Feathers and Flair to Color the 13th Annual Scotts Valley Art and Wine Festival

Helen Youmans participated in the Scotts Valley Art and Wine Festival for the first time last summer. And even though her business, Hair Flair by Helen, was only about a month old at the time, her booth was overwhelmingly popular: at one point, the wait time for festival goers to get one of her hand-dyed feathers installed in their locks reached three hours.

"It was a huge success, the response was amazing. I had a lot of customers, and I got a lot of positive feedback. The Chamber has also been very supportive," said Youmans.

This year, Youmans is prepared. She'll be bringing a helper, as well as an arsenal of new feather designs to the 13th Annual Scotts Valley Art and Wine Festival, which happens this weekend, Aug. 11 and 12 in Sky Park. 

"It will be interesting to see what peoples' reactions are," said Youmans of the whole new line of colorful feathers she's ordered for the festival. She'll also be bringing her well-loved supply of hand-dyed feathers, which come in natural and more subtle colors, as well as more vibrant colors and stripes.

"It's nice to do something fun with the hair that's not going to be a permanent change," said Youmans.

In fact, that's exactly what attracted the stay-at-home mom to dabble in hair flair in the first place when she was looking for something to do with her hair on for her birthday last July. Now, she's hooked.

Unlike a weave or hair extensions, the hair flair feathers do not damage the hair with glue or chemicals. Youmans attaches the feathers to a lock of hair using a crimping bead, which also means it can be repositioned in just a few minutes if needed.

"It's kind of interesting, people will come and say 'I want it really subtle, tuck it in the back,' and then they'll look at it and say 'can you move it to the front?'" laughs Youmans.

The feathers last from four to six weeks, and vary in style from "really subtle" to "making a statement," depending on where they are placed and what colors you choose. They also add body and movement to the hair.

"The cool thing is you can wash, blow dry, straighten, curl, with these in, and you can go swimming," said Youmans "They're a natural product so they will withstand all of that."

She'll also be bringing hair tinsel, or "bling," which are iridescent ribbons which shimmer when they catch the light and last from two to four weeks. Her booth will also feature glitter tattoos, which were a huge hit at the Redwood Mountain Faire earlier this summer.

During her first year of business, Hair Flair by Helen has blossomed, and aside from festivals she also does birthday parties, ladies' nights, sleep overs, and private house call appointments.

The only real difficulty came when the feathers went completely out of stock for a while due to a large demand. (It also doesn't help that the hair trend feathers come from the same roosters that fly fishing lures are made from.)

"The entire stock of feathers in Europe, Canada and America was completely decimated. So all of these fishermen were up in arms because all of these women were going and buying up all the feathers," said Youmans.

Lucky for us, (and the fisherman), the feathers are back in stock, and Youmans has been hard at work preparing for the weekend's festival.

"Next week I'll be totally feathered out," said Youmans.

For more information, photographs, and pricing, visit the Hair Flair by Helen website, or check out her booth this weekend!

The Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival is on Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Skypark at 361 Kings Village Road in Scotts Valley. Admission is FREE!