style. Sally likes longer “brow beating” bangs that “hang like a curtain”. The famous hairdresser likes to use styling wax applied throughout the ends to give separation to the finished haircut “to be like a broom”. Sally also likes “kinda spikey but with movement.”
Sally’s flagship salon is in Downtown New York where she generally works on her New York clients. She also has an Upton NYC Salon as well as a shop in Los Angeles. Sally recently released her own line of hair care products which are only sold at Walgreens.
The Herschberger flagship hair salon is located at:
423 W 14th St
New York, NY 10014
Call 212-206-8700 for more details. Or visit Sally’s website.
Some of the Sally Herschberger salons offer training nights where services are discounted for hair models. For more information contact the salon for details and pricing. Keep in mind that when you sign up as a hair model you have limited options about how your hair is cut, colored or styled. Be sure you get all the facts before you proceed.
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May 11th, 2009 at 8:26 am
where are you near park and 66th, nyc? want a haircut.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
If I ever win the lottery, I have on my list of things to do a Sally Hershberger haircut. I used to work at a spa and Mariska Hargity (sp) came in and I admired her haircut. It was done by Sally and the cost was $250, which was already too high for me. Then I saw Kirsten who works at Nick & Toni’s (the Hamptons) and admired her haircut. It was done by Sally. Then the cost went to $650 and now $800, so all I can do is dream about such a haircut. Well, someday, anything is possible. Dreams do come true.
June 13th, 2010 at 1:31 am
I love it!