A Little Trim and a Little Therapy
March 3, 2006 — -- So why do you go to the beauty parlor? If it's just for a coif and color, you're missing out on the biggest secret of them all. For many women -- and men -- all that snipping and poufing is a perfect coverup for the real highlight: a chance to spill the beans.
Hollywood gets it. Remember the Reese Witherspoon character in "Legally Blond," racing to her manicurist after a very bad day? Or the Warren Beatty character getting very personal with his clients in the movie, "Shampoo"? That's art imitating life.
Just ask Kim Vo, co-owner of the B2V salon in West Hollywood. "I'm part pseudo therapist, and I'm part artist, and just a good friend to most of my clients," he says. Ask if he's there to do their hair, and he answers matter-of-factly, "I am here to do their hair, but sometimes that comes secondary."
As stylist to the stars, Kim gets plenty of dish with his dos. He is one of the privileged few: Jennifer Aniston has one. So does Jessica Simpson.
"They know everything," Kim says. So does he. Long before the tabloids were even on the case, he knew about actress Denise Richards' separation from husband, Charlie Sheen. Ditto Mark Wahlberg's new baby, and Jenny McCarthy from pre-nup to breakup. Kim knew, natch, that Jenny was pregnant before the rest of us did.
"I always know everyone's pregnant before the world knows they're pregnant," he boasts. "Even their mothers." But he says he's never tempted to pick up up the phone and tell the columnists. "It's like a therapist or a lawyer," Kim says. "You don't want to kiss and tell."
For some busy celebs, it's the ultimate one-stop shopping. Jennifer Murphy, a contender on last season's "The Apprentice," says she bonded instantly with Kim. Never mind that some people actually use therapists to unload.
"Kim is my hairdresser and therapist all in one," she says, laughing.
But it's not all giggly gossip over Rockin' Red nails. Sometimes beauty parlor secrets are deadly serious. Melanie Caldwell and her manicurist, Laura Love-Brown, ultimately made headlines far beyond suburban Birmingham, Ala., with her story. Caldwell seemed to have a model marriage, but she said her husband was violent and abusive, and that she had been thrown down the stairs, and slammed into the dishwasher --
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