Haute Hair Stylist: Griffin Sorenson
Everyone meet Griffin Sorenson, my hair stylist. Griffin is brilliant at what he does and I gladly recommend him to anyone looking for someone to have a hair relationship with.
I wanted to introduce all of you to him because a) he’s my friend and I want to support him, b)if you live in Austin and need a stylist you should give him a chance, and c) I love highlighting hard-working local peeps from the Austin fashion scene.
Griffin works out of Deklynd Channing Hair Design, a cute little house off of Medical Parkway in Rosedale. I’ve been with him ever since the days when we were both assistants. He studied under Deklynd (who is BRILLIANT), and when we met I was Kendra Scott’s personal assistant. As fellow assistants we decided we needed to get to know each other and we’ve been in a hair relationship ever since.
What I love about going to see Griffin is that I’m not only going to get a haircut, I’m going to have a great convo with someone who will really listen to me about how I’m feeling about my hair. He is extremely attentive to his clients’ wants and needs and it’s truly important to him that you walk out of the salon happy with your hair. On top of all that, he will give it to you straight and tell you when you’re asking for something that will either be high maintenance…or…well, ugly.
I have soft, baby fine hair that does not like to hold a style. It basically goes straight or straight. It’s going to fall a certain way and unless I’m willing to spend an hour on my hair every morning, I can’t really achieve an updo. I told Griffin all of this when I first met him and he shook his head and said “you’re right…so let’s give you a cut that works with what you’re hair naturally wants to do”. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! He got it right.
Who ever heard of getting a cut which your hair will naturally acclimate to? I certainly hadn’t, and as simple as it sounded, his statement revolutionized my approach to my own hair.
This is what you get from Griffin. He’ll listen to what you want from him and he’ll come back to you with “this is what you’ll have to do everyday to keep that look”. If you don’t want to do it, he’ll tell you what you can do with your hair to look good and maintain it according to the amount of time you have and your lifestyle.
Recently I sat down and interviewed Griffin when he took my hair’s virginity. Yup, you heard me right. Until the age of 27 my hair had never been touched by color. I’ve always liked my natural haircolor and I never wanted to deal with the upkeep of coloring it. Well, I had to give in this year because grays are popping up left and right all over my head. Both of my parents went prematurely gray so I always knew this day would come earlier than I preferred.
We started out slowly, putting in some golden highlights in the front and on the top of my head. This lightens up my hair ever so slightly and hides the grays, but also allows me to maintain a natural look. As I write this, Griffin colored my hair a week ago and in that time only two people have even noticed the change. For me, that is a successful hair coloring!
So, now on to my little interview with Griffin…
How long have you been a hair stylist? What did you do before?
Technically, I have been a full time hair stylist for the past 5 years, since 2005. But, I actually grew up with a mother who cut my hair, along with everyone else in our family. It was like Steel Magnolias at my house. All the women in my family would congregate at our house and my mom would do their hair. So I’ve had a knowledge of how to cut hair for as long as I can remember.
Before going to cosmetology school I was a professional mountaineering guide. I traveled the U.S. mountain climbing as well as building hand-sculpted, custom-designed climbing walls.
What is your approach to styling, cutting, and coloring hair?
It’s all about embracing nature…embrace what you have. I want to make YOU look like YOU, only better. Before I can make you look good, though, I have to get to know you and build a relationship. Once I know who you are and what makes you shine, I take it and run with it. In the end, it’s not about what cut you have or what color your hair is, it’s about you owning the look.
Do you style for men as well?
Yes, although I have a different approach to men. It’s all about lifestyle with them. I find out what they do when they get ready in the morning and I cut their hair to suit how much time they’ll take to style it. It’s all about keeping it simple with men.
How do you feel about product? Does it have to be expensive or can you buy what’s at the grocery store?
Products are the foundation for your hair. It all starts with shampoo and conditioner. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to be the right product for your hair. My philosophy is that I don’t want to sell you product, I want to educate you. I never pressure my clients to buy product because I want to be sure they will use whatever they walk out of the salon with. If I don’t educate them on what works best with their style, then they have no business buying products of any kind, cheap or expensive.
What trends do you currently see in hair?
I don’t believe in hair trends. The only trend I ever see is pretty hair. Once again, it’s really not about the hair, it’s about making you feel pretty and owning whatever hairstyle you have. Now that makes you look good (and trendy) no matter what.
So in a nutshell, this is what you get with Griffin. Someone who is straight-forward and genuinely cares about making you feel and look like the best version of yourself.
If you’re currently looking for a new stylist you can make an appointment with Griffin by calling Deklynd Channing Hair Design at (512) 323-6570. In addition to being a great stylist, Griffin is also a Wella educator, so if color is important to you then he’s you’re man! Oh, be sure to tell him I sent you!
The bedhead look on me right after Griffin gave me highlights.
Griffin did a bird's nest with my hair for Courtney's wedding.
View from the back.
Courtney, the beautiful bride.
Side view.
Back view. Gorgeous!
