Russian beauticians have found themselves in a hairy situation: very few have had any training or experience with the latest trend in hair styling, African braids. They are all tangled up about just how to weave the hair properly.

Fortunately for Muscovites, Alexei Kuznetsov, a stylist at ‘Europe,' has been familiar with the style since childhood and knows the ins and outs of the process.

Ironically, Kuznetsov was turned on to the flashy hairstyle by his father years ago. "While he was in Spain, my dad saw a famous soccer player with these tiny braids charmingly flittering around his head as he played, and he decided to have his head decorated in a similar way," Kuznetsov recalled. "I stayed in Barcelona for five years, taking lessons from famous Spanish hairstylists Leongerass and Sanmartine. Barcelona is a unique city — a junction of many cultures. There are thousands of tiny barbershops offering African styles. Staying in Barcelona, I came to want to master this art so I could fulfill my dad's wish and open a small Afro-style studio in Moscow."

Africans invented the art of arranging their hair in tiny braids and, with the modern technique of hair grafting, there are no limits to creativity. The art basically employs braiding synthetic fibers into natural hair, which enables one to make practically all kinds of braids. And the choice of colors adds to the variety of possible hairdos.

"We use Conicolon artificial hair supplied from Great Britain. For African braids, Conicolon is technologically more effective than natural hair," Alexei Kuznetsov said. "And we use different colors and tints to combine the effects of braiding and streaking."

In addition to Afro-braids, Kuznetsov's studio offers hair grafting, which creates the effect of long, thick hair. Grafting is often used by actresses appearing in film and television. There is a requirement however; your natural hair has to be at least 5 cm long. Otherwise, grafting will be impossible.

"African braids are an ideal way out for those with problematic hair," Kuznetsov added. "In addition to spectacular effects, the style owes its popularity to the fact that it gives the opportunity to make braids of almost any length or, conversely, to compress long hair into a compact hairdo."

For reggae fans or lovers of exotic styles, Kuznetsov offers dredlocks or "rastas", a Carribbean style made popular by ‘70s reggae music legend Bob Marley.

If you decide to get dreds, you better have patience.

"To get a Jamacian-style hairdo, one has to gather tolerance and pull through heaps of inconveniences," Kuznetsov said. "You can't cut your hair for a long time, nor can you wash it for a month. During this time, you must wipe it with a cloth wetted with weak manganese solution and with wax once a week. In a word, it takes a real obsession!"

That was the easy part.

Your head will be itching terribly after the style is done. Don't scratch it! Run to the nearest shower cabin. Washing will bring some relief but not pleasure — dreds need special care while you wash them.

African braids are not as troublesome as rastas. At the ‘Europe' studio, you will be serviced by a team of three who will manage to complete the procedure in 5 to 7 hours.

Once done, African braids do not require any special maintenance. Braids can be washed with conventional shampoos and hair conditioners and arranged in various ways, such as a pony-tails and/or decorated with accessories. The hairdo normally lasts two to three months, depending on how quickly your own hair grows. After that, you can either have the style touched up, unbraided or you can decide on yet another radical change of your image.

‘Europe' offers both ‘standard' and ‘haute coiffure' African style hairdos. At $200, prices are twice as cheap as, say, in London or Barcelona.

The relatively low price is intended to "make the Afro-style accessible to the public," Kuznetsov said. "Holding prices at this level has brought us plenty of clients."

‘EUROPE' HAIRSTYLING STUDIO
8/1 Rizhsky Pr. Metro: Alexeyevskaya Tel: 286-1125 Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.