Creative HEAD’s Most Wanted stars of 2023 have been named

Naomi Brooks, for The Hair Training Group
WINNER: Award for Innovation, sponsored by yuv
The Hair Sanctuary provides knowledge and skills around textured haircare for children in foster care, working in partnership with local councils and foster homes. “When children are placed with foster carers from different ethnic backgrounds, they struggle to care for their hair, and carers struggle to advise and support them due to lack of experience,” Naomi explains. The company’s aim is to ensure that Black and mixed heritage children in care feel accepted, encouraged, and proud of their identity.

Linton & Mac, Aberdeen
WINNER: Best Client Experience, sponsored by Olaplex
Launched in 2015 by Jenn Linton and Joanna MacDonald, Linton & Mac prides itself on offering a “uplifting, contemporary and vibrant” salon experience. Complimentary prosecco, cocktails of the season; all can be enjoyed by customers and each appointment includes added time for a consultation, which gives stylists the opportunity to give clients styling tips for home and targeted advice based on their hair and lifestyle. When can we go?

The Head Gardener, Inverness
WINNER: Best Local Salon, sponsored by Salon Smart
At this hot spot in the Scottish Highlands, you’ll find promises on the wall for clients including messages of kindness, patience, and compassion. The Head Gardener has a decade-long relationship with the Highland Hospice, which the salon supports through fundraising and in-patient hair services. There is also a ‘VIP room’ with a private entrance for vulnerable and anxious clients and an annual charity fashion show has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to date. This salon truly gives back to the community

Masserella + Jones, Leamington Spa
WINNER: Best New Salon, sponsored by Layered
The brainchild of owners Jordan Massarella and Ben Jones, Massarella + Jones first opened its doors in Warwick in the midst of lockdown but just 16 months later, with clients flocking through the doors and a growing team, the duo began expansion plans and in December 2022, they relocated to a bigger Leamington Spa location. In a nod to its period surroundings, the interior sports Regency-inspired details but with a contemporary twist. Eclectic, homely, cosy and comfortable with a flair of fun, the touches throughout the salon have been carefully curated to make those that enter feel welcomed and leave inspired.

Ena Salon, London
WINNER: Best Salon Team, sponsored by Alfaparf Milano Professional
Ena Salon was opened in 2009 by Johnny Othona and Pedro Inchecko. Last year, they introduced a Kindness campaign to change salon culture and improve wellbeing. It included life-coaching for the leadership team, teaching them how to lead their teams with passion and purpose, in-house nutritionists, financial advice, and much more. Ena also offers ways for the team to connect and grow physically via activities such as hiking and wild swimming.

Lee Nash-Jones and Rob White, Nashwhite
WINNER: Business Thinker, sponsored by Vagaro
Lee Nash-Jones and Rob White started their brand Nashwhite in 2010. Fast-forward 13 years and they have two destination spaces in Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon, 30 employees and a turnover in the millions. Their largest space, the Heist House opened in 2021 as the “ultimate community destination”, it’s a space where stylists, clients, freelancers, and locals mix. A synergy of hair, coffee, yoga, events, photography, work, and hair education, it’s the community that creates the space, and the fresh concept has boosted business profits, too.

Grace Dalgleish
WINNER: Colour Expert, sponsored by Wella Professionals
Grace doesn’t play by the rules with colour, instead favouring hue combinations that clash and stand out from the crowd. “I believe that we shouldn’t be limited to just a tint brush,” she says, which is how her Process Paint technique began. From London Fashion Week to editorial work, Grace always strives to create something new and dynamic.

Grace Dalgleish, Billi Currie
WINNER: Creative Talent, sponsored by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris
An editorial colourist, global educator, and creative director at Billi Currie in London, Grace’s mission is two-pronged: to help hairdressers open their minds to colour, and to tailor services to her clients. This has already been a huge year for Grace, who worked on Schwarzkopf Professional Essential Looks campaign and was named ambassador for yuv. Now, she has two Most Wanted wins to add to a major list of accomplishments!

Conor James Doyle, Conor James Education
WINNER: Education Expert, sponsored by Allilon Education
Dunlavin-based Conor is on a mission to fix education for neurodiverse hairdressers. “I have found 55 per cent of our industry is diagnosed with, or can relate to, neurodiversity,” he says. He’s lectured at schools and industry events to talk about awareness, coping mechanisms and provides fun, alternative approaches to education so every stylist can learn, no matter what.

Anne Veck
WINNER: Hair Trend, sponsored by Redken
If Ginger from Scarface embraced pretty pastels, this is the look she’d rock. Both iconic and forward-facing, it’s a finish you can predict will be all over clients’ Pinterest boards. The blend, the bevel-edged bottom, the beauty – Anne nailed it.

Chris Foster
WINNER: Independent Stylist, sponsored by Great Lengths
Chris has collaborated with Vogue, Fendi, Gucci, Adidas, Christian Dior… the list goes on. He has a plethora of celebrity clients on his books, he’s a pro on the show circuit, and he’s made in-roads in movies, most notably Hollywood blockbuster, Suicide Squad. Big jobs aside, Chris’s story is, in his own words, one of “transformation” – a journey that took him from East London rookie to top celebrity stylist.

Chris Foster
WINNER: Men’s Hair Specialist, sponsored by Mr.Q
From Hackney to Harrods, Chris has experienced many different hair environments throughout his career. Despite plentiful accolades, including working with top designers on shoots and runway shows, education and mentorship remain his personal pillars. “I believe in sharing my knowledge and experience with the next generation, fostering their growth and encouraging their journeys,” he says.

Adam Reed
WINNER: Session Stylist, sponsored by BaByliss PRO
He may have brought a new product range to market and a new salon to town, but Adam’s still found the time to uphold his session styling credentials. Editorial credits include ELLE, i-D, InStyle, Nylon, Sunday Times Style and Vogue, and he’s worked for big brands such as Agent Provocateur, Boodles, Diptyque, Erdem and Harvey Nichols. Add to the wow-factor collaborations with iconic photographers David Bailey, Nick Knight and Annie Leibovitz, and an A-list clientele listing the likes of Diane Kruger, Madonna, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and you have a first-class session styling stalwart.

Lorraine Naughton, OB-1 Hair
WINNER: Sustainability Hero, sponsored by Paul Mitchell
OB-1 Hair in Maynooth has deep-dived into its recycling this year, establishing individual bins for hair, PPE, plastic, metal, and colour. As a result, it has smashed its goal of sending zero waste to landfill. A €2 green fee across all salon services funds its sustainability journey and makes clients aware of green goals. Even hair waste is reused – being made into booms to clean up oil spills. Five green stars!

Lisa Farrall
WINNER: Texture Expert, sponsored by Avlon
Lisa is on a hair equality mission, with the aim of seeing all salons and stylists educated in all hair textures. She’s passionate about teaching others how to work with every hair type through her brand WIG London, taking training into colleges and hair businesses all over the world. In addition to education, Lisa is in demand by some of the globe’s biggest names, having styled the likes of Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, and Harry Styles, is a regular on film sets and you may have even spotted her in front of the camera as a judge on E4’s series, The Big Blow Out.

… And finally, the big one!

Duffy
WINNER: Hair Icon, sponsored by Joico
Duffy got his grounding in hair with a three-year apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon – a start most budding stylists can only dream of. Thereafter, he was taken under the wing of stylist icon Eugene Souleiman, who showed him the work that can be achieved outside the salon doors, work that now includes countless international fashion week team leads and cover shoots, most recently for Vogue Italia and Dazed. Youth and subcultures inform Duffy’s acclaimed work, his muses are diverse. “Fashion is exclusive, but art is inclusive,” he says.