In an era when it can be a struggle simply to get to the salon for a standard haircut, we’re all in search of a little me time. We selected four very deserving women and set them up with the glam squad at Jon David Salon. Read on to see how their transformations helped them feel beautiful inside and out.
Photography by Michael Butcher
Makeover winner: Hailey Henderson, 21
Lives in: Ashburn
For Hailey Henderson, life—even before a global pandemic hit—was challenging. While in high school, Henderson was diagnosed with a medical condition called Chiari malformation, which causes brain tissue to extend into the spinal canal and cause severe headaches. She underwent brain surgery five years ago and has been recovering ever since—even taking a year off of high school (she has since graduated). “It was hard, and it made me lose a lot of confidence,” recalls Henderson, whose twin sister submitted her story for the makeover. “Throughout being sick, I was focused on my health, and I didn’t get to do things that made me feel beautiful.”
Stylist and owner of Jon David Salon David Bakir worked with Henderson to help her feel beautiful again. He wanted to give her “a hairstyle and look that matches her bubbly personality,” he says. That included cutting her hair into a zero-line bob cut, lightening up her roots and removing some of her old color to make the tone even throughout. The result? A fun, low-maintenance cut that requires a simple root touch-up every four to six weeks.
Henderson calls the new look “California blonde.”
As for her face, makeup artist Adela Mejia gave her a nighttime look with a bold eye. “It was a full face, so I ended up going into DC [for a night out] for a couple hours.”
Henderson says the new look and the night on the town gave her some renewed confidence. “It was almost as if, wow, I’d never seen that side of me or that possibility in myself that I could ever be that glammed up,” she says. “It’s always been my dream to go to the salon and get the full treatment.”
Glam Squad
The Location: Jon David Salon: 4522 Lee Highway, Arlington
The Stylists: David Bakir and Rami Ramdan
The Makeup Artist: Adela Mejia
Makeover winner: Jessica Nguyen, 26
Lives in: Fairfax
Jessica Nguyen had only been a nurse for six months when COVID-19 hit. “I still remember the moment when we got our first COVID patient,” she says. Trained as a cardiovascular nurse, Nguyen quickly went from getting her feet wet in her new profession to dealing with an ongoing crisis as her hospital floor was converted to a COVID unit. Wearing a mask and other personal protective equipment throughout her 13-hour shifts caused breakouts, and she didn’t have time to worry about self-care or beauty regimens.
Plus, with the virus shutting down much of the region, Nguyen also had to cancel what was supposed to be a summer wedding with 230 guests in Arlington.
“I cried. It was a difficult decision because we planned for over a year for that date,” she says of canceling her wedding. “You’ve been counting down. It was sad because every bride has their own [vision] for the wedding.”
Knowing that Nguyen is still a bride-to-be, stylist Bakir focused on creating a look that could work on her wedding day. That meant keeping her hair long for an updo on the big day. As for color, he went with a caramel sombre (a color technique that’s similar to ombre but more subtle) with highlights. Nguyen says her hair had always been dark, so lightening it up was fun to see. “I don’t know what he did with his magic, but my hair came out beautiful and very healthy. It was a big change. I look completely different, but in a good way.”
With a new look, Nguyen is looking forward to her rescheduled wedding day—another day where she can relax and feel beautiful. “We take care of our patients, and then we go home and we take care of our family. Having someone say [at the salon], ‘How can I make your day better?’ That’s what I ask my patients. It feels so good to be taken care of by someone else.”
Glam Squad
The Location: Jon David Salon: 4522 Lee Highway, Arlington
The Stylists: David Bakir and Rami Ramdan
The Makeup Artist: Adela Mejia
Makeover winner: Kathryn Robison, 54
Lives in: Manassas
If you’ve had a COVID-19 test since this pandemic started, it’s people like Kathryn Robison who are behind the scenes, working to get you accurate results. Working at a major clinical diagnostics company, it’s Robison who processes and distributes test results in a timely manner (“I put out thousands of results a night and pray the positive patients are OK,” she says). And, needless to say, as more and more people get tested, it has meant more and more hours behind a computer screen—and no time to take care of herself.
Working the night shift six to seven days a week—and helping her high school freshman son with virtual learning during the day—Robison hadn’t been in a salon since January. Her hair was well past her shoulders.
At Jon David Salon in Springfield, stylist Olivia Mihm gave Robison a fresh new look that would brighten her up, bring out her facial features and complement her skin color. This included highlights and putting a bright copper-red toner on her ends. She also got a trim to create a long bob and some slight layering around her face.
The mother—she’s got three grown children, plus her son in high school—and grandmother says it was nice to get a reset at the salon before she heads back to her long nights battling COVID.
“I want to feel like I’m helping somebody out there,” she says. “The poor nurses are the ones actually holding [the patients’] hands. I just like to know the more work I get out, the more I can help.”
But, she says, she’ll work to keep up with her new look and practice a little self-care when she can find the time. “I think everybody needs to take a deep breath and rejuvenate,” says Robison. “Like my daughter says, you need to have 30 minutes of me time a day, and I don’t do that.”
Glam Squad
The Location: Jon David Salon: 6720 Commerce St., Springfield
The Stylists: Olivia Mihm and Delia Carrillo
The Makeup Artist: Adela Mejia
Makeover winner: Elyssa Harley, 45
Lives in: Sterling
As a radiation therapist who works directly with cancer patients, Elyssa Harley was already trained to be prepared for emergencies in the medical field. Still, when COVID-19 hit, “It was a very scary time,” she recalls. “With cancer patients, they could be affected as much, if not more than, other people.”
Since Harley is in almost daily contact with medically fragile patients, heading to a salon wasn’t on her priority list. “I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to be around other people,” she says of isolating when not at work.
But, she says, “Probably my favorite thing to do is go to the salon.” So for this makeover, she donned her mask and headed to Jon David Salon in Springfield, months into the pandemic. “I love beauty treatments. I really missed it.”
Stylist Olivia Mihm says when Harley walked into the salon, “The first look that came to mind was blonde! She has a nice face for framing highlights.” Mihm did balayage and added some lowlights for depth and contrast. “We kept her hair long and added long layers to frame her face.”
Harley says she was happy to “let the blonde girl out. I’ve always been blonde, but this literally looks like how I’ve always wanted my hair to look like, but it never comes out that way.”
At work, Harley has been wearing her hair in a bun for the most part, but on off hours, she will sport her new look. “I think with everybody’s anxiety, and [being] unsure of what’s going on in the future, a little time to feel beautiful and look good, it reflects on the inside.”
Glam Squad
The Location: Jon David Salon: 6720 Commerce St., Springfield
The Stylists: Olivia Mihm and Delia Carrillo
The Makeup Artist: Adela Mejia
This story originally appeared in the January issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly print magazine.
