NORTHVALE — From cutting Oscar-winning hair to styling on Bollywood sets, 34-year-old Seth Lombardi is proud to say that he has come full circle.

"I was always running around," said Lombardi, a Tenafly native. "I went on a long journey and now I came back."

The celebrity hair and makeup stylist has catered to clients such as Cindy Crawford, Paris Hilton, Kelly Osbourne and Christina Aguilera. Known for his head-turning flair, Lombardi has worked commercial shoots with Colin Farrell, on film sets like Spiderman and fashion shows during Olympus Fashion Week in New York.

But before the sleepless nights at celebrity-studded parties, the 34-year-old first began his career working for James Benisillo at Salon S, 207 Livingston St. in Northvale.

"James helped me get my first salon job," said Lombardi, remembering the beginnings of his career.

It wasn’t long after working on a Sebastian Laminates commercial when one offer quickly snowballed into another and Lombardi became a star request hairdresser.

"I was in Los Angeles working and doing some shoots," said Lombardi, recalling the life-changing opportunity in 2004. "And I met this girl from Sri Lanka at this bar with one of my clients, Kelly Osbourne."

Raquel Yasseen Yatawara, owner of the posh Crown Salon in Sri Lanka, invited the stylist to work at her 5,000 square foot spa revolutionizing Asian hair and beauty care.

For seven months, Lombardi said he sought refuge on the Asian island after feeling like "I [had] burned myself out in my career." He said that the Sri Lankan experience, just a few months after the tsunami that claimed more than 225,000 lives, was also a much-needed eye-opener.

"I felt spoiled driving around in Raquel’s Jaguar and seeing people’s homes completely destroyed," he said.

So when another offer arrived to work in India, Lombardi quickly jumped at the chance.

Moving among cities Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, Lombardi lured clients with his American appeal and edge. In fact, he remembers at one point being the sole American hairdresser in Mumbai’s Toniq, the city hailed as the epicenter of the Bollywood entertainment industry.

Mixing what he calls "glamour and Barbarella," Lombardi’s style is subtly futuristic. But his success as a hairstylist lies mostly in his ability to listen to his customers’ needs.

"When someone sits in my chair, I ask them, ‘If you could, what would you want to do with your hair?’" he said.

Lombardi described how he adapted cuts to suit his various Indian clients: short, streaked hair for Bollywood women; long, layered cuts for middle-class women; and haircuts that resembled famous cricket players for men.

In seeing how Indian salons lacked basic sanitation standards, Lombardi eventually spent most of his time teaching Indian stylists to adopt cleaner haircutting practices and technique.

He emphasized the importance of sanitizing scissors, "introducing them to alcohol." He also strongly advised against the use of coconut oil on hair. Coconut oil is often used by Indians to moisturize the scalp and stimulate hair growth.

"It cooks the hair and that’s why most Indian women have thin hair on top," he said.

Although advocating Westernized practices, Lombardi did assimilate into the Indian culture during his three-year stint. He commuted to work on an auto rickshaw, sunbathed on the Mumbai beaches and became an avid cricket fan.

"I loved doing what I was doing," said Lombardi. "I love cutting hair and I realized that what got in the way [before] was celebrities."

Having been "humbled by India," the stylist decided it was finally time to return home.

After a long-awaited absence from Salon S, Lombardi said he hopes to settle in the Northern Valley region and eventually become business partners with Benisillo.

"India was such a big part of my life," he said. "But, I have to be here right now."