"The funniest and most embarrassing thing was when I was putting on the hair for Anna Nicole Smith in a VIP room and Laurent Dugourg was with me. He owned the salon, along with José Eber. Anna Nicole, at that time, was the Guess girl and I’m a little intimidated, because I’d just arrived in Beverly Hills. I’m putting on her hair and the next thing you know she stands up and jumps out of the chair. I’m like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?’ She said: “I hope you guys don’t mind, but I just went to a tanning bed and I’m burning up.” She just took off all her clothes. So for me, at the time it was great, but I was like ‘What do I do now that she has all her clothes off?’ Laurent said: “Michael, can you get some lotion?” He acted like it was no big deal… (Boychuck laughs) “Michael, can you get some lotion!?!” We got some skin lotion from the makeup department and put it on her and everything was fine. Laurent was so cool, but I was like, ‘Ohhhhhh…’ "

From growing up in the small town of Corning, New York, to being named “Las Vegas Colorist of the Decade” by Schwarzkopf, a world leader in hair care products for 111 years, Michael Boychuck has arrived at star status. He’s called Colorist to the Stars, having clients like Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Eva Longoria Parker, Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Kirsten Dunst, and Fergie, who follow him to Vegas, to ensure their tresses look fabulous. From being a jock and wanting to play professional baseball, he’s skyrocketed to the top of the celebrity world by having his work featured on magazine covers like Playboy and Maxim, and with television credits including Melrose Place, Baywatch and The Young and The Restless. Michael is living an American dream come true. But the wonderful thing about Michael Boychuck is that he has maintained some of his small town upbringing and has not let his head become the size of a watermelon like so many others in his position.

Paris Hilton is one of Michael’s favorites, and her photograph graces the wall in COLOR, Boychuck’s newest salon at Caesars Palace. She’s been with him for 16 years, an unheard of accomplishment for any colorist. Paris also attributes her stunning blond locks to Boychuck in her book Confessions of An Heiress. Upon entering COLOR you are bathed in beauty everywhere you look. Crystal chandeliers hang by each stylist’s station in front of ornately carved mirrors. The salon has been named as one of the most beautiful salons in the country.

SLV: COLOR is the most incredible salon I’ve ever seen.
BOYCHUCK: Thank you.
SLV: Faye Resnick helped you to design it?
BOYCHUCK: Yes. Faye Resnick is one of my best friends from L.A.
SLV: How old were you when you started experimenting on your hair or the hair of friends?
BOYCHUCK: It was nothing like that at all. I loved playing baseball. I wanted to play professional baseball but I hated studying and hated college. I decided to take off a year and lift weights and stuff. My Mom said “No, you have to do something.” I saw the movie Shampoo and decided I wanted to go to beauty school, and that’s what I did.
SLV: You’d never even cut or colored anyone’s hair?
BOYCHUCK: Never had any idea to do it, except after I saw the movie Shampoo, which was great. Warren Beatty in the movie played a hairstylist and got to work on all these beautiful girls and I thought that’s what I wanted to do. (laughter) And that’s really how I started…Warren Beatty…
SLV: (laughter) That’s so funny. Did you ever see the movie Zohan?
BOYCHUCK: Yes, I thought it was funny as heck! Loved it!
SLV: Is there any truth in that at all…has it happened to you?
BOYCHUCK: Some of it’s true. There are some people who really like private shampoos. (more laughter)
SLV: Coming from a small town, did you get a lot of teasing about going to beauty school?
BOYCHUCK: I got it a lot. It didn’t bother me though. I didn’t care. I just told them I like doing hair, so what’s the big deal? No problem for me at all. My dad was Russian and he was very conservative. He basically said, “Are you gay? Are you doing drugs? Why else would you want to do hair?” I told him no, that I liked meeting girls and it’s a good profession. Then when I started succeeding he said, “You’re right,” and he never asked me another question.
SLV: So your parents supported your choice?
BOYCHUCK: My mom did. My dad thought it was kind of a weird profession for a guy to get into. Like I said, he was Russian and a coal miner, so he thought it was weird.
SLV: He probably worried that you weren’t going to make any money.
BOYCHUCK: Yes, actually he did. He had a coal business and he wanted me to run it, but I didn’t want anything to do with the coal business.
SLV: Tell me how you met up with José Eber, the famous stylist.
BOYCHUCK: Basically I still wanted to play baseball, but I went to beauty school. Then I started working for one of the top L’Oreal people in Jacksonville, Florida, so I got really good training in color. Miss Florida was one of my clients. There was a company named Roux that was bought by Revlon and they wanted me to use their color on her hair in exchange for being their representative. I thought that was great, but I decided I needed to learn more, so I started reading books. I read José’s book Shake Your Head, Darling and I thought he was really cool. I started writing him and sending him pictures of my work. They finally called and said they’d received all my letters, but José was too busy to train me. I thanked them and then sent José a bottle of Dom Perignon and said: ‘Thanks for motivating me.’ Next thing you know, he called me personally and asked when I was coming to Beverly Hills; that he’d like to meet me. I went out to meet him, and shortly after, he was going to do a training academy. He offered that I could train with his staff. That day, the person that was teaching color didn’t show up. I explained that I had worked for a couple of companies and that I could teach. The artistic director loved my work and said, “José, we’ve got to hire him,” and within a month or two, I was living in Beverly Hills.
SLV: So that was your audition for José?
BOYCHUCK: Yeah, I just jumped up and said I’d do it, and that’s how I got to Beverly Hills.
SLV: Did you cut hair, as well as color?
BOYCHUCK: No, in the French Salons in Beverly Hills you have to specialize. José told me I had to do one or the other. I told him I wanted to do his clients, so I decided on color, and that’s how fast that decision was made and I became a color specialist.
SLV: Did you ever goof-up?
BOYCHUCK: No. You’ll always come into situations, but if you’re a good colorist, you can always fix them. I think the difference between an average colorist and a great colorist is knowing about all the different ways that hair can react in different situations. If you put brown color on blond hair, it’s going to turn green. But if you know that, you’ll add some red to it first and then you’ll have a nice beautiful color. Basically, it’s knowing as much as you can about chemistry and pigment, and then you will be considered a great colorist.
SLV: I thought you didn’t like school.
BOYCHUCK: I won a coloring contest when I was seven years old. It was coloring an Easter Bunny. I used all the different colors everywhere and my brother was like: “You didn’t even stay in the lines and you put colors everywhere and you won.” It was just that I liked colors.
SLV: If a client brings in a photo of something that you think is totally wrong for them, do you try to talk them out of it or just go with it?
BOYCHUCK: Actually, you try to guide them to a better look. I never like to tell anybody what to do. I think that’s when you become way too egotistical. When they come in, they’ve been thinking about this a lot. They think that’s what they see themselves as. I think it’s better to try and guide them to a look that works better for them, but never take down anybody’s ideas; try to work with their ideas. That’s one thing I didn’t like about Beverly Hills. It was like some of the stylists liked to intimidate people when they came in and make them think they were God and stuff. It’s just not that way. Everybody’s good at their profession and when somebody comes to you, they may be the best accountant or best model and they have very important lives and careers, too. When you come to this salon, there should be no intimidation and everybody’s welcome.
SLV: Are blonds your favorite?
BOYCHUCK: Blonds are what I do the most of. I got my name by doing Josie Bissett, Donna D’Errico and others when I was in L.A. and it just flooded. Then Paris Hilton’s mother Kathy came in, and then Paris. I started doing all blonds. In L.A., if you get known for doing one color, then everyone comes to you because you do that color. If you do the most beautiful reds seen on TV, then all the redheads come to you because you do the best reds. But I also like to do reds.
SLV: Are there some hair colors that won’t go to blond?
BOYCHUCK: Yes. It’s really hard to get a platinum look on a dark-haired person. The length of the hair determines a lot too. If you have black hair and you have hair down to your waist, it’s almost impossible to take you to a blond-blond color, because you have to lift it through six or seven shades and it would come out in different colors all the time.
SLV: What’s the most common mistake you see women making with their hair color?
BOYCHUCK: Not being realistic. They think that if you pick out a blond color in the store and you put it on brown hair, it’s going to go to that color. It doesn’t. If you go more than two shades, you’re going to get a lot of off colors. The other mistake is when someone who’s blond decides to put brown on and then it’ll turn green or blue.
SLV: Do you color many men’s hair?
BOYCHUCK: Most of the men I do want a more natural look. Most men want either highlights or want to cover the gray.
SLV: Do you think Brad Pitt’s hair in Legends of the Fall was extensions?
BOYCHUCK: Yeah, I’m pretty sure they were. When people go from short to long, really fast, it’s usually extensions.
SLV: Do you use mainly clip-ins or do you use a glue when attaching extensions?
BOYCHUCK: It’s not glue, but a Keratin-based attachment. It comes out really easy. I used to see people put them on with Crazy Glue…anything. Fifteen years ago, people would do the silliest things, but it wasn’t very advanced. Now hair extensions are very advanced. You can put in clips with just wefts or use a Keratin-based adhesive. Now extensions are much more advanced and safe, and are so natural looking.
SLV: I know you’ve got a huge supply of extensions here. Do you put them in?
BOYCHUCK: No. Again it goes back to your specialty, your passion. I’m booked up most of the time doing color and I leave it to a stylist who has a passion for that. One of my stylists over at AMP was voted the number one HairDreams Extensionist in all Las Vegas, and that was really great.
SLV: What product can’t you live without?
BOYCHUCK: Leave-in conditioner. A good shampoo is great, but if you’re using an expensive conditioner and you leave it on for five or ten minutes and then you rinse it out, it all goes down the drain. If you get a good leave-in conditioner, it stays in the whole time, so it helps style the hair, but it also protects against heat, ultra-violet rays, and adds character to help prevent split ends. It does everything until you wash it out. It stays right there, so it’s 24-hour help. It’s really a must here with the Vegas sun.
SLV: Have you had any clients ask you to color their down-stairs?
BOYCHUCK: In L.A., more popular was artistic designs down there. A stylist or a makeup artist can do it and waxing can give you different looks. People wanted Playboy bunnies, hearts and things like that. When I was in Beverly Hills there was more hair to work with, and in today’s times, there’s not too much to work with.
SLV: How is your time divided between your salons?
BOYCHUCK: I work here four days a week and the Palms two days a week. I love working with the Maloof family, they’re great, and I think the salon here at Caesars is incredible. I’m really lucky. I have two of the best locations that there is.
SLV: Explain to me how you ended up with COLOR at Caesars Palace and AMP and PRIMP at the Palms.
BOYCHUCK: I was in the right place at the right time. I was probably the number one colorist in L.A., so when Laurent Dufourg of Privé wanted to open a salon at Bellagio, he said: “You go there and run it for me.” Basically I was at the right time and place in my career. I started running that one and met all the wonderful local women here. So when that didn’t work out for Laurent, the ladies made calls and I went to the Venetian and ran Canyon Ranch Spa for six years. My wife Karen, who runs Crazy Girls, was friends with one of George Maloof’s friends, so when he was opening up the Palms, they said they’d like a meeting with me. My wife hooked up the Palms, local women hooked up the Venetian, and Laurent Dufourg hooked up Bellagio. I always try to treat people fairly, do a good job and then I just go from there. Whatever happens after that is all good. The best thing is being a good person.
SLV: Tell me what you would consider to be a perfect day.
BOYCHUCK: A perfect day would be any day, to be honest with you. I wake up and I have a great wife, she’s always there. I have four beautiful dogs that are incredible. I come to a great salon to see great clients and that’s why I don’t need to go on vacations too much. Every day is the best!
SLV: When you do take a vacation, where would it be?
BOYCHUCK: We love Hawaii and the Florida Keys. I like to go places where you can sit there and let the sun beat down and listen to the waves and that’s it. SLV

Issue 48 featuring: Cali Logan, Tori Black & Monique Alexander and Lux Kassidy