In the world of hair, you’re only as good as the team that you have surrounding you. It’s an unwritten rule that in order to have that kind of hair that makes women envious (both in terms of your cut and color), you need to enlist a duo who knows how to make your color and cut work together because they’re equally important. There are plenty of tag teams out there, but none are quite as good as the up-and-coming talent of celebrity colorist Alen M and celebrity stylist Tyron Dupre.
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Based in LA at the eponymous Alen M Femme Coiffure salon (there’s also a location in Miami’s Design District and Alen and Dupre also travel to New York for appointments), Alen and Dupre do hair unlike any other. And we know firsthand just how talented the magic hands of these two are. What they call “beach hair” is, “this look that saltwater and the sun create on the hair. We bring that style to hair in the city,” they say. We call it downright perfection.
“Every artist is different in terms of what they create. For me, I like to keep the colors in the hair as natural as I possibly can so it looks like the hair has been perfectly sunkissed,” says Alen. Depending on the look you want, Alen, who can take the darkest of brunettes up to a beautiful shade of blond and color-correct a bad dye job like no other, says the trick really lies in how the hair is lifted. “There’s no special product needed to get the hair light without it becoming brassy or orange. It’s all about being able to take the hair to a certain level of lift to get the brass out without damaging the hair,” he says. “Sometimes, it can take a few sessions to get the client exactly where she wants to be in terms of color.”
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Totally attentive to whomever is in his chair at the moment and not one to overbook, which can distract from each step of the coloring process, Alen goes on to say that the most important thing to pay attention to when going light or highlighting the hair is to create something natural that echoes how the sun lightens the hair. “Right now, it’s really big to have deep roots and lighter ends. But, in order to get that to look good on the hair, you need to create a deep root color to give the hair dimension and depth,” says Alen. And, to keep the hair looking just as good in the coming weeks, if not months, the two suggest a good color-safe shampoo and hair mask to be used regularly to keep the hair moisturized.
Alen and Dupre first collaborated years ago in LA. The two have always worked together at every salon throughout their careers. Not only do they share a ton of clients, but they also trust each other in terms of the other’s work. The look they create—both color and style—complements the other so one never overpowers the other. And, any time you sit down in Alen’s chair for color, you’re going to end up with a cut and blowout from Dupre. “A fresh cut is always recommended after color,” says Dupre. That’s just the way it goes with them.
Whereas Alen creates ribbons of beautifully sun-kissed color, once the process—it can take up to three hours or more—is complete, Dupre steps in to create a sophisticated cut. “My signature look is long layers, like the ones you see on Victoria’s Secret models. We like to call them runway layers,” says Dupre. “When the hair is cut just right and then blown out and curled, you can really see the depth and dimension of the color.”
I had the opportunity to have my hair cut and colored by both Alen and Dupre on one of their recent trips to Miami. Yes, it was a lengthy process, but it was totally worth it. Every last trace of orange and brassy color (from a previous dye job gone bad) was completely removed and all I was left with were beautifully highlighted strands that were perfectly blended and placed and long layers that even further accentuated the new color. All in all, a job well done and worth every single minute, and I’ve never had this many compliments on my hair, ever!
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