ASP Celebrates 30th Birthday With Spanish Hair Carnival

Hundreds gather in Marbella to ‘be inspired and get creative’

by AMANDA | INFORM

About 500 guests from around the world took over Marbella’s exclusive Hard Rock Hotel for the line–up of hair shows and seminars. The mission? For the British-born brand to show its support for the professional hairdresser with inspiration and creativity.

ASP’s education manager & head of creative, Sara Solomon-Jones, joined sales & commercial director, Ross Jones, to open the event with news of innovations launching in ASP’s portfolio in 2025 while also paying tribute to the company’s 30 year heritage. “Our ethos remains the same, the hair professionals are always at the core of our business, and the professional hairdresser makes us who we are,” said Ross.

A ‘90s neon’–themed opening party set the scene, with a neon-rich hair show headed by ASP’s global ambassador, Tracey Ann Smith, and the ASP Colour Rebels – Maisie Oddy, Poppy Goodwin, Megan Grant, Morgan Workman and Maire Abbett, working on their first global hair show.

On day two, masterclasses covered colour (with ASP ambassadors Terri Nadin and Let Lew), cutting (by Paul Thomas-Farr and Jon Ahern) and photography and social media (with ASP ambassador Sheree Tomic and hair stylist and photographer Desmond Murray).

The final night delivered a carnival themed spectacular, culminating in a hair show created by Tracey Ann Smith and the ASP Colour Rebels and ambassadors ahead of suitably thrilling party for all 500 guests.

Revlon Professional Reveals Visionaries Re:Mastered Team for 2025

Four talents win a place on the mentoring initiative

by AMANDA | INFORM

Revlon Professional is welcoming four stylists to the Visionaries Re:Mastered Team for 2025, the year-long mentorship programme that gives budding stylists the chance to supercharge their skill set.

The Visionaries Re:Mastered Team 2025 is…  

Ellie Smith, Smith England, Salisbury @ellie.smithengland

Irene Moreno, Teresa Weller Hair Art, Dorking @irenemoreno.hairart

With opportunities ranging from photoshoots, shows and demonstrations to colour and cutting courses and social media workshops, the programme aims to offer a fast-track route to a stellar hair career.

Twenty finalists gathered at SE1 Studios to compete in two heats in front of industry judges Darren Ambrose, Errol Douglas MBE and Robert Eaton. Finalists were asked to recreate the photographic looks they had submitted as part of their entry.

The four winning stylists begin their journey with a two-day module on ‘Becoming a Visionary’, held at Revlon HQ and led by Karen Thomas.

Parliament Protest Urges Govt To ‘Give Tax The Chop’

Hairdressers descend on Parliament Square to boost attention to VAT cause

by AMANDA | INFORM

Hundreds of hairdressers protested in Parliament Square in a bid to encourage Government to consider urgent tax reform.

Organised by the British Hair Consortium, salon owners and employers gathered at London’s Parliament Square in the hope that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will throw the sector an “economic lifeline”. Protestors wore the hairdressers’ preferred uniform all black with placards including ‘Give Tax The Chop’ and ‘Make Hair Fair’, with some performing cuts on ‘clients’ wearing gowns with SOS – ‘Save Our Salons’ – on the front. Newspapers such as the Daily Mail and The Independent covered the action.

The BHC is urging Government to halve the VAT salons pay on labour costs to 10 per cent to help them overcome the existential crisis they’re facing. A recent report, commissioned by the BHC and carried out by CBI Economics, highlighted how an unbalanced tax system is decimating the hair and beauty industry – and showed that unless things change, there couldbe no new apprenticeships by 2027 and a 93 per cent fall in employment by 2030. This would leave very few in employment, creating a sector largely devoid of the employment rights that come with being an employee.

“We won’t stand down and let our industry die,” said Toby Dicker from The British Hair Consortium. “The support shown by our industry was incredible and I hope that we have gained the attention that we need to show Government that we need a lifeline. We need VAT reform and we’re not going to stop shouting for this to happen.”