Issue Date: December 28, 2003
Hair 'Net
Makeover sites let you try on a new look before trimming.
Do you resemble Don King on a bad hair day, but you're afraid to commit to a new look? Put a virtual hairstyle makeover on your to-'do list.
To indulge in this electronic equivalent of trying on wigs, simply upload your head shot and pick from a selection of styles and shades. It's almost as easy as whacking off your own hair, and a lot less painful than paying someone else $60 to do the butchering honors.
Makeovers are free at Clairol.com's Try It On Studio. However, the choices are limited, and the way the site plops the superimposed styles on top of your photo with no adjustments makes them look extra fake. The only shades offered are those Clairol sells (naturally).
Thehairstyler.com is color- and style- agnostic. In fact, you can quickly lose yourself mixing and matching the 2,000 styles and 22 shades for men and women. It's endless follicle fun. Want to see how you'd look coiffed like, say, Jennifer Aniston or George Clooney? Those and other famous manes await you in the Celebrity collection. Or try on a Cleopatra, a bridal upsweep or a classic '40s style.
The site adjusts each style to the shape of your face (oval, heart, etc.), so the virtual hair fits snugly. I got a reasonable idea of how successfully I might pull off everything from an Afro (not a good look for me) to long blond tresses (not bad!) and a beehive (a hairstyle I should avoid at all costs). Each choice includes styling tips.
A six-month subscription costs a not-too-hairy $14.95 -- a fraction of a salon cut, and a lot less permanent.
-- Carla Thornton
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