Web site offers hair-care advice

For many clients, a cosmetologist serves as a personal beautifier, counselor and confidante. Dwayne Pressley, a stylist at Illusions located on Thomasville Road, personifies these qualities Recently, Pressley officially launched his new Web site www.askdwayne.com. The site is a source of information for clients as well as stylists. It can be accessed through the web or as a pre-subscribed e-zine, which is similar to an online newsletter.”I knew I wanted to provide correct information and help establish healthy hair to enhance people’s appearance,” Pressley said.”I was getting a lot of questions from clients. I kept getting the same group of questions on the same subject.” Pressley decided to start the Web site about three years ago, but didn’t know exactly what he wanted it to be.In 2002, the idea finally came into play and the free-to-all site was on its way to helping those in need of healthy hair.”The site is very good, I enjoy it. I like the way you can e-mail him and ask him questions and he responds quickly,” said Cindy Labossiere, one of Pressley’s clients and a junior photography student at Florida State University.Getting your hair-care questions answered quickly is just one of the many benefits the site offers to web-surfers and subscribers. The site contains a stylist corner for professionals, new hairstyles, hair care guides, guest speakers’ notes, a classified ad section and a section for salons to submit their information. There is also a product review that allows people to learn about products. The site also presents information on split ends, choice of color and hair breakage. However, it doesn’t offer advice on chemical treatments.”I don’t answer chemical questions. I refer them to professionals because it [using chemical products] is something you don’t want to try at home,” Pressley said.Although the site is in its beginning stages, Pressley estimates that there have been over 3000 hits and it is also getting rave reviews from its visitors.Lisa Clarke, a client of Pressley’s, is one of those visitors. She has visited the site frequently. “The site is excellent!” she said.”There are new styling methods and products to help with hair care. It will be helpful to a lot of people who can’t afford to get their hair done and don’t know how to do their hair.” According to Victor Doss, the site’s programmer, the site offers its visitors a technological advantage “You don’t have to go to the salon to make a hair appointment or go see a stylist for certain advice, you can get the information online,” Doss said. “They can get one-on-one interaction. If you have a question, it gets immediately answered. The site takes a different angle; it broadens the client base from local to world-wide.” Dwayne’s desire to help people in need doesn’t stop at the new site, he is also trying to help aspiring models jump start their careers. The models are featured on his site.”My venture for this summer is to get the models national exposure and possibly make contacts with professional agencies,” said Pressley.The stylist from Detroit, Mich. said that being a stylist and helping people is very rewarding.Pressley’s drive for helping his clients stems from the love he constantly receives from clients who often take him in as their own family.”Clients to me are like church members, they are always there to take you in and help you out.”Kanya Simon can be reached at Kanyasimon@aol.com.