Meet my own personal Edward Scissorhands/Sweeney Todd. His name is Christian Ariel and he styles my hair. Christian works at an innovative hair salon called iStyle XG. Despite being fresh out of cosmetology school, he is already well-known on Instagram for his edgy, avant-garde hair designs. Like most of us, Christian was a little lost before finding his way into his fashion oriented career.
Name: Christian Ariel
Role: Hair Stylist
College Fashionista: When did you discover you were interested in hair design?
Christian Ariel: After two years of college and moving back home with my mom, she took me to cut my insanely long hair and it happened to be a Paul Mitchell Focus Salon. I started interrogating my stylist after seeing her and the other girls there having fun and being creative with what they were doing. I was always creative since I was young. I just had trouble focusing on something because I was into everything. So after talking to her, a year later I started school at Paul Mitchell The School and it was the best choice I’ve made in a long time. I finally found my niche; now I fuse all my artistic interest around it.
CF: What’s your favorite outfit to wear to the salon?
CA: I wear the same look pretty much everyday of my life. Black on black on black on black. I get a lot of my clothes at Goodwill or thrift stores in the area. I’m not a fan of new things and when I do get something new, I ruin it on purpose so it feels old and worn and comfortable to me. Rips, tears, holes, faded black, lightener stains— that’s what I love. Grungy with a purpose.
CF: What phrase would you use to describe your personal style?
CA:Â A Robert Smith, Alice Glass, vampire, Norwegian black metal warrior love child.
CF: What would you say the connection is between fashion and hair styling?
CA: They go hand in hand. Fashion is the umbrella; hair is under that umbrella along with clothing, style, makeup, music, etc. Whoever you look up to in the fashion industry, someone did their hair to bring the look all together. Whether it was them or a stylist. Hair brings the image together.
CF: Would you like to have your own salon someday? What would you call it and what would it look like?
CA: Yeah, eventually I see myself starting my own cult. I would probably end up calling it Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism or something like that. I’m big into car garage/warehouse/industrial looks; Gritty and dark like a cave.
Learn More: Want to take your hair to visit Christian? His salon, iStyle XG, is located at 24406 State Road 54 Lutz, Florida.
