I honestly do not even know where to begin when I go to talk about how amazing of an experience Ian Michael Black’s Color Culture class was. 6 months ago, when my manager sent me a screenshot of a facebook post explaining the class. I knew I needed to go. We talked about how we were going to afford it, and what we would need to plan out in advance. I was signed up for the class within a couple of weeks.

Even after registering, it did not occur to me how big of a deal this class was. Truly, it did not really register until the minute I walked through the door on the first day of class. I walked in and was immediately greeted by Ian, who is AVEDA’s Global Artistic Director of Hair Color, with a smile and a hug. There was only 7 people in the class. I knew then I was about to have the most incredible experience of my career so far.

Two Workshop Days in Color Culture with Ian Michael Black

Day 1 and 3 of Color Culture were workshop days. We worked at the AVEDA Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We talked about the challenges we had with hair color, and what we wanted to learn from this class. One thing that Ian really emphasized throughout the class was that every person is different. Every artist is going to prefer to do things a certain way, and that is perfectly okay. He said it is important to continue to take classes as we work through our career so that we can find an educator who thinks similarly to us.

Another big thing that Ian talked about was making sure we are looking at what our guest’s hair needs to make it the best version of their hair every time they come in. It is our job as the stylist to recommend our professional opinion. Sometimes it will be just a touch up, other times we may think our guests hair could use a few foils to add some dimension. The beautiful thing about hair color is that it can constantly be evolving.

Tour of AVEDA’s Corporate Offices and Factory

On day 2 of Color Culture, we took a field trip to Blaine, Minnesota to see AVEDA’s corporate office and factory. We started with a chakra meditation for wellness to help bring us into balance. We then talked to Shiv Nath Tandon, AVEDA’s tribal elder. He was so incredibly wise and it was amazing to speak with him.

We then took a tour of the grounds, which are actually a wildlife preserve. AVEDA recently put up stickers on a lot of their windows to protect birds from flying into them. They also have a community garden where employees can rent plots. One of the coolest thing about the grounds is that AVEDA has 3 bee colonies on their property. They are kept up by University of Minnesota’s research team. It is made to help inform people about the danger that bees are in and how we can help. By simply planting flowers in your front yard, you are helping with the bee epidemic.

For lunch, we ate at AVEDA’s Organica Cafe. What I thought was interesting was that corporate workers and factory workers ate lunch together. That is something you really don’t see that often. The sense of equality and community was wonderful.

Our class then met with the lead chemist behind creating AVEDA hair color. She told us about the process of making hair color and how long it takes to develop so that it is ready to be launched. It takes 3 years. That blew my mind. There is only 3 chemists in the hair color lab at AVEDA which is really cool too. You can tell that AVEDA works for quality versus quantity is everything that they do.

Ideation with R & D and Ian Michael Black

After our factory tour, we went with AVEDA’s Research and Development team and had an ideation session about new products we would like to see. It was amazing to be in the same room that so many amazing people sat, thinking of all of AVEDA’s hair color.

At the end of the day, Ian surprised us with a custom hair color tube. There was only 20 made and we each got 2 tubes. After seeing the whole process, it was amazing to me that they stop production simply to give us a souvenir.

Dinner with The Curry Diva

We then went to dinner with The Curry Diva. Heather, the owner of The Curry Diva, cooks with Ayurveda in mind. She mentioned flavors that are good for different elements and taught us a lot about how to cook food that is truly healthy for our bodies. Did you know that olive oil can actually become carcinogenic after you cook with it? I couldn’t believe it!

All in all, I cannot begin to thank the people at AVEDA, Ian Michael Black, or Ashka Salon Spa enough for allowing me the opportunity for this amazing experience. This is by far the most incredible 3 days of my career so far. I have grown so much as a colorist and as an AVEDA enthusiast. I cannot wait to work for AVEDA for the rest of my life. Stop into the salon soon so that I can show you all I learned from AVEDA’s Global Artistic Director of hair color.

Until Next Time,

Josie 🙂