Sarah Palin’s hairdresser speaks

By Beth Teitell

The world needs to know: When Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recently sought “emergency’’ treatment for her hair, what, exactly, did her longtime stylist do?

“It wasn’t like I did an intervention,’’ Jessica Steele said in a phone interview from her Wasilla, Alaska, beauty parlor, the Beehive.

In fact, despite the juicy hair-loss tidbit that Palin-aholics gobbled up in a New York Times story (“The Long March to a Short-Notice Resignation,’’ July 12), Steele insisted that Palin’s hair hadn’t thinned so much as it had gone blah.

“I think the combination of traveling and just being down there in the lower 48’’ took its toll, Steele said in what was either a brilliant bit of spin, the simple truth, or an attempt to save the good stuff for a cut-and-tell memoir. “We needed to get her back to shiny.’’

She gave Palin a much-needed trim, she said, and “kicked up’’ Palin’s shampoo and conditioner a notch, to the high-end Pureology NanoWorks line. She also gave Palin a chichi leave-in treatment, Altieri Brothers Tuscan Oil.

Palin left the salon with a bottle of each, Steele said. That’s $48 for 10.1 ounces of shampoo, another $48 for 8.5 ounces of conditioner, and $22 for 3.5 ounces of Tuscan Oil.

Steele says she doesn’t understand why Palin’s hair is still a story. But if there’s one thing more surprising than the fact that the hair of the former vice presidential candidate remains of global interest, it’s that the hairdresser to the most famous hair on Earth can be reached directly, simply by calling her at work.

“Let me give you my e-mail,’’ Steele said.