Kim Vo: “From the Jungles of Vietnam to the Jungles of Beverly Hills”
By: Marie-Junie Pierre
Celebrity Hairstylist Kim Vo has been making his mark in the hairstyling industry for over a decade. Working with top celebs like Madonna, Kate Hudson and Britney Spears , just to name a few, Kim has the secret ingredient to keep these women looking gorgeous both on and off the Red Carpet.
Born in Vietnam to French and Vietnamese parents, Kim’s multicultural background has greatly influenced his work. He infuses a lot of cultural ingredients into his products. Kim combines Asian botanical such as Boket with breakthrough French nano-technology to create products that leave his customers with luxurious and beautiful hair. His new hair care line is a testament to his cultural roots. “I’m really proud of it” he says. “It’s organic”, “We designed the bottle, we had to find the perfect gray, the perfect cream. We left out the Sodium Chloride .” His ritual is the Boket story, the use of cultural ingredients to create products that will keep the hair healthy and simultaneously beautiful.
Kim had a natural inclination towards hair even at an early age. “As a young child, I used to play with my mother’s hair” he says. When asked about the advantages of formal education in the hairstyling business, Kim explains the “ Nature versus Nurture Process.” “I believe that one goes to school for the fundamentals, he states, but the basics come before the fundamentals. They come naturally.”
According to Kim, the biggest misconception that people have of the Hairstyling Industry is that it is a glamorous profession. “It is not glamorous as it seems, he says. “It’s hard work”. Having worked at renowned salons like Cristophe and Prive, and now operating his own salons in Beverly Hills , Laguna Beach , Las Vegas and San Francisco , Kim knows the gruel work that is part of the profession.
Kim advises aspiring hairstylists to have “realistic expectations” as well as “patience” when entering into the profession. He acknowledges the need for them to have role models and pioneers to help them achieve and fulfill their goals. His life motto is quite simple, “anything worth anything is going to take amazing effort.” Kim’s successful career is direct proof of the tremendous effort and work that he has put into it throughout the years. “From the jungles of Vietnam to the jungles of Beverly Hills” he states, “proof that anything can happen.”