By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Delia Ramirez got started in the hair styling business, Farrah Fawcett’s feathered hair was all the rage.
“Everybody wanted their hair feathered. Even the men got it,” Ramirez said.
Also in demand were curly perms. People just scrunched up their hair, “and away you go,” Ramirez said.
And of course there were the “shampoo and sets,” for ladies who came in for weekly appointments. In between the appointments, they treated their hair like royalty. Some slept at night with toilet paper wrapped around their coiffed locks.
“That brings back memories,” the 76-year-old said as she reflected on her 41 years in the business and looked ahead to more years at a new location.
Ramirez, who began her career at Perfect Touch Salon, and has owned Delia’s Touch of Beauty Salon in Bowling Green for 25 years, is closing the doors to her shop on South Main Street by the end of August.
“It’s hard to give up your business that you’ve built up for years,” Ramirez said.
While she is leaving the stresses of business ownership, she isn’t giving up her shears yet.
Ramirez and her daughter, Hope Vargas Mendieta, a licensed manicurist, will be moving to Dying 2B Pretty Salon at Woodland Mall in Bowling Green. Joining them in the move will be stylist Dawn Gambill.
“I have clientele who will follow me,” Ramirez said.
“Some of them have been with us for 30 years,” Mendieta said.
“They have become family,” Ramirez said. Over the years, she has become a trusted confidant to many customers. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a psychologist or a doctor. I just support them and give them my love.”
Ramirez first fell in love with styling hair as a child growing up in Texas. Her father would sometimes take her into town as a treat, and she would peek in the windows of the hair salon.
“I would look at the beauty shop, and look at them doing hair,” she said. “I used to cut my brother’s and sister’s hair when I was little.”
Her family moved to Ohio when she was 18. Later she started beauty school in Fremont, and managed to graduate while juggling the care of her four children.
One of those children is Hope Vargas Mendieta, who has worked by her mother’s side for 28 years.
“I grew up in the salon,” Mendieta said. “Here I am – still loving it. I love the people.”
Working side-by-side with her mom can be a little stressful some days.
“We bump heads at times, but that’s normal,” Mendieta said. “Overall it’s such a blessing for me. Most people grow up and hardly see their parents. I feel so lucky.”
“My mom is genuine, sweet, compassionate, very humble, and Godly,” Mendieta said. “They don’t make them like her anymore.”
“Wow,” her mom said, smiling at her daughter.
More than four decades since Ramirez picked up her shears, she is ready to move to her next styling chair.
Now the feathered and permed looks have been replaced by the straight styles for the most part. But Ramirez still has loyal customers looking for that weekly shampoo and set.
“Some of mine are still old-school,” Ramirez said.
