WHITNEY SANDE

Hi, my name is Whitney Sande and I was born and raised in Santa Cruz. While growing up I was very active in sports, especially volleyball. I have always loved working with my hands and having a creative outlet,so I began my journey by going to college and majoring in fine arts. I loved painting in acrylic, oil, and using mixed media. While I was in college, I got a job as a make-up artist and quickly fell in love with the industry.  I worked for a salon called Atelier, a Aveda salon on Santana Row in San Jose doing mainly wedding and special events make-up.  It soon became very clear that this was something I wanted to do forever. So I went to the Aveda Institute in San Francisco, where I got a high-level education.  At the Institute I achieved recognition by earning two awards: Best in Customer Service and Best in Product Knowledge.  I loved Aveda for being an environmentally conscious company and having a strong mission statement about making the world a better place, something I find very inspiring in this industry.  I then furthered my training at Oxenrose Salon, also in San Francisco. Oxenrose had a strong creative team where we did avant-garde photo shoots and fashion shows. I learned how to translate high fashion to the everyday man or woman. This was a great place for me because I love fashion and style, especially helping others find new and refreshing looks through their hair.  I am a people person and enjoy building relationships with my clients.  It is so rewarding getting to know them and their needs, and hopefully I will be able to share with you tips on how to make your hair work for you.  I love color; since painting was my first passion it came very naturally to me.  I enjoy doing more subtle  baliage, or more natural looks focusing more on dimension and the flow of beautiful tones. I use bold colors for creating natural looks or dramatic statements.  styling and color techniques.

I learned Aveda as well as Vidal Sasoon hair cutting techniques and apply them to all different shapes.  The freedom of style inspires me.  It is stimulating to further my education by always taking new classes in cutting.

On my days off you will find me with family and friends, hopefully at the beach. I still love to paint and use other mediums.  I find that this inspires my work at L’Atelier.   I have a little dog Louie whom I adore; he is a rescued long-hair chihuahua.  You can find us cuddled on the couch watching cheesy reality TV shows.