| All About Eve: PhytoCelebrity |
| Kate Patterson |
| Revised Date: 10/01/07 - Original
Publication Date: 10/1/2001 |
Introduction
 Who
is that sexy siren with the flaming red hair and the smoldering
voice?
It's Eve!!
And who is that fabulous
hairdresser behind the much talked about red hair? It's
Suzette Boozer! October 2001's Phytocelebrity!
It's fabulous having Suzette
on the Phyto team. Her contagious enthusiasm, friendly personality
and incredible talent make her pleasure to work with. A call from
Suzette is like an update from a girlfriend, she is that down to
earth. Here's what she has to say about her rise to the top and
working with that scarlet-haired diva, Eve.
"I represent
Queens, she was raised out in Brooklyn"~ Doin It, L.L. Cool J
Possibly one of the luckiest
women I have ever encountered, Suzette's path to fame was not always
a clear one. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Suzette claims,
with a laugh, "I wasn't supposed to be a hairstylist."
While attending high school, Suzette had a knack for stalling hall
traffic with her fabulous hairdos. Soon friends started requesting
Suzette's magic touch, and, eventually, much to Suzette's mother's
chagrin, even strangers began to appear at the house just to have
their hair done by this teenage prodigy. In time, the traffic to
Suzette's "home salon" grew to be too much for mom to
handle, so Suzette took her burgeoning talents to a local salon
where she became an apprentice. Under the guidance of the salon
owner, who was also a cosmetology teacher, Suzette skipped beauty
school and went straight to her test!
While working in Brooklyn,
Suzette felt challenged by her "party going" clients who
were constantly seeking new and exciting styles to hit the night
scene. "New York is the city that never sleeps and the
hairstyles are always different. You have to be creative. They
[clients] want something new, they don't want the same hairdo."
Suzette's hard work and
ingeniousness paid off when her creations were noticed at popular
nightspots. "Like other celebrities, the first client I met was
at a nightclub. She saw my salon client and asked if I could style
her the same week. Then it was by word of mouth; from one artist
I've done upcoming artists to superstars." Indeed, Suzette has worked with her fair share of stars: Queen
Latifah, Gwen Stefani, En Vogue, Queen Pen and Missy Elliot, to name
a few.
…Then God made Eve
Suzette's recent collaboration
with Philadelphia rap artist Eve has definitely made the music and
fashion industries stop and take notice. Once again, this dynamic
duo owes their union to one lucky moment…
"With Eve, I was a hair
editor for a magazine." Honey magazine that is…after doing
the editor & chief's hair, Suzette was offered the beauty pages
and "that was that." She worked at Honey for a year.
"I always admired her [Eve] and wanted to work with her, so I
had the opportunity with the publications. I phoned her publicist
for her phone number. God is always watching! Eve was literally at
the door on her way to the salon." Eve never made it to the
salon that day. "Instead, I was invited over to her home. She
[Eve] explained what she was looking for, I did that and more. I
have FUN with Eve, we create new styles together."
Move over Vitamin
C and Pink, Eve's brave "new
style," flaming red hair, helped solidify her tough yet sexy
image and redefined red hair as we know it. When asked why she chose
the color red, Suzette explained, "Red has always been a crazy
color that people want to put in their hair. I knew it would make a
big impact. Red will never go out of style, it's always been there
and it is the color that everyone always tries to play with
first."
Smells like Team Spirit
Suzette's successful working
relationship with Eve depends on teamwork: "Eve is open to
suggestions. She collaborates, which makes it easier on her. She
just has to worry about her art, and we take care of the beauty and
styling. She works with the team."
Eve and Suzette plan
hairstyles together. Lyrics, location, other artists involved with a
specific project, all these factors are taken into consideration.
For the Blow Ya Mind video with Gwen
Stefani, Suzette added blonde
extensions to Eve's red hair in order to echo Gwen's platinum
tresses. "We try to match things as much as possible to keep
the look consistent."
Suzette and Eve have a
fabulous working relationship, they even hang out together outside
of work. Suzette describes Eve as "very humorous," and
recalls with a laugh how Eve started messing around during the shoot
for her sophomore album cover, Scorpio. "Her fashion stylist
always had top designers in her wardrobe, so she tried on a new
French designer and was aware of Phyto being a French product, so in
the camera she mocks a French woman, which was so good and
funny!"
PHYTO in the house!
Say "Phyto"
and Suzette bubbles over with
enthusiasm; the woman really does love the products. Her Favorite
products are the Phytodfrisant
Relaxing Balm and the Phytospecific
line; she raves about the
quality of the conditioners and styling
products.
 Suzette
reveals that Eve's beauty routine usually starts at home with a
shampoo and a leave-in conditioner. "Eve loves the relaxing
balm (Phytodfrisant),
milky restructurer (Phytospecific
Restructuring Milk) and all the
shampoos and conditioners...After she rinses, she [Eve] uses the
relaxing balm (on wet hair), which usually brings the curls a little
straighter." Later Suzette blow-dries the hair with the
relaxing balm. Then she uses a flat iron, "the smallest and
second smallest" to "style it in a direction, for a flat
look." Suzette will add extensions, only when it is necessary,
like the blonde streaks in Blow Ya Mind. "Usually it is all
natural." According to Suzette, Phyto"…saves
Eve's hair from damage…Hair does not break and keeps
growing."
As for the finishing
touches…"Her make-up is clean, very young: lip gloss, a
little shadow and some mascara."
The final word
 So
what are the most rewarding aspects of Suzette's job?
"With a product line like Phyto
you will see results with any hair type. That's rewarding! Also
working with easygoing artists. Sometimes you don't come across a
smooth ride, as a stylist you're always nervous when you're about to
do a job with someone new, but maybe it's my personality that they
see and like."
Suzette and Eve have hit the
road for a major MTV tour. Although Suzette has been on tour before,
"it feels like the first time." The last state in the tour
is Hawaii and Suzette is totally psyched!
Did I mention how lucky this
woman is?
Note:
HairBoutique.com thanks Kate
Patterson, Suzette,
Eve and Phytotherathrie
for permission to reprint this article. |