Charles Maksou

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Charles Maksou was the youngest of a family of eight. He emigrated to the US as a teenager to escape the hardship of the civil war. In the first years, Charles tried dabbling with many careers, but fate brought him back to his first love, hair.

After training and working for some of Boston’s and New York’s most prestigious salons, Charles opened his first salon in 1994. But another regular salon proved not enough for Charles’ desire to perfect his craft. In 1999, Charles opened Boston’s first and only all “dry-cut” salon. He discovered this technique when he studied under hair designer John Sahag in New York. Sahag developed this method over 20 years ago and has used it on such stars as Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder, and Janet Jackson, to name just a few of his impressive client list.

It is Charles’ attitude, approach, and talent that keep his clients satisfied. “I have clients from all over the world,” remarks Charles. “They keep coming back.” The impressive list of celebrities has included Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Belinda Carlisle from The Go-Go’s, Nicole Scherzinger from Pussycat Dolls, actors Adam Sandler and Anthony Michael Hall, and Lebanese singers Nancy Ajram and Katia Harb.

Moreover, working with modeling agencies, Charles is a frequent hair designer for photo shoots for national and international magazines, including Mami, Turkish Vogue, Boston Magazine, and Improper Bostonian. He also works with some of Boston’s and New York’s hippest and most prestigious boutiques and designers, such as Betsy Johnson, Emporio Armani, Prada, Donna Karan, and Gucci.

In 2008, he joined hair celebrity Elan Sasson (son of Vidal Sassoon) and beauty business mogul Michael Barsamian to create MIZU Boston and MIZU New York. The salon invokes a minimalist sensibility, influenced largely by Asian aesthetics, and reflects the philosophy Charles brings to hair design: beauty is found by working with, rather than against, nature.

In Charles’s next chapter, Dry Cut Boston brings his famed dry-cut technique to downtown Boston. Experience a hair salon—and cut—like no other.

To book an appointment, please call us at (617) 797-4141