The Star Treatment : Stylist Lori Davis Gives Famous Clients High-Profile Hair Color, Perms and Cuts

HOLLY HUNTER sits in the beauty shop chair, staring into the mirror and contemplating several hair styles. The actress is trying to find the best look for her next film, “Once Around,” with Richard Dreyfuss. “Lori, whaddya think?” she asks in her decidedly Southern drawl.

This is not a new question to hairdresser Lori Davis, who colors, perms and cuts the hair of many a Hollywood star. In addition to Hunter, Davis’ clients include Meryl Streep, who visits between films to have her natural pale-blond color restored; Cher, who comes in for perms, and Bette Midler, who had her hair dyed red for “Beaches” and blond for “Stella.”

But Davis’ work isn’t limited to women. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a regular at Lori Davis Hair Doctor since his “Conan the Barbarian” days. Nick Nolte insists on having Davis flown to his film locations to match his hair color and style to his role. Sean Penn and Tom Cruise drop in for trims. And “Cheers” star Ted Danson, who gets a Davis cut and conditioning every two weeks, comes in for color as well when he needs it for film work. “To make his hair look its natural shade on the big screen,” Davis says, “we have to make it a little darker than how he wears it on television.”

Davis may handle more superstar tresses on a regular basis than any other salon stylist in Southern California, yet she manages to do so without Tinseltown trappings. In fact, her salon is pure down-home. “They (celebrities) don’t come here for ambiance,” says Davis, her own long, blond hair framing her face. The 16x16-foot room she rents in the Brentwood Continental salon in West Los Angeles is separated from the rest of the shop by a rattling, wooden sliding door. Paper teddy bears festoon the mirror. Davis’ cosmetology licenses, plaques with cute sayings and a promotional photo signed “with love” from Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito (who, she says, met in her salon) adorn the walls.

Many of the actors and actresses who come to this funky little workroom to entrust their hair to Davis have been referred by other actors or by studio hairdressers, who also depend on Davis’ expertise with color and other chemical hair treatments. “My hair was destroyed after I did ‘Miss Firecracker,’ ” Hunter recalls, “and Lori saved it.” During the making of that film about three years ago, Hunter’s hair was dyed red several times, which stripped it of its moisture and sheen. So Davis restored the actress’s natural shade of brown and used deep conditioners to bring back its soft texture. “She’s been with me ever since,” Davis says.

This year, Davis introduced her own line of hair-care products, Designers’ Mane Collection, which uses many of the same formulas she has applied on her famous clients. The stars can buy her products in her workroom; the products are available to the public at Frends Beauty Supply Co. in North Hollywood and through mail-order.

For many celebrities, Davis has found, extra conditioning is important. NBC news correspondent Maria Shriver gets frequent moisturizing treatments to keep her hair shiny under drying studio lights. “Cheers” star Rhea Perlman’s hair requires constant care to keep it looking curly rather than out of control. “Now that it’s shoulder length, she has versatility,” Davis explains, “but keeping it shiny requires regular deep-conditioning.”

Occasionally, stars will ask Davis for a totally new look. If they are between films or TV shows, she’ll indulge the whim. For instance, about five years ago, she transformed Cher’s dark mane to “a punked-out blond,” Davis remembers. “We cut it all off into a crew cut and bleached it almost white, but that meant constant touch-ups. Unless you have plenty of time for upkeep, going from dark brown to blond is torture--and expensive.” She gave Cher the same advice she gives other brunettes: “Don’t be a blonde unless you can afford the time and money to touch up every two weeks.” Cher was back to her natural brown in less than six months.

Davis calls herself one of a vanishing breed of hairdressers: “You know, the ones who do everything-- without assistants--who shampoo and color and perm and cut.” She does concede, though, that she doesn’t do blow-dries: “After 23 years with a hairbrush in my hand, my wrists hurt.” But it doesn’t seem to matter because Davis’ cuts fall perfectly into place as clients wield their own hair dryers, and the color of their locks shines so naturally that one wonders if Davis ever , well, goofs.

“No, honey, I don’t fail,” she says. “If I were to fail, I’d fail big.”

Makeup: Sharon Gault/ Cloutier