It was a whirlwind weekend. A celebration of our own Kings and Queens. Joey Scandizzo took out the big one and a new breed of award winners stepped up as a bright indication of the future. Some of our #HairBesties (thanks Guy Tang) lit up the exhibition floor, and what a pleasure to sit before some of the world’s greatest (hi Angelo Seminara) and coolest (we love you Howard McLaren) minds. Here are 7 things we learned at Hair Expo 2018 (in no particular order).
Presenting at the AHC Listening for a Change seminar, Rocco Petrucci – owner of Zucci salon, Melbourne – spoke of introducing the concept of Wellness Month into the salon. A calendar designed to nurture staff with various health, finance and general wellness advice and consultation. This plus education on meditation, Feng Shui and even a Zucci book club. Happy healthy staff equals a profitable business.
It’s no secret we love R+Co Co-Founder and Creative Director Howard McLaren, who had this golden nugget of advice for hairdressers in the brand’s masterclass: “You can reinvent yourself five or six times in your career, and as a hairdresser you have to, otherwise you’re not current. You have to know what’s going on in the world, but then decide how much you bring into your work … you might not want to bring any in at all.”
We met the new TONI&GUY Futurewise collection and have the feeling it’s going to be one of the most successful yet. Anti models, fashion and photoshop, the collection is all about celebrating those imperfections that make us beautifully unique. The colour directive is defined by teardrop, colour banding and crescent techniques, while the concept of interlocking applies to both cut and colour. TONI&GUY, the future proofers of business and hair.
Well we already knew this, but his demonstration of the ‘flocking technique’ instigated a standing ovation. An ancient technique, Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles (called flock) onto a surface, and also refers to the texture produced by the process. Angelo elected a combination of orange, grey, blue and black – further propelling a McQueen inspired space style and simultaneously blowing the minds of those before him.
What’s a Hair Expo without Guy Tang? According to the Instagram sensation and creator of MyDentity Colour, just as there are 100 shades of grey, there are 100 shades of rose gold – a popular salon request. Guy has just launched a range of Super Colors designed to avoid banding with heavy pigment and a promise of over 50 washes.
Lil’ Of The Top’s Jules Tognini brought his usual stable of cool kid outfits and funny guy charm to the education floor. This plus a collective of skills, of course. In The Dude seminar, Jules confirmed he makes more money from males than females, “men are loyal like dogs and buy everything I tell them to,” said Jules, “but you have to make using product easy. Wherever the hair falls I start cutting from there, use product for versatility, never use product to create a haircut.”
Lauren McCowan certified her role as the industry’s comic slash creative genius, joining Jules, Pete Koziell and Nicole Kae at the Haircare Australia pop-up education day offsite at Melbourne’s Gasworks theatre. “When dressing hair, people get caught up in doing a full set, it should be all about simple, effective construction,” said Lauren, “I work to the rule of 80% planning, 20% flexibility, and always look at everything that supports my craft as an assistant.”