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Q&A

June 2007: Nichole Vrsansky's "Soccer Mom" Bob

We've contended from the beginning that Super-Hair can be hiding anywhere -- not merely in the glamour spots or entertainment capitals. In 2006, a Hair Fan alerted us to a TV news anchor in northern Illinois. And in 2007, she went on one of the most unlikely runs in the history of our web site.

NICHOLE VRSANSKY was praised for a "girl-next-door clean look." And she made a clean sweep through three rounds of Super-Hair Wars -- completing the streak by outpolling two-time Crown Award winner Halle Berry. While her hair usually looks precise and well-controlled on camera, it has some scoffers who think it's too ordinary. We asked Nichole about all that and more, when we phoned her newsroom one evening:

SUPER-HAIR: Did you know you were on our web site, before we e-mailed you?

NICHOLE VRSANSKY: I did not. It was a pleasant surprise.

S-H: What did you think? How surprised were you to find out you had gained more votes than Halle Berry in a poll?

NV: I was pretty shocked. That's quite an accomplishment. I figured maybe she had a bad hair day, with the picture you took of her, or something I didn't think it was quite right.... but it's great.

S-H: Now you told us in the e-mail you sent us that the picture on your [station's] web site is a little bit out of date. How would you describe the current style you have, and how is it different from what's posted there?

NV: I think I've looked at your web site twice.... One of them is fine.

But I think there's one where I'm in mid-sentence, and.... my News Director was joking that it wasn't necessarily the most flattering picture.... but it was funny. But I think it's about accurate.

S-H: How would you describe the cut you have right now?

NV: A typical bob. I don't know - boring. (Laughs)

S-H: You think it's boring?!

NV: Well, I've had the same haircut, it seems like for years now - and you know, when you're looking at the same hairstyle every day, I think it's boring.

S-H: Now from looking at the videos, it looks like your hair is trimmed a little bit from what it was before. It's off the shoulders, as opposed to being shoulder-length. Is that right?

NV: I guess it is, maybe, a little shorter.

S-H: Or is that - is that like the inner and outer limits?

NV: Exactly. Probably.... one was pre-trim.... the other after a trim.

S-H: Now some scoffers on our web site call your hairstyle a "soccer mom" hairstyle.

NV: A soccer mom hairstyle, OK....

S-H: Do you consider that an insult?

NV: No! There's nothing wrong with soccer moms. They're hard-working.

S-H: We wrote on the web site that we didn't think you even were a mom....

NV: Nope, not yet.... but I have a puppy, if that counts.

S-H: (Laughs) That's a start. Now does your hairstyle have bangs or not? From what we see in the picture, it looks like there's a hint of it.

NV: Yeah. There are bangs, but they're kind of swept to the side.

S-H: How do you keep 'em there - so they don't come down and flop on you?

NV: I think I've had them this way - I'm telling you, I've had this hairstyle for years. I think my hair just permanently stays this way, after all the hairspray that I put on it because of the newscasts. (Laughs) I don't know. I mean, you can't if it's a bad hair day. But I find the more gel and more guts you put in it, the better they stay.

S-H: How long have you had your hair this way?

NV: Since I got married, and I got married about three years ago. I got it chopped right after I got married.

S-H: So you've gotten used to that. What was your hair like before? Was it ever really long?

NV: It was super-long. Yeah, I wanted it long so I could put it up for my wedding. Soooo - it was about three or four inches below my shoulders. It was pretty long.

S-H: Really? OK.

NV: And my hair is super-thick, so it gets to be a pain to blow-dry and all that stuff.

S-H: I was going to ask what you like the most about your hairstyle, and what you dislike the most.

NV: What I like most - well, it's pretty easy because I've had it for so long.... because it doesn't take me that long to do it. Just blow-dry it.... use my straightener, and I'm out the door. The thing I don't like is if I'm out in the garden or running, you can't exactly -- it doesn't stay all the way in a ponytail. So it can get in my eyes. But otherwise - otherwise it's pretty.... and it's nice for the summer, because I don't have long hair primped around my neck.

S-H: I was going to ask how - can you tie that hair back when you're running? And how you would do that, because there's not much there.

NV: Usually I reach kind of a happy end, and then tie it back as far as it will go. It never looks (laughs).... good, but that's OK. I'm running. It's not supposed to.

S-H: What sort of a routine do you go through, to get your hair ready - for say, the 6:00 news?

NV: Normally, when I get ready in the morning, I put a little gel in my hair, and then I blow-dry it and then I straighten it. I tease it a little bit, like where the crown is, so it poufs out a little bit. But otherwise, just kind of hairspray. Hairspray is the key.

S-H: Do you have a favorite hairspray? We'll give 'em a free plug.

NV: Do I have a favorite hairspray....

S-H: One that works best for you?

NV: Let's see. Right now I'm using.... Suave?! (Laughs) Something cheap. But at home, I usually use.... Big and Sexy. That big red bottle....

S-H: What's the biggest challenge you face, keeping your hair in place and looking good day after day?

NV: The wind. And the Chicago weather....

S-H: You're not that far from Chicago....

NV: ....it'll change from rain to snow to all that stuff.

S-H: I wasn't sure how far Rockford was from Chicago. I looked it up on a map....

NV: (inaudible) miles from Chicago. Exactly directly west.

S-H: So you face the wind and things like that a lot, I guess?

NV: Exactly. And like everyone, you know, you wake up and you have a bad hair day. I have those things a lot.

S-H: What do you do to handle those things?

NV: Just deal with it and do a lot of "Oh my gosh!!" (Laughs)

S-H: Has your hair ever fallen in your eyes, on-camera or off-camera? And if so, how did it happen?

NV: Not really. Maybe once or twice.... Luckily, it's usually off-camera and I'll just sweep it away. Not too often.

S-H: I guess you have to have your hair trimmed pretty regularly, don't you?

NV: Yeah - about every four to five weeks I get it trimmed. And then I do get it colored every 10 to 12 weeks.

S-H: Do you have a regular stylist? We can give them a free plug, too.

NV: Yeah, I go see Megan in West Dundee, at Spa Bleu.... she's great.

S-H: What advice would you give women who are trying to emulate your look? Trying to match the sort of style you have?

NV: Advice....

S-H: To get it looking good....

NV: I don't know. I kind of just let my hairstylist do all that work.... I mean, it's one length. It's pretty easy to maintain.... That's a good question. If you're looking for something where you can put it up in a ponytail quickly and just run out of the house, I wouldn't necessarily go with this cut. But if you have a little bit of time to blow-dry it and straighten it, then it's really easy to maintain.

I don't know how it would look for someone with naturally curly hair, because my hair's pretty straight. It's really thick, so - I know a lot of times I'll see a picture of someone in a magazine. Like Halle Berry, let's say. And I'll think, "Ooo, I want that haircut," but sometimes you have to watch if your hair's too thin or too thick; it depends on if that hairstyle will work.

S-H: Is it an advantage that you have thick hair, as opposed to something thinner?

NV: On a 90-degree day, absolutely not. (Both laugh).... You know, it's one of those things. Everyone who's got real thin, fine hair say, "Oh, I wish my hair was thick." And everyone with thick hair is going, "Oh, I wish I could get rid of some of this hair...." It's kind of the whole, "I wish I had curly hair," with straight hair, and all of the curly-haired girls are going, "I wish I had straight hair."

S-H: Right. Is it just me, or is the "bob look" like you're wearing these days making a comeback? I'm seeing it more and more, on a lot of folks....

NV: I don't know. It might be. You know, I have seen a lot of people go from real long hair to straight and one length. I think the layers just get so hard to maintain. In fact, my hair isn't poker-straight. I have a little wave to it, and if I don't use a straightener and I have layers, my hair does not sit right. In fact, it seems to take a lot of work.... I guess sometimes there's only so much you can do with short hair.

S-H: I thought I saw one blog posted on the station web site, where you actually had your hair curled up a bit at the ends.

NV: Yeah - that's the one thing I occasionally, if I'm trying to go for a different look, I'll flip it a little bit at the ends. But that usually doesn't happen too often.

S-H: Is that that difficult to do or to maintain?

NV: It's not. It's just different - you know, no one wants to see themselves with a certain hairstyle for a while, anything different looks - you know, looks a little weird.

S-H: Sure....

NV: Sometimes I get ambitious in the morning and try and change things up (laughs) - I don't know how happy I am with it afterward.

S-H: We like to ask women we interview who do you think has the best head of hair, or the best hairstyle, out there? That you've ever seen?

NV: Yeah, probably a popular answer, but I've always loved Jennifer Aniston's hair, he cut. Always seemed so.... not effortless, but so perfect.

SUMMARY: Nichole's hair could be described in somewhat the same way she describes Aniston's. The effort she uses with gel, straightener and spray pays off in a consistently precise bob. And we suspect the natural thickness helps her hair keep that precision, and keep looking at its best.

We've only seen wind push this hair around once - and that was blowing it back, not forward. The heaviness and strength of the style prevents quick turns or even light breezes from shaking it off-line. Nichole may consider this look boring. But we're among the Hair Fans who consider it brilliant, beautiful -- and battling when it has to be.

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