The hairstyles on her mind

Pin Antonio of Salon de Manila never runs out of fresh ideas. In the middle of a casual conversation, she grabs a pen and piece of paper to draw the hair cuts and styles she saw in her "dreams".

"Sometimes I’m about to sleep and I’ll suddenly get up, ask for a pen and a sheet of paper and start drawing the hairstyles in my mind," she shares.

The hairstyles swirling in Pin’s imagination seem to have emerged straight from some futuristic movie. Think Wong Kar Wai’s 2046 crossed with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The hairstyles she sketched in the middle of the casual conversation could only be described as "inspired genius". Hewing closely to the Sculptured Layered cut, which, as Pin predicted, is fast becoming the style du jour for 2005, the Salon de Manila collection combines such colors as champagne, caramel or honey, as well as ash, vanilla or platinum with a distinctly asymmetrical and geometrical cut.

The word Sculptural only scratches the surface. It’s close to "origami" in its fragile beauty. There’s a sublime Asian touch to this modern and modish cut. "Sculptured Layered is defined by sharp edges," she explains. "Very distinct and visible lines and squarey cuts." This is the latest trend and technique she picked up in her most recent European tour – specifically in Milan and Rome, Italy – where she studied under such masters as Jean-Pierre Cazaux of France, Anthony Mascolo of Italy, Robert Cromeans of the US, and Trevor Sorbie of England.

This "Sculptured" cut, Pin elaborates, should be highlighted by soft colors like champagne, caramel or honey and ash, vanilla or platinum "to provide contrast." The great thing about the Sculptured Layered cut is it is versatile enough to suit different clients, with just-as-diverse personalities, lifestyles, hair lengths and textures.

Pin and her Salon de Manila team precisely came up with variations on the Sculptured Layered cut because not everyone could look gorgeous with a short ’do.

"Just because short hair is in vogue, doesn’t necessarily mean everyone should wear it," she opines. "That’s why we thought of making variations on the Sculptured Layered cut for the different lengths of hair: short, medium-length, long and super-long.

Variety is the spice of life, if you ask Pin. Without a doubt, her background in Fine Arts has also equipped her with the intrinsic creativity and artistry she now taps into in whipping up those dreamy, dainty, squarey, cutting-edge, Sculptured Layered hair cuts and colors.

"I am so thankful I was blessed with this gift," she beams. "That I am always passionate about creating new hairstyles."

Stars who go to Pin Antonio for hairstyling are Zsa Zsa Padilla, Rica Peralejo, Janno Gibbs and Bing Loyzaga, Ariel Rivera and Gelli de Belen (including kids Joaqui and Julio). Dominic Ochoa, K. Brosas and the rest of the Boxers, Erik Santos, Hero Angeles, AJ Dee and many more.

Big Brother is here

The King of Reality TV is now in the Philippines!

Thirty countries and more than two billion international viewers later, Big Brother, the pioneer in Reality TV, has come to the Philippines via its biggest broadcasting company, ABS-CBN.

Big Brother is universally accepted as the original international reality format with a proven revenue generator via multi-interactive applications – SMS, Internet, ATM voting and Internet gaming.

The plot is simple yet intriguing. Twelve people who have never met before are to live with each other for 100 days. No phones, no newspapers or radios – no contact with the outside world or loved ones.

But they are not alone. They can’t eat, sleep, kiss, bathe or cry without the entire nation knowing (millions of viewers will be watching them through cameras and microphones installed in every nook and cranny of the house) and passing judgment on them.

And there’s twist Every week, the participants will be required to nominate two or more housemates to be voted out. But the viewers will have the final say on who gets kicked out of the Big Brother house.

ABS-CBN is concocting this recipe of success with Endemol, Big Brother’s foreign backer for a more Pinoy take. Endemol executive director for Creative and Production Support Anuska Ban and Sales director for Southeast Asia Ed Sharples personally visited ABS-CBN just to check on the planning stages.

So stay tuned when Big Brother premieres in the Philippines on ABS-CBN this August!