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Kim Vo Explains Definition Of A Blonde-orexic

Shear Genius 3 has the great honor of having the Emperor Of Blonde, Master Colorist Kim Vo as a regular judge on the show. Not only is this man truly the guru of golden tresses, he is funny, friendly and a true celebrity in his own right.

Kim Vo is great as a judge. Not only does he give really good advice that is appropriate, he gives really solid feedback about the competition hairstyles and color. His judging style is fair without out being overly harsh and he softens all the blows with fall-out-of-your-seat humor.

Whether you love Kim or not, you can't deny he has the best hair of anyone on the show, including Camilla. Kim rocks a perfect blonde hue and why wouldn't he? He's knows color better than anyone.

(Master Colorist and Shear Genius 3 Judge - Kim Vo - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

Although Kim generally only judges the Elimination Challenge, for the second week, he was the judge for the Shortcuts Challenge which involved making over a group of truly tragic blonde models.

Shortcut Challenge - Makeover A Group Of Blonde-orexics

Camilla introduced Kim Vo as "Kim is considered Hollywood's Master Colorist responsible for the looks of celebrities like Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson and Britney Spears."

(Image of Shear Genius Judges - LF Joel Warren, Kim Vo, Jonathan Antin and Camilla Alves - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

Kim told the stylists and the models about the Shortcut Challenge which was appropriately enough about hair color.  Kim said "LA is known as a mecca of ultimate blondes."

And so many women here try to achieve that look that they think is natural. But unfortunately end up looking blonde-orexic. Hair's over-processed and in need of repair."

Indeed the models had frightfully overprocessed, damaged, dull and white cotton looking tresses.

Faatemah said it well about the blonde models "there hair was in dire need of 911.  No one deserves that hair.  Not even a $2 hooker."

Working The Blonde Room

The contestants had two hours to change the color the of the model's hair and the healthiness.  The contestants were told they would be judged on technical skills and how well the final choice of color suited the client.  The other point they would be judge on was client satisfaction.

(Adee's blonde-orexic model after her makeover - All Rights Reserved)

There was the rub.  None of the blonde-orexic models wanted to be anything but blonde, which proved quite a challenge for the SG3 hairdressers.   As Kim visited with each of the SG contestants he discovered most were going to play it safe and just try to amp up the healthy hair factor but leave the models blonde.

Faatemah told the camera "of course she wants to stay blonde like they aways do even though its fried."   Kim reaction to Faatemah when she told him her model wanted to stay blonde was "just seems so safe my love. You have to work on her, work on her."

Is Anyone A Blonde-Orexic?

Kim seemed amazed that none of the models were willing to part with their blonde tresses. He said in general "is anyone here blonde-orexic? Did anyone here that word blonde-orexic? Helllooo guys. Blonde-orexic, blonde-orexic, blonde-orexic!"

When he visited Arzo, whose catch phrase was "the proof is in the pudding", he said "isn't that dangerous - the proof is in the pudding?" He smiled and said "that's dangerous."  In the end Arzo continued on her own blonding path.

(Arzo's blonde-orexic model after her makeover - All Rights Reserved)

To Adee who admitted to the camera he had didn't color in years Kim said "Adee I'm a little concerned. There's a lot of crazy foils." In fact Adee had massive foils everywhere. Kim asked "are you worried about it bleeding?" I know I would have been worried and I wasn't even doing the hair.

At the final judging he said to Adee who put darker hair underneath his blonde model "this was a look that was dated for us three years ago. We wanted to see that London vibe." He also said "this is a dated look, you've gotta step it up."

Blonde Crazy

To Brian whose model looked unfinished "you know, this is crazy. You got bleach in her eye. I mean would you put up with that Brian? If someone said to you, your hair's going to grow better in a few weeks and we'll have a fabulous look."

During the judging Kim said "Brian, where do I start? You got bleach in the eye, you didn't finish the competition, your heart was there but this takes a lot more than heart. Time management is so important."

To Faatemah "the only thing I would really be careful with is the lowlights in front. If someone ever tells you they really want it light don't even get close to lowlight. Then again this is real estate. This is Park Place, this is Boardwalk."

(Faatemah's blonde-orexic model after her makeover - All Rights Reserved)

To Jon he said "I've got to touch this hair. Absolutely. It seems pretty healthy. Healthier than it was before. Now I think she would have been a candidate to go dark." As he picked the top three (Jon, Matthew, Janine ) he said "your client looks great. She looks exactly updated.

Arzo's Proof Of The Blonde Pudding

Arzo followed her proof in the pudding journey and gave her model dimensional color. Kim's take?  He said "she still looks blonde to me."

April told Kim about her very blonde model "she's not blonde, it's just your imagination." Kim said "it looks the same and I feel like she just had her roots done. And the color, honestly, is not age appropriate. It's actually so ashy that it kinda aged her." April's feedback? "Sometimes I feel the judging can be a bit harsh."

When she came in at the bottom Kim said "April, I just would have loved to see a drastic change. She (the model) was a great candidate for that."

For Amy Kim said "her previous color beforehand was much warmer. And I think to cool it so extreme...you have to look at skin tone. Now you have to wear a lot more make-up."

Janine And Kim On The Same Blonde Wavelength

When Kim looked at Janine's model he said "now do you see ash? I want to be clear we're on the same wavelength. No, she looks better than before. Sure. But I would love to see it a little brighter."  He also said "I think you really listened to your client.  You really modernized it and it looks really healthy."

(Janine's blonde-orexic model after her makeover - All Rights Reserved)

From Melting Blonde To Jessica Rabbit Red

Matthew took his model from burnt out platinum blonde to Jessica Rabbit red. Kim said "what a great transformation. You know Matthew, I want it not to look so artificial but she looks amazing." He told Matthew, who was the ultimate winner of the challenge "your model really did have tragic hair. And you picked a color that was great."

Brig chopped a lot of hair off her model and colored her hair. Kim said "you took a lot off. I would definitely added some depth to the hair. Reds are tough. You might want to paint on a few colors to get some movement. So it doesn't get ashed out. A little bit of pow, a little bit of sassiness."

The Winners And The Losers

The losers included Adee with a date look and Brian whose blonde model's hair didn't muster Kim's approval.  Also in the bottom three was April who Kim felt should have taken more of a risk.

(After image of Matthew's blonde-orexic model - Shear Genius 3, Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

Ultimately Kim thought three of the contestants did very well.  Matthew was the winner for transforming a true blonde-orexic with fried and melted platinum hair into a rich redhead.  It took a lot of skill to do that without her hair literally melting off her head.  Janine and Jon won kudos for the healthiness factors even though their models stayed blonde.

Summary

I loved this Shortcut Challenge and would rank it as one of the best because it was very realistic to real life haircolor challenges.  It's also very true that once you become a blonde, you fight hard to keep it.  I should know.  I am a blonde-orexic myself but thanks to my fab colorist Rose Zuniga, my hair is healthy and has dimension

Kim Vo totally rocks in the blonde world.  All I can say is that if you want to be a world class blonde Kim is your man.

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