Gemstones take center stage as the inspiration behind the Gary Manuel Salon Fall 2005 Collection. 
Their multifaceted surfaces, geometric shapes and rich, brilliant colors are evident throughout the trio of styles created by the Gary Manuel Salon design team.

The entire staff at Gary Manuel participated in creating the Gemstone Collection.  The focus was on cut; color; and style and texture.  The end result is a beautiful collection using exaggerated shapes, hair lengths and color placement to create vibrant looks for both long and short hair.  

The explosion of ‘bling’ we are seeing in today’s fashions and the increased glamour on the runways was our inspiration for the Gemstone Collection.  We incorporated these fashion elements into our collection creating looks that are fun to wear and are a wonderful complement to today’s bohemian chic styles,” said Lisa Power, Creative Leader.  “The precision and distinct edges found in various gemstones reminded us of the hair cuts made famous by industry icon Vidal Sassoon.  We felt a collection of styles utilizing geometric patterns in both the cut and use of color would put a modern twist on things,” continued Power.

“We are looking at styles with bold color fades and asymmetric exteriors.  The color fade is a darker base color with lighter and brighter interiors.  The asymmetry shows up in the back with shorter styles moving into a longer tailpiece and longer styles having an asymmetric “v”.  Both have strong longer fringes underneath even longer overlayed pieces,” explained Gary Howse, co-founder of Gary Manuel Salon.

The short cut is a style of opposing lengths with an emphasis on the fringe and features a tail in back. The color team layered four distinct shades – ruby, amethyst, amber and garnet – on the elongated bangs as well as throughout the top layers.  The color placement follows the geometric sectioning of the cut; diamond, square and trillion shapes were used creating a facetted effect for ultimate shine.  This saturation of color provides a rich and luminous look for Fall.   

The longer cut is all about texture.  Reminiscent of the ’70’s shag, it has short layers at the crown with longer layers moving toward the perimeter and back.  A key element offering styling options is the fringe.  Shorter, undercut layers were made for those who want to sport bangs while longer, independent and disconnected layers were also created for a versatility in styling options.  For added dimension hair extensions were added in back. 

“Color placement and design sets off the cut,” explained Power.  “Three deep and luxurious shades of red – ruby, garnet and coral – were strategically placed in a series of trillion and diamond shapes to capture the ultimate refraction of light.”

The Gemstone Collection’s updo is a perfect example of the Collection’s versatility.  It can be worn straight or wavy; or you can mix it up with a combination of smooth and textured sections.   For an unexpected twist a long braided tail provides nontraditional length.

For more information, please log on to: www.garymanuel.com