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Truckee goes glam at Shampoo

Christine Stanley
Photo by Ari Steffen/Sierra Sun Diana Alouise cuts Paige Derdowski's hair in her new salon on South East River Street. Alouise was a stylist to the stars in Beverly Hills for more than 20 years.
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How many Truckee residents do you know of who have dated MacGyver, cut the hair of Steve McQueen, starred in a one-woman comedy act about mullets, and dabbled in hand modeling? There’s only one, and her name is Diana Alouise. After 26 years as a celebrity stylist and all-around glamour girl in Beverly Hills, Alouise decided to make a change, right here in Truckee. In the early summer of 2005, the vivacious single-in-the-city girl packed up her blowdryers and scissors, and opened her new salon Shampoo in a Victorian fixer-upper on South East River Street. “Would I have done this 10 years ago? No. But now it feels good,” said Alouise. “To live here is amazing – just killer.”

Now, she’s serving up martinis and brie to clients she treats in zebra-print chairs while watching Madonna concerts on a plasma TV. A pair of glitter-covered stilettos sit in the window sill. Issues of W and Glamour rest in the magazine rack. The shop is as funky and chic as Alouise, yet plush and inviting. “She brings this slice of life that we don’t have,” said Truckee resident and client Paige Derdowski. “I think Truckee is ready for it. She pampers you and that’s rare here.”Before leaving the Beverly Hills buzz, Alouise made a name for herself by creating the haircut for “MacGyver” actor Richard Dean Anderson, working in a number of L.A.’s top salons, and traveling the world as a celebrity stylist. “I’ve had a very wild life,” Alouise said. “I was taught by the best and get so much pleasure out of making someone look good.”Lucky for her local clients, she’s making them look fabulous for a fraction of her Beverly Hills prices. And what’s better? She’s got free parking.

“My clients here are getting the same treatments for a quarter of the price,” she said. “If my L.A. clients knew what I was charging here, they would fly up, get a hotel, and stay for the weekend.”Other than hair cuts and coloring for both men and women, Alouise also offers make-up applications and complete makeovers, plus bang-trims for the dogs. Soon, she will even be hosting a Botox and cocktail party with a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. “She always takes her time and seems to have a good understanding of what you want,” said resident and client Doreen Aiello. “And besides being a great hair cutter, she is just so nice and fun to talk to.”When she’s not in the salon, which is rare, Alouise is working on her memoir, a whirlwind tour of life in Beverly Hills and beyond, with riotous stories about ridiculous clients, an ex-boyfriend who robbed a bank, and her experience as a stand-up comedian. “I think she’s a great fit here,” Aiello said.



Check outDiane Alouise and Shampoo at 10050 South East River Street(530) 587-8494


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