David and Elizabeth Bischof
Ages: David, 25; Elizabeth, 26
Home: University Heights
Makeover by: Charles Scott Salon & Spa, Rocky River

With his trendy haircut and penchant for dying his medium-brown hair blond in the summer, David Bischof isn't exactly the kind of guy you'd expect to request an external overhaul. But the information-technology project leader at KeyBank claims he and wife Elizabeth haven't changed a bit during the last six years.

Elizabeth, a preschool teacher at the Jewish Day Nursery in Shaker Heights, is particularly tired of the reflection she sees in her mirror.

"Every hairstyle I get turns out the same," she says. "I take the curling iron and curl the ends under."

Stephanie Fulot, a colorist at Charles Scott Salon and Spa in Rocky River, doesn't recommend a drastic change from Elizabeth's pale blonde. Instead, she makes Elizabeth "a more believable blonde" by shading out and lengthening her unnaturally straight regrowth line, breaking up her one-dimensional color job with highlights and returning her nape hair to its natural dark-blonde color.

After nail technician Alicia Peters gives Elizabeth a manicure, owner Chaz Henline trims 6 inches off her hair and cuts it into an updated bob with layering that exposes her darker nape. He then styles her locks with an easy-to-work-through liquid gel, blow dryer and round brush.

The only flaws aesthetician Simona Pavel finds in Elizabeth's fair skin are the dark circles under her light-green eyes. Pavel conceals those with the same blend of pearl and soft-beige powder foundations she applies to the rest of Elizabeth's face. A palette of pinks — petal powder blush, deep-rose lip pencil and matte lipstick, and tourmaline base shadow — follows. Pavel accents Elizabeth's eyes by applying a purplish-taupe shadow in the lid creases and corners and a bronze counterpart under the brows and on the inner lids. Lining the outer eyes with a soft slate eye pencil and then a brush of brown mascara finish the job.

"They didn't do anything too extreme," Elizabeth says, "but they made a nice change."

For David, the experience of spending an afternoon at a spa is more of a surprise than the results. After a 30-minute relaxation massage, colorist Laurie Burnett lightens the tips of the hair on the top of his head to a sandy blond. Stylist Taylor Ralyea then trims the top with shears and the sides and back with clippers while Peters gave him a manicure.

"I just go to barbershops," David says. "This is totally new for me."

Erin Pierce and Bryan Gaus
Ages: both 33
Home: Medina
Makeover by: Spa West, Westlake

Erin Pierce is stuck in a hairstyling rut when she and husband Bryan Gaus arrive at Spa West. The senior marketing communication specialist for Westfield Group calls her 'do "that Flock of Seagulls haircut," referring to the oddly coiffed '80s pop band. Spa manager Gaharta Fine calls the style a "mullet," that short-in-front, long-in-the-back haircut widely sported a generation ago.

"That's a word nobody usually likes to hear, but that's exactly what it is," Fine says.

Before she pulls out her scissors, Fine changes Erin's strawberry-blonde color job to a lighter, brighter golden shade with natural-looking highlights that better fit her age and occupation. She then takes 2 inches off the back and blends Erin's choppy layers into a softer, easy-to-maintain style. It was her old cut, Fine says, that made Erin's attempt to grow out her bangs so difficult.

"You're not going to have those long bangs hanging when all the rest of your hair is a completely different cut," Fine says as she sweeps Erin's bangs off her forehead during the blowout. "If you want to grow them out, it's going to make it easier."

Next, aesthetician Mandy Nagy applies a soft ivory powder foundation on Erin's porcelain complexion, dusting her entire face with a mosaic blushing powder and brushing her cheeks with a tawny blush. Black eyeliner, black mascara and muted powder shadows — a nude base, a cocoa shade for the lid creases and corners, and an all-over application of pale pink — is chosen to accent Erin's light-blue eyes, while a brownish-red lip pencil and lipstick is chosen to line and fill in her lips.

Meanwhile, stylist Judy Hoover modernizes the conservative cut Bryan, a general manager at United Airlines, routinely requests from his barber. Instead of parting Bryan's light-brown locks on the side, Hoover combs the top forward. An illusion of textureΩis created by first highlighting the tips on top a pale blond, then slathering the entire head of hair in a mocha-blond color glaze. Hoover uses an electric neck shaver to fashion a more natural faded neckline and then cuts Bryan's hair again, reducing weight and adding more texture by using a razor on the ends.

"It's an edgy look that still looks natural and professional," she explains.

Bryan says a couple of his colleagues commented on his new look when he arrived at a regional managers' meeting in Chicago directly following his makeover. And Erin says at least one of her co-workers did a double take at the office.

"She didn't realize it was me at first," Erin says. "I love the color. I think it looks better shorter."

Derrek and Camille Falor
Ages: Both 35
Home: Lakewood
Makeover by: The Spa at Springfield, Strongsville

ofy dresses. Bad perms. Hideous makeup. No, it's not a scene from "Sixteen Candles." It's Derrek and Camille Falor's first date: their high-school prom, circa 1987.

Since that night, the couple has seen each other through many more rites of passage. Their styles have come a long way, but with a recent move to Cleveland, Derrek's new job and the birth of their son last year, they're ready to update their look.

"I feel like my hair doesn't match my personality," says Camille, a regional vice president for SCA Personal Care. When her hair began falling out after the pregnancy, Camille tried to even things out with a short haircut, but that only made matters worse. Now, she's hoping to trade in her plain brown tresses for a 'do that's "funky and fun but still professional."

For Derrek, who keeps his hair at a buzzcut, getting ready for work is a piece of cake. "I shave every three or four days if I feel like it and take a shower if I feel like it. That's about it," he says.

"My husband is the head women's soccer coach at Cleveland State University, so his main attire is sweat suits, but nice ones," Camille adds.

The couple is game for anything as they walk into The Spa at Springfield. "I figured I should go sort of radical since Derrek isn't really going to look that changed," Camille says.

Cosmetologist April Urbanek goes to work on Camille's hair, cutting off 2 inches and adding dimensional hair color in red and warm brown. Camille's eyebrows are dyed to match the new shade. "Once we put the color into her hair, her whole complexion changed," notes spa owner Diane Cline.

To further revitalize their complexions, the couple receives LED light therapy. The technology uses infrared rays to increase collagen levels and reduce ruddiness. "That was cool," Derrek says. "It doesn't really feel any different than an ultrasound."

To polish off their new look, the two are treated to cleansing facials and pedicures. While Urbanek applies rust-colored lipstick and plum eye shadow to complement Camille's green eyes, Derrek gets his first manicure. Cline also brushes on some bronzer to give his face a Floridian glow.

"It's been so relaxing," he says of the entire experience.

Camille is especially thrilled by her results. "I love my hair," she enthuses. "My personality is way more redhead than mousy brown hair. I think it's going to be super-easy to take care of, too. April did a fantastic job."

Bianca Motley and Kevin Cliff
Ages: Bianca, 26; Kevin, 31
Home: Highland Hills
Makeover by: Dawn Nicole Salon, Bainbridge

"You what?" Kevin Cliff responded when his girlfriend, Bianca Motley, told him she had entered them in a contest for a free makeover.

"I thought it would be fun," says Bianca. The 26-year-old attorney wants a rich hair color and a stylish but low-maintenance cut. "I don't like to spend a lot of time in the morning doing my hair," she explains. "I usually part it on the side and just stick it behind my ears — nothing fancy."

As for makeup, Bianca is curious to know what shades look good on her. "I'm just not a makeup person. I might put on a little bit at night," she says.

Kevin, 31, an architect with GPD Associates in Akron, has no specific requests for Dawn Nicole Salon owner Dawn DeVincentis. "I wear my hair short," he offers. "I had highlights once."

DeVincentis first darkens Kevin's natural color. Since he has had a recent haircut, she "rebalances" his look, which simply means making small adjustments that will give Kevin a look that will better suit his face as his hair grows out.

"For those people who think that they don't have much to change, typically, a rebalancing is necessary," DeVincentis observes. "We rebalance the volume and placement with the shape of the face and do a skin-, eye- and hair-color analysis."

Bianca's brown hair gets a lift with an overall sandy color and a mix of red and caramel highlights. "The coloring is just fantastic," she says.

Her hair is thinned on the sides to remove fullness and to better frame her face. "It's all about balancing," says DeVincentis.

Design consultant Angela Ruffin also gives Bianca bangs, something she hasn't had since she was in the fourth grade.

"I was open to the idea," says Bianca. "It looks different. But sometimes different is good."

Natural tones of makeup applied by skin-care consultant and makeup artist Milana Tabachnik accent Bianca's strong facial bone structure without drastically altering her look. The only detail that catches her off guard is purple eye shadow. "I liked it," she admits, "but I kept looking in the mirror saying, ‘Who is this girl?' "

Pleased with the results of the makeover, Bianca says she will definitely choose the same hairstyle and color in the future. Kevin is also happy with his new look and the overall makeover experience. "He really enjoyed it in the end," Bianca later reports. "He couldn't stop looking at his hair in the mirror as we were driving away from the salon."

Beatriz and Greg Kreutzberg
Ages: Beatriz, 29; Greg, 28
Home: Lakewood
Makeover by: Ohio Clinic Skin Care and Day Spa, Westlake

"When I was in middle school, I used to lay my head on the ironing table. I would do anything to have straight hair when I was at that age," Beatriz Kreutzberg recalls. But with a 5-month-old daughter to care for, the stay-at-home mom now barely has time to iron her clothes, let alone her hair. "I wouldn't mind spending a little bit more time getting ready," she says.

Bea's husband, Greg, is also ready to jump-start his look. The full-time student has one semester remaining at Case Western Reserve University's School of Law before he enters the professional world.

As they sit in the waiting room of Ohio Clinic Skin Care and Day Spa in Westlake, the couple is excited, although Greg voices some concerns. "I'm a little apprehensive because I'm not, as they say, a metrosexual, so I'm not into looking as such," he says.

Master stylist Jerry Sufka begins by applying a warm, soft brown to even out Bea's old dye job with her natural dark shade. He then adds highlights with a cream lightener and gives her a fuss-free haircut. While the hair is still wet, he creates ringlets by wrapping his fingers around Bea's curls. "Naturally curly hair is very in right now," Sufka says. "I wanted to work with her natural curl rather than torturing it into something that it's not."

When it's Greg's turn in the chair, Sufka applies subtle highlights to enhance Greg's natural ones. "This is my first time ever getting highlights. Actually, this is my first time ever going to a nice salon," admits Greg, who is also treated to a chair massage by massotherapist Nikki Nockowski. After a haircut, Sufka works in a product called Mess Up for a modern, tousled look.

To complement Greg's new Hollywood hairstyleˇ aesthetician Barb Ballantine gives his face an airbrushed tan. She then sprays on dark "airbrows" to bring out his blue eyes. "It feels like a cool breeze," Greg says of the process.

Bea also gets the air treatment. Aesthetician Shari Porach then selects a brown eye shadow to complement Bea's hair and raspberry lipstick reminiscent of a classic Hollywood starlet.

"I'm so not used to wearing all this makeup," Bea says. Even so, she approves of her new look, especially the haircut.

Greg also digs his results. "I like the subtle highlights," he says. "I can see why people go to salons and not to the barbershops."