| Beauty beyond hair: Talking with Keith Campbell |
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| Healthy Hair | |||
| Thursday, 23 June 2011 00:00 | |||
Photography by Roberto Ligresti
Helping women, stylists discover that true beauty is a "heart issue"By Sherrell Dorsey, My Salon Scoop writer"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel," says Renae Bluitt quoting writer Maya Angelou. To Bluitt, this is the best way to describe her experience as a long-time client of celebrity ‘hair architect' Keith Campbell.
In fact, he was the only stylist she considered running to after a disastrous experience at a Dominican hair salon that left Bluitt with severely heat damaged hair and hurt pride.
"As soon as I realized my hair was damaged, I called Keith for help," she says. "He washed and deep conditioned my hair, but more importantly, he counseled me through a very stressful hair moment by convincing me that with lots of patience and TLC, my hair (could) get back on the road to healthy. His words were heartfelt and comforting."
Bluitt's experience with Campbell is not uncommon. In fact, making sure all of his clients—whether celebrities like Serena Williams and Whitney Houston, or women like Bluitt—are treated like stars is his professional mission.
"We are affecting people every day in either a negative or positive sense," Campbell says. "With good intentions, the job is done. If I start right with my intent and end right, it will produce good results. But, it's all about the heart issue."
Teaching technique; inspiring excellence 
Photography by Roberto Ligresti
With almost 20 years in the hair business and a résumé that includes working on the sets of popular television shows like Girlfriends and ad campaigns like Dark and Lovely, Campbell lives, breathes and is passionate about creating and inspiring others through the art of hairstyling.
"When I first got into the industry, it wasn't what I expected," he says. "You can become discouraged as a young hairstylist trying to conform to ‘others' idea of what you should be. But you have to know your purpose and use your gift to inspire."
In 2002, Campbell opened his salon, Keith Campbell Studios, in Montclair, N.J. It's an exclusive salon experience that offers personal styling services as well as educational instruction for up-and-coming hairstylists.
David Thompson, a hairstylist at Corte Salon in Washington D.C., attended one of Campbell's classes. "I greatly enjoyed learning from Keith. He is a true inspiration and I look forward to the series of classes to come."
Beauty beyond hair 
Photography by Roberto Ligresti
"My voice is not traditional beauty. It's getting people to decide to be beautiful inside and out," Campbell explains. "She has to believe the look and be willing to maintain it. She can be beautiful Tuesday and feel ugly Friday."
Campbell equips his clients with products, tools and personalized tutorials to help them maintain their style at home long after they have departed from the salon chair.
Currently working on the release of his next book, Deciding to Be Beautiful due out in November, Campbell says the book skews toward a younger demographic and empowers young people through the art, creativity and inspiration of hair.
"It's important to figure out the needs of people and empower them from babies to senior citizens," he says. "If I can have an impact on tomorrow's decision, then I am ahead of the game."
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