<< more about PAUL NEINAST
Born in Denison, Texas, in 1953 as the second oldest of four brothers,
Neinast moved with his family in Dallas when he was 10 years old. Due to acute
allergies, he spent most of his playtime indoors. Neinast's childhood pursuit of
arts and crafts led him to develop his current understanding of color harmony.
Although as a child he sometimes had visions of becoming a famous artist or a
missionary doctor, Neinast decided to pursue a beautician career when he was a
senior at Hillcrest High School. Neinast had been cutting other people's hair
since he was five. In time, he began to cut his brother's hair and even gave
makeovers to some of his babysitters. Once when he was 17, he corrected a bad
haircut his mother had received from a salon earlier that day. That night she
arrived home from a party relaying the compliments several guests made about her
hair.
Upon graduation later that year, Neinast decided to stay in Dallas and enroll at
Msme. Isabel's Beauty School. When Neinast graduated highest in has class in
1973, Dallas was just beginning to come into its own as a center for fashion and
beauty. His well-meaning friends and colleagues told him he should move to the
well-established hotbeds of Los Angeles or New York City to gain notoriety but
Neinast insisted on staying in Dallas. He believed if he was good enough the
fashion magazines would seek him out. He accepted a job with Sligman & Latz,
working out of their salon at Sanger Harris in Preston Center for two years. At
a time when beauty salon hair cuts and sets in Dallas cost $7 to $10, Neinast
charged $50 for the first premium hair cut and style, the same as his
counterparts in New York City. He was told he would never make it in Dallas. But
after only six months, he began to develop his valued Park Cities clientele and
was steadily booked two weeks in advance. He was promoted to director of the
salon and soon was asked to open and act as assistant manager and style director
at the new salon in Sanger Harris at Valley View. As Neinast predicted, the
fashion magazines came to him Neinast was the first Texas-based hair stylist to
be interviewed for articles in the national and international press.
