explore news CONVERSATIONS HEADER Creative head x authentic beauty concept techniques header inform home inform freelance content connect home connect inform header home explore documents header creative projects header
0 Items
An Authentic Take

An Authentic Take

Jul 8, 2024 | EXPLORE, PORTFOLIOS

CATEGORIES > EXPLORE > PORTFOLIOS

An Authentic Take

A Creative HEAD and AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT partnership

This Creative HEAD shoot, in partnership with AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT, showcases signature twists on iconic styles, delivered by Joseph Ferraro and Melissa Timperley.

Hair: Joseph Ferraro and Melissa Timperley for Authentic Beauty Concept
Portrait photography: Andrew Woffinden (A&R Creative), assisted by Marija Vainilaviciute and Luke Weller
Fashion: Harriet Nicolson (Stella Creative Artists)
Make-up: Cat Parnell using Charlotte Tilbury
Editorial: Amanda Nottage (Creative HEAD)
Social media & reportage photography: Kelsey Dring and Aoife Connell (Creative HEAD)
Production: Joanna Kidd (Creative HEAD)
Models: Maisie Stock (MOT) and Nayha Queiroz (MMG Models)
Shot on location at Stā Studios, with thanks to Greg Thomas

Related

It’s Serving Realness

It’s Serving Realness

Jul 8, 2024 | CREATIVE PROJECTS, EXPLORE

A Creative HEAD and AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT partnership

It’s Serving Realness

A Creative HEAD and AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT partnership

Venture behind the scenes as Joseph Ferraro and Melissa Timperley deliver their authentic takes on two iconic styles in a Creative HEAD and AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT partnership shoot.

by AMANDA | CREATIVE PROJECTS

Other hairdressers? We’re fascinated by them. They captivate us. The way they work, their routines and inspirations… And we’re obsessed with gaining that insider knowledge – to find out how a look is approached, to see a creative process unfold, to witness signature skills in action. We’re here for the back stories – and in an exclusive partnership between Creative HEAD and AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT, that’s what we’re going to get, as we unpack authentic takes on two iconic styles from a pair of cutting creatives par excellence. Joseph Ferraro? He’s serving long and luscious, while Melissa Timperley is dissecting the modern-day bob. The door at London’s Stā Studios is open…

Joseph Ferraro

Joseph Ferraro
Joseph Ferraro Hair, Harrogate

My authentic style is…
As I’ve gotten older, my authentic style would be something that has to compliment the client’s or the model’s face shape and hair structure. It’s about keeping it as real as possible – try not to make it too extravagant, too complicated and do what feels right for me and the clients.

Who really owns their authentic style?
Paloma Faith, she knows her own identity, whether you like it or not. She comes on stage and portrays herself as who she is. She would be fab to style – she’s fun and bubbly and that comes across with her hair and style as well.

AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT Hero?
I love Working Hairspray. On photographic shoots or session work in shows, I love it because it gives you the ability to change it up, brush it out and still keep the shine. 

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Minimalist Mermaid

“This is a very effortless wave that’s brushed out, but it’s a little bit irregular. You don’t want a uniform feel for a new era mermaid wave…”

“Some of the sections I took a little bit lower from the roots, using a triple barrel waver. Some of the sections are higher and then some of the sections at the ends I left out straighter, so it just feels a little bit more effortless. I’ve used the Nymph Salt Spray to prep and give it that sort of gritty, lived-in texture and then working with the Working Hairspray.

“The key to make it look modern? Don’t be afraid to brush it out. Get a comb in there, get your fingers in there and give it that very fluffy texture but still keeping that wave looking through it.”

The kit: Nymph Salt Spray, Working Hairspray and Strong Hold Hairspray from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Piecey Pony

“The genesis is the classic, elegant ponytail… but I didn’t want just a simple pony!”

“This has an editorial twist to it. A little bit of Nymph Salt Spray at the roots gives me some grit when I’m putting it up. I split the hair into two ponytails, with the top one taking hair from around the ear to the top of the head to elevate it. Once they were merged into a tight ponytail, I wrapped a little bit of wire around to create that elongated pony that we could shape later. Once that was in place, I used an invisible cotton to criss-cross all the way through. I used Working Hairspray throughout, then pulled bits out of the pony to create this lovely bubble effect that I could then shape with the wire.”

The kit: Amplify Mousse, Nymph Salt Spray and Working Hairspray from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Nineties Knots

“It’s a little bit more raw, a little bit more textured, very organic and not too symmetrical. It’s very much a visual placement that I’ve done, looking at my model, and with no hard lines.”

“I went for more of a twist on the side rather than a braid, it feels organic rather than a bit more of a pretty braid. This twist is more complimentary to this soft texture.

“I worked in a lot of the Nymph Salt Spray and the Working Hairspray. I’ve just used m fingers to create the section, so no hard lines with a comb. I have knotted the hair just like you would do a knot – probably about three times on each section because her hair was very long. Then I’ve roped and twisted the end and basically wrapped that end into itself and then pulled it out to create something that’s irregular.

“Working through the front, if you just go into circular motions, you’ll see a lot of the baby hair or that new growth hair. It creates a bit more of a three-dimensional look.”

The kit: Nymph Salt Spray and Working Hairspray from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

Melissa Timperley

Melissa Timperley
Melissa Timperley Salons, Manchester

My authentic style is…
Classic with a fashionable modern twist.

Who really owns their authentic style?
Anne Hathaway – she’s having a moment! Yeah. I love that no matter what role she plays, she seems to be herself always, her most natural self. She can be quite a chameleon in the way she changes her look, but it’s always authentic to her.

AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT Hero?
Hydrate Curl Enhancer. We do a lot of curly hair in the salon, and this is my go-to.

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Hydro Bob

“You’ll always see a wet bob seen on the red carpet. My model’s hair has got a lot of natural texture, and I wanted to create a real smooth and shiny canvas without it looking greasy.”

“I cocktailed the Amplify Conditioner and Amplify Mousse together to create this sheen that’s going to take out some of the natural texture and keep it looking flawless. This is a new way of wearing a bob, creating more of a sleek, defined look but still with some
authentic texture in it. Be warned; you’ve got to be careful that it doesn’t look like you’ve just stepped out of the shower. I want that sexy sweatiness about it…”

Be very generous with your product. You want to make sure the products aren’t just for the look – you still want the hair to move. I’ve paired a gel conditioner – using it as a styling gel with a mousse but something that’s not going to dry crispy!”

The kit: Amplify Conditioner and Amplify Mousse from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Bedhead Bob

“This is giving me Zendaya! The whole point of this lock is to enhance the natural texture.

We’ve started with soaking wet hair pre-cleansed, and with this hair type, it needed moisture. We used the Hydrate Cleanser, then it’s a mixture of the Amplify Mousse and the Hydrate Curl Enhancer.

“You need the hair to be absolutely soaking wet to apply the product and then enhance the movement. I diffused the hair, making sure not to move the hair too much as you diffuse – it’s a common mistake people make when diffusing hair. To elevate the look even more I just tonged a little in the front section, shortening the length to create a little bit more movement.”

The kit: Hydrate Cleanser, Amplify Mousse and Hydrate Curl Enhancer from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

Joseph Ferraro styling

The Fauxhawk

“This creates the softness and versatility of a ponytail, while still keeping all the hair off the face.”

“This is great for anyone who wants to spice up a ponytail but doesn’t want to have that slick look of a bun. We worked with the model’s authentic texture, using the Airy Texture Spray and the Nude Powder Spray to create some fullness in the hair. I separated it into three ponytails – one at the top, one at the crown and one at the bottom back and flipped out each ponytail and then pinned it into place. It’s pretty simple, and one that clients can create at home.”

The kit: Airy Texture Spray, Nude Powder Spray and Working Hairspray from AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT

A Creative HEAD shoot, in partnership with AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT
HAIR: Joseph Ferraro and Melissa Timperley for AUTHENTIC BEAUTY CONCEPT
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY: Andrew Woffinden (A&R Creative), assisted by Marija Vainilaviciute and Luke Weller
FASHION: Harriet Nicolson (Stella Creative Artists)
MAKE-UP: Cat Parnell using Charlotte Tilbury
EDITORIAL: Amanda Nottage (Creative HEAD)
SOCIAL MEDIA & REPORTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY: Kelsey Dring and Aoife Connell (Creative HEAD)
PRODUCTION: Joanna Kidd (Creative HEAD)
MODELS: Maisie Stock (MOT) and Nayha Queiroz (MMG Models)
Shot on location at Stā Studios, with thanks to Greg Thomas

More for you

How To Give Your Team A Texture Skills Confidence Boost

How To Give Your Team A Texture Skills Confidence Boost

Jul 5, 2024 | CONVERSATIONS, EXPLORE

CATEGORIES > INFORM > CONVERSATIONS

How To Give Your Team A Texture Skills Confidence Boost

Emma Simmons shares five tips to grow a team confident working with ALL hair types.

                         Emma Simmons

   1 . Leverage online platforms

Our industry has a wealth of knowledge available online, with platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and specialised hairdressing websites offering access to tutorials and courses on diverse hair types. You’ll find detailed instructions and demonstrations to supplement hands-on training. Encourage your staff to dedicate regular time to online learning and share their insights with the team.

   2 . Host workshops and invite guest experts

Invite industry experts who specialise in different hair textures to conduct workshops in your salon. These sessions provide hands-on experience and allow your staff to learn directly from those who excel in specific areas.

   3 . Use social media to find practice models 

Instagram and Facebook can help you connect with people in your area who have diverse hair types and are open to participating in training sessions. Create posts and stories inviting volunteers, and offer discounted services in return for their participation.

   4 . Establish a mentorship programme

Pair experienced stylists who are proficient in diverse hair techniques with newer or less experienced staff members. This one-on-one mentorship allows for personalised learning and immediate feedback, ensuring that knowledge is effectively transferred.

   5 . Invest in quality tools and products

High-quality scissors, combs, brushes, and other styling tools designed specifically for various hair textures are essential. Stock a diverse range of hair products tailored for different hair needs, such as moisturising products for curly hair and lightweight products for fine hair. Train your staff on their proper use to get the best results and to cater to the unique requirements of each client.

Related

“This Project Is Almost The Catalyst For Us” – Allilon’s Pedro Inchenko On Collaboration And Upskilling His Team On Textured Hair Styling

“This Project Is Almost The Catalyst For Us” – Allilon’s Pedro Inchenko On Collaboration And Upskilling His Team On Textured Hair Styling

Jul 5, 2024 | CONVERSATIONS, EXPLORE

CATEGORIES > INFORM > CONVERSATIONS

“This project is almost the catalyst for us” – Allilon’s Pedro Inchenko on collaboration and upskilling his team on textured hair styling

With a major show planned in Berlin with celebrated BIPOC vocal group A Song For You, Allilon is focused on styling texture with confidence and heart.

 

With the Allilon Education team hitting the stage in Berlin at the Davines World Wide Hair Tour 2024, co-founder Pedro Inchenko wanted to do something creative that would switch up their approach to stage presentations, while also working with local talent to deliver something different. The prep journey has seen him introduce collaborative workshops to ensure his team – both with Allilon and at the Ena salon he co-founded with Johnny Othona – are confident and genuinely ready to work with any hair type. Here, Pedro explains how he’s started the process…

          Pedro Inchenko 

Aminata Kamara with Ena stylist

 

“For Berlin, I wanted to break a little bit of that traditional mould – a show featuring a video, cutting and colouring on stage, then doing a catwalk presentation. I’m looking to stimulate my own creative needs as well. The idea is to find talent in Berlin, and we found a collaborative group of about 50 artists from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) community. They’re sharing a place to communicate their talents, individually and when they come together as A Song For You.

About 10 of the artists will be our models, and we’ll be doing their hair on stage. In between, they’ll be performing. I really want the emphasis to be on the audience feeling and experiencing something in terms of performance.

We’ve had our first textured hair workshop, where we invited in some specialists to work with the team, starting with TV and film stylist Deborah Lola and session stylist Aminata Kamara, and we’re going to invite others along over the next few months. The idea is if they’re available, they’ll join us on stage. I don’t want it to be this group of white artists doing black hair; I want to give a platform to textured hair specialists who can collaborate with us.”

“As a company, we’ve always been inclusive when it comes to cutting and colouring hair. But in terms of textured hair – the styling, and the understanding of it, in terms of the approach, how different it can be – that’s something we’ve been leaning into more over the last few years. This project is almost the catalyst for us; it needs development and we need to outsource this to specialists, to help us really hone in on those skills.

In the first workshop, we chatted about what it’s like to grow up having Black hair, the psychological aspects of it, how it can become part of your identity. I really want us to do the work, to understand that because there’s a big movement in the community to lean into natural hair and to embrace it. Everyone brought a model, and it was about playing with hair, looking at how we would approach our models.

We’re doing more workshops to further our skills and we’re going to continue to do that across the board. We haven’t necessarily sought outside influences in the past, but it’s something that we’re going to be doing – with textured hair, with different tools, different philosophies, different approaches to hair. We’re really opening ourselves up – we’ve got our foundation, we know who we are… let’s see what else we can bring in for the team to inspire them to continue their journey.

The team are loving it, learning lots of new things around setting, braiding and twisting. It was great to talk about the simple things, like how to comb textured hair. Our normal approach would just be to brush it out and cut it. But Deborah was like, “no, you need to add moisture, add water, brush it out. And then the hair is ready to be cut and prepped”. The way that you put your brush in, the way that you prep the hair to be dried, or to be braided, or to be set. Unless you’re shown, there is a missing part of our education. This is about giving the team the confidence to be able to approach any hair type. They were buzzing afterwards.”

Related

“It Feels Like We’ve Worked Together Forever” – Adam Reed And Sarah Black Discuss The Roots Of Their Powerhouse Partnership

“It Feels Like We’ve Worked Together Forever” – Adam Reed And Sarah Black Discuss The Roots Of Their Powerhouse Partnership

Jun 27, 2024 | CONVERSATIONS, EXPLORE

CATEGORIES > INFORM > CONVERSATIONS

“It Feels Like We’ve Worked Together Forever” – Adam Reed and Sarah Black discuss the roots of their powerhouse partnership

Their bond was born out of a love for colour, here’s how the relationship flourished on the salon floor

https://youtu.be/-EZzmBCSbsQ

In this video short exploring the working life of a dynamic duo, Adam Reed, founder of salon and product brand, ARKIVE by Adam Reed, formerly known as Adam Reed London, and his colour director, Sarah Black, talk candidly about the manifold benefits of being more open and connected. Together, they have found a much more progressive way of working, and shared conversation is key. Hear their fresh take on togetherness.

A Creative HEAD video project in partnership with L’Oréal Professionnel Paris 

Related

Tim Binnington Turned Down Investment In His Brush Business From Dragons Den – And Here’s Why

Tim Binnington Turned Down Investment In His Brush Business From Dragons Den – And Here’s Why

Jun 26, 2024 | DOCUMENTS, EXPLORE, TALKING SHOP

Tim Binnington Turned Down Investment In His Brush Business From Dragons Den – And Here’s Why

The man who helped build the Headmasters empire is striking out once again

by CATHERINE | DOCUMENTS

For over 30 years Tim Binnington worked tirelessly as part of a team that grew the Headmasters group to a staggering 56 salons – one of the UK’s biggest – with a combined turnover of £32 million. Nobody would have batted an eyelid if he’d shown up for work one day and announced he was going to golf his way through retirement. Instead, in 2024 he’s busier than ever running a completely different business – the Manta, a revolutionary hairbrush that aims to stop breakage while boosting shine.

The Manta came about in 2014 when Tim’s wife Dani was suffering from a life-threatening illness that caused her hair to fall out. As it started to grow back Tim saw how ordinary brushes caused pain and breakage. Dani could only bear to use her fingers as a comb, and that’s when Tim got the idea.

Creating a hairbrush that was as gentle as running your fingers through hair was the goal, but it also needed to protect and stimulate hair growth, working with hair and not against it. “If you brush your hair with your fingers, and you come up against a knot you don’t just yank it – you put a pin in the knot and give it a little wiggle to loosen it. That was my eureka moment,” says Tim. So began a labour of love that, 10 years and £600k of their own money down the line, he and Dani are still completely absorbed in.

Tim Binnnington

“It took almost five years just to develop the Manta,” says Tim, who now is something of an expert on how brushes are manufactured (want to know the difference between a single shot mould and a twin-shot overmould? Tim’s your man). “I needed it to be totally flexible, quite unlike anything else on the market, and it had to be made of materials that feel really good on the skin.”  Guess where he found what he was looking for. That’s right, the adult toy world.

“I know, I know,” he laughs. “But I wanted the experience of massing your scalp or brushing your hair to be sensual and enjoyable, because from my years as a hairdresser I knew that what people love most is getting their hair washed. Traditional brush manufacturers couldn’t help me, so I ended up at Love Honey, where I found materials that were sensual, hypoallergenic, heat-resistant, durable, easy to clean and – even though you don’t need this in an adult toy –anti-static too. So, basically, everything I needed.”

When the Manta eventually launched in June 2018, it looked unlike anything else on the market. Its Flexguard technology, where each bristle sits on its own base and moves 360 degrees independently through the hair, was so unique it was patented. It sits comfortably in the palm of your hand so you can move and manipulate the brush as you see fit, following the contours of your head and allowing the bristles to glide along and not pull on the hair.

“When we launched, we had such a great reaction from salons,” says Tim, “and they are really important to us were originally going to be our main retail outlets. But as soon as it started moving, we had Covid and as everything shut down, we had to pivot online and focus more on the consumer.”

Fortunately for Tim, something else that came out of Covid was thinning hair, and a newfound consumer awareness of the importance of hair and scalp health. Good news for for Manta sales, surely, as the brush has the added benefit of gently exfoliating the scalp, creating a flake-free, product buildup-free, healthier scalp, which is perfect for hair growth.

“Absolutely,” says Tim. “Everyone is more aware and we are in more demand. We’re launching in Boots this year, in a healthy hair and scalp section. We’re sold on 15 airlines but we’ve just launched on Emirates Airlines as well because they’ve recently introduced a healthy hair and scalp section. And we sell in places like South Korea and Japan, where they’ve always been into scalp health.”  A key promotional channel has been QVC, both in the UK and the US, as that’s where Tim gets to actually demonstrate Manta’s point of difference from competitors such as Tangle Teezer and WetBrush.

Did someone mention Tangle Teezer? When creator Shaun Pulfrey appeared on Dragons Den in 2007, he was famously rejected by the Dragons who told him hjis brush to detangle knotty hair was “a waste of time” (Pulfrey subsequently sold a majority state in his business for £70 million). Earlier this year, Tim and his wife Dani also walked out of the Dragons Den empty-handed – not because they didn’t receive investment offers, but because they turned them down.

The duo had asked for a £240,000 investment for four per cent of their company. Three Dragons – Peter Jones, Sara Davies and Touker Souleyman – were interested, but they all wanted far more equity than Tim and Dani were prepared to sacrifice.

“We valued the business a lot higher than the Dragons would, but our experience in the Den made us realise the extent of the value of our business,” says Tim. “There are millions of people who are suffering with hair breakage and thinning hair, which Manta can help. Sadly, the Dragons were more interested in the money than solving the problem.”

The Manta family continues to grow.

With the bit clearly between his teeth, Tim continues to innovate. Alongside the original Manta, there’s now a Manta incorporating a mirror for on-the-go touch-ups and a pulsating version, known as Pulse, that uses vibration either to invigorate hair and scalp, or relieve stress and tension. And the newest addition is the Manta Kinks, Coils and Curls, especially developed for the unique needs of 3a to 4c curly hair. Together, the Manta family has won almost 40 awards – including Creative HEAD’s Most Wanted Award for Innovation in 2020 – and as a nod to where the journey originally began, Manta have donated almost 8,000 brushes over the years to The Little Princess Trust, a charity supplying real hair wigs, free of charge, to children who have lost their own hair due to cancer treatment or other conditions.

“If you brush your hair with your fingers, and you come up against a knot you don’t just yank it – you put a pin in the knot and give it a little wiggle to loosen it. That was my eureka moment.” 

“The business is doing well,” says Tim, who still squeezes in one day a week at Headmasters, and who credits a lot of Manta’s success to the team who work with him. “We have got our original investment back, but to be honest I didn’t go into it to make money – it’s only ever been about helping people. My goal is to get more and more people changing the way they brush their hair. And even if they say, ‘I’ll never use a Manta, but I’m going to mindfully brush my hair and be careful with my scalp,’ we will have achieved something. Because when a woman gets to 60, 70 or 80 she will have better hair, and that will make her feel better about herself and have more confidence. And the better you feel, the better you are to others, so it makes the world a better place.”

Continue Reading