Shear Genius 3 Hair Models?

I have to ask this question because it's been driving me crazy.  Where do the producers of Bravo's Shear Genius 3 (SG3) find their model?  Last night's Short Challenge was beyond surreal.

The remaining contestants consisting of Matthew, Janine, Brian, Jon, Amy, April and of course the obnoxious Brig, were challenged to dry cut models with naturally curly, frizzy, hair into an asymmetrical bob.

After they were finished dry cutting the curly hair, the SG3 contestants had to turn in their scissors and shears and not touch them again.

Of course they were allowed to wash the hair after the cut but not cut again after a trip to the shampoo bowl.  It was interesting to see some of the contestants even coloring the tresses of their models.

If the hair wasn't ruined enough with the creation of basically a haircut designed for naturally straight hair, it was definitely not helped by dying it.  Which Amy did and guest judge, dry haircutting guru Moulay Yacoubi questioned.

(Image of Brig's naturally curly haired model on Shear Genius 3 after the Short Cut Challenge on Episode 5 - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved).

Are you kidding me?  Can you even imagine subjecting your own natural curls to a hair challenge where your natural ringlets are at the mercy of the stylists to be cut into a hairstyle that is best worn by tresses which are naturally straight?

(After Image of Naturally Curly Haired Model on SG3 Short Cut Challenge - Episode 5 - Haircut by Janine Jarman - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

I chatted about SG3's crazy curly hair challenge with curl expert Barbara Lhotan this morning while I was still in shock.  I asked her who would think of this crazy challenge?  I also asked her, can you even imagine the hell those curly hair models are going through growing out asymetrical bobs?

Barbara agreed with me and said "they (Shear Genius producers) probably were running out of new and exciting challenges and cooked up this lame brained idea.

Why was it lame brained?  First of all, while some curl experts will only cut their curly haired clients dry, there is a lot of controversy in the curly hair marketplace about which is better.  Wet or dry.

That's another topic for another day, but the reality is that even when cut wet or dry, the stylists were destroying the natural curl pattern of those naturally curly haired Botticellis.

Curl experts around the country had to be cringing if they were watching Shear Genius 3 for the Curly Hair Short Challenge.  I know that I was and I don't even cut naturally curly hair.  I felt bad for all of the models.

(Image of SG3 contestant Brian dry cutting his naturally curly haired model's hair - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

An asymetrical bob basically destroys the integrity of the natural curl.  Of course while the cuts looked good afterwards, well depending on the Shear Genius stylists, curly hair can't remain straight just because it was cut into an asymetrical bob.  No, in fact, the curls will be back at the first sign of humidity or water.

I felt especially bad for Brig's client because she kept cutting, cutting and cutting.  When she pulled out the shears and cut to the round of the head I was literally screaming "Nooooooo".  As Janine pointed out, Brig's client was going to have a very hard time growing out that cut.

Which brings me back to my original question.  Where do the SG3 producers find their models?  What sane naturally curly girl would be willing to turn their ringlets over to the hands of reality TV hair contestants to be hacked and slashed?

(SG3 - Episode 5 - Guest Judge - Moulay Yacoubi- Dry Cutting Guru - Bravo/TV - All Rights Reserved)

I get how difficult it is to do a great job of cutting naturally curly hair.  Anyone with natural curls gets it.  But why not have the curly haired experts like Ouidad or Lorraine be the judge?  These women known how to cut fabulous natural curls while preserving the integrity of the curls and not turning curls into a crazy asymetrical bob.

And what about the blonde challenge?  What blonde who loves being blonde wants to be dyed to a new color?  Which was what was being encouraged on the show.

At least in the Elimination Challenges, during the second half of the show, the goal is usually to style the hair while the Short Cuts have involved cutting, coloring and even adding hair extensions to the heads of men.

Are the Shear Genius 3 models being paid for the risk that their hair will be part of a challenge which could result in many months of bad hair days while they try to grow out their tresses?

There's no amount of money in the world that could get me to subject my below-the-waist tresses to a reality hair challenge.  Also, this show might want to take into consideration the long standing professional hairdresser vs consumer hair client controversies.

Many consumer hair clients feel that that are just pawns in the hands of professionals hairdressers.  The naturally curly Short Cut Challenge certainly did nothing to eliminate this feeling.  Where are the consumer hair advisors on this show?  Bravo, please.  Unless this show is only for professional hairdressers, why don't you get consumer hair input on the challenges other than after the fact?

If anything, the naturally curly short hair challenge presented the concept that professional hairdressers may use consumer hair for their own goals.

Maybe that's a little harsh and of course this is a reality TV show, but seriously it was not a great message to send.  Of course all of us hair folks know that many a hair model has left a cosmo school with ruined hair because of submitting their hair to a novice student.

Afterall, many entertainers are not allowed to harm animals when filming a TV show or movie.  Why is human hair exempt?

I guess mannquins, which are often used to test extremely risky hair techniques, would not translate well to Reality TV.  But maybe that would be an option to prevent the sacrificing of model hair?

While I am thrilled that Janine Jarman won the naturally curly dry hair challenge, I have to admit I wasn't offended when April objected to the challenge.  Was she offended because of the texture of the hair and how it was supposed to be cut or just because she hates an asymetrical bob?

An asymetrical bob for naturally curly girls?  Seriously?  Why not just bring out the garden shear challenge  again?

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