Yes Way, Jose!

Before Sally Hershberger and Chris McMillan ever plugged in a flat iron, there was Jose  Eber — the blonde-tressed, cowboy hat-wearing French hairdresser who helped popularize the voluminous "Farrah wings" worn by Charlie's Angel Farrah Fawcett in the early 1980s, and worked with Jacqueline Smith, Cher and (mostly famously) Elizabeth Taylor, who gifted the hairdresser her beloved Maybach in her will.

Now well into his career — but still taming the tresses of Hollywood royalty — Eber has opened an opulent new salon in Beverly Hills. And it's decor couldn't be further away from the industrial, downtown-chic look that's been prevalent in salons in recent years.

The main floor of the new salon. Courtesy of TheBlondeandTheBrunette.com.

Eber's hair haven is all about old-school swank, boasting tufted, velvet seating, cushy swivel chairs, a decadent mirror-encrusted front desk, flat-screen TVs at every turn and various well-appointed enclaves where waxing, nails, makeup and even medi-spa treatments like Botox and lasers go down.

The color scheme — dark gray juxtaposed with various shades of purple — was in part inspired by Taylor, who loved the hue and famously had purple eyes (though they changed throughout the years.)

"She would have loved this," said the easy-going Eber during a tour through the salon. "I know she would have."

Taylor was instrumental in securing the 8,500-square-foot spot, in fact, which was formerly home to Christie's auction house. "She called this person and that person and made it happen," said Eber, who works daily at the salon, and charges $500 per cut (though cuts start at $85 for men and around $150 for women.)

The salon also includes rooms specifically dedicated to hair extensions (complete with a flat-screen TV — genius!), semi-permanent makeup (which sounds scary, but only lasts one to two years and won't make you look like Michael Jackson) and The Suite, a private, VIP room overlooking busy Camden Drive.

"This salon is really me," said Eber, while taking a seat on a snow-white tete-a-tete chair in the salon's front room. "It's this beautiful?" he asked, imploring me to sit across from him on the stunning S-shaped chair.

"See, now we can really talk."

José Eber, 360 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 858-4000.

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