ALL ABOUT BODT : CELEBRITY COLORIST AND THE REDKEN COLOR PRO AT PARIS FASHION WEEK

eSince she was 9 years old, Cutler Salon colorist Rachel Bodt knew she wanted to be a hairdresser. Now with three seasons of Paris Fashion Week and over 15 years of experience in the beauty industry under her belt, Rachel sat down with us to share her tips and tricks to achieving your dreams, whether you’re behind-the-chair or doing backstage hair.

I love people watching in New York, whether they’re on the subway, walking around – there’s always something to be looked at or inspired by. I also absolutely love the magazine stores in New York, because you can find the most eclectic magazines and different references, and I think it’s just super inspiring from like, architecture, to hair, to fashion, to makeup… there’s always something. And I really like using social media to look back at old references. I was actually pulling up pictures of Casino the movie, Michelle Pfeiffer and Bridgette Bardot, and just for a moment being able to go back in time and having them in my repertoire to pull out, I think it’s really inspiring. Fashion circles back around to another idea, it’s always good have a broad set of artistic references.

This year I was working with Balenciaga, and Holli Smith was the hair lead. For me, I love going as a colorist. It’s so cool to watch how fashion is always evolving, and from the hair aspect – color is becoming more and more important. So we go there 3 days before the show and do the prep—it’s just super exciting to get a peek of the clothes and watch the vision come together. Like they’re changing the looks, then they’re changing the hair – and finally when we go to the day of the show, and you see everything come together, it’s just that amazing moment of like, “this is incredible. I get it now, I understand why they wanted her hair dark, I understand why they wanted her hair bleached.” It’s just so collaborative. Everyone has their part and everyone’s part is equal.

I would say the first season I went to Paris for Balenciaga. I mean, that was such a moment – I mean I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, I just had to figure out a way to make this work. So many people told me, “You’re a colorist, that’s probably not going to happen.” And one of the things I did, actually before I went the first season is – I was like, you know what? I’m buying a ticket and I’m going. I don’t care. I’m just going to make it work, I don’t care if I’m doing clients in the apartment I rent, and then a few days later I got the job with Holli (Smith). So just seeing it all come together – it was just such a sign. (pauses) It’s happening. It’s really happening.

I first started working with James Pecis and Didier Malige and doing more editorial stuff, so that was kind of the pathway into doing more fashion week work. The first wig I ever did was for Kate Moss for British Vogue. James and Didier have just been so wonderful and helpful to me. The editorial path crosses over into fashion week – I love that idea of collaboration. I love doing clients, but I also love this super conceptual whole aspect of the industry.

Don’t ever let people tell you it’s not possible. There’s room on this planet for everyone. I mean, there are celebrity makeup artists, there are celebrity hairdressers, there are celebrity manicurists – there is room for everyone, and if it’s something that you’re really passionate about, and where you see yourself, take the leap, invest in yourself and just go. Do all the outreach you can. I think one thing for me is that it’s a lot of seed planting. Plant as many seeds as you can because you never know that one time that someone’s going to need something and you can be there. But anything is really possible. There’s so much room and there’s so much opportunity and if it’s not there, there’s nothing stopping you from creating that path

Oh can I say two because I’m greedy? *Laughs* Definitely, DEFINITELY, pH-Bonder must be in every single thing, because you are dealing with girls who are coming from Milan, London, New York, so you have no idea what’s on their hair, and it is like insurance. And, second, I would say Redken Shades EQ because it is incredibly shiny, you can layer it, layer it, layer it, and it looks beautiful on every single person.

One thing I really noticed a lot is that a lot of the models had actual haircuts – not just long hair, they had styles to them. The colors were either super blonde or muted/natural. This season it was about the individual, the personality -- everything went with them and made the model stand out more.