Mark saves Sinterklaas’ completely rain-drenched beard with the perfect curl

The cozy studio of Mark Aaij is located in the backyard of Mark Aaij in Heiloo Sinterklaaskrullen.nl. This is where the magic begins to create the perfect overall picture. “Sinterklaas must look good and well-groomed. It must appear natural,” says Aaij as he carefully removes the hair rollers from one of the beards. But how did Aaij end up in this niche?

Like any other child, he was crazy about Sinterklaas and that love actually never left. “It’s more than a passion, it’s really part of who I am,” says the hairdresser. About 20 years ago he already participated in a Sinterklaas program and was even Head Pete for many years. At that time he worked with the well-known Bram van der Vlugt, who was Sint at the time. Since then he was sure: “Every Sinterklaas beard must look as good and real as Bram’s.”

It has now been 14 years since Aaij started his company Sinterklaaskrullen. With a smile from ear to ear, he thinks back to all the beards he has curled. “After all these years, I sometimes wonder: how many beards could I have curled by now? I think I’ve seen about 350 already this year.”

Rained beards

Sinterklaaskrulen is very busy this time of year, especially after the rainy arrivals of late. “Last weekend I was at the arrival in Schoonhoven and you should have seen that Sinterklaas. He was completely rained out.”

When Aaij picks up the photo he starts to laugh. The rain-soaked Saint looks somewhat regretful as his sagging curls hang limply past his head. Fortunately, he has a gingerbread to enjoy as consolation.

Keeping those beautiful curls intact is quite an art. “Anyone who has curls knows this: all it takes is three drops of rain to make them fall out.” The trick to combat that is hairspray to secure them. “And otherwise they’ll just have to come to me for maintenance,” Aaij says, laughing.

Precision work

The beard sets are made entirely by hand and it takes a lot of time. In total, Aaij spends about 2 weeks working on a complete beard set. Each hair is tied with a knotting needle until a full beard with volume is created. Once the hair rollers are out of the hair, the real fun can begin.

Aaij heats up his curling irons in an oven and gets to work. Although one small thing stands out: before he starts, he sniffs the tongs. “You may think: what a strange guy, what is he doing? But I always smell my tongs to see if they are warm enough.” To test it, he always checks the heat on a piece of toilet paper.

In this video you can see how Aaij gets started with Sinterklaas’ hair:

Besides the curls, there is much more to bringing Santa to life. “It varies per Sinterklaas what the eyebrows and mustache should look like, for example. Sometimes a mustache is much too long and covers the entire upper lip. Then the facial expression is lost and we shouldn’t have that.”

The color of the beard is also important. “Such a fake and bright white beard ruins the illusion.” To help Sinterklaas look as good and realistic as possible, Aaij gives workshops. “I tell them how best to put on the wig and beard, but also how to look best with the make-up.”

“More than the party shop”

“In the end, it’s about everything looking as real as possible and there being no doubt that this is really Sinterklaas.” Aaij’s greatest wish for the company is to become even bigger and to offer more Sinten good quality. “I want to show that there is more than the party store.”