NOW OPEN: IHF STAR TEAM APPLICATIONS

May 2, 2024 | Content

CATEGORIES > INFORM

NOW OPEN: IHF STAR TEAM APPLICATIONS

The Irish Hairdressers Federation seeks new wave of talented stylists as the competition for 2025 team begins.

The Irish Hairdressers Federation is launching its annual search to find passionate and highly motivated individuals who will make an impact on the future of the industry. Candidates must complete an application and virtual interview process, those who make a lasting impression on the judges will be invited to the semi finals to showcase a Colour & Cut model before the judges whittle it down to a handful of finalists. Applications close at the end of May.

Here’s what you need to know

Applications open to all trainee stylists currently undergoing training and will still be undergoing training by November 2024
You have 300 words to grab the attention of the judges
Entry is FREE
Applicants must be over 16 years of age
Applications close Friday 31 May 11:59pm

CATEGORIES > INFORM

MEET THE ARKITECTS – ARKIVE BY ADAM REED UNVEILS EDUCATION

A talented team from the Covent Garden salon joins forces to create accessible and affordable education.

Adam Reed, the 2023 Most Wanted Session Stylist, is unveiling Adam Reed ARKIVE Education to share the salon’s techniques with a wider audience. Andrew Plester, director of education at ARKIVE by Adam Reed, heads up the team of John Spanton, Sam Bickle, Janet Barone, Luke Logan and Adam Reed himself. Collectively, they’ll be known as The Arkitects.

“Andrew has created this education programme for hairdressers to come and learn how ‘we do hair’,” explained Adam. “With a history of sharing knowledge, our team is anything but gatekeepers. In fact, we want to make our tricks and techniques accessible to everyone. We want to change the face and pace of learning.”

“The Arkitects is an amalgamation of great talents,” said Andrew. “We’ll be offering a mix of structured and unstructured learning from core, classic cuts to more creative courses. Sharing knowledge is powerful. I’ve got a strong background in stage work and education, and I’ve been lucky to have been around great people so far in my career. This takes it to the next level.”

At its official launch, all proceeds from the evening were donated to Haircuts4Homeless. The event was supported by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris, Akito Scissors, Equip the Creative and ARKIVE Haircare.

ARKIVE Education kicks off with two courses: Core Men’s with Andrew Plester on 27 May and Core Classic Cut & Colour with John Spanton and Andrew Plester on 23 June.

CATEGORIES > EXPLORE

"ONLY ONCE WE FEEL IT, CAN WE START TO MOVE THROUGH IT” – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...FAILURE

Things fall apart, it’s inevitable, but it’s how you respond to failure and grow from it that will lead to success.

Unsplash/Bernard Hermant

That fuzzy feeling when you attract a new client, turn a lovely profit, or receive a pat on the back for a job well done… it’s great, isn’t it? But life can’t be all good news. We humans are bound to take a wrong step and face failure at various points. Instead of seeing failure as the bogeyman of business, see opportunities for improvement, suggests Gina Conway, owner of Gina Conway Aveda Salon and Spa. “I had to close two locations after lockdown. But I looked at the positives. I had more time and energy to put into one salon and academy, and breathed fresh life into it. Knowing what I know now, and after many ups and downs, I feel I’m in the best professional place in my life.” Failure can be used as a litmus test to figure out whether you’re on the right track in your business. “Sometimes, the world isn’t quite ready, and it’s telling you to listen harder and make some changes,” adds Gina.

Ben Lifton, founder of social media marketing brand Content Kweens, marketing services firm UGC Creators, and a speaker at Salon Smart 2024, advises to check if what you’re experiencing is actually failure… “or does the thing we wanted not serve us anymore”? If it is failure, sit with the feeling as “only once we feel it, can we start to move through it”. Then he advises to process that but “don’t look back and regret”, because that leads to resentment. Afterwards, “identify what influenced us to end up where we are now”, then finally learn and take that learning forward.

“Knowing what I know now, and after many ups and downs, I feel I’m in the best professional place in my life.”

Gina Conway

Perceived failures can leave everyone in a business feeling deflated. But at hair and beauty salon Fringe Benefits in Gloucester, owner Marina Hodgins employs a positive approach to turn things around. “When team members have left and taken their clientele, which has a detrimental effect on turnover and team morale, we dust ourselves off and start again,” she says. “We contact clients to offer an alternative team member that they would be suited to, offering a bonus such as a free reconditioning treatment to demonstrate how we value their support. This helps to grow a team member, boosting confidence.”

Constant success could lead to complacency. Failures, on the other hand, encourage business leaders to stand up and fight. In the case of Fiona Canning Allen, owner of Ark-i-tec Hair in Bradford, failure wasn’t the end “but a stepping stone to growth”. “I’ve learnt to adapt and seek support to navigate the evolving landscape of salon ownership,” she admits. “Through these experiences I’ve become resilient, determined to flourish even amid challenges, and focused on fostering a salon environment where both clients and staff thrive.”

Unless you’re superhuman, failure is an inevitable occurrence in your career. When faced with it, listen to these voices above and unpack them first. Use the experience to grow, learn and get better. Once a positive analysis of your perceived failure has had its use, move on with your chin up, head up, and heart full…

CATEGORIES > EXPLORE > CREATIVE PROJECTS

THE ART OF BALANCE – MAKE-UP PRO LAN NGUYEN-GREALIS ON WORKING ON HAIR SHOOTS

From minimal to otherworldly, these are the top 10 make-up looks from Lan’s hair shoot career – as selected by her.

Lan Nguyen-Grealis working at Creative HEAD cover shoot

An iconic MUA in the world of hair photography, Lan Nguyen-Grealis is the go-to beauty perfector for so many top name hairstylists, working on collections that have won multiple awards and featured on lots of magazine covers. Outside of hair, her client list name checks Burberry, Dior, Vanity Fair, Glamour and celebrities including Raye and Paloma Faith. She’s even authored two books – Art and Make-Up and ProMakeup Design Book. We set her a challenge – to select the top 10 make-up looks she’s created on hair shoots, while explaining how she approaches a shoot where the hair is the star…

How much of your work would you say is made up of hair-led shoots?
Most are hair led. When I collaborate for me it’s all about bringing the best into the model to help sit in the world of the theme that the hair wants to bring. I love bringing characters to life so it’s all about the feeling.

How do you approach a hair-led shoot differently to a fashion/make-up shoot?
The hair shoot requires me to really hone my skills for understanding face structure and how the hair affects the face. I have to really be quick and think on my feet as sometimes it doesn’t work and I have to be able to add or take away to help the look. There is an element of balance to the overall image that is required and to figure out if the make-up is adding or distracting. If it’s creative it still needs to be considered with hair balance.
When it comes to a fashion or make-up shoot, it’s all about moodboard and referencing to add to the theme. I come up with various concepts to give a directional make-up look. It’s experimental and strong and always open to push boundaries so requires lots of research and play with products colours and basically sometimes anything goes from bodypainting, SFX, making and customisation.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from hair shoots when it comes to doing the make-up?
My biggest lesson has definitely been ‘less is more’, because it’s all about creating a collection that fits the hair than make-up. Sometimes when the make-up is strong it can date the look or overpower the image.

What advice would you have for any hairdressers reading this about approaching make-up concepts/ideas on their shoots?
I think it’s important for hairdressers to really consider the models first, not just about the hair but the looks because make-up has to follow. If the make-up is strong, you really need a good canvas to carry off the looks. And definitely think about the theme. What world do they see their models in. It’s important to be flexible with make-up as clothes and lighting are just as important. When it comes to the image especially in hair shoots your restricted more because the way it’s shot to showcase the hair.

Hair: Errol Douglas MBE, Errol Douglas. Photography: Richards Miles. Fashion styling: Leticia Dare 

Based around the ’80s and colour clashing, this image is striking because of the contrast between the hair and make-up. I loved using the acid green and yellow tones to pop against the model’s skin tone. An homage to Grace Jones, the colours were carefully placed to bounce off each other. I also used the reds and black to create shades of darkness and colour such as blue and brights to lift and highlight. 

Hair: Sally Brooks, Brooks & Brooks. Photography: Jenny Hands 

This particular collection was fun to work on because all the models had characters. I loved this duo set because it was playful and the clothing to the hair was graphic. The make-up needed to follow in contrast as they had beautiful soft features. I played with their eye shape to give a strong dramatic lines and shade that opened the eyes and made them look alike. Using tonal skin colours like brown to black and white, it allowed the light to play with the shadow.

Hair: Cos Sakkas, Toni&Guy. Photography: Jack Eames.
Fashion styling: Borna Prikaski.

This look was purely about skin. The raw, polished shine that bounced in the light helped bring a beautiful dimension to the look. I used oils, balms and mixed-in highlighters to accentuate the features of the model. I created a beautiful glow that was shimmering and reflective, then kept it wet by spraying the model with a pre-mix shine and shimmering formula all over and throughout the shoot. 

Hair: Gary Ingham, Gary Ingham salons. Photography: John Rawson.

A challenging shoot that required lots of prep work, but it was so much fun. First I took away the models’ brows and toned her skin to be like a blank canvas. I ensured I used skin tone nudes and peaches to warm up the sockets and open up the eyes to allow her beauty to shine through. There was still the usual contour and structure so when the light hits, the right places of the face lifted. Using loose powder pigments, I placed and blew the pigment on, carefully dusting with my brush into certain areas of the skin to focus on the bone areas. I was blowing onto the skin when the picture was being taken. It’s something that had to be carefully done otherwise it would have spread everywhere!

Hair: Sally Brooks, Brooks & Brooks. Photography: Jenny Hands 

The simplicity of this shoot just says it all. The essence of ‘less is more’ was the brief here and only essential make-up required to allow each model to shine. Taking into consideration the camera and lights, usually I work backwards to see how the model photographs first and only filled in what I needed to elevate the models’ looks. To take it to that beautiful angelic soft realm, I ensured taupe and skin-like colours were used. So, just barely there on brows, lids, skin, and lips. This required a very considered and delicate touch and understanding of the feeling of beauty.

Lan Nguyen-Grealis Sophie Springett and Hayley Bishop

Hair: Sophie Springett and Hayley Bishop, Toni&Guy. Photography: Jack Eames.

The theme for this look was elevated beauty with a feminine touch. Colours were real, soft and pure. I added a glossy lip soft cherry stain in the centre of the lip and blotted outwards to create a pout. Focus was on the lips so everything else on eyes and cheeks was just a highlighted sheen of metallic that gave a dewy finish. Where the hair was striking, we kept everything to a minimum. But lots of considered shine and highlights on the higher points of the face. 

Hair: Efi Davies, Toni&Guy. Photography: David Mannah
Fashion styling: Borna Prikaski.

The make-up look required was an ethereal alien. I used face tape to stretch out the eyes and elongate the space for each model. This lifted into a higher wing and gave more space for sculpting and shading around the eyes. Colours are kept to cool tones that were matte and a clever placement of reflective balm sheen on higher point of the face to give a glass-like finish. Brows were paired back with bleach or concealer to keep it all tonal to the skin.
The important factor of this look for me was to ensure the colours I used were pretty and feminine. The overall look was so beautiful and with the directional clean lighting and background – everything looked earthy and effortless. 

Hair: Silas Tsang. Photography by John Rawson.

This shoot was based upon Futurism and projection. Lots of colour and interesting art shapes and colours were used instead of clothing. I had to work within each backdrop and decide on the paint strokes and colours, which then were painted all over the face and body to work with the model. There were many moving parts but it worked so cleverly to merge the model into a different world. That allowed the purest of hair to stand out with the lights and texture. This was so beautiful to watch being captured.

Hair: Indira Schauwecker, Toni&Guy. Photography: Andrew O’Toole 

A very strong backdrop and direction for details, this look created a futuristic drama with textures and cool tones. Using crystals and various textured products and accessories, I placed these around the features to suit the look. As an extension to the hair, the make-up had to flow in the same way of the hair’s texture. There’s a mixture of contouring and play with the crystals in the highlight points of the models’ eyes and brows. I loved experimenting on this collection. Skin was soft with pink flushes and silver metallic washes. 

Hair: David Barron, Barron Salon. Photography: John Rawson

The make-up look here was based around illusion and dimensions. With the Cubist hair shapes, I gave the model a bald cap to take off any base hair for a smooth finish. Then I created a mock shape of cubes that contoured around the head and body to follow the flow of the hair. Using differently drawn sizes of cubes, I then shaded to give it all a 3D feel with light, medium and dark tones. Against the dark background and warm lighting, everything fused together.

CATEGORIES > EXPLORE > CREATIVE PROJECTS

KEN PICTON HAS GREAT TASTE – AND HIS NEW DELI PROVES IT

The Cardiff Bay salon owner is delivering a service experience unlike any other, illustrating his appetite for growth.

Picton & Co

Ever since a trip to the legendary Dean & DeLuca in New York nearly 20 years ago, Ken Picton has dreamed of setting up a similarly delicious deli in his hometown of Cardiff.

“I’m a bit obsessed with delis,” he grins. “I travel around the world with work, and I find myself in delis looking at exquisite products.” Negotiations about additional space around his salon in the city’s Mermaid Quay had repeatedly stalled. Then when Covid hit, it was time to batten down the hatches and keep the lights on.

“We were hit hard, everyone had a tough time. We only survived because we were cash-rich, debt-free and thanks to furlough payments,” he sighs. “When we came out of it, that first year I lost revenue of just under a million pounds, and that hurt. I also lost people – seven pregnancies in the Covid year and no-one coming back, people going freelance. It was just survival really.”

But it’s a new era now, as with the landlord won over by Ken’s high-end, quality deli concept, he was given the all-clear to take on the site he’d had his eye on, giving him the entire fascia of the

corner of Mermaid Quay. Work started in March 2023; 19 tonnes of rubble and £400,000 later, Picton & Co Delicatessen – “the deli down the Bay” – is a sumptuous reality.

He’s worked closely on the design and branding to ensure a clear synergy with his salon, a shining star of Cardiff Bay for years. “The original idea started as a store, but then when I looked at the numbers and worked on the business model, I realised that it had to have service to bring it to life. We had to turn it into more experience-led retail,” he explains. “I want to stay true to it as an expansion of the salon. It makes the salon unique in a special way. I know other salons have added things, and we’ve always had a comprehensive refreshments menu – we had a chef working in here until we ran out of space, and I started that 18 years ago. But this is on steroids! Full dinner and brunch menus, beautiful grab-and-go offerings – it elevates the salon into a different category. And in the deli there’s a sign above the door and you can go into the salon, so it’s opening up to clients we never had.”

Coffee bar

Wine cave

The concept of the deli itself is ‘we sell what we serve, and we serve what we sell’. Alongside the impressive wine cave are fresh bakery items, cheeses, meats and Picton blends of tea and coffee, locally sourced. Cocktails are next level (you can add chocolate bon bons that pair with each one), all blended by one of the globe’s top mixologists. Ken hasn’t left quality or service to chance; everything has been meticulously planned and chosen to deliver the right vibe, down to the branded ice cubes. Even the Jancis Robinson glasses that wine is served in can be purchased. “We can now share a full offering to salon clients with a wine list by the glass… and actually charge now rather than giving it away!” he laughs.

Food is made fresh in-house, even down to the cultured butter and marmalade. There’s a walk-in only dinner service for 30 covers (the deli was full after just 30 minutes on the first night), utilising both the large open grill central to the space and the Big Green Egg barbecue (which is also available to buy, of course). The plan is to add outdoor seating so that chefs can grill on the Big Green Egg in the summer, a great way to showcase the product AND the food you can buy.

Delicatessen cheeses

Refreshments

The reaction from salon clients to the soft launch has been “amazing”, says Ken. “The fit out is unique and bespoke. And it was a pretty hefty cost, so we want to see a return. But they’re just blown away with it. They’re all excited because my clients and my team have been talking about the deli for a year!”

The plan now is to “really up the ante” on the retail, pushing the local produce and transforming into a true destination store. Then the next phase will be a refit of the salon’s downstairs space, to allow the two businesses to be open all day together. While eyes might be focused on the new deli, the salon is enjoying a fresh boom. “The team I’ve got, which stuck together after Covid, has been outstanding. And now revenue is growing – we’re up 14 per cent since October. And we took the same in March as we did in December. The salon is on the up again.”

Indeed, Ken is keen to get back on the salon floor, as cracked ribs have meant he’s been unable to see clients for the weeks the deli was launching. “I need to come back and do the stuff I’m good at,” he jokes. “I can’t poach eggs. But I can eat them…”

NOW OPEN: IHF STAR TEAM APPLICATIONS

The Irish Hairdressers Federation seeks new wave of talented stylists as the competition for 2025 team begins.

Related

MEET THE ARKITECTS – ARKIVE BY ADAM REED UNVEILS EDUCATION

A talented team from the Covent Garden salon joins forces to create accessible and affordable education.

Related

"ONLY ONCE WE FEEL IT, CAN WE START TO MOVE THROUGH IT” – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...FAILURE

Things fall apart, it’s inevitable, but it’s how you respond to failure and grow from it that will lead to success.

“Knowing what I know now, and after many ups and downs, I feel I’m in the best professional place in my life.”

Related

THE ART OF BALANCE – MAKE-UP PRO LAN NGUYEN-GREALIS ON WORKING ON HAIR SHOOTS

From minimal to otherworldly, these are the top 10 make-up looks from Lan’s hair shoot career – as selected by her.

Related

KEN PICTON HAS GREAT TASTE – AND HIS NEW DELI PROVES IT

The Cardiff Bay salon owner is delivering a service experience unlike any other, illustrating his appetite for growth.

Related

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