Perfecting the curls

At first glance, the single-story brick cottage looks like a new art supply store.

Katt Ahlstrom, 2011 winner of Best Hair Stylist by the Missoula Independent, wouldn't mind the mix up. After all, Ahlstrom has always been an artist. Recently though, she gave up all mediums but one: hair.

Three months ago, Ahlstrom opened Canvas Studio on north Madison Street, and her swanky new salon is hitting it big. As one of the few places specializing in cutting curly hair, Ahlstrom is breaking into a niche market of mostly young, professional women trying to look polished but natural. Ahlstrom works with the natural curl and shape of hair to go from drab, frizzy waves to tight, natural corkscrew curls without using perms, harsh products or styling.

Less than three months after opening, Ahlstrom is booked at least two months out.

Richelle DeVoe, development director at Forward Montana, is a recent college grad who accepted that her red, wavy locks would always be a little wild.

"Curly hair is a different beast," DeVoe said. "I had gone to the highest-end salons, only to find everyone working there had bleached, flat ironed hair. I'm too low maintenance to get that look every day,"

DeVoe, now one of Ahlstrom's 600 annual clients, said it was worth waiting three months to get her hair done.

"I showed up straight from the gym to get my hair cut. Katt pulled my hair out of a nasty bun and started to cut it dry. Even without washing it or anything, my hair looked better than it ever had. I could see my natural curls."

However, the experience with Ahlstrom is about more than a great haircut.

Not unlike Missoula itself, Ahlstrom's new salon is a mix of modern, elegant sophistication and thrift store finds with wood floors, bold lighting, comfy lounge chairs and a propane fireplace. Ahlstrom's old paintbrushes, art supplies, and random antique accessories unassumingly detail the deep window ledges and doorframes. A glass shelf, glittering under rows of art-studio track lighting, spans most of one wall and is filled with white and green bottles of Deva Curl. Since the Deva Curl is great for any hair type, but especially curls, it is the only product Ahlstrom carries. Rather than rows of hair cutting booths, Canvas Studio has only two mirrored stations, one for Ahlstrom and one for her friend from beauty school, Anna Henry.

Ten years ago, Ahlstrom visited Missoula while on a road trip from her home in Vermont. She fell in love with the town, and decided to stay. In 2004, she was living in the closet of a five-man bachelor pad while waitressing at The Shack. She started cutting her coworkers' hair. The owner of The Shack's wife owned a salon, and encouraged Ahlstrom to go to beauty school, which she did. Eventually, Ahlstrom started renting a space at the Cutting Crew on Ryman Street downtown, where she was one of the first people to utilize the website's MySpace, and eventually Facebook, to promote herself.

She started perfecting the Deva Curl system. She took more classes about hair cutting beyond the required beauty school training. Eventually, she built a large, loyal fan base of return clients, and started thinking about opening her own salon.

"I was getting ready to leave for a vacation," Ahlstrom said. "I had heard a space on Madison Street had opened up, and at the last minute I decided to look at it. Of course, I found my dream salon space already built and waiting for me."

Ahlstrom asked Henry, who was working at Regis in the Southgate Mall at the time, to join her at Canvas Studio.

"Anna's confidence has always struck me," Ahlstrom said. "Even in beauty school when we knew nothing about hair, she was the only person I would let cut mine."

Ahlstrom says her business at Canvas Studio is all about luxury and indulgence. She wants her salon to be stylish but approachable.

"I want my clients to feel like they can show up in their sweats," she said. "My studio is intimate. You will never run into six people you know. I take my time, and it works."