Two of hairdressing’s most exciting and artistic brands. One epic shoot. To celebrate the fresh partnership between the legendary Toni&Guy salons and colour innovators Pulp Riot, a competition was held across the salon brand’s UK network, inviting artists to get creative with a rainbow of shades during the closing weeks of lockdown.
The winner, Egle Razvadauskaite from Toni&Guy Canary Wharf, was selected for her bold flashes of blue nestled among vibrant pinks and knock-out yellows. Her selections signalled an understanding of unique tonal choices, killer placement and on-point technique that mirrors the mission of Pulp Riot. This is the paint, and on the September pages of Creative HEAD, Egle is now the artist, as we provided her with the opportunity to show what she can do with a playful portfolio of colour, including the new Neo Pop line-up (launching in UK salons in October).
Egle’s entry
I’m inspired by… People! As a colourist, as soon as someone walks in the salon, my mind starts picturing different types of looks on them. Their style, their personality – all those things you can play with and convey.
I love being a colour specialist because… Well, I love being a hairdresser because of the positive impact you have on people’s day. Just seeing that joy, the smile on people’s faces and the confidence you can give them in themselves. And with colour you can be even more creative with the looks you produce.
My favourite thing about being on set is… This has actually been my first photoshoot! It was so exciting to create looks and see them come to life on camera. I’ve absolutely loved it and I can’t wait to get back out there and do more.
“I was searching for inspiration in lockdown, when I heard about the competition with Pulp Riot. I saw that to enter, you had to create a look by painting with hair colour on a copy of one of fashion illustrator Tony Green’s amazing sketches and because it was something so different, it really grabbed my attention. As a colour technician, I am so used to creating everything on my clients’ hair, so to switch to putting my ideas on paper was a really interesting concept to me. It made me think again about how as hairdressers, we are artists too.
“For those first looks, I began by playing about with reddish tones and painting a face-frame, as well as creating a balayage ombré technique using the colour on paper. For my second entries on actual models, I took things brighter with the pink, yellow, blue and violet, combining the technical cuts of Toni&Guy with some freer use of colour.”
Toni&Guy are world-renowned for their technical education, and you can tell that the entire Pulp Riot range – the colours, the formulas, the flexibility – was developed by colourists for colourists to enable them to be creative.” – Egle, as illustrated by Tony Green
Showcasing how colour is ageless, genderless and not tethered to length or texture, this was a collaboration that at its core was designed illustrate that creative colour doesn’t need to be wild; it can be wearable. It represents an understanding that not all clients will want to dive head-first into high-saturation tones… and that’s OK. But for the curious or the adventurous, tempting your guests to try something new can be as simple as turning the dial up or down on a spectrum of hues. And naturally, using your expertise, every option can be tailored perfectly to them.
On hand to help Egle was her colleague from Toni&Guy Canary Wharf, Katie Prescott, who assisted with styling duties and colour application. Egle was also supported by Toni&Guy international artistic director Efi Davies, and international technical artistic director for the Toni&Guy artistic team Siobhan Golden, whose invaluable styling and colour placement expertise helped guide the creative journey.
Along for the ride, providing stacks of illustrations and bold backdrops, was revered fashion illustrator Tony Green. Nestled on set amongst mountains of mixed media and piles of sketchbooks, he deftly captured the vibrancy and spirit of the project in real time, producing dynamic drawings of each of the looks, and frenetic splashes of colour that complimented each of the shade selections. Uniting the artists present, his palette even extended to the exact colour products used by Egle on the models’ hair – Pulp Riot is the paint indeed!
Some were characteristics I could see the three types of client having – from the colour cautious to the ‘crazy’ colour fan – and others were emotions I hoped the individual looks would inspire within the client.
Discover the first look, giving icy lengths a subtle and smoky edge >
Buy six get one free on all Pulp Riot semi permanent colour
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