A visit to Saks Aberdeen...

Visiting salons and getting to know the network has been a big focus for me this year! We all know Saks as a company that feels very much like"family". With more salons opening throughout the UK its important we stay connected and follow in the companies success and continue to build a strong future together!

I was very fortunate to be booked for a training day with Saks Aberdeen, I had heard a lot about this salon. Philip & Audrey who own the franchise have won many awards and are renowned for their prestigious salon and commitment to staff training and wellbeing. Before any visit I put in a call to the salon to discuss some options and get an idea for what they would like to cover. I feel its important to know what the salon thinks it's lacking, whether it be inspiration for cutting, colouring or styling! Its a great opportunity to learn as much as possible not just from me but from each other! With the agenda sorted, I will travel up the night before on Sunday and spend Monday in the salon. I will begin with a colour demo and 2 cuts(I will have one model pre-coloured first thing in the morning)

Time is very precious at the minute as my wife is due to give birth to our first baby any day now, so although I'm extremely excited about this trip, in the back of my mind I'm hoping her labour doesn't start! lol

To help prep before my arrival, I employ the help of Christy who was on the A Team 09 and works in the salon. He is a bright, talented youngman. I had requested some photos of any potential models and not wasting anytime Christy has forwarded me 6 photos. I will only pick 2 models as we will do a workshop in the afternoon. I have decided to keep 1 look very commercial and the other much stronger knowing they can dilute or strengthen these looks to work for them and their clients. With the models chosen, I email Christy with a brief to help him prep. I have 100% confidence in him and know he'll do a great job.

Monday morning I wake up to a shockingly cold day! It really is freezing!lol. I head over to the salon and if its superb location didn't impress me enough, the stunning floor layout and extremely well maintained workspace certainly did! Even the dispensary was immaculate as if a magic wand had been waved over it to keep it tidy! It's clear to see why this salon is so successful. I am continuing to work with the Autumn/Winter trends which I have loved every minute of and the group already seem excited before I have even started. The demos will include: a long cosy layer cut with sensuous neutrals as the colour inspiration, followed by a short tight fit cut with a twist of texture madness and merging all the jewelled colours together using some crazy colour to create something more edgy. As I complete the looks the group give a generous applause and as true hairdressers are keen to get their mitts on the models and really look through my work.....!

After a short lunch break we start the workshop and the group are eager to begin. As a result of creating their own looks I am keen to get each stylist to explain what it is they've done to the rest of the group. I find this helps them to communicate with one another and feed off each others ideas and creativity. Even if some of the stylists have followed a similar sectioning pattern or cut to my demos, they have all ended up changing parts of it to make it their own and its a real joy to see this development. The day ends on time and with a massive high. A few of us head over to a local bar to grab a drink before I leave to fly home.

I have to say this was a great trip, short, sweet and very enjoyable. I would like to say a huge thanks to all the staff at Saks in Aberdeen for having me. To Christy, fab job & big thanks for assisting, and to Philip & Audrey for booking me to come and visit and for looking after me.

I hope to see you all again next year!! Merry Christmas!!

Mario x

"The universal language of hair!"

What happens when someone travels thousands of miles to London to be taught something new and they hardly speak a word of English?....... you teach them regardless! ;-)

For the past 2 years I have been teaching hairdressers our collections and latest trends from all over the world. Students have travelled from Poland, Demark, Portugal, Italy and sometimes even as far as India! I'm looking through my busy diary and frantically scribbling everything down when I see I have a group of 7 hairdressers from India back for another intense 3 days of advanced cuts and colour from our Autumn/Winter trends. I have so much fun teaching these guys as they are very likeable, passionate and friendly people who always give a 100%.

I am expecting to turn up to work and prepare myself for a busy day as I finalize my plans and get myself ready. I head over to reception to greet my class. However instead of 7 students I have 1! :-(Thinking the others are running a little late I try to speak to the lady who is sat waiting and find out very quickly her English is limited!

Trying to find out if the others are on the way, she politely nods and smiles and I'm guessing this maybe my only class mate for tne next 3 days!

We always run checks at the Academy to make sure Visa's are in place and that we have all participants attending including a translator, however on this occasion there has been a problem right at the last minute and only 1 person is aloud to travel and she is sat with me!

Undeterred from the fact we may have a slight communication issue I am confident I can use the visual aids we have and a common understanding of hair to see us through and I'm sure we are both going to learn something from this experience!

I get started, keeping my words straight forward and to the point. It looks like this bright women before me Sharda is taking it in and as we begin it is clear she has caught onto the concept and we start creating our looks. I decide to work in a "coaching circle" format so it keeps us both busy seeing as we cannot make too much conversation!We do our very best to show her the local shops for lunch and our student area where she can relax and eat whenever we stop for a break.The day has been a massive success and I get the feeling she has left for the day now knowing a few more techniques than when she started.

The next 2 days follow a very simular pattern and its all hands on deck and we are working in perfect harmony! I am amazed that I only need to show Sharda something once as she remembers to unpack her kit, where the towels go, to clear up after herself and where we keep all our products its simply fantastic!

At the end of the 3 days as a special treat I give Sharda a cheeky new hair cut as she has worked so hard! I am thrilled we continued to run the class allbeit the turnout not being what was expected. It gave me a great insight that even though we maybe thousands of miles apart and speak different languages, we both have a common interest and speak the same language of hair!

Thanks for reading

Mario xx

You know that when a group of young individuals give up their Sunday to travel to London and enter a hair competition, their passion and dedication is nothing less than 100%
This weekend I was asked to join a team of judges to judge the assistants NVQ level 2 styling category, and NVQ level 3 cut and style category!
Its 11am and as I enter the Academy i'm faced with lots of youngsters eagerly waiting to start working on their models. Its a difficult job to judge a competition especially when you know the standard of work produced will be very high.
We have Saks salons attending from all over the southern region and the turn out is impressive.
Armed with my clip board and pen, its time to begin. Myself, Mandy, Lorna, Louisa and Danny now have the task of watching these talented individuals work. I am asking each assistant questions about their inspiration and styling to gain some input on their interpretation of their signature look.
With every seat in the house taken, hairdryers blasting away and the engineered sound of sprays fixing the hair together and adding shine, I can already see finding a clear winner is going to be very tough!
Before we know it, we are near approaching the finishing time. The assistants are given plenty of notice and all of a sudden, gowns are coming off and the total image is revealed! We spend the next 10 minutes finalising our scores before a few more photos are taken and we pack up to leave.
Sadly you will all have to wait for the winner to be announced in due course..... may I say it was a pleasure to be a judge for this competition and I sincerely mean it when I say everyone is a winner and has done themselves and their salons very proud.

Congratulations and best of luck.
Mario

Hi,

Its a 5 day blog..... try to keep up! its a great read!

Friday is usually the day that brings the week to an end. We all start to plan our Friday and Saturday nights out and try not to think about Monday morning too much! I on the other hand have had a busy week teaching trends at our London Academy and it is about 10:30pm Thursday night and I'm packing for a trip to Lisbon then Rhodes for the L'Oreal Congress and the launch of INOA early Friday morning!
This is a very special trip yet also a sad one as this is the last time I will be working with Tracey Gallagher (she is leaving saks after 22 years of service)! I am trying hard not to think about that too much and want to enjoy our last few days working together. She has taught me many things over the past 2 years and I am forever grateful for her guidance and input during that time.
So Its Friday morning and my alarm is screaming at me to wake up at stupid O'Clock (3:15am) lolI'm showered, packed and drinking a strong cup of coffee to keep me awake. Its now 4:15am and my taxi is waiting at the front door ready to drive me to Heathrow airport.
I arrive in good time and already I am feeling ready for another coffee!
Tracey arrives shortly after me and we re-shuffle the suitcase full of equipment and clothes ready to check it in. Once we are airside we have a quick look around the shops before we board.
The flight seems to have lasted all of 5 minutes as we both slept the entire flight. We land in Lisbon and straight away head over to the L'Oreal technical centre to prep our models that Tracey kindly cast the month before. We are met by Carla and later, Manuel who work for L'Oreal and are our translator and co-ordinator for our visit.

The prep all goes well but its now 9:30pm UK time and we are only just leaving to check into the hotel for dinner followed by bed time! Tracey asks for a G & T with our meal and to our surprise she is given a pint glass with ice and is then pured a 1/2 pint of Gin! Its another early start and we will be leaving at 5am to catch out next flight from Lisbon to Rhodes. I hope Tracey feels up to it lol At the airport we are surrounded by hairdressers all traveling to Rhodes for the L'Oreal Congress. We are greeted by more L'Oreal reps and handed a neat black wallet which contains all our hotel details, room numbers and boarding cards for the flight.... everything has been taken care of! Once again we are back on a plane listening to the safety brief before take off. I feel my eyes slowly closing and I'm hoping when they open we will have landed.


As soon as we touch down in Rhodes we are no sooner off the plane and looking for our bags and coach ride to the hotel. This is where we will spend the next 4 days getting everything finalized for the show on Monday.As we arrive the sea of people is overwhelming and we manage to fight our way through the food and drinks reception. We are meeting with some of the top professionals in the business and I'm so excited to be part of it all.
After a quick shower and a few more zzzzzzz! we head downstairs to meet with the shows producer, make up artist and clothes stylist. Its somewhere around 7pm and Rhodes is 2 hours in front so my body clock is starting to take a few more hits. After meeting with everyone we prepare to meet early the next day as we are not the only company on stage at the congress, we are 1 of 3 and everyone else needs to spend time finalizing their plans.
8am Sunday morning we are in rehearsal and having a lighting and sound check. Straight after we stop for a quick bite to eat before trying on the outfits and making sure we are ready to start work first thing Monday!
We are on stage at 10:30 am and the schedule is tight, we have 6 models to present on stage, 2 colours, 2 cuts and 2 styles! We have 1 hour 30 minutes which from previous experience I know isn't long. Rehearsals go great, Tracey and I have to speak to an empty hall to make sure our volume levels are correct, the models are sat in the right place and that they all know their cue and when to move to the beat of the music.
The girls are looking fab, confident and ready for show day! We on the other hand are feeling exhausted and are in need of a good night sleep if we want to be up early to start getting ready.Monday morning and its all systems go! We have showered and eaten, and now we are heading to our room back stage to start preparing the models for show time. Its frantic and even though Tracey and I plan ahead as much as possible time is starting to run out. We have to make a quick dash to the stage as we are introduced as the Saks Artistic Team before we begin our presentation.
After a quick wave hello we run back to the room to continue preparing.
Times up and we need to head back stage where we finally get our microphones and ear pieces fitted. Its the first time I have had all this high tech equipment. It allows me to hear how long we have been on stage and how long we have left, its brilliant.
We hear our intro music and finally head out and all I can see is flashing lights and dark shadows in the seats....we are facing approx 500 people!
Our first demo is colour. We are working from our new Autumn/Winter trends and Tracey is working a gorgeous contrast theme of colours while I choose a range of .2 tones. Models finished its time to recap and move on to the next demo. For our cut section I am working an 80's feel, with volume and plenty of texture in the cut, while Tracey's inspiration is from the Anti head shape as she cuts dry with clippers. I am back combing away and cutting blunt and a fate gasp echos in my direction and I think the audience thinks I've gone mad! (I assure you I haven't) Cuts complete we move to our session looks, I am crimping and using a combination of techniques for a working girl grunge look while Tracey's Gothic inspiration is taking shape beautifully. My ear piece tells me time is almost up, and finally our colour demos are back washed and dried leaving us just 5 minutes to finish them off. Its been a quick turn around of each section and the rehearsal definitely paid off!
As the final looks walk the stage the buzz and thrill of the whole experience is still feeling strong within me. We leave the stage and Tracey gives me a huge hug back stage which I'm feeling is a good sign of a job well done!
Luckily we are not booking to travel home until Tuesday afternoon, giving us plenty of time to tidy up, relax and enjoy the rest of the day! We sneak in to the afternoon show as I always love to sit and watch hair being created. We manage to speak to some of the guests and the feedback is excellent!

We have a huge night out with everyone including our models and a great time has been had by all!
Big thanks to L'Oreal Portugal, Carla, Manuel for looking after us.....
Tracey for being such an inspiration and also such fun to go away with and to everyone else involved.

Thanks for reading!!
Mario x

A message from Alison Dace

Well its a hello and goodbye from me for the moment. Some of you may know im off now to have my second baby, and will be on Maternity for a few months and I leave you in the very wonderful hands of the Saks Art Team. I will be back in March 2010 to continue driving Saks Education and the Art Team onwards and upwards, I will also be looking forward to meeting all of the potential new A Team members for 2010, if you feel you want an out let for your creative juices, to be part of a team that will grow you and build you to push your limits, The A Team is for you.

Your application form will be coming to your salons by the end of the year, fill it in and get it sent back. All the info is on that form, dates, times, places and what is expected of you. If you have any future questions in the meantime, contact kellymatthews@saks.co.uk

Keep a look out for the Spring/Summer Trends Launch in Feb 2010, where you will see the fabulous shoot, created by the A Team 09, and I cant wait to see the photographic images award shots, with that great prize, where we all go to a far far land, how exciting?????..

Also I would like to say a Big goodbye to Tracey Gallagher, she has been with Saks for 22years, and has been an amazing inspiration to all who cross her path, I will miss her dearly, and wish her all the best for the next career journey.

Big Kiss, and good Luck xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So now its time for me to say ta tar for now, have a great Crimbo and enlightening new year, and I will see you when I return next year....

HUGS xxxxxxx
Alison

Buon Giorno!

My dreams have come true and i am jetting off to Italy to present the “Freestyle” course to our Italian distributors. After much preparation, and before I could blink, I was on a plane to Italy, next stop: Bergamo International - Milan. Katie and I were met by our translators, Elisabetta and Francesca, who whisked us off to our beautiful accommodation, which was in the beautiful village of Montichiari. There we poured over our mood boards and discussed the excitement that would ensure over the following two days before we turned in for the night.

The morning of the show saw Katie and I up early, enjoying some Italian conversation with our hotel attendant and after a tasty continental breakfast we head off to the distributor. Italy really is inundated with gorgeous people and this day was no exception. We were greeted by a beautiful hostess who had, in conjunction with the translators, provided everything we need to put together a wonderful 2 day course. With everything ready to go, Katie and I parted to our separate classes, armed with manikin heads and 4 concepts that were fresh and sensational to present to 18 hungry minds! Briefly, the “Freestyle” course is a presentation that focuses on stimulating the creative mind and inspires imaginative thought by moving away from consumer orientated looks and exploring the Avante Garde.

The focus on the morning of the day one was to present two of our four scintillating styles known as “Dripping and Torn” and “Incision”. I got into the groove fairly quickly and really started to enjoy myself and the presentation was a huge success. Lunch was served after and this, as anticipated, was a feast fit for any hungry stylist. Happily fed and watered, we then went about reproducing the looks in a coaching circle platform and the Italians were incredible, stretching their imaginations and exploring the looks to their full potential. The final looks were nothing short of spectacular and I found myself in a wonderful exchange of love and enjoyment for the industry as well sharing of different methods on how to get the looks we wanted to achieve. This really got me ecstatic about what day 2 would bring!

But first, a little surprise. Elisabetta and Francesca took us on a small tour of the surrounding areas and we found ourselves in another beautiful village called Desenzano, where we took a breathtaking stroll alongside Lake Garda, which has an awesome backdrop of the Italian Alps. We then had dinner, surrounded by the ambient sounds of an authentic Italian restaurant. The food was incredible and we even learnt some more Italian!

Our mission for day two: To present the final two looks for the “Freestyle” course, known as “Broken Glamour” and “Under Pressure”. The cut and colour techniques were fun and received very well. So much so that we even got to reproduce some colour techniques!

This was a truly inspiring experiences. We as hairstylists are always learning and sharing. Having the opportunity to experience Italy and present there was amazing and I look forward to going back in October. Becoming part of the Saks Art Team has been the highlight of my career and I look forward to the exciting future that the company has!

The next trip is a visit to the place where it all started, Darlington. Tracy and I are heading up there to present the Autumn/Winter Trends launch and I can’t wait.

Until next time, Ciao!
Clayde.

A-Team Shoot

Hi again, it’s been an exciting lead up to the A-Team Shoot day and here we are. I can feel the nervous energy as I waddle around the London Academy, finishing setting up the rooms for the day ahead. The A-Team are congregating in the reception and already the banter has started. They are a dynamic bunch and I have thoroughly enjoyed our year together, this is the last A-Team day and the one we have all worked so hard to get to. Lots of planning, researching, building the concepts we set out to do 9 looks. The day runs with a comfortable ease, all that planning truly paying off. And I am really please with the out come. We did it 9 looks in 1 day!!!!!
Great work team…now time to celebrate.

The A-Team Shoot will represent Spring/Summer Trends 2010 so watch this space.

Alison x

Autumn / Winter Trends Glasgow

We continue our tour to promote the Autumn/Winter Trends.
This time we are in Glasgow.
Myself, Tracey and Lyn are working this event, which is held at Tiger Tiger to an audience of 70 strong.
It’s a 2 day procedure where we go to cast and prepare all the models on day 1, this was great, we had some lovely girls to choose from, who were open to all (always music to my ears). To help us with all the preparation we invited Christy from the A-Team who comes from our Aberdeen Salon. He was a god send and a big thanks again to him and Aberdeen Saks. Also Roy from Edinburgh was there to lend a hand, big thanks.
So the prep day came to a close and we decided to go for a curry, maybe not my best decision as I am about 8 and a bit months preggers. But the spices didn’t bring him on and we relaxed ready for the Seminar the next day.
Day 2 rehearsals and show time. The event was a great success and we really enjoyed the Seminar and the audience energy.

To get your hands on the new Autumn/Winter Trends poster please ask your Franchise/Managers to order the Marketing department.

The next Autumn/Winter Trends launch is in the London Academy 8th September 3pm-5pm.
To book contact Katrina Leonti on 0207 379 3622.

Hope to see you there!
Alison x

CPD at West Suffolk College

Last year I was fortunate to meet a fantastic and enthusiastic group of college educators from Bury St Edmunds. You may recall me writing about a reunion with an old college educator of mine, in the early days of my career. Well I was delighted to be invited back, this time to work with salon based assessors for the college in a Professional Development Day.

Senior work based learning co-ordinator Tricia Williams organised and arranged for my re-visit and it was so lovely to see her and other members of staff. She had arranged two gorgeous models for me to work with, both fully briefed that this was a day to be creative and inspire the participants as well as offer commercial looks ready to take back to the salons and start promoting the latest trends.

I worked with our new Autumn/Winter collection to entice the group as I introduced myself and the new collection. There were 19 participants in total, all geared up for an exciting day starting with a morning of advanced cut and colour demonstrations, followed by a workshop in the afternoon. It was a pleasure to be working back in the modern and well groomed salon the college has to offer and the staff made my visit effortless.... it felt more like having fun than work it was brilliant!

Tricia who has bags of experience took the role of my assistant and helped prep and tone when needed making the day run smoothly and on time. Huge thanks Tricia x I loved teaching the Spring/Summer collection as it was a great chance for me to put my own style into my work and I am already starting to bubble over with ideas for the Autumn/Winter trends! It is such an exciting time for both educators and participants as it will stretch your mind and creativity and open up endless possibilities.

I would like to thank everyone involved in organising these visits from the London office team to the college staff and all the models for being fabulous to work with.

Mario x

Simply Saks

For many new stylists joining our Saks network you’ll soon realise we are a great family company that prides itself on excellence!
So if you’ve just joined you’ll no doubt be visiting your nearest Academy to be taught Simply Saks.

Simply Saks is a classic cutting course, designed to teach the core foundation of hairdressing and keep high standards consistent across our network. You can expect to learn about the company’s philosophies and history and you’ll certainly walk away from it feeling that you have extended and refreshed your skills and knowledge.

I absolutely love teaching this course, and after nearly 10 years in the industry it has kept me well grounded in my approach to both client communication/consultation and how I cut hair.

Testimonies:

'This is an excellent refresher course having not been in a salon environment for 20 years! I felt challenged and the encouragement I received has certainly given me the confidence in my abilities to return to hairdressing at a professional level. Educator and facilities exceeded my expectations. Thank you :)'

Tracey Moore – External delegate


'Really enjoyed my week feel like I have learnt a lot. The training is very thorough!!'

Nicola Fox – Saks Welling Garden City


'The training has given me a good grounding to help me confidently progress with my skills and has given me confidence in my basics to move forward with more creative work'

Katie Sprules – External


'This week I learnt point cutting and I have improved as the week has gone on. The educator was friendly and very good at explaining and helping out where you’re going wrong. I have built up a lot of confidence this week. Thank you!'

Vikki Skivington – Saks Kings Hill

Autumn/Winter trends Darlington

It only seems like yesterday the Saks Art Team were launching the Spring/Summer trends. And with Autumn/Winter upon us, the new mood boards are ready and we have started our Up Close and Personal seminars to share with everyone the latest fashion trends, which is inspiring our hairdressing.

The mood board has 4 sections to work from, Shape me, Colour me, Cut me and Style me. There is everything from tight head hugging shapes to extreme hat hair from the 80’s, contrasting colours to expensive jewelled tones, to name only a few!

For those of you who have been on courses at our Academies will know the structure to this innovative way of inspiring creativity and challenging your talent and skill.

I travelled up to Darlington at the start of August to meet Tracey, Alison and Lynn who had arrived a day earlier preparing the models. As soon as I arrived and saw the girls we would be working with, it was the usual “best of the bunch” as the girls were all gorgeous! I got straight to work with my models thinking about the looks I would be working with and how best to go about creating it. I worked the 80’s inspired Hat hair and 1940’s style. I had a fantastic time working on both these looks and hope to share more ideas with you on future courses.

The show day is always busy and it’s a juggling act of rehearsals, final prep, makeup and wardrobe. Everyone has a great energy about them and I always get really excited in the build up before getting on stage. The audience were all very welcoming and it was brilliant to be asked questions after the show about my looks and how everyone enjoyed it. The feedback was excellent and it’s a great feeling to know you’ve done a good job.

It is great working with the team, and I had the added bonus of being on stage with Lynn for the first time. They are all great to be around and always full of encouragement and helpful tips. I have enjoyed the new approach to teaching with the mood boards and definitely think it’s the way forward.

Final thanks – to everyone in Darlington for your help and support

Mario :)

Award Winners shoot!

It’s been another busy week in the life of me. Firstly the photo shoot for the Saks Award winners from 2008. Congrats again too...
- Stacy Cook – Dundee
- Roy Rogers – Edinburgh
- Carina Lowen – Harrogate
- Greg Bloor – Birmingham
- Leanne King – Altrincham
- Amy Curran – Altrincham
- Abbie Savva – Great Yarmouth
- Jade Dyble – Great Yarmouth
- Craig Jenkins – Southend
- Abbey Trent – Guildford
- Ben Waines – Southampton

The final images from this shoot will be shown on the Autumn/Winters trends posters that will come to all your salons in August.

After researching/looking through the autumn/winter catwalk shows, Tracey and myself pick out the trends. This is used as a prep day, to work on any colouring/cutting/finishing that may need to be prepared. The next day is the shoot, we all went off to a beautiful new studio in Covent Garden, full of light and slouchy humongous bean bags, where the team also chilled out in between shooting there looks.

It was a really busy day that worked like a well oiled machine and the A/W’s have created 7 great looks.


India comes for a visit

Also we had a group into the Academy from India. They booked on the trends cutting and colouring course which runs for 3 days. It was as intense learning, with loads of enthusiasm + even more questions + they left feeling full of new knowledge clutching all their training heads telling me how they are taking them home as hand luggage!!! …

Alison :)

Mario and his latest travels..

Hi everyone! Wow it seems like ages since I wrote to you all, but it was only last month.....so how I have managed to do so much in a small space of time can only mean one thing...... a great office team arranging my diary so well that everything fits and runs smoothly enough to cope with the work load! (Well done office team saks!) To sum up this month it goes a little something like this: Colour degree10 years youngerColour degreeCanterbury CollegeBaby shoppingColour degreeCharity daySaks kings hillBaby shoppingColour degree So what have I been up to?

Well I started my colour specialist degree at L'Oreal Hammersmith several weeks ago. Its been amazing so far and I am extremely lucky to have fab educators and a fab group to work with. We have gone hugely in depth into the science of hair, and although only half way through the course I am already seeing the benefits of it. Anyone looking to do this course in the future should know its fantastic! Our most recent assignment was to prepare a 20 minute presentation to the group on a subject to do with colour, picked at random from a hat (or colour bowl in this instance) lol. Myself and fellow Saks franchisee Steve Law whom is also on the course just so happened to be paired up. We met at mine one Sunday to prepare our presentation and following the guidelines "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" we wanted to make sure we were ready! We were given the subject of lightening and we thoroughly researched and made a factual yet humorous presentation which kept our audience interested. We finished by handing out mini tasks and case studies relating to our topic and all was very well received. The votes came in at the end to see what everyone thought and who was the most successful. There would be a prize for the winners and guess who won??..........that's right myself and Steve! Not boasting of course just very proud and pleased to have put the time and effort in and certainly gained the reward! (yet to be given to us I might add) lol

Not only am I preparing to complete this course in September, I am also preparing to be a father. For those of you I haven't yet seen, my wife is pregnant and we are expecting a baby girl in November. We are both very excited and are preparing the nursery at home as well as shopping as often as we can to find the right push chair, cot and baby monitor! Why do they give you so much choice!We have yet to decide on a name, but have shortlisted a few and I'm sure that when she arrives we'll know instantly which to go with. Its a toss up between choosing an Italian name from my background or French / Irish names from my wife's side of the family! Maybe it won't be that simple after all. :-)

As each month unfolds, I find myself only checking the diary once a week. This is partly because new exciting projects keep coming up and things have to be changed and partly because it would take to me too long to write everything in. I was recently asked by Mr Andrew Barton himself if I could fill in for him on 10 years younger while he would be enjoying the benefits of marriage and the warm sun in Ibiza. (congrats again Andrew) Of course I was delighted and said yes with no hesitation, although very nervous as Andrew has big shoes to fill on the show, I was excited by the opportunity and also by knowing I would get to meet Myleene Klass. I was briefed by Andrew and took as much kit as I could pack just to be sure I had everything I needed. Its only once I worked on location that I truly got an insight into what Andrew does, and let me tell you its a very tough job and for him to be doing it for all these years is a huge credit to his dedication and professionalism. The days started early meeting at 7am for a 7:30 start. I had to work quickly as make up and wardrobe would also need to prepare the participants. There would be 4 ladies in total 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Every reflective surface, mirror, door handle and window was completely covered so the ladies would have no idea of the final result until the reveal. They were even wrapped in a gown to be sure they didn't look at their outfits. I was amazed at how much work goes into making the reveal as much of as a surprise as possible. Armed with a can of hairspray and my tail comb, we were off to begin filming. I was sweating under the heat of the lighting and kept hoping the hair would hold! After the yell of "cut" I would jump in to refine the hair and add a touch more spray, I felt shattered by the afternoon but knew I had to do it all over again for the next 2 ladies. At the end of very long day we all headed back to the hotel to freshen up, discuss the following day, eat then rest. Although I was shattered I was buzzing. I took away so much insight with me after the first day I was already feeling better prepared for day 2. The second day saw us in High Wycombe town centre. As Myleene made her appearance and the camera crew were getting set up, there was a mad rush of people and we were swamped. Security did their best to keep everyone back but eventually had to call for reinforcements and use barriers to hold off the crowd. Feeling very important as security let me cross the barrier to attend to the hair I was beaming with excitement and a truly natural high. I am incredible grateful for the experience and made plenty of new friends whist working on the show. The deadlines are very tight and I learnt so much from the two days of filming. I contacted Andrew shortly after explaining just how much I enjoyed being a part of everything and how it was another career high for me so far! (thanks again AB)

Come Tuesday morning I'm back at the academy. And as another term finishes at most colleges, I quickly check my dairy and see I have been booked to visit Canterbury college for some CPD training for their tutors. I absolutely love these days, as it gives me a chance to visit somewhere new and get to meet some of the NVQ educators from outside our network. Although they have the same goals to teach NVQ I am always amazed by the different approach one college has from the next. As I stood there ready to introduce myself to an audience of all women, feeling out numbered I was excited to be sharing some of our spring / summer trends and explaining about the new innovative way of teaching using our mood boards.I was there to demonstrate 2 hair cuts, and they had arranged a choice of beautiful girls for me to work on. I worked with a lovely short tailored cut, high lighting the benefits of undercut layering with a top heavy shape that made the hair hug the head beautifully, and an asymmetric cut incorporating a deliberately crumpled finish. The cuts generated a great buzz and the models were made up with their new looks.

Next stop St Charles Hospital. About a month ago I was called to the office to discuss a proposed charity day at St Charles Hospital London. The concept was not for patients, but for the carers who tirelessly look after those who need it. The day was open to anyone who cares for someone. It could be a neighbour, relative, stranger or friend. This was a way of giving something back to the community of carers. We set up base in an upstairs room, armed with Gemma and her NVQ students, rollers, hair sprays, combs and brushes were laid out behind a row of chairs, ready and waiting for our first carer to be spoiled. We laughed and joked to create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, as the students worked their magic I sat with some of the ladies to find out who they looked after and how they felt about being the one cared for (even if it was just for half an hour). To start with I think a few people felt guilty sitting with us as if they should be up and about doing something, but as the combs and brushes worked through their hair, the guilt soon disappeared and they started to relax, we even had a few people nod off to sleep.....relaxation at its finest!!There were 14 of us in total, and myself and Gemma were getting our hands on some heads as there were not enough students at one point to cope with the volume of people arriving to be pampered. With a short pit stop for lunch the students were all eager to carry on working and waited by the chairs for someone else to arrive. We received a huge thanks from the staff and carers and all the students felt their hard work had paid off.....Gemma and I agreed..........Well done to all!!

To finish off this busy month, I recently visited Saks Kings Hill. Firstly I was impressed by the cleanliness and how immaculate the displays of products were. The staff certainly showed they cared about this salon and the evidence was sitting on the shelf where all the awards they had won took pride of place. Again surrounded by women (lol) I was greeted by Clare the salon owner and her staff. I was there to help teach the importance of using the mood boards from the spring / summer trends. As award winners they took full advantage of this opportunity and I was pleased to see they had a full house all keen to look and learn. I started off by demonstrating 2 cuts. The first of which was a very layered, lace cut, encouraging movement and a combination of different cutting techniques from twisting, slicing and pin cutting. The result was a beautifully soft and delicate shape with endlessly seamless layers. The second cut was a sci-fi shape working the cut to form a round silhouette that shows off the head shape. Having the contrast of soft and heavy worked brilliantly and everyone was excited to start trying out some of the techniques. I had a fantastic day with the team, and it was great to see new and familiar faces.

If anyone is interested in booking an in salon visit, please contact the london academies, it would be great to see more of you.

I just have to add I have had an amazing month so far and I would like to thank everyone for their help and support.

Mario x

L'Oreal 100th Birthday bash in Paris!

Hi Again,
It’s been a while – I’ve been sunning myself in St Lucia and checking out Amy Winehouse at the Jazz she was brill. Also I’m having my second baby which is so exciting and thoroughly crazy you might add.
Well let me fill you in on the most incredible event of my career so far, I think I mentioned I have been invited to represent Saks H3 and myself at the 100th Birthday for L’Oreal.
This is how it went – I arrived three days before the main event for our intensive process of rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals … This is fairly unusual for an event normally you get a few hours to rehearse so that tells you the magnitude of this one.
I was one of nine of the H3 Creation Team from season 1 and 2 joining together, it was so interesting to get together with an international group of hairdressers swapping stories, learning about cultures and observing how differently we all work.
Our first meeting was with L’Oreal’s marketing department we were there to discuss new product launches and give our input on developing ranges/images and products. Next step we meet and prepared our four models. This is usually a tense moment for the hairdressers as we must get the right girl with the right length who will let us do what we have planned. As you can imagine with 36 models and 9 hairdressers we had some diva moments and tears. All a part of the job for me I was very happy with my choices and off we went into three days of rehearsal.
· Team rehearsal
· Model rehearsal
· Technical rehearsal
· Sound rehearsal
· Translation rehearsal
· Dress rehearsal
· Full rehearsal
Just to name a few … Phew … after all that I’m completely ready so off for dinner and an early night.
Early, early start – It’s show day. We have 4 shows running almost consecutively an the mind blowing thing was this event was reaching an audience of 4000 from 70 different countries …
The translation alone was a finely tuned machine from English to French to Malaysian or from French to Spanish to Lebanese and sooo much more.
All our shows went off with a bang, I was the opening act, creating a haircut in 4 minutes on long hair with 3 sections only. This proved to be a very popular shape, the crescendo for the show finished with all 9 H3 team working on stage for appox 1.5 mins changing our models into look 2. On speaking to the audience this moment gave many of them a high and me too.
We had a great time with a standing ovation on each show and photographs, interviews even some autographs to sign.
We then got whisked off to the Zenith which is like our Wembley Stadium and went to watch the other hairdressers or should I say rock stars do there bit. It was fabulous to see Aldo Copella, a 70 year old Italian legend hairdresser still going strong. Also Angelo Seminara and Trevor Sorbie was a journey and utterly fabulous!
Launched as well was L’Oreal’s new colour product ‘INOA’ this is a technological breakthrough which will be the beginning to L’Oreal going green with odorless colours completely scalp friendly, no ammonia and biodegradable. The hair feels in amazing condition and the tubes are tiny.
Well to finish of this wonderful trip we had our final night in the Grand Palace which is breath taking and all 4000 hairdressers had a sit down meal and off course a boogie. For me it was a big photo opp for many of the hairdressers found myself up and down like a bridges nightie posing and signing autographs to a sea of people shouting celebrity … celebrity – Wow what a memory to finish the show.
http://l'orealinspiration.com

Alison x

I seem to be in an ever changing work environment. Throughout May I have been in London, Hertford, Milan and Poland. I have certainly been kept busy over the past few weeks. May started with an in salon visit at Saks Hertford. I was greeted by a loyal and longstanding team who were amazing fun and very welcoming. The team were award winners from January and it was great to finally meet them all on a more individual basis. I was sharing some ideas based around the new spring/summer trends (i'm sure you all have the mood board poster in your salon) and how I view the mood board for inspiration to approach clients. My brief was simple, to create client friendly looks with a contempary twist. I decided to work on The "Metalic" trends for my colour inspiration in two contrasting ways. One would be a Golden Metalic inspired look for a softer more gentle approach and the second would be a deep contrast of .1 and .7 tones to create a stronger solid colour and finish. Both looks we recieved brilliantly, as it showed the diversity of the trends and how each one of us as individuals interpret what we see on the mood baord. The day was a great success and I look forward to more salon visits in the future! Thanks Saks Hertford.

Next stop Milan! At the beginning of the year I wrote about my trip with Andrew and the show we put on to launch the trends out in Italy. I would be very fortunate to be returning to the spectacular venue Cap 29010 to teach and inspire once again. As I entered the venue I was greeted with the same warm welcome and smiling faces from before. It was great to see everyone again and even better to see the sun shinning through the amazing sky light over looking the stage area. (The weather had not been kind to us on our last visit) I left early Saturday morning and would be returning to the UK Tuesday night. Luckily I had the bank holiday free to enjoy at home before packing my bags once again.....this time for Poland.

The agenda started off with me working for two days using our Trends as my source of inspiration for spring/summer. I was delighted to see a few familiar faces in the auidence some of whom I gave a cheeky re-style to on my Febuary visit and all of which were still sporting their new look, albeit re-cut from their own salon. I was excited to show them some of my new found ideas and got straight into my usual flow of "yes my name is Mario, and sadly no I dont speak Italian" this always gets me a few laughs, even if it is at my expense lol. After a full day of colour and cut demos I was ready for a quick shower something to eat followed closely by bed. The next day was just as exciting and intense, I picked up a few e-mails from the office, and I had one asking me to stay an extra day to round up the course with some mens looks. Luckily for me the fab team back in the London Academies were able to do a bit of diary shuffling and I was able to complete this request. The mens looks ranged from short tailored edges and heavy fringes, to a longer rugged textured look with plenty of layers that would just work perfectly on that thick wavy Italian hair. The students were delighted and I left for home once again feeling satisfied I had fullfilled my job role proudly.

Poland! The weekend flew by and before I knew it I was heading back to the airport to catch an early morning flight to Warsaw. I then took a light aircraft to fly me to Krakow where I would meet Tracey Gallagher for lunch then a casting. The casting was a great turn out, we worked the room looking for exactly what we needed. Once the six models were chosen we got to work preparing some colour and arranging outfits for the girls. This would give us less to do on the morning of the presentation making everything run much smoother. I had decided to work my double intreptation of the trends once more, this time working with a Pastel Metalic and darker one. For the first time I was using Luo Fresh which had amazing colours ranging from soft Jade greens, to Rose and even Grey. I just loved the thought of a pretty pastel grey and green and as I started to plan my colour placement. Tracey was busy as usual preparing and planning the next day which gave me plenty of time to continue the colour work and make sure all was spot on for our morning demo. Once we finished for the evening we were taken out to dinner, however I had been up since 3am and it was now gone 11pm. My eyes were heavy and I couldn't possibly stay awake any longer. So I excused myself and headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest. The following morning I met Tracey for breakfast. We then headed back to the venue to finish set up for the days event. As soon as we entered the salon, it was work hat on to finish any colour work not completed from the night before. I had my cut and styling mapped out in my mind and I was keen to show a longer and shorter look and finish with an Ethnic style trend. The models looked amazing, and we had a great reception. It is always so great to work with either Andrew, Tracey and Alison, I always get that real buzz from it and love every second!When the day was finally over we packed up and made our way to the hotel for a quick shower and a night out in Krakow. It was great fun, a stunning place to visit and we were well looked after. Thanks to all involved.

London! Tracey and I landed at Gatwick airport at 1pm local time. I was straight on the next train back to london to support the NVQ beginners who were preparing for their graduation show. I eventually arrived around 3pm, and with hardly anytime to put my bags down, I was straight to work.... pin hair up here, set there, fringe trim, etc and hearing all the excitement and plans of the night to come.This years theme was Etheral Sinners. It was a superb mix of good and evil and Student Tom Stock having worked on a media course, compilled an excellent intro CD that started the show with a bang!The show the students put on was fantastic and the room was filled with parents, partners and staff. We all cheered as the show began and my hands were genuinely sore from all the clapping! As usual we saw many tears, and everyone was thanked for their input and support.

Mario :)

A Team Field Trip

Last year saw Alison Dace pilot a new scheme to encourage creativity across our network and launched the A Team!

I was in my first year as an Art Team member and Alison gave me every opportunity to get involved and really get stuck in! The experience taught me so much and the 2008 A Team shoot was fantastic, a real inspiration and a job well done by all.

So when Alison asked me to be involved again this year, my eyes lit up with excitement and the smile on my face was a definite yes! The A team for me is a truly amazing journey, where not only do the Team get to know each other, but get to know themselves a little better too.

Alison took their first meeting with a fantastically fun filled day, as I would be taking the second meeting I had a tough act to follow. Last year saw us on a field trip around London Galleries and museums, the feedback of this day and the inspirational gain was so great we decided to run it again. This time I would be taking the group alone and my previous experience had well prepared me for such a task. We all met at the London Academies, I gave a breakdown of the day and we set off in our casual clothes and foot wear as a lot of walking was going to be done!

With no time to waste we headed straight to the underground and were on our way to the first stop, the Tate Britain. I felt very much like the School teacher looking after the kids (in the adult sense of course lol) as I watched and waited for everyone to roll through the underground barriers. I had researched the exhibitions and found some great works, from Turners "Colour & Line" experiment, to Gothic Romance of Henry Wallis and Richard Wetall, who’s paintings depicted war sparked by love. I have always been fascinated with history and how great cities had fallen all because of love and betrayal. The Team paired up and it gave them a wonderful opportunity to bond with one another and also gave me a chance to speak to them on a more individual basis. Pens and pencils were scribbling away with ideas, sketches and notes. I was in awe of the amazing development I could see before my very eyes. After 2 hours of studying art works past and present we took a well deserved break and stopped for lunch. We began to discuss our findings, what inspired us, moved us, upset us. As the emotional debate unfolded it was clear to see they were truly individuals yet as a team they were agreeing to disagree. I felt a strong bond developing and with no time to lose, lunch was over and we headed to the next venue. We covered the Tate Britain, the Royal Academy of Arts and the National Gallery in one day. These are excellent venues to visit as admission is free and the art work displayed is timeless. This day is designed to get the A Team working together, to question everything, challenge their emotions and get inspired. The day ended on an exhausted high and we finished off at the Academy so I could hand out their homework!

Once we had finished the team and I stopped at a local bar to embrace the day with a well deserved drink before parting ways......ready for the next A Team meeting.

The discussions and creative ideas that were produced on the day, showed me we are in for another exciting year. Well done Team, and thanks. You were a pleasure to have and I enjoyed the day immensely.

Mario ;-)

L'Oreal Poland

FRIDAY – Busy organising last few things for our trip to Poland, going through my checklist as usual so that I don’t forget a single thing, music, DVDs, show blocks, agendas, e-tickets, gowns, shoes, clothes ,special box of things I cant live without(colour wise that is)and the list goes on etc. Myself and my partner in crime Alison Dace (Creative Education Manager)are to do 2 Master classes (demonstration and then workshop sessions)and then Mario Failla (Art Team member) for L’Oreal professional in 3 Different cities, a whirlwind mini tour you could say. It will be my second time in Poland, Andrew Barton and I went there last year to do the L’Oreal colour Trophy Grand final show which was amazing the team out there were great so really looking forward to seeing them and working with them again. The case is packed and as usual I find myself sitting on it to get it shut, wondering if any of the bondage clothes for the models can be removed and hoping I don’t have to open the case at the airport as might have some explaining to do….!

SATURDAY - Oh my god it’s early 5.30AM!!!!!!!! And the taxi is here to collect me with Alison Dace already inside. Always scared i'm going to sleep in when such an early start as definitely not an early bird… Snooze in the taxi I think. L’Oreal always sends out a program of what is planned throughout the whole trip, who? what? where? How? Etc, and it will be the first time we have presented it so it will be great to get some feedback.
We land in Poznan and are greeted by 2 L’Oreal technicians Edyta and Ratajczek and a translator Anna who I met last time, she has a great little style going on Japanese Manga meets vintage tweed, so easy to spot. We are rushed off to a casting at the Poznan L’Oreal Academy where we need to choose 6 girls for cut and colour makeovers which we manage really easily as the turn out was fantastic about 40 girls were there so spoilt for choice. Once the girls were picked we began the colour makeovers with the help of the technicians and Anna the translator of course, the colour techniques need to be salon friendly but inspirational too, the trends collection works brilliantly for this as there are no boundaries or limitations, perfect! It’s 9.30pm and the models are finished so off to the hotel to check-in and get some food and some sleep as early start tomorrow 7am to finish for a Master class to start at 10am.

SUNDAY - The Master class goes off without a hitch, the models look great and the audience were really excited to try the techniques in the workshop session. We finish at 5pm and head straight to the train station for the next leg of the tour…. Battling with 2 heavy cases and stairs a plenty we manage to catch the train to Warsaw with seconds to spare. We are sat in 1st class(because were worth it…)which is a bit oldie worldly , separate cabins with a corridor running down one side, nice and private for relaxing for 3hrs. No more work this evening as too late but staying in a nice hotel which has a fabulous fusion restaurant, one of the perks of travelling.

MONDAY - The next morning sees another early start as casting and preparation need to be done before an 11am Master class, so all hands on deck. Alison Dace and I have worked together for soooo long now that it is a real breeze no matter how much pressure is on and feel we can conquer almost anything….. She can pay me later. We are working in one of the Prestigious Salons in Warsaw ‘Atelier Leszek Czajka’, the owner is a celebrity hairdresser who is a big TV star too so Poland’s version of our Andrew Barton. It’s always interesting to me to see inside salons as it helps you get a feel for the business there etc.
Once again the models are great and we are spoilt for choice, it’s no wonder half the models in London are polish their gorgeous and with so many natural cool blue bases to choose from I’m in heaven…well almost.
The Master class is really well received and 20 hairdressers get ready for the workshop session extra sections are brought in and 2 models are sat on the same chair but manage to re-arranged things for a better fit, even Leszek managed to get a new do from Alison Dace!
We are staying in Warsaw for the night and a dinner has been arranged at a Beautiful boutique style manor house style restaurant, no time to change though we are whizzed straight there from the salon, the weather was lovely still so we were sat outside all al fresco style, Fab.

TUESDAY – Alison left really early to fly back to London and Mario Failla is flying in to help me present the final Master class in Cracow. I’m on a train to Cracow so 3hrs to chill and take in the scenery, well catch up on some emails at least. We are working in a Salon/Academy ‘Atelier Roman’ for the preparations and the seminar tomorrow but in different rooms and floors each day it is quite a maze but has lovely candles burning along the halls and stair ways to help you find your way. The models are already there waiting for us so we cast straight away. The models are more reserved in Cracow but we still manage to find some great girls to get our messages across. One of the great things about travelling to different countries is finding new colours in Poland they have Luo Fresh which is a range of colours that work on pre-lightened or natural hair but in interesting tones such as rose, pineapple, kiwi, grey, orange and a few more which are nice as a soft result so nothing like crazy colours, so need to find some room in the case for some samples…
The colour preparation goes smoothly and we are off for sushi in no time.

WEDNESDAY – All the models have arrived on time and the make-up briefing has gone well, so just need to finish off some final colour work and take the models through their final rehearsal so time to put my choreographer cap on,1, 2, 3 and 1, 2, 3 lol. The team at Roman and L’Oreal worked hard and really looked after us, truly helping to make the event a big success; Mario charmed the room as usual with his inspiration and his enthusiasm. We Packed the huge case for the final time and headed back to the hotel for a couple of hrs to re-charge and freshen up ready for dinner, which was probably the first time through the whole trip that I‘d have had to myself…How rude! Dinner was at a lovely Italian underneath the main square and after there was dancing…well when in Rome etc.

The tour was a success, we had let our hair down and all that was left was to carry our hangovers and suitcases back to London. Thanks again to everyone who helped throughout the mini tour we couldn’t of done it without you.

Tracey Gallagher x

Alison Dace & Tracey Gallagher Delighted with Feedback

Praise for Mario Failla Training Days

We were so pleased to receive the comments below from some of Mario's recent college visits. Well done!

Linzi Ratcliffe, Bradford College
We had the most fabulous day again, all the learners are still walking around saying how amazing Mario is, so down to earth and approachable. He is such a lovely chap and the day flew by, he even brought some southern sunshine with him. The Colours were great, very interesting and the models all loved their hair

Christine Hillyer-Smith, L’Oreal Professional co-ordinator at West Suffolk College
The staff all thought you were fantastic, so you have a fan club in Bury now. The structure of the day and your flexibility with the staff was fantastic and I know they really gained from the education and appreciated too.

If you are interested in booking Mario for training then don't hesitate to contact Saks Academies on 0845 678 0290.

Students Gradute in Style!

Mario Failla helps out at Scotland Academies Graduation Show

April seems to have passed me by so quickly, at the beginning of the month my wife and I took a well deserved break to a remote part of Ireland with some close friends. Needless to say it was relaxing, even if the sun didn't shine.

I returned to work feeling refreshed and ready to answer all my awaiting e-mails and messages left during my abscence! I was thrilled to see I was booked on a flight to Glasgow to help organise the Graduation show for the 26 Week Beginner's Course at our Scotland Academies. I love visiting the Scotland Academies in Glasgow, it is in the heart of the city centre and the building has loads of character. Much like our London academy I always feel like its home away from home.

My fellow Art Team member Alex Girling had been there the week before helping them source some ideas for their show and to give them some handy tips on coping with all that needs to be done on the day! I arrived bright and early at 9am on the Wednesday morning ready for a hectic, fun filled and inspiring day.

The students were so friendly and made me feel welcome right away. Allyson Carr who heads the training for this intensive 26 week course had done a remarkable job, her students were full of enthusiasm and I could see they had been nurtured into aspiring young stylists.

We set a realistic agenda for the day, this helped with our time keeping and gave us a great opportunity to rehearse the show for our guests that evening. The theme for the show was "Iconic", the mood boards showed various images of icons such as Elvis Priestly and Sarah Harding to the Great Wall Of China and Egyptian Pyramids. This is always a great insight into the people and places they get their inspiration from. The hair produced did the theme great justice.

The students of course were a little nervous so Allyson and I found ourselves playing the roles of educator and councillor to keep everyone nice and calm. It's a great tribute to see how hard our NVQ educators work to take people who have had little or no experience as a hairdresser before and transform them into up and coming new talent within our industry. Once the models had their hair done, they were off to makeup! The Academies houses a commercial salon upstairs and senior member of staff Paul McGill was on hand to create some stunning work which really brought the whole image alive.

The show went off without a hitch and all that attended sent roaring applauses through the room as models entered and exited one after the other. The smiles on everyones faces, from staff to students, models to family members was a wonderful sight and tears were brought to a few eyes. This show symbolised the hard work, dedication and outstanding achievement the students had reached. The Academies Manager, Melissa Cook, as always supplied us with all we needed to make the show as professional as possible, from arranging a mini stage to buying the bubbly!

A huge thanks also needs to be given to Steven Evans, who took over from Allyson in her short absence, I know he had a fantastic impact on her group.

New A Team 09 Attend their First Training Session

Alison Dace puts her new A Team through their paces!

Session 1 for the new A Team 09, began with a get to know each other session and a little exercise I learnt from my boyfriend. I thought it would work brilliantly in joining us bunch of strangers together as it helps to build teamwork very quickly. The rules are, from the many materials placed on the table (magazines,newspaper,sweets, etc), each team (we split the group into 3) must work together to create a Disney character of their choice. With a model and a spokesperson, you can share your crazy thoughts with the rest of your group. It went down really well, and very soon we had fizzy cherry sweets as a crown, and tin foil wings for a fairy, plus loads more as the picture shows. With a good team vibe in the room it was time to start the more serious business of the day.

This session was all about building presentation skills and developing the ways to create a professional mood board. We had so much fun, learning all about which TV presenters we all love and hate and the reasons why. Then using their new found skills everyone presented back to me, and received a full on critique. There was a great vibe and element of fun within the team, and the day ended with us knowing each other much better, after a psychology quiz.

I must now sign out for a couple of weeks as I am off on holiday, the lovely Mario Failla is taking session 2, so enjoy! But those of you on the team, don't forget your homework, I'm looking forward to seeing those mood boards.

Intense A Team Interview Day Leads to 14 Strong Team for 09

Alison Dace spills the beans on the Saks A Team 09

The day started with a normal tube journey to work, but the rush hour was not going to get me down, as I was so excited! I was going to see the best new talent that we have in our company, a chance to get up close and personal with the best creative brains within Saks!

We had an exciting start to the new season of the A Team, double the amount of applicants from last year, you could feel the tension in the room!

We started the day with a run down for the year ahead, and then straight into some creative hairdressing, with all the hairdressers pushing there creative juices, and creating some great results on the blank canvas training head. Next up was the individual evaluation, a chance for me to get to know the applicants further, and to learn more about what makes them tick creatively.

Then the all important one on one interview, this is always such a hard decision for me, as I would love to take on everyone, but we only have 15 places. Anyone who didn't get through musn't be disheartened, I really hope to see them again next year. The successful candidates were told immediately, and then off they went to celebrate!

So a massive congratulations to the NEW A TEAM 09...

Clayde Baumann – Saks Hammersmith
Benjamin Waines – Saks Southampton
Claire Czajkowski – Saks Bristol
Larraine Smith – Saks Bury
Christy Thompson – Saks Aberdeen
Greg Bloor – Saks Birmingham
Gemma Printer – Saks London Academies
Danny Lynes – Saks Kingston
Lyndsay Bellerby – Saks Guisborough
Craig Jenkins – Saks Southend
Nikki Annig – Saks Welwyn Garden City
Emma England – Saks Great Yarmouth
Chloe Roddam – Saks Darlington
Jess Lad - Saks Solihull Cranmore

It really was a brilliant day, I met some great Saks people and really look forward to working closely with them all throughout 2009.

Alison Dace to Open the Show for L'Oreal's 100th Birthday

Alison Dace to front fabulous show with H3 team!

What an exciting year I'm having. I've just returned from a pre-meeting in Paris where we started organising our show for the 100th Birthday of L'Oreal. H3 season 1 and 2 are joining forces, so there will be 9 international hairdressers building an event for 4000 people. across 4 shows.

It's just so great to be working with such great hairdressers from all over Europe… Darren Fowler from Clipso, Bertram K from Austria, Phillipe Gonney from France to name but a few. The buzz in the room was electrifying as we began our preparations for putting this event together.

On the second day my acting skills were tested as we filmed some footage for our background DVD. It was so funny, I was told, “Alison look serious, Alison laugh, look serious, laugh, look serious, laugh…. and so on! What a brilliant day though, especially as we all got on really well as a team and are now looking forward to the show in June. Then a quick journey home on the Euro Star and chance to relax and have a good gossip with the lovely Darren Fowler.

Spring / Summer Trends Launch Hits Manchester

Katy Adamson gets a buzz from training in the North West

I've just returned from the Spring / Summer Trends Launch in Manchester, I just love the city so much, it has all the vibe of London but with lots of smiley friendly faces and a FREE bus around the centre…just brilliant!

Before heading to Manchester we had a model casting and colour prep at our London Academies in Covent Garden. We were lucky to have gorgeous models who were open to change…our model scouts do a fantastic job! We had a very busy day getting fully prepared, trying to leave as little as possible to do the next day as we would be arriving in Manchester at 12pm and the seminar started at 3pm.

Luckily all went smoothly… myself, Tracy Gallagher, Alison Dace, Lisa, our make up artist and the 6 models got the train without too many problems! No wasting time on the journey, all models had their fingers and toes painted en route.

On arriving in Manchester we met our new A team member, Lorraine from Saks Bury! Who was a fabulous help in prepping the models.

The seminar went really well, I worked on the asymmetric trend, with a soft romantic feel to the finish. I used a pin cutting technique which created a soft feathered feel with feminine tendrils at the base line. The finish was curly, wide, with a flat wave through the front area. I worked with the pastel colour trend on a natural red head, taking her richer in tone with placement of apricot mainly focused through the front.

Tracey worked with the metallic trend, using bronze tones, 07’s and golds, the colours were layered up alternating from root to tip which gave depth and a stacked appearance…faboulous! The overall look was the thatched trend with a DIY fringe giving an instant on trend look.

Alison worked with 2 of the colour trends neon and pastel. Alison used the new l’oreal mix tones which had beautiful results with strong vibrant colours.

All went really smoothly, with great feedback from both the audience and the models.

BBC Young Hairdresser of the Year

Alison Dace congratulates successful stylists!

Congratulations to the following Saks stylists who are through to the next round of BBC Three’s Young Hairdresser of the Year (part of their Young Talent of the Year programme); Andrea Walton, Craig Jenkins (Southend), Christopher Law (Saffron Walden), Greg Bloor (Birmingham), Claire Czajkowski (Bristol), Luca Terminiello (Guildford) and Antonio Di Gesaro (Hertford).

6 finalists will be selected to go through to the studio final, which will be filmed over one day and will involve 5 challenges. After each round, one finalist will be elimitated by an expert panel of judges, until they have their overall winner!

Greg Bloor, Claire Czajkowski and Craig Jenkins are also members of the Saks A Team 2009 (more to come on this very soon) so I look forward to hearing all about their exciting journey, and supporting them along the way. Good luck to all the successful applicants, I’ll be keeping everything crossed that it is a Saks stylist who makes it all the way…..

Milan to Manchester

Alison Dace jets off again!

I've just been on another H3 adventure, this time to Milan, for a 3 day trip. When I arrived we went straight into the model casting, over 100 girls and boys to choose from, just as well as I needed 12 models. Casting a success, I started colour preparations, experimenting and using the new L'Oreal mix shades, yellow / mauve and Luo p10 ( a lovely light blue).

Day 2 was rehearsal and show day. We ended the show by handing out 200 3D glasses to the audience and created a ten minute 3D finale on the screens with spinning models and flying trees, it was pretty cool!

Day 3 was 2 hands on seminars, me and 60 delegates, hard work but loads learnt by all involved.

It's not only me that gets to travel, while I was away, my baby son, Tristan, went off to stay with his Grandparents in Manchester. The plan being that I would pick him up after the Manchester Trends launch.

So I get back late from Milan on Monday evening and make an early start to join Tracey Gallagher, Katie Adamson and our models at London Euston, ready to head to the L'Oreal Academy in Manchester for the Spring / Summer Trends Collection Launch. As always there were various dramas, probelsm with tickets and a prepped model who didn't show! But the show must go on, so in stepped our gorgeous make up artist, Lisa Price. The Trends Launch went really well, with an enthusiastic audience who are now looking forward to getting hands on with the 4 day Trends training to follow.

All packed up and ready to head back to London, my parents met me at the station with Tristan, and it was cuddles all the way home for me!

Students give 'putting your heads together' a whole new meaning!

Mario Failla inspires his students!

Most Saks' staff will by now have been to one of our Trends Launches for the Spring / Summer collection, and I have been fortunate to be launching this collection all over Italy as well, with some fantastic results.

I recently took one of the training sessions at the London Academies in Covent Garden, where all hands were on deck to motivate and inspire stylists from across our network of salons.

In case you are not familiar with the concept of the Spring / Summer Trends, it's designed to be creative and to help individuals think outside the box. It's not just a great course for stylist's from salons, but also an exciting fresh approach for us educators to stretch ourselves and have fun at the same time.

I began my week with a fantastic group, most of whom I had taught previously at our Academies. It was great to see so many familiar faces (plus some new ones of course) and I instantly felt the energy and excitement in the room. The students can either work together, or individually to create their looks, so I asked them to put their heads together and start to think about what inspires them... lets just say they took the term very literally!

It was an amazing week, full of enthusiasm. The work produced was inspiring, and the feedback fantastic!

Do Something Funny for Money!

Mario Failla gets involved with Comic Relief!

Comic Relief / Red Nose Day is the biggest, most successful charity event. So when the BBC asked if anyone from the Saks Academies was free to come up to White City Studios and "do something funny for money," I jumped at the chance!

NVQ educator Clare Murphy and I teamed up and took along some of the Fast Track Beginners students to lend a hand. This would be a great experience for them and help raise some money at the same time.

We were picked up from the London Academies in Covent Garden and driven to the studios. We arrived at the stage door and signed ourselves in. Clare and I were already on the look out for celebs, we always seem to spot them when we are out and about in London so it's competition time to see who can spot the most!

Having agreed to split up (so as to cover more ground) and swap places after lunch, I left Clare and some of the students at the stage door while I headed over to the Cbeebies building to set up with the rest of the team.

We were flooded with people walking past and I grabbed anyone willing to have their hair sprayed bright red! We started createing outrageous hair to make our mark and let everyone know we were there and what we were doing.

Our money bucket filled up quickly and we were running out of red hair pieces, wigs and sprays even quicker! Anyone who was brave enough to sit in the chair was not surprised when they saw what we had done.... it was Friday 13th after all, so a weird hair day was definatley on the cards!

Lunch was a quick 10 minutes, to eat, drink and tally up how many celebs we had spotted. Clare was in the lead 5-4 but I had a feeling things were about to change. We all swapped over and there was no time to sit about and chat as word had really spread and we were filling every chair we had. We were only there till 4pm so we all worked flat out to see as many people as possible and raise as much cash as we could.

Time was running out along with all our props, so Clare and I tally up our final celebrity score and I had taken the lead by 1 point! However, Tom Jones, Davina McCall and David Tennant must be worth more than 1 point each!

We raised £520 for comic relief and I have to say it was an amazing feeling knowing that myself, Clare and all the students involved contributed towards the mammoth total raised this year!