Crowning Glory
When Kayla Lynam traveled to Las Vegas for the Miss America pageant last week, she took a few accessories to help her compete as Miss West Virginia. As part of those essentials, the Grove City College senior took with her two hair stylists from a salon in North Liberty.
Cherie Black of Grove City and Jodi Meling of Portersville, both of the VitaStile salon, also boarded a plane, checking a bag of tools and products.
The stylists would work backstage alongside a host of others at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, where preliminaries were held the week preceding the Jan. 24 pageant.
"They only provided the station and the mirror and the chair," said Black, 26, who manages VitaStile. "So we had a lot to pack."
Close to half the contestants also had stylists in the staging area, said the women, who had no way to plan when their client would emerge from daily rehearsals or how much time they would have before evening preliminaries.
"We didn't know if we would have her for 20 minutes or an hour ¿ but it was fun," Black said.
As part of their duties, Black and Meling helped with Lynam's makeup and adapted her hair style to each event.
The contestant's chin-length curls were pinned back slightly Jan. 20 so as not to hamper her piano playing during the talent competition. More showy versions of the style were done the following night, when contestants did on-stage questions in cocktail dresses followed by swimsuit and evening gown events on Thursday.
"We had to do her hair according to her outfits," Black noted. "But we definitely embraced her natural curly hair every night."
The preliminaries whittled the group down to 15 finalists, who would compete in all categories during the televised pageant on Saturday. The remaining contestants were featured only in all-group segments.
Since Lynam didn't make the top 15, the stylists got to sit in the audience and watch the pageant after prepping Lynam for her role in the event. Playing spectator differed greatly from previous duties, the women said.
"During the preliminary evenings it was very hectic, definitely hair spray flying everywhere," Black said. "Everyone was running around you with their hair stylists. The girls were trying to eat. It was really fun, though."
Meling, 21, who assisted Black, said although the accommodations were minimal compared to their salon back home, the experience offered challenges not present there.Makeup was darker, for instance, and hair was more pronounced."You're preparing them for the lights onstage and for people to be able to see it from far away," Meling said. "You want it to be extra shiny and extra big. It was different from your normal, everyday styling.""We definitely learned how to be adaptable," Black added. "It made us better hair stylists."Meling said a final bonus was seeing the finished product onstage."Usually you let (your clients) go and don't get to see your work again," she said.Never having traveled far from Portersville, Meling noted other aspects of the trip also offered an education.Neither of the two had been to Las Vegas, where they visited nearby sites such as Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon."We just really loved the lights and walking around and the glamour of it," Black said. "It was so fun. Our eyes were open pretty wide the whole time — we're both from small towns."As a final bonus, the women happened upon an upscale Paul Mitchell salon, where staff members offered a tour. The salon was owned by Paul Mitchell artistic director Robert Cromeans.Responsible for their airfare and accommodations, Black and Meling did fundraising and received sponsorships from friends and clients back home. Some money was raised through raffle tickets sold at VitaStile, where winners would receive gifts and services."We had to put a little bit toward it ourselves," Black said. "But it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we told Kayla we would get there regardless of what we had to do.""We were very pleased. Kayla was beautiful, and she's such an amazing person," Black added.Lynam, 21, also expressed gratitude for support she received during pageant week."The Miss America Pageant is when you want to look your best, and she is amazing," she said of Black, who has served as her stylist for three years."It was such a blessing to have her there, not just as a stylist, but as a friend and encourager."I went to do my hair yesterday and I didn't know what to do. I'm so spoiled."
