Damaris Earlewine
HAIR BY DAMARIS
text JORGE PEREZCHICA
potography ADAM ADOLPHUS
“I use people as my canvas,” says Damaris Earlewine, aka Hair by Damaris, a Coachella Valley native. To describe Damaris as just a hairstylist would be too limiting — she is an artist in the true sense of the word. “Art is an expressive form. Art is not something you can limit someone on.”
For someone who never had beauty school on her mind, Damaris has come a long way. After graduating from high school, Damaris wanted to pursue a career in graphic design. “I love photography, and graphic design, I also wanted to be a tattoo artist,” says Damaris. “I always liked to draw since I was a little kid.” But, it was out of concern that her mother suggested, “is there anything else you’re interested in?” Damaris eventually attended beauty school and graduated after a year and three months. To supplement her training, she served an internship for five months at Raphael Salon in Palm Springs. “When I graduated beauty school, I didn’t know that much,” admits Damaris. “Like, you wouldn’t want me to touch your hair.” With dedication, Damaris spent four years working at Raphael Salon. “That was the beauty of working in a salon, working with a team — if you learn something, you give something back.”
Damaris then began a new chapter in her career as an independent hairstylist at Liberty Salon in Rancho Mirage, CA. “When I went out on my own, I’m going to be honest with you, I wasn’t super-confident. But I was hopeful.” Damaris set goals for herself to create her own schedule, and to create her own brand. “In order to be successful as a hairstylist, you have to constantly seek education. You have to keep an open mind — that you don’t know everything. The only way to truly learn something is by doing,” explains Damaris. “Your bound to make mistakes, but it’s okay because you learn from it. If you want something bad enough you have to work for it.” Damaris does everything from running her own website, sending out newsletters, photography, graphic design and displaying her latest creations on social media like works of art. “My goal is to help a client reveal something beautiful in them they might not see. Emphasizing someone’s best attributes shines a sense of confidence that we don’t realize we have.”
Inspired to combine her passions for hair and photography, Damaris entered the Sebastian Professional’s What’s Next Awards competition in 2015. “To keep myself excited I have to do things outside my work.” Equipped with a model, Chanel Tiffany, photographer Paul Chon and a creative workspace at the Coachella Valley Art Scene — Damaris spent hours creating a unique look. On the first try Damaris hated the results, but continued playing with the model’s hair to get to know its texture. Damaris spent four hours on hairstyling, one hour for the makeup and three hours on the photography. “I was looking at what I wanted to say with this. What is it that I wanted to convey? I wanted to create something that looked effortless,” explains Damaris. She visualized how a butterfly goes through metamorphosis and is born — that’s when Damaris finally arrived to what she describes as, “Coy and seductive at the same time, but also very elegant. It was the delicate balance between exuding sex appeal without going overboard.”
Her entry aptly titled, “Magnetic Flux” stood out of a thousand others and captured the attention of The Sebastian Professional’s What’s Next Awards. It earned Damaris a berth towards the final round in Miami Fl. “I got a call to say, ‘You are a potential finalist — I was shaking just from excitement, and what this experience is going to bring.” Just two weeks before the big event, Damaris expressed modestly, “I’m just going in without any expectations, seize the moment, that’s it. My goal is just to continue learning.”
With all travel expenses paid, Damaris flew from Palm Springs to Miami, FL. Sebastian Professional’s What’s Next Awards was broadcast live over the internet. When the winners were finally announced, Damaris proudly accepted first place in the Professional Category to a rousing applause, and stood under a sea of glittery confetti. Basking in the afterglow, Damaris expresses, “I don’t know where it will take me. I want to continue to enter competitions like this and get my work out there.”