<p>Bethany Bentson opened Bristle Boutique Salon in July on Bay Avenue in Ocean Park. She said she designed the space to have an “old barbershop feel and be airy.” Here, Bentson cuts Will Murray’s hair. She is highly trained in the cutting of both men’s and women’s hair. Also, she is a skilled colorist.</p><p></p>

    OCEAN PARK Several years in Tacoma gave Bethany Bentson an impressive education and resume as a hair stylist, including taking instruction from and working with such international industry greats as Angel del Solar, whose commitments have included preparing hair of stars at the Academy Awards. The lure of staying in Tacoma to work in salons, which often attracted customers from all over the South Sound, was great. But for Bentson, that couldnt compare with coming home to the Peninsula to again be near her family, the Suprunowskis.

    Last Month, Bentson opened her new venture, Bristle Boutique Salon, at the Knights Corner complex on Bay Avenue in the space right next to the Ocean Park Area Chamber of Commerce. Highly trained in Redken six-point cutting and PureOlogy free-form design, she is not just skilled at cutting hair, but also coloring. She styles the hair of both women and men, consulting with them extensively as she begins to work, to learn the desires they have for their haircut. Sometimes, the conversation starts at the shampooing basin.

    Every person gets a full shampoo and condition, she explained from her salon. I dont do anyones hair without this. Its a huge part of styling. A self-professed perfectionist, Bentson doesnt believe in skipping any steps.

    All the products she uses are eco-friendly. The coloring products, for example, are ammonia-free. Ammonia, Bentson stressed, is not good for our skin to soak in.

    The products are displayed on a bookshelf on one wall. On the back wall are frames, some housing antique scissors. She said she wanted to create an old barbershop feel, very clean and airy. I didnt want any clutter. Her mission was accomplished.

More than just haircuts and color

    Also in her salon, she waxes eyebrows, lips and chins. And, she tints brows that might not stand out as much as they should. She explained her brow process.

    You can match brow tinting to your hair color, if youre having your hair colored at the time. Or, if your hair is natural and maybe you are extra blonde or are a redhead, a lot of times the eyebrows dont show up on the face. So, you can color them. It brightens up the face and gives it definition.

    Bentson was hooked on doing hair at an early age. It was just something Ive done since I was little. Ive always cut my familys hair. It was an interest of mine from the beginning. She laughed when explaining what she started doing from an early age. I would stare at peoples heads all the time, thinking, I could do something with that.

    Her post-Ilwaco High choice of education was a school located in Tacoma.  She explained, I started off at the Tacoma Salon Academy, which is a Redken-backed hair salon with all six-point cutting and Redken coloring training. The state of Washington required 1,600 hours. This was actually an 1,800 hour course, including a salon business program. I finished the 1,800 hours and from there, went into an apprenticeship, where I did an extra nine months of training.

    After the apprenticeship, she was offered a job at the same salon, an upscale business owned and run by Angel del Solar. He used to be the top lead design for their haircuts.

    He would lead weekly education classes and train the stylists. Also, Bentson said, Wed have people fly in from all over to train us.

Angel del Solar goes to Hollywood

    All the time that del Solar owned his salon in Tacoma, he was venturing regularly to California to work on those special events, like the Oscars and the Primetime Emmy Awards. He was the topic of a feature story in a February 2008 edition of the Tacoma News Tribute, the interview taking place in the Beverly Hills Hilton where he had just styled the hair of a TV family drama star.

     During the 2009  Oscars, he was featured in a King 5 News Evening Magazine segment.

    Bentson feels lucky to have learned so much from this master stylist. After the time she completed her work with him, he decided to close down the Tacoma salon and move to California. Her time at del Solars Tacoma salon, she said, was a big part of her training. She continues updating her education by traveling to classes in Portland and other areas. She strives to stay current.

    

Family ties

    Because she is now a mother of one- and two-year-old boys, Torsten and Koen, Bentson works by appointment only. Shes not at her salon all day, everyday, but a call to her cell phone can set up a time. Family members are involved with caring for the boys when shes working in the salon.

    And what a family it is. For years, the Suprunowskis have been involved in the Dunes Bible Camp. Bentson is glad to be home, so she can continue assisting them with the tasks involved. She has a long history of doing just that. While in high school, she was a lifeguard at the Dunes Pool. Back then, she also taught water aerobics in the summer months.

    Bentsons husband, Isaac, spent last year involved in Young Life, an after-school program at Ilwaco High.

    Bentsons brother, Ben Suprunowski, was critically injured in December 2010 in a car accident near the Chinook tunnel. The entire family received tremendous support from the community during his recovery.

    The Suprunowskis are a close knit bunch and Bethany is glad to be starting her new venture here on the Peninsula, where she can be close to her family.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Bristle Boutique Salon

1715 Bay Ave., Ocean Park

Open by appointment only.

360-244-0695