Congratulations to the talented medallists in the 2017 Goldwell Color Zoom Challenge. Gold medal winners Salome de Wet and Bernadine Malan will be flying to Barcelona in October, to represent South Africa at the Global Zoom World Championships. Wishing you all the very best!
Gold Winner Salome de Wet – Scar Hair, Cape Town
“Be the change you want to see in your craft”.
Why did you enter Goldwell Color Zoom Challenge this year?
I just love what this competition has to offer. To compete on an international level was a lifelong dream of mine. Competition work helps you grow. It keeps you up to date with trends and encourages you to try new things.
What was the inspiration behind your medal-winning look?
I just loved the Influx collection this year. I was inspired by the beautiful sunsets we get here in Cape Town combined with colour palettes, shapes and textures in some minerals and pearl shells. I studied up the collection, combined it with my mood board and model suitability.
What colours did you use and did you enjoy working with those brands?
I used Goldwell Silklift, Topchic, Colorance and Elumen. Silklift is such extremely gentle on the hair. You get clean lift and great condition. Elumen is my absolute favourite colour to work with when doing creative colour. The technology behind Elumen is just mind blowing. The durability, shine and reflect when working with Elumen is incredible. I love that is like a paintbox. All the colours are intermixable so you can create any shade.
What does it take to keep ahead of trends and be a trendsetting hairdresser?
I think like anything it starts with a passion. I love fashion and keeping with what is happening on the runways. It’s so easy nowadays with social networking. Instagram is my absolute favourite app to use. Online education is also available everywhere now. There is this big movement happening in our industry to share. I think it is brilliant. I keep up with various artists and make time to find inspiration by seeing what they are doing in their countries.
I’m so lucky with my everyday clientele in the salon. My clients can be quite experimental and adventurous with their hair. They give me the opportunities to perfect my skill and take it to the next level. I also continuously attend education. We are very lucky to have had some international cutting and colouring artists teach at our salon lately.
Competition work is such a great way to stay on trend. You are forced to study up a collection and find your own inspiration to design your work of art.
Describe your hairdressing philosophy in one sentence.
Be the change you want to see in your craft.
As a previous gold medallist, what do you expect from the international competition this year and what will your strategy be?
I’m truly blessed to be competing at Globalzoom for the 5th time this year. Over the last few years I have loads of success but also made many mistakes. Every year I approach the competition by reflecting on all the areas where I can grow. To get a fresh outlook is very important. Internationally the competition is extremely strong. I am making sure my model’s hair is in the best possible condition. A serious training schedule is a great way to make sure your work is perfectly executed on the competition day.
Silver Winner Yvonne Bryson - Pasquale Intercoiffure, Kempton Park, JHB
“There are no shortcuts when you want to achieve the best”.
Why did you enter Goldwell Color Zoom Challenge this year?
I entered on the spur of the moment last year after I did a shoot and realised that I used only Goldwell. I tried my luck and got a Bronze! The exposure I got from Goldwell was incredible, and the salon was marketed at minimal cost to Pasquale on social media. I decided to enter again, but to prep and follow the criteria as best I can. I did an enormous amount of research on In Flux, and noticed that two of the Looks trended towards a fashionable and current Mullet (which I'm obsessed with!)
My model did not have a lot of length in her nape and hairline for the wispiness seen in the collection so I tried my utmost to create a Mullet with the length I had. It was impossible to get the softness that the collection required, but my ultimate goal was to do the best look that I possibly can. That way I would have a stunning end result/entry rather than an embarrassing one. When I finished my shoot, I wasn't happy with my colour or styling, as it was too commercial looking for me, so two weeks later I organised a reshoot and redid my colour from scratch, same makeup; garment and cut. If I wasn't happy with the second shoot for the competition I would not have entered. But I would still have had a great photo to use for marketing purposes, worth the time and money spent.
What was the inspiration behind your medal-winning look?
I was intrigued by the following insert from the Color Zoom Collection:
"Be enchanted by the fluidity, discover the darkness, let the iridescence illuminate"
What colours did you use and did you enjoy working with those brands?
I am obsessed with colour! Elumen is one of my favorites to use in the salon. Goldwell has an app that guides you with colour "cocktails" that the experts created, which is easy to use. I felt like a kid playing with paint! I loved it!
What does it take to keep ahead of trends and be a trendsetting hairdresser?
I'm obsessed with hair fashion. My down time in-between relaxing and clearing my mind, is research on hair. I don't really follow trends, but when I see great work, I download it into an album to backtrack later. I watch videos of cutting, styling, colouring....there is always room for improvement, you can never learn enough and you will never know it all. Nothing you do is perfect, there will always be something to improve. I love looking at all types of fashion shoots; all or any stylist's work; artistic and creative photos (not just hair). I'm always trying to figure out how something was done (sometimes I feel it's a curse... :-)
Describe your hairdressing philosophy in one sentence.
Planning! Then know that there are no shortcuts when you want to achieve the best.....deep breaths, and take your time; know when you've made a mistake and do it better next time. (That's two sentences, sorry!)
Bronze Winner Donne Christof – Bscene Hairdesign by Donne, DBN
“Love what you do... do it to the best of your ability.”
Why did you enter Goldwell Color Zoom Challenge this year?
Photographic competitions are relatively new for me so every time I find it really a personal challenge as you learn from the year before. After achieving Silver last year I knew I could improve on my entry this year, learning from the last time I was truly happy with this year's entry. Being part of the challenge is also so much fun as you get swept up in creating your interpretation of the theme. Color Zoom is probably “the” Global photographic competition.
What was the inspiration behind your medal-winning look?
The Northern Lights. I wanted to bring through the fluidity of coloured light in the dark mysterious sky, the crescent moon forming the shape in the fringe.
What colours did you use and did you enjoy working with those brands?
I used a variety of Elumen formulas I had worked out, and yes, I use the entire Goldwell colour range in the salon so I enjoy working with these brands daily.
What does it take to keep ahead of trends and be a trendsetting hairdresser?
Being inspired by other amazing artists, then creating something new and fresh making it your own. Don't copy others, rather be inspired to find your own way. Know where fashion is headed. Gratefully my mind never stops being creative which keeps one ahead and moving forward, crucial for any creative industry.
Describe your hairdressing philosophy in one sentence.
Love what you do, do it to the best of your ability or don't bother doing it, and when passion moves; move with it...
