Saks

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 :)