beautiful people.(hairdressing tips from Sam McKnight )

Hair Force

When Sam McKnight enrolled in a small teacher's college in Scotland 30 years ago, his green hair, platform shoes, and stack of David Bowie records didn't quite fit in. He dropped out and started cutting hair at a friend's salon to pay the rent. "My family was horrified," he says. "I felt like I let them down." But McKnight didn't go anywhere but up: to magazine shoots, advertisements, and eventually, Kensington Palace. When he was first introduced to the Princess of Wales, "she asked what I could do with her hair," recalls McKnight. "I said I'd cut it all off and start again." Apparently, that was the right answer. McKnight was Diana's hairstylist until her death, seven years later. Now he regularly styles the Kates (Winslet and Moss, and Cate Blanchett) as well as Madonna. "I like to work with the hair's natural texture," says McKnight of his overall approach, "rather than beating it into submission."

Cara Birnbaum

Tool-free tricks

When McKnight started at London's Molton Brown Salon, hair dryers, curling irons, and straightening irons were forbidden. The point was "to have freedom with the hair, not end up with anything stiff," he recalls. "Working there really taught me to rely on my hands." McKnight's two favorite tool-free styling techniques: * Condition and control. Lightly dab dry hair -- skipping the roots -- with a dime-size amount of leave-in conditioner and pull it into a high chignon. "This will keep it looking beautiful while you moisturize it for hours." Uncoil the chignon later, and you'll have soft waves. * Straighten and ...