Less Drink, MoreThink

Hairstylist Charlie Price recounts how he regained the reins on his public image by abstaining from alcohol. 

Charlieprice

I have always prided myself on working hard and playing harder. I proudly drank to get drunk, and I loved it. After losing weight at the end of 2014, I found that I got wasted a lot more easily—but instead of drinking less, I continued drinking more. Binge drinking was super fun.

I blacked out three times in the summer of 2015, and by October of that year my hangovers were lasting three days. I pride myself on being smart, but this was stupid! Even though I was a lot
thinner, I wasn’t physically feeling good. I started to change the way I felt about my image—for instance, people in the hair industry only knew me from hamming it up on stage or drinking at convention center hotel bars. It was no longer becoming to be a wild child, especially in my mid-40s. It was time to move on to the next phase of my life. My drinking was making me feel undignified and highly emotional, not rebellious, sexy and cool like it was before.

I clearly needed to re-evaluate my drinking. I completely stopped for around three and a half months, and my outlook improved immeasurably. My liquor money now goes to Whole Foods! I do continue to imbibe some—very mildly—and I have not been drunk in 12 months. I celebrate life now by drinking in a way my grandma or Kris Sorbie would approve of—I can even go out to nightclubs and have fun without getting sloppy and slurry. My caustic, outrageous personality is plenty raucous without enhancement, and I can clearly remember the fun I had the next morning without a crushing headache. I tell this story because, like Eden Sassoon, I feel that it is important to share struggles, not just successes. In our industry our clients tell us everything, but we don’t share nearly enough with one another. Go ahead and say the word: Your pro-beauty peers—including me—will be there to listen, and help if need be. 

[Image: MELANIE WATSON]

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