Valerie Lane

Valerie Lane has lived in Long Beach, California since she was a child and she always knew that upon graduating from high school, that she wouldn’t be attending college. “I didn't want to go to college. I wanted to make some money right away,” explains the all-natural brunette. “At first I thought about going to beauty school, but a guy I was dating at the time kind of jokingly suggested that I become a men's hair stylist instead. ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘that's not a bad idea.’ It sounded kind of fun, and there weren't many women doing it, so the unique aspect of the work appealed to me. I took a styling course and started. Mr. Ron's is the only place I've worked.” Mr. Ron’s, a hair salon in Newport Beach, is constantly filled with anxious men ready to get their haircut, but their nerves are heightened when they see their hairstylist for the day is our busty Miss October 1973. “When I first started my job, I couldn't believe how uptight most guys were when they walked in. Usually, they were carrying some wadded-up picture showing a great-looking guy with this tremendous head of hair, and they'd say, ‘I want my hair to look like this.’ Well, that's fine, except they might have four hairs on their head, and they expect me to make them look like the guy in the picture,” recalls our all-natural Playmate of the Month. “But, I can identify with their apprehension. I was always scared to death to get my hair done for fear of what some beauty operator would do to it.” The shop is carefully hidden behind several office buildings and is off a main highway—unless you know what to look for, you’d never find the salon with the Playmate hairstylist. “We don’t get a lot of walk-in customers who just see a sign and stop. But, I’m always busy, which proves that word of mouth is the best advertising,” laughs Valerie. “Eventually, I'd like to open my own shop. In fact, I'd like to open a couple of them, and I sometimes fantasize that if they were successful enough, I'd have other people run and staff them. That way I'd have to work in the shop only a few days a week. That would be ideal.” Ideal is the exact word Playboy fans would use to describe a men’s hair salon owned and operated by our Playmate of the Month, but what would this heavenly shop be called? “I’ve got to think of something really clever to call them. ‘Miss Valerie’s’ just doesn’t make it. That sounds like some old maid’s nursery school,” giggles Valerie who knows her business would be a success because of her honesty. “When I first started doing this work, I only tried to make my customers happy. Now, I’ve learned to kind of bring the guy around to my way of thinking by pointing out why his ideas may not be right for his face. So, I make my customer and me happy.” Valerie Lane has a talent, guts and a naturally, busty body to boot—her business venture is going to be a smash hit in her hometown of Long Beach.