Before you dial up your congressperson: Your tax dollars were not spent on gold-plated shampoo bowls.
This salon is a modest, one-room, two-chair operation staffed by a single hairstylist.
“She explained that McMurdo is not just for scientists,” says Sutherland.
Elaine Hood/National Science Foundation
“They need people supporting the science to make the station work.”
One of those people is a hairstylist.
Sutherland applied online immediately.
Alicia Sutherland
(“Who gets to go to Antarctica?
I wanted in!")
But the atmosphere inside the station is surprisingly warm.
Gabe Bunch
“The relationships that get formed here are like no other.
We’re all in this peculiar place together and it [creates] a special comradery.”
“Before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and redeployment it gets extremely busy.
I will usually do upwards of 25 haircuts a day,” she says.
(Sutherland works for a salary.)
But cutting hair in Antarctica presents a unique set of challenges.
“The [dry] air just sucks all moisture right up,” she says.
“People’s hair will stick straight up.”
Using hydrating products helps; Sutherland likes theKMS Moist Repairline.
“They get shipped down so they are not a part of my weight allotment,” she says.
“Unfortunately, if I run out, then I run out.
Sometimes you just have to wing it.”
“I 100 percent consider McMurdo home.”
