F.A.M.E. Team 16 Blog August

August has been a whirlwind of excitement and preparation for F.A.M.E. Team’s big international show Salon Africa in Johannesburg.  After not sleeping at all on the 11 hour flight we landed safely and were taken for a delicious breakfast by Commercial Director at Professional Beauty - Phil Woods.  Our first day consisted of a successful model call followed by a relaxing afternoon by the pool.  Although we did look eager sunbathing in bikinis when it is the South African winter!

Once the models had been chosen we got to work on our different hair looks totalling 10 models per show.  Jamie and Rosie showed off their skill of dressing hair on stage and Zoe and I did 2 dramatic haircuts.  Balmain had very generously provided us with the most fantastic hair pieces which matched the models hair perfectly and were used in the dressing models to enhance the looks.  We were on stage for an hour – which I was really nervous about as it is the longest I have ever been on stage for.

The shows were a great success and we were proud of our models and what we had achieved as a team.  We were really looked after during our stay in Johannesburg and each night we were taken out for dinner.  The food was literally incredible (not to mention the wine).  One night we were privileged to be invited to the South African beauty awards with Mark Maloney.  We had such a great night especially after Jamie got everyone on the dancefloor!

After our final show we flew straight to Cape Town which was perfect to have some down time with the team. Camps bay was absolutely beautiful however the sea was very cold; Antony and Jamie were the only ones brave enough to run in.  I really feel so lucky to have got to spend the whole experience with this bunch of talented, crazy people.  This wouldn’t be possible without the Fellowship, our generous hosts Mark Maloney and Phil Woods and Antony Licata for putting up with us for a whole week!

F.A.M.E. Team Blog - July

F.A.M.E. Team Blog - July

We are over half way now on our incredible F.A.M.E. Team Journey. Each mentor day has been something totally different, and I have learned so many useful inside tricks and skills.  The mentors that we have had are the Best of the Best and I am truly grateful to be part of such an inspiring journey. 

Our first workshop at the beginning of July was a day I had been really looking forward to.  It was with Patrick Cameron who is the king of 'Long Hair Dressings'.  I have actually paid on several occasions to watch him on stage, so for me to have one to one tuition with him was priceless.  Patrick taught us some really interesting techniques and made everything look so easy! My sisters are going to be my Guinea Pigs to practice these new skills out.

My looks from Patrick Cameron workshop

Our final F.A.M.E. Team day in July was a shoot that we had been preparing for with photographer Kai Wan. I absolutely love being on set and working in the buzz of a shoot and this one exceeded all expectations.  Maddie Austin, a highly accomplished makeup artist, brought the shoot to life with metallic makeup dripped over the models' body.  I can't share too much about the shoot but keep a look out for it in the magazines! 

My gorgeous model Lara McGrath

Team Shot

July has also been a very exciting month for me as I am a finalist for 'The British Hairdressing Awards - Newcomer of the Year' I had such a fantastic team behind me - with special thanks to Sarah Brown, Sophie King, Melissa Obika and my incredible models Lara Mcgrath, Isabel Hibbert, Chloe Bell, Brogan Harker and Sarah Bramley.  Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. 

On a personal note, July has also been a month to remember for me as I am now ENGAGED to my boyfriend and best friend James! It happened in the Grand Canyon on a once in a lifetime holiday. It still feels like a dream and I am still floating on air..

August has got a lot to live up to, but with our F.A.M.E. Team trip to South Africa I'm sure it won't disappoint.

F.A.M.E. Team June Update

F.A.M.E. Team Journey for June. 

It's our half way point of our FAME Team year already!! We've had an absolutely mind blowing time with mentor days, workshops, shows and shoots and still more to come! I couldn't wish for a better team to be spending my time with. It's a good job we all get on well as we are spending so much time together :)

F.A.M.E. Team day in Cardiff with Paul Dennison 

We jumped straight into June with a mentor day with Bruce Masefield from Sassoon.  This day was interesting for me to see how everyone took on-board the Sassoon techniques and for the tables to be turned and me to be a student.  Bruce gave us an overview of his incredible career and went on to provide an insight into the basic principles of Sassoon ABC classic techniques.  It was really great to be able to watch Bruce demo up close as when I'm backstage I usually never get the chance.

My beautiful model Sydney from our Sassoon Workshop

Our F.A.M.E. Team day with Ken Picton and Paul Dennison in Cardiff was so much fun! Ken and Paul began the day by showing us some genius techniques to get our creative brains thinking outside of the box. They set us various tasks including one to create a hair collection based on an everyday object. Ken really taught us how to look at things with a different eye and how to become inspired by ordinary things such as a fridge! Later we were taken for a surprise at City Maze in the centre of Cardiff. As a team we were set the task of cracking the code to get out of the Maze room – of course we succeeded with great team work all round.

My final BIG news for June is... I am a Finalist for an internationally recognised hair competition called IT GIRL and so is my F.A.M.E. Team girl Rosie Binns.  For the competition I had to submit my entry as a portfolio/scrap book of everything I have done in my career so far. I can safely say, blood, sweat and tears went in to that scrap book and I couldn't have finished it without my support network - my mum, dad and James. Massive thanks goes to these guys who helped me carry on. I find out the final results in September at a fancy dinner in London.

I am really looking forward to July. Keep updated for what's coming in our journey,..

F.A.M.E. Team May Update

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

We've had a magical May on our F.A.M.E. Team journey so far.  It still feels like a dream that I am getting these opportunities to work with Industry Greats.

To start the month off we had a creative day with Adam Bryant and Sharon Peak from Ethos Hairdressing. This session was actually in Manchester so no travelling to London AND it was sunny! Adam and Sharon gave us an insight into their different hairdressing backgrounds, careers, salon life and how they keep their working partnership strong.  The day was all about creative colouring techniques - something they are both very passionate about. One of my favourite techniques that they showed us was braiding the hair and blending the colour over and around the braid to create a beautiful root glow.

Our next F.A.M.E. Team day was with Adam Reed, owner of Percy and Reed.  I found him incredibly inspiring and he talked to us about every single aspect of hairdressing he does from TV work, to catwalk shows, editorial hair and owning his own salons. Adam showed us the fundamentals of prepping hair and classic 'old school' hairdressing techniques such as a chignon. He even let us go through his endless kit bag and experiment with all of his equipment.  We've gone away with some classic techniques to practice and a huge shopping list of kit!

Something that I am very proud of this month is I have graduated from my Wella Master Colour Programme. This is something totally separate from the F.A.M.E. Team but has been a massive achievement for me.  I studied for a year taking up all of my spare time (and money) learning everything from colour foundations, product knowledge, science of how we see colour and extreme colour correction.  I went from being bottom of the class to gaining 96% (the best marks)! Even though I'm a Creative Stylist at Sassoon I wanted to learn how to colour for my own knowledge and interest.

Thank you for taking the time to read my journey - Look out for next month's update.

F.A.M.E. Team April Update

It's been an amazing and active April with the F.A.M.E. Team. 

The highlight of the month for me were the endlessly fascinating Cos Sakkas and Indira Schauweuer from Toni and Guy. They demonstrated incredible techniques; from a twist on a short graduated haircut to an intricate headhugging five strand braid.  I didn't know a lot about Avant Garde hair so I was really intrigued by the techniques. We were lucky enough to be taught their secret braiding technique called the F8.  It's so good I'm going to practice this to get it perfect! Cos and Indira gave us some fabulous and insightful advice on preparing for a shoot and shared what it's like working backstage and liaising with the designers at London Fashion Week.  We all came away buzzing with new ideas of working with hair - not only as hair but as a fabric.

Then we had a celebration event at a gorgeous hotel in London, it was to celebrate 70 years of the Fellowship with our President Bruno Marc. It was such a wonderful evening, I don't think I stopped laughing all night and it was nice to be able to let our hair down.  Some serious dance moves were rocked!

The following day I took advantage of our exclusive invite to the GHD briefing with Adam Reed and Zoe Irwin.  It was great to see upcoming runway trends and how to create the look. My favourite look was 'Curly Sue' where imperfection was perfection and I loved that the individuality of each model is being embraced.

Our next F.A.M.E. Team day was with Skyler McDonald, the creative genius behind the Seanhanna brand. The session was extremely eclectic, covering many different aspects of the business, from the technical skills of avant garde hair to the practicalities of running a salon. Then she demonstrated a really cool concept - something none of us had experienced before - the hair changed colour when it was heated up and changed again when it cooled down. Wow! It was a day packed full of information and it was great to see how different techniques can spark an idea which then develops into an image! Skyler’s creative energy has rubbed off on all of us and we feel inspired to try out the new skills in our future work.

Keep updated with my blog for our next F.A.M.E. Team news. 

F.A.M.E Team March Update

F.A.M.E. TEAM 16

It’s been a marvellous and mega-busy March with the F.A.M.E. team! Here’s our highlights…

The month started with the fascinating Zoe Irwin. Zoe is a Trend Forecaster and she showed us how her forecasts develop into styles we see a couple of years later. 

Zoe gave us an honest insight into her incredible career journey as well as a lot of practical tips on the importance of posture and body position so as to avoid strain when drying or styling hair. She even showed us the secret of securing a hair dressing with only 3 French pins!! It was very interesting to listen to a successful women's point of view from the hairdressing industry.

Then we visited the fabulous Vogue 100 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery – a stunning array of influential fashion images right from when it started in 1916 through to Vogue as we know it today. We all came away with ideas for future shows and ready to shoot some editorial hair!

Next was a planning session to prepare us for our big show in South Africa – all very exciting! (I will reveal more later on). Then we went to the very inspirational Fellowship Masterclass where we got the chance to take in some incredible demos of the latest cutting edge hairdressing techniques from some of the industry’s hottest names.  Big shout out to Jamie Benny who was on stage - he did the F.A.M.E Team proud! 

Latest F.A.M.E Team News

F.A.M.E. Team Update

Wow, what a whirlwind month for the F.A.M.E. team! It’s been one of the busiest yet...  

We have had our first shoot together and our first show as F.A.M.E. Team 16, as well as fitting in workshops with industry icons.  It has been a month for coming closer as a team - learning masses from the best of the best, culminating in presenting our first show together and shooting our first collection 'Curvette'

First there was the shoot preparation day with the fabulous Tina Farey and Andy Heasman of Rush, who gave us enormously practical tips and tricks for ultra-professional prep.

Next up was a fascinating hair additions day with the Balmain team, featuring a demonstration by the famous Errol Douglas MBE, former President, with 'effortless' skills on show.

Now to the shoot itself, with top industry photographer Jack Eames. With the creative direction of Tina, Jack captured fabulous images of the team’s work which will be published in Hairdressers Journal in April so keep a look out! Massive thanks to Jess Gagen, from Boss Model Agency in Manchester for being part of the team.

February still had more in store; as Billy Currie, ex-Sassoon wonder-stylist, shared his career highlights with us – a hugely enjoyable, enlightening and inspiring tale of professional courage, imagination and passion. He even took us to Chiltern coffee house while continuing to tell us fascinating industry stories.

And now to the big finale of the month; Salon London at the famous Excel Centre. Two days of show presentation, six incredible models and our first chance to show what we can do as a team.

Its been such a wonderful experience with really talented, fun and creative teammates. Thank you to Lara McGrath and Isabel Hibbert for being my incredible models. I’m delighted to say there’s much more to come so look out for my next post…