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May 23, 2013

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Melissa Peverini

05/25/2010

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Best known for being Rod Stewart's hairstylist, Melissa Peverini is now launching her very own product: the Versi-comb, an all-in-one styling tool that lets the everyday person look and feel like they've just been pampered by the very best in the business. The idea for the Versi-comb came from Peverini's own difficulties travelling all over the globe while having to lug around various tools; she wanted something compact that she could also give to her clients for their own quick touch-ups.

Working as a hairstylist to the stars for two decades has left Peverini with more than a few remarks on the celebrity and styling worlds. She says in our interview that Stewart, who Peverini has worked with for the past 12 years, can be rather high-maintenance at times, revealing just how often he gets his hair done in order to maintain his signature volume and color.

Check out our full interview with Melissa Peverini below to find out everything from why she has pouches of Stewart's hair to the many challenges she faces every day as a stylist.

Melissa Peverini

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Tell us about some of your favorite clients. Q: Tell us about some of your favorite clients. - Uinterview
A: I've worked with Rod Stewart. If anyone's ever wondered how he got the hair that's been me for the last probably 12 years. I go on tour with him whenever he's doing shows through the east coast and Europe sometimes and they have a home here in Palm Beach and that's how I got connected with them and also his wife, Penny Lancaster, she's fantastic and they've been great friends and clients of mine. She's been with us for about ten years, but I've been with him for that long. Joey Kramer, the drummer of Aerosmith has been a good friend and a client for a long time as well. So I've worked with other musicians as well and some of course are probably the bigger names, but you'd be surprised, a lot of them do live down here. It's not a pedestrian city, it's a very quiet community in Palm Beach. And I've had the advantage of really being immersed in the community of the who's who of the wealth in America and even some outside of them. And Paloma Picasso - being in Palm Beach, you find a different clientele. It's not the Hollywood clientele, it's a much more socialite and wealthy clientele.
So what can you tell us about working on Rod's hair? Q: So what can you tell us about working on Rod's hair? - Uinterview
A: Working with Rod, he is sometimes more maintenance than a woman. He likes his hair done every two weeks. [laughs] It has to be perfect and sometimes the smallest bit of baby dusting to just a couple slicks of color to keep him looking like it never changes over the years. He's reinvented himself with his music and sometimes we do hairstyles that will inspire an era of music that he did back in the 70s, whether it was his songbook or his soul book collection. He's really maintained his vibrancy in his music and his hair. He's having a bad day, his hair is having a bad day. And he won't go outside. [laughs] But I'll tell you, he does have one of the best heads of hair that I've worked with over the years and it's all his.
And he likes volume obviously. Q: And he likes volume obviously. - Uinterview
A: Oh yes, he likes volume and we try different volumizing products. He definitely loves TG Catwalk products, those are some of his favorites for volumizing. And then he loves the VersiComb, even though it's a woman's product, the men love it. Even men that have more volume with their longer hair, fuller hair.
Do you have any good stories about going out on tour with Rod and his hair? Q: Do you have any good stories about going out on tour with Rod and his hair? - Uinterview
A: I know that I've collected his hair over the years, whether we've been in some of the funniest locations, whether it's been on a bus or in a bathroom, I always make sure I clean up and as I clean up his hair and then I save it. I have pouches of it over the years. What I'll do with it, I don't know.
They will probably put it in a museum some day. Q: They will probably put it in a museum some day. - Uinterview
A: Right, exactly.
So tell me a little bit about how you created the VersiComb and what sort of hole in the market you think it's filling? Q: So tell me a little bit about how you created the VersiComb and what sort of hole in the market you think it's filling? - Uinterview
A: Well, I've been a stylist for many socialites and rock stars for probably 20 years and traveled all around the world from Europe over to California repetitively. So my creation of the VersiComb was to be able to give [my clients] something that was simple styling, on-demand anytime, anywhere. They didn't know what sort of tools, brushes, combs, teasers, detanglers to use and they had just a collection of too many. And I also found that when I had to pack my bag, I also had too many tools. So I really wanted a hybrid, something that would make it easy for me as a stylist and also for the customer. My celebrity clients, whether they were backstage, and needed something as a quick fix, whether or they were going over to Europe and they just wanted to throw in their beach bag, I wanted something that just reduced the clutter for them.
So what different tools does it bring to bear for the user? Q: So what different tools does it bring to bear for the user? - Uinterview
A: They have four tools in one: you have detangling comb, you have a teasing brush, and you also have the wide-tooth for separating and smoothing. The wide side acts as a hairbrush, but you're not having bulky aesthetic parts. And then the narrow side is great for using for wet detangles and then you can flip it when it's dry to help just smooth out the hairstyle, it also works great for teasing. I mean there are a lot of teasing combs and brushes, but they're not sexy and the VersiComb is probably the sexiest tool. It folds in half and it can fit in the smallest evening bag or in the back pocket of someone.
Is it available in stores now? Q: Is it available in stores now? - Uinterview
A: We are going to be available in stores, that's in the process right now. Right now, we are online so it's versicomb.com.
You've been a stylist for years. What's the biggest challenges you face as a stylist? Q: You've been a stylist for years. What's the biggest challenges you face as a stylist? - Uinterview
A: Well I've been a stylist here in eastern Palm Beach for 20 years and going back and forth to New York. A lot of clients that I work with in Palm Beach either live here or they season here. It's a seasonal area so I find in my summertime I definitely travel a lot more. We're in the peak of season right now, so it's great being down here in the season when everyone comes down and they just have a lot more relaxed sense of living and the hairstyles become more relaxed and the colors are completely different in Florida, and I know when I travel to New York or wherever I go and the color isn't same. So that's always been my challenge, climate-based color and what works from area-to-area, but it's always nice that people definitely want to carry the sunshine with them wherever they go and that's something that I've learned over the years.

Read more: Hairstylist, Melissa Peverini, Rod Stewart, Versi-comb, Travel, Style, Celebrity Interview

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