Our Takeaways from the 2023 Hair Festival Education Sessions

Team INSTYLE were around the halls at Hair Festival 2023, zooming between the array of Education Sessions that took over the rooms of Carriageworks on June 11 and 12. From men’s hair, to business, hair extensions, styling, colour, textured hair and so many more specific sessions, we have just a taste of the highlights from two days of engaged learning. Enjoy!

Haircutting Workshop MasterClass, presented by Pivot Point

Pivot Point educated on their international trend collection, titled Reveal, offering a practical exploration of the collection’s shape-on-shape approach, weightless hair styles and highly and diversely textured looks.

“What we’re excited about today is giving people the opportunity to learn hands-on and take it back to the salon and be able to put it into practice the next day. They’re able to remember it and ask questions and spend that time with people,” said Jane Barrett of Pivot Point.

Going Out in Style – The Final Farewell Look and Learn Seminar, presented by Sharon Blain

Sharon’s sold-out finale show discussed everything from her floristry education and how it helped her understand hair and design in a different way, as well as specific techniques in working with tulle, using texture for hold and embracing storytelling in editorial creation, as she showed off three live looks from her latest collections.

“The challenge has always been to keep creating hair that people like and that isn’t old fashioned. I hope I’ve inspired you with my styles over the years,” Sharon shared. “I’ve always pushed myself to stay current and in fashion and have looks that are transferable to the salon, there’s no point coming to a session if you can’t take something home. Trying to stay fresh and true to my beliefs has contributed to my longevity.”

Curls Made Easy with Jonina Menzies, Kristy Hodgson, Maria Vaughan, and Belinda Keeley, presented by LOHY

Style and colour techniques when it comes to all things Curls were presented by LOHY and their crew of talented educators, as the team also talked through retail techniques, client communication and the brand’s five categories of curl care – Hero, Lax, Pixie, Fro and Mini, for everything from low key style to short hair and more. The team taught how you can empower your clients for 90 days of hair wearing from one salon session and showcased unique volume lifting tools.

Modern High-Top Fade with Sarah Wall, presented by WAHL Professional

The Modern High-Top Fade incorporates the distinct barber look of short back and sides paired with the geometric precision of a box-like flat top championed by the hip hop community in the 80s. Sarah has modernised this look by combining contemporary fading techniques that allows every barber to maintain its popularity today. Master barber and Wahl ambassador Ben Kane also hit the stage, demonstrating this iconic look that we continue to see variations of today.

Inspire with Belinda Mills and Caterina Di Biase, presented by Showpony

An array of Met Gala inspired looks by these industry tians leant into accessories, bling and the idea that more is more, as the pair instructed on the full gamut of colour, cut and style for hair extensions. The duo talked through movement in extensions, how to embrace natural texture and the brand’s new wavy and coily clip-in extensions.

Scroll Stopper: how to make hair look good on camera for social media, editorial, competitions and salon branding, presented by Richard Kavanagh

Richard showcased his own, prolific editorial examples, with unique techniques such as working with wind, to inspire on stage with his creative instincts. Technically, he broke down topics such as how to choose styling products, under categories of prep, working and finishing tools. He told stylists to think like colourists rather than consumers – that is, don’t go by the front of the bottle, think of where you’re starting and take from the ingredients list on the back to know what hardens, softens and styles as necessary.

Financial Wellness & Future-Proofing your Salon, presented by Timely

A panel consisting of Kobi Bokshish, Charlene Fernandez, Nathan Yip and Sheridan West, facilitated by Tamara Reid, tackled money topics, including money as a mindset and energy, transitioning from emotional discounting and how to be comfortable raising prices. This included attaching positivity to these price increases, becoming comfortable being sold to so you become comfortable selling and investing in growth and education that you know is worth the charge for clients.

“Believe in what you do, trust your products and services and get over your imposter syndrome and you won’t feel uncomfortable charging for what you do, because it has value,” Nathan said. “I sell ‘feel good’, not a haircut, for that they will play anything,” Kobi added.

Legacy – The Future of Business by Jake Putan

Jake reflected on his journey of taking time out to better realise his strengths and limitations in life and business, as well as his true value as a brand. He empowered the audience to embrace connection and realise that how to stand out is not by taking on the next best strategy, but by connecting to your own personal legacy and expressing that through your brand.

“It’s not about the status. We are actually having relationships with people again. So, what are we doing in that space? It’s not just mental health, sustainability or finances, a lot of our business is relationship, connection and community,” he said.

The Million Dollar Consultation by Leigh Winsor & Eoin McCarthy

One Zero One Education delivered a confidence building session designed to empower the stylist with a simple two step consultation formula that puts the stylist back in the driver’s seat whilst also helping the client feel seen, heard and safe. The formula showed the audience how to instantly get more time back in the salon.

“A good consultation is not just about eliminating what clients think they want but also being able to clearly hone in on keywords and for us to understand their motive,” Leigh said.

ghd Creative Artists unveil the next in dream hairstyling with ghd’s breakthrough innovation, duet style

Presented by ghd Creative Artists Mary Alamine, Monique McMahon, and Rumbie Mutsiwa, this talented group of hair experts demonstrated the duet style on different hair types with versatile styles. They shared their experiences with how they have used it to create editorial, salon-ready and insta-worthy looks.

“You’d expect the hair to sizzle when you first use it on wet hair but it’s amazing that it dries the hair super shiny without damage,” Mary said.

L’Oréal ACCESS Education For The Future

The L’Oréal ACCESS team joined together authentic, influential, and expressive artists Adam Ciaccia, Justin Pace, Mat Johnson and Claudia Cataldo from across the L’Oréal Professional Products brands in an edu-tainment style education session. Delivering technique‑driven, engaging, and trending content through a collaborative relationship, the session was full of creativity, learning, and fun.

“Fringes take time, don’t ever rush them, it takes up three quarters of the client’s face and it’s important,” Justin said, as he showcased a perfect fringe on his model on stage.

Fake Tan, Real Hair Problems: Helping your clients prevent staining and long-lasting damage caused by sunless tan products, presented by Auriche

Founder Lana Kelly taught audiences just how to help clients prevent staining and long-lasting damage caused by sunless tan products. Lana explained that one-third of your clients’ hair is being destroyed by fake tan and they probably don’t know it. This session explained the science of why and how tan damages the hair with a live demonstration on how an innovative new Australian product range can be used to prevent, treat and restore tan-damaged hair and help you to diagnose damage caused by fake tan and engage with your clients to resolve it.

“Seven million Australians fake tan and spray tanning can cause a yellow banding though the hairline and this problem is already well known across the internet, but maybe not just yet across salons,” she said.

5 Steps to Textured Up-Styling – Fast Tracked with Justine Wolfe, presented by Polished Style

This full session taught the audience how to create textured styles with ease without getting lost in the process, as well as how to layer products, select tools and prepare hair to create a lasting style instead of relying on hairspray alone. It also taught how to build your toolbox of simple up-style options to offer and develop confidence in your styling ability with a solid plan in place every time.

“It’s important to build product in the hair instead of relying on hairspray at the end,” Justine said. “Remember shine spray and hair spray counteract each other so make sure you have the right balance of each and prep the hair work in the direction you want it to sit to help create the face framing effect.”

Unveiling the power of Nanoplasty Straightening Systems, presented by Floractive

In this session, audiences had the opportunity to learn how to achieve a perfect, glossy, and smooth hair look using Nanoplasty, which can maintain its effects even after the first shampoo. The live hair application using Nanoplasty showcased the revolutionary hair straightening solution, which has taken the Australian hair industry by storm. Nanoplasty is a unique system created by Floractive to address issues associated with traditional hair straightening methods. Nanoplasty uses nanoparticle technology that can deeply penetrate hair fibres without requiring an intensive cleansing shampoo.

Meta Culture, presented by TONI&GUY

The Meta Culture collection honours the global world of hair and its ever-evolving cultural diversity. The TONI&GUY Australia Artistic Team took attendees through a journey of demonstrations designed to expose you to new ideas and approaches to the latest in hair fashion trends. Audiences received an insider’s glimpse at the highly anticipated new label.m hair care range with updated, healthier and greener formulations, amidst the inspiring editorial showcase.

A team of special guest artists to take you on a hair journey transforming bold blondes with Holly Breen and creative colour with Angela Soong, presented by De Lorenzo

De Lorenzo showcased two sessions, with headliners Holly Breen and Angela Soong leading creative colour work, and beautiful blonde expertise and application know-how through both days. Cutting brilliance and barbering tips came courtesy of Lisa Polini, Fraser Forsey, Ryan King and Ben Kane across the two sessions. With a focus on men’s hair, Fraser walked the audience through how he created a fade trim and how to achieve the perfect style with a square blade.

Zero Visibility with Sarah Emilia, presented by Seamless1

In this session Sarah Emilia, co-founder and Director of Education at SARAH JADE Hair, taught her technique for applying tape extensions seamlessly to the front areas of the head to ensure zero visibility when wearing the hair out or tying it up. Over the years, Sarah has developed a unique extension application method and colour matching strategy, which is now labelled the SARAH JADE way. Sarah completed this session using her favourite Seamless1 curling wand and giving her model a Sarah Emilia signature style as seen on her social platforms.

Cutting and Styling Hair Extensions with Peter Thomsen and Jules Tognini, presented by Showpony

Jules and Peter had a characteristically fun time bantering and even styling each other’s models as they showcased colour, cut and style for hair extensions. Jules discussed the idea of “less is more” when it comes to wearable hair extensions and the pair encouraged hairdressers to experiment and play with hair extensions. They also discussed new curly texture trends and products on offer, offered seamless application techniques and talked through colour tips for extensions.

K-Flat Crop with Mark Rabone, presented by WAHL Professional

Director of Esquire Male Grooming in Brisbane, with a career spanning 30 years, Mark Rabone demonstrated his technique to achieve a perfect K-Flat Crop. The K-Flat Crop is Korean styling mixed with a classic old school shape. Filled with texture and volume, this style is short on the back and sides with length on top. Creating a shape that has elements of a solid structure plus a soft texture is what makes this style unique and appealing to all types of customers.

LIONISE with Carolyn Gahan, Joshua Congreve, and Felicity Bruce, presented by Joico

The Joico artists took audiences on a journey through commercial and salon friendly hair techniques to bold and brave evolutions of creative expression, with an emphasis on fashion, editorial and wig work. Together, the team demonstrated how to create fun seamless colour in the salon with “really beautiful melting in” to create artistic colours for clients.