Hubba hubba! Jaclyn Smith is back! Bravo is famous for their great reality shows and the new show, Shear Genius, is no exception. Hairstylists from around the world will go head-to-head in creative challenges that require more than just talent with a comb and scissors. Celebrity hairstylist and designer Sally Hershberger is the lead judge, along with Michael Carl (fashion director of Allure) and Rene Fris (stylist), who serves as the salon manager to the stylists. There is a string of guest judges, including styling industry bigwigs Frederick Fekkai, Ken Paves & Jose Eber.
The contestants, who range from 22-year-old Lacey from York, Pennsylvania and 22-year-old Theodore from Canton, Ohio to 49-year-old Jim from Buffalo, NY, are competing to win the ultimate title of Shear Genius, $100,000 in seed money from Nexxus and a chance to style hair for an Allure magazine feature. They will face two challenges per episode: the short cut challenge, testing technical hairstyling skills and the elimination challenge, testing creativity and advanced skill. Bravo says, “The stylists will also need the ability to service client needs, manage a staff and work as part of a team to make it in this competition.” In the first challenge, the stylists have 1 hour to show off their signature style on 12 mannequin heads. The winner of the challenge will have first choice of model and station in the upcoming elimination challenge, in which they are supposed to create a work of art using professional models with long hair and a collection of arts and crafts materials. You can watch a 3-minute preview of their first challenge here.
Shear Genius premiered last night following the Top Design finale, then moves to its regular 10/9c timeslot beginning Wednesday, April 18th. If you missed the premiere, Bravo is rerunning it about a bajillion times. You can find a new time on the Bravo website. Check it out! 