AVEDA held a hair contest this month called Full Spectrum Fusion. We as colorists had to create a look using a combination of our two permanent haircolor lines. When I saw the flyer in the break room, I knew I wanted to enter. Just starting on the floor, I figured this would be a good way to really look into the color lines and get comfortable with them.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I was going to need a model for it. I put out a “hair color model needed” post on social media and immediately heard back from people. One of my friends who went to cosmetology school messaged me. She was interested in trying the oil slick trend. The oil slick trend is meant to replicate what it looks like when there is spilled gas or oil on the cement creating a rainbow effect.
Entering a Hair Contest 101 – Never Stop Thinking About it
I spent the next couple of weeks looking into different ways to achieve this technique. There were a few big name stylists who had posted how to videos and I watched as many as I could. I took my time making swatches in the salon so I could see exactly how my formulas would turn out. I made a huge poster board explaining step by step how I was going to achieve my work.
When my model came in, I showed her all of my preparation and we were both eager to get started. As I worked through my process, I became more and more eager to see the final outcome. It seemed like everything was going perfect! It took a total of 6 hours to get the results I was looking for and unfortunately my model needed to go so I wasn’t able to get the pictures I wanted.
Entering a Hair Contest – The Photoshoot
My model said she would come back in a day for me to style and photograph my work. I was definitely nervous that she would wash it before then just because I knew the colors would be the most vibrant right then. However she didn’t and waited for me to style her hair for her. I learned a lot while we were taking pictures. There is a lot of “behind the scenes” when you look at a beautiful picture in a magazine. We styled her hair with products that I wouldn’t necessarily use if I was just sending her out the door. We also had to be very critical of how the hair was laying. We ended up taking a total of 23 pictures only to submit 1.
In the end, all of my colors turned out exactly how I wanted. There is definitely some things about the process that I would change, but all in all I love how it turned out. You never know how your work will compare to other entries but I know that I did my absolute best. I turned in my photo knowing how much work I put into it, and I was, and still am proud. I will be sure to post another blog once I hear how I did!
Until Next Time,
Josie 🙂