Step inside Made For Originals by O&M and you’d discover an immersive world of education that redefined the medium. Hosted on Sunday November 12 at Sydney’s Carriageworks, the trendy warehouse space was filled with education stages and installations in a celebration of learning and the brand itself.
With real-time colour transformations setting the agenda for the day, the stages were led by five inspiring colour artists, Jaye Edwards of EdwardsAndCo, Amelia Jane of Milly the Space, Kim Haberly of Boho Blonde Perth, Kirsty Anne Sage of James The Salon and Becc Snow of Alchemy Salon, while prolific celebrity hairdresser Natalie Anne flitted between the main stage and each education stage as host, before conducting a styling education session of her own. A final Q&A with brand founder Jose Bryce-Smith, international guest Tia Lambourn and the educators finished the proceedings before a drinks reception.
Within the festival-style event, a DJ, coffee carts, healthy lunch options, styling stations, product walls and even the opportunity to take professional head shots added to the dynamic and fittingly original event style.
“Made For Originals was at the core of the brand, we just love originality. We’ve worked very well with independent educators and we just wanted a chance to bring them all together,” Jose said. “It was a way to give back to our customers. The ticket prices were normally what you pay to see one of these people and here you have five. We’re just wanting to bring people together, and just give them a really unique experience. We believe that our role is to elevate, hairdressers are becoming like rock stars, they’re becoming entrepreneurs and hugely successful and we’re trying to elevate hairdressing.”
Kicking off the education proceedings as the first stage introduced, Jaye coloured with a point of difference in an inspirational, dimensional brunette look, later sitting down for an intimate and honest business Q&A that showcased his immense and varied insights as the leader of a salon franchise juggernaut.
“My goal today was utilise the entire range of Original Mineral colour,” Jaye shared. “Jose is a big inspiration of mine, she’s a rule breaker. Being a part of this and being able to be able to educate with all of these artists, as well as having a point of difference in what I’m educating, has been really rewarding.
Becc educated on creative colour, pushing herself with three models through the day, in a textured colour look, an alluring copper style and an artistic bold colour creation with pops of yellow and purple, and wowing the crowd with both her talent and efficiency in this difficult endeavour. Becc offered her perspective into colour application and business, with tangible tips that attendees could take back to the salon.
Amelia’s take on a glowy blonde was the ideal look to learn for summer, where she educated on building brightness, face framing techniques and creating a relevant, natural and long-lasting colour look in real salon time.
“When I first heard about this event, I had never seen or done anything like it. I thought it was such an amazing opportunity to connect and to just meet everyone who I usually see on Instagram, it’s pretty surreal to be honest,” Amelia said.
Kirsty Anne’s inimitable personality and humour shone through as she created a high contrast look that taught attendees to work “smarter, not harder”. She taught attendees not to over colour, lean into natural hues and mimic the sun’s organic lightening patterns in creating covetable blondes. Touting the hairdressing community as both life and career saving for her, she waxed lyrical about the power of a unique community-driven opportunity like Made For Originals, which is built the power of the people.
Travelling all the way from Perth, Kim took over the final stage with an ever-present crowd eagerly learning from her viral, transformative colour insights, as gleaned from Kim’s own salon experience. She explained the importance of educating your clients as part of the consultation in what their colour journey involves and how to accommodate it to their lifestyles.
“I feel like I’m changing the industry with my education, in being honest and upfront, and I think that there’s so much confidence within that,” Kim said about her place in the event. “For me, it’s really important to be able to give accessible education to everyone and to keep that younger generation passionate.”
Natalie Anne dove deeper with the artists throughout the day, before delighting the audience with her own Fashion Week inspired styles from Mariam Seddiq, including a tousled up style and an ever-trending snatched ponytail with applique details. She shared the impact of real-time, relevant, in-salon colour education and unparalleled business insights as presented in such a collaborative format.
“I have been really fortunate to be working with the brand for so many years, and I’ve seen them on board so many new talented educators and I really wanted to be a part of their journey, so hosting it for me was a no brainer,” Natalie Anne explained.
The final panel saw all these artists take to the stage, alongside Jose and international guest and social media superstar Tia Lambourn, to discuss topics of the value in their work and the significance in utilising our time to do something meaningful.
“I’ve been lucky enough to meet so many amazing people and to do collaborations with artists that I never even dreamed I’d be able to meet in person. I just think, if we’re lucky enough to be here for 80 years, then it’s so long, but also so not at the same time, you just have to make the most out of it and do something that scares you,” Tia said.
The experts spoke to their strengths and how they juggle their business, social media personas and how they continue to scale their businesses to make money by employing the right people to allow them to focus on what they love. All with a common thread of a passion for education outside of their own businesses, each panellist was excited for the opportunities of 2024 and spoke to the Importance of working together creatively with people that inspire you.
With collaboration at its core, inspiration as a focus and that titular, brand led originality paving the way, O&M Made For Originals delighted a massive crowd for an entire Sunday and made its festival-style experience totally worthwhile.
For more information visit www.originalmineral.com.au
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