Pam Geiger’s longstanding role as an esteemed fashion and beauty artist began years before she ever coiffed Jacqueline Kennedy, Cheryl Tiegs or Christie Brinkley. Long before working with Bill King, Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Meisel, Hiro, Neil Barr and Irving Penn, Pam was in front of the mirror in her childhood home in Lexington, Massachusetts, fretting over her own evolving adolescent looks and experimenting with ways to improve them.

Pam began working as a professional hairstylist in Boston, but soon found herself in New York at the legendary Kenneth Salon, where her clients were bold-faced names from society, fashion and entertainment. Her reputation led to offers of work from Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, where she styled hair and makeup for cover stories and far-flung fashion shoots that took her from the beaches of the Côte d’Azur to the exotic reaches of distant Africa.

Pam also has styled photo shoots for major cosmetic companies, including Revlon, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Cover Girl and Maybelline. She has worked for such fashion designers as Prada, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Vera Wang, enhancing their presentations with perfect hair and makeup–and starting a few trends of her own in the process (magazine beauty editors are among the front-row journalists chronicling “the new”).

The stories here are drawn from the myriad adventures Pam experienced worldwide over a career spanning more than 40 years. Some of the tales are humorous, some are poignant; all are entertaining. Enjoy the journey.