We sat down with barber star and Wahl National Educator Celine Kaponias to delve into her career beginnings, her barber style, her tools of choice and more.
Celine is a barber on the rise, with a salon to her name, an education position with Wahl and artistic awards on her mantle. Here, she gets candid about how she started, where she’s going and the best barber style from her point of view.
INSTYLE: How did your career start?
Celine Kaponias: My career started in 2017. I was 23 years old and had zero professional experience in barbering. It started off as a little hobby when cutting my little cousin’s hair.
I had suffered a severely bad run with depression and I was only enjoying very little in that time of my life, and cutting hair happened to be one of those things. My mum, being an ex-hairdresser herself, had a feeling that cutting hair was maybe more than just a hobby for me, so she took me to our long-time family friend and barber Don Desanctis, who worked alongside my uncle and his fellow barber. My uncle was nicknamed Chop Chop, which inspired my salon’s name today. We knew that Don was the best person to help me begin my career. I started a certificate in barbering at Barbery The Craft Of A Barber and completed a nine month course. I was then offered a fully qualified position and ran some stores in a barber chain.
IN: What have been your biggest career highlights?
CK: There’s been many incredible highlights as part of my career. The first would be opening my own store in 2020/2021, called Chop Chopp’s Barber Shop. We are now into our third year and I would never look back. Another would be winning an award in hair art in front of my mum in the first year of my barbering and also meeting the incredible clientele I have today, some of whom are very inspirational to me and absolute super stars.
IN: What is your barber style?
CK: I would say my barber style is alternative modern, although I love my classic cuts. I find I thrive more in the area of using my own creativity on a style, so everyone has their own individuality.
IN: Why do you partner with Wahl? What about their brand speaks to you?
CK: I am blessed to be able to be a National Educator for Wahl Australia and I work with them because I truly do believe they are the best clipper company in the world! I also believe I work alongside a team with some of the best barbers in Australia and that’s all thanks to the opportunities I have been given by Wahl. Wahl’s originality and dedication to their brand speaks to me, it’s shown in all they do and not just their incredible clippers. They don’t mess around!
IN: What are your favourite Wahl tools and why?
CK: My Favourite Wahl Clipper is the Cordless Gold Magic Clip and The Beret. The Cordless Gold Magic Clip has a stagger tooth blade with crunch blade technology, which means you will have zero problems cutting through coarse hair, and the teeth call for a seamless blend. The crunch blade technology helps you hear the hair as you cut it, this really helps when blending the finer details. The Beret is my secret weapon to any cut. The way its teeth are made creates a super soft finish. When creating hair art it’s great to start with carving in with those tool as it gives plenty of leeway.
IN: What’s next for you?
CK: This year I will be doing many education classes for Wahl Australia and I am excited to finally officially begin my education career within barbering. I hope to meet many barbers at this year’s Hair Festival as I will be working in the booth for Wahl Australia. Since COVID it’s been slow when it comes to mingling with other barbers from other states, so I can’t wait to see everyone!
For more information visit au.wahl.com