Rebeca Andrade and Flavia Saraiva have the same hairdresser; meet Márcia Vieira

Being the hair stylist of an Olympic medalist is something few can do. And what about two of them? Of course. Márcia Vieira, a professional for 30 years and owner of a beauty salon in Paciência, west of Rio, is the one who takes care of the locks of Rebeca Andrade and Flávia Saraiva, from artistic gymnastics.

An extrovert, she is thrilled with the duo’s achievement. “I’m so happy for them. They are great girls and I was so proud, so proud it felt like the medals were mine too. Seriously!” she says excitedly.

Marcia tells the F5 How she met the duo. “Flavinha lives near the salon and I’ve known her since she was little. She brought Rebeca here about 4 years ago. They’re both very vain. I spoke to them right after the artistic gymnastics competition in Paris ended and they said they’d schedule an appointment soon,” she celebrates, as she has to control the two Brazilian gymnasts’ constant desire to change.

She says that the team bronze medalist is a chameleon. “Flavia wants to change all the time. And look, she has little hair and so I really don’t let her. I explain that it could damage it, that it won’t look good, and then she calms down (laughs),” she admits.

The professional also says that Rebeca is in the process of transitioning her hair. After years of straightening her hair, the gymnast wants her hair to be more natural. “I advised Rebeca to wear braids because it’s better. She was getting extensions and wanted a change. With braids, she can put on different colors, lengths and shapes as she wants, and before the Olympics, she had them done by another hair stylist. It turned out great.” And beautiful.