Leisa Gordon of Redondo Beach wanted to...

Leisa Gordon of Redondo Beach wanted to do something new with her brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair, but her experiences at hair salons were tinted with memories of bad haircuts. Not wanting to be teased about a hair style that didn’t suit her, Gordon decided last week to see Max of Hermosa Beach, who, she heard, could do wonders with hair.

Thirty minutes after entering Maximus, where Max operates, Gordon was wearing long, curly, auburn hair that flowed over her shoulders. Then, she wore straight shoulder-length hair. Soon afterward, Gordon’s eye color had changed from brown to blue, and her hair was short and blond.

Amazingly, Max had done it without the aid of wigs, dyes or scissors.

Max, a $30,000 hair-styling computer system, which uses video and computer imagery to show customers what they might look like in more than 120 hair styles, is the pride of Ed Hart, who owns Maximus hair salon. Built by New Image Salon Systems of Woodland Hills, Max is one of the latest toys of the beauty industry.

While such computer aids have already made a beachhead in the offices of plastic surgeons, there are only three or four such devices in use in Southern California hair salons, Hart said. New Image expects them to become more common.

The technique is simple. It begins with Max taking a picture of the customer with her hair pulled back. Max then superimposes hair styles selected from a book. Hart uses an electronic pencil to cut and refine the styles according to the customer’s suggestions.

The “finished images” that result are an approximation of what the style would look like on the customer, whose hair may have a different texture than the computer’s model, Hart said. It is the stylist’s job to take such things into consideration.

And although Gordon’s trip Thursday ended without her deciding on a style, she said the $30 spent on the consultation was worth it.

“I’ve had some bad hair cuts, and I know that you can’t get your hair back once it has been cut,” she said.

And Hart was pleased too.

Since Max joined the staff two months ago, Hart’s business has increased 30%--thanks to first-time clients such as Gordon.

Hart said 90% of his customers who use the machine are women, but some are men who want to know what they might look like with a beard or mustache.

Business has been so good that Max has already paid for itself, said Hart, who hopes computer-enhanced beauty aids will be the wave of the future--with luck, a permanent wave.