Table Tonic

We have had a great little write up in Table Tonic blog   and i have just added the questions

Table Tonic Spotlight: Stevie English Hair

I recently blogged about a new "clean" haircare discovery of mine, Original & Mineral - Naturally active, low chemical products in beautiful (and recyclable!) packaging. Here's the best bit - Original & Mineral products contain No sulphates, parabens, propylene, glycol, phthalates, triclosan, carcinogens or "cheap synthetic chemicals". I pinned super-cool (just look at that jacket!) O&M Creative Director, Stevie English down and threw the burning all-things-hair questions at him.
(above) Man of the moment, Stevie English.

Q. Is it possible to get a ‘cool’ hair colour result using natural products? Yes! We use only O&M ammonia-free hair colours in the salon, and we are able to produce incredible results without the use of peroxides, ammonia, and other nasties (our colours are often activated with water alone!). The benefits of removing harsh chemicals from hair colour are many, one of the key ones being the improvement of your hair’s condition over time, meaning your colour will actually last longer. As for getting a cool result, this largely depends on your taste and your stylist, the products are never the obstacle.

 Q. Is it safe to colour my hair when I am pregnant? Again, yes. Obviously it is better to use fewer chemicals wherever possible, so ammonia-free and PPD free colours are the best option for pregnant women. If you want to be really cautious, opt for highlights as they never go directly on the scalp and you could use whatever colour product you choose. O&M products are safe for all colours jobs during pregnancy. Hot tip: don’t wash your hair before you visit the salon, as the natural oils on your scalp will form a barrier against any product that is applied.

Q. What can I do at home to improve the condition of my hair? Beautiful, healthy hair needs to be well taken-care of, and taking care of your hair means looking after your body as well as being choosy about what you actually put on your hair. We often advise clients to take a silica supplement (available from health food stores) to strengthen hair and nails. Other foods that look after your locks are pepitas (pumpkin seeds), chia seeds and nuts, all of which contain omega 3 essential fatty acids and are mineral and vitamin rich. They are magical, natural, hair-boosting superfoods! Green vegetables (surprise!) are great for general health and full of anti-oxidants. Hair grows at a rate of about 1-2 centimeters  a month, so having a healthy body will encourage the growth of healthy new hair. And for a quick at-home treatment, rub avocado oil into the ends of your hair, wrap it in cling-film and leave for 20 minutes. Shampoo using a sulfate & paraben-free shampoo (such as O&M). 

What are the top hair trends for summer? In our salon, we have been doing a lot of gorgeous pastel shades and bold, glossy coppery red tints. We are known for our love of pink, and it is a very flattering shade for nearly everyone. Pastel ends are a simple way to update blonde colours for summer, and they fade over time so your colour evolves between salon visits! A lot of our clients take home O&M treatments that have been individually tinted, so you can maintain your pastel tone at home. The copper colours are bold and they must be shinier than glass. O&M do an amazing clear gloss semi-permanent liquid colour that conditions and locks in colour and is ammonia and PPD free- the first of its kind in the world. Balayage is obviously still going strong, and this summer we expect to see it everywhere. Darker roots and lighter ends are lower maintenance than other colour looks, but make it more individual by asking for interesting colour blends rather than the seen-everywhere black & blonde combo. We have taken the balayage a little further by dip dyeing the ends with pastel pinks, purples and even greens. SO HOT!

(above) Metallic wallpaper... Mmmmm....

Q. Speaking of green, is there a way to get rid of green swimming pool hair? Yes! The best trick is to use tomato sauce as a masque - the red counteracts the green, and it's readily available in every fridge. On the colour wheel (the same one you learn in school) every colour has a counter so if your hair is too yellow or brassy you need to use violet/purple shampoo or conditioner to take it back to a cooler blonde.

(above) O&M's perfectly packaged & recyclable products

Wasn't that great?! Are you enlightened? I am. Huge thanks to Stevie English Hair (find them at 153 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Ph: 02-9423-7033). Click for O&M stockists or buy online at Adore Beauty or Fountain Cosmetics. PS Click here to read my review and find out why I'm officially an O&M convert!

Greener pasture's

Stevie English Hair is not usually in the Bad News Business, but every now and then, something happens. Unfortunately, this particular 'something' happens to be the departure of our brilliant, talented Creative Director, Verity Griffiths. Verity has been an integral part of our team for over three years, and is moving on to greener pastures in her home country of New Zealand. It goes without saying that we will miss her terribly, but we respect and support Verity in anything she does. She has given everyone here so much, and will continue her fantastic work across the ocean. Verity's last day in the salon will be Saturday September 17, so anyone needing that final touch of the magician's wand should hustle themselves an appointment before then.

We will have Pop up weeks when Verity will come back for the odd stint, but with Verity's schedule with films will be unusual so we will not know when till quite close to the time. Make sure you LIKE Stevie English Hair facebook page as that's where we will put the announcements.

We wish Verity all the love and luck. #TeamEnglishForever

Hair Expo 2011 Generation Next.

Hair Expo is the largest hairdressing conference in the southern hemisphere. It attracts some of the biggest names in the hairdressing industry, with over 200 exhibitors, 2000 models, hair stylists chopping, colouring and creating amazing styles to enthrall local talent and makeup artists helping. It's a big three days. This year, Stevie English Hair was asked to do a show at the prestigious Sunday night Generation Next night. It's a bit of an honor to be asked, but the invitation comes with a lot of pressure.

We decided an English theme was the way to start (obviously) our assault on the Hair Expo stage. We shot a collection with Nicole McCluskey in March and we had the awesome CNCphotography do are moving image for the collection, and we used these images as  the start of prepping for the show. It took 4 story boards, and many hours of talks and meetings just to come up with the ideas . Stevie English Hair creative director Verity Griffths worked tirelessly on this show, it would be impossible to calculate the amount of time and energy she spent on every aspect . Now we have a top team with ideas and help, but nothing quite prepared me for the amount of work, time and effort that goes in to a 5 minute show. This is a summary of what went on:

* 8 models

*2 extras ( punks)

* 1 kid

* 12 separate looks

* 16 wigs and hairpices

* 10 fantastic vintage costumes, sourced from Grandma takes  trip by our amazing stylists Kelly Hume and Mattie Cronan.

*1 handmade Vivienne Westwood-style skirt, made from Union Jack flags and Stevie English Punk Regal print fabric.

* 2 choreographers

* 3 photographers

* 5 makeup artists

* 1 manicurist

* 16 hairstylists

* 1 live stream blogger and technical manager

* 1 horse

* 1 dog (note: horse and dog did not make it onstage, the old saying about working with animals is true!)

It was the biggest team project we have ever undertaken, and we pulled it off. The show was incredible, everything we wanted it to be, and the realisation of Verity's vision. It's difficult to explain how proud we are of our whole team, and how much we appreciate the work they all put in. Can't wait until we have the video to post, but in the meantime, here are a few images taken backstage and on the night. What fun we had!

A special thanks to the companies who helped us with our show so a  O&M , GHD , Prohairstylist and Skoda

 

 

Hairdressing Salon Training In Glebe At Its Best

To have the best salon in Glebe, voted by the city of Sydney two years running is amazing, but we love our hair skills to do all the talking. But how do we stay sharp? We hire  one of the best in business to come in and train our staff in our upstairs Academy.  Tracey Hughes who owns  and established mieka hairdressing is Melbourne. Tracey is one of the great educators in Australia, she is one of the Artistic directors for redkin and spends her life traveling around Australia and the globe. Tracey has just come back from NY fashion week.  Its great to inspire our team with 1 on 1 training and Tracey's approach to hair is enthusiastic.  What with her fashion talk from NY, catwalk styles, future predictions of trending hair styles and colours. Hair coming out of Stevie English will be current and fun. Thanks Tracey.

Cool Hair in Glebe

Add an ImageVerity has just finished a crazy few weeks of editorial, here is a few shots of her work published in a UK online mag. Verity is off over sea's for 6 weeks  to shoot in LA, New York,  Stockholm, London and Paris there is no stopping this girl. Watch this space for shots ;)

Verity last day in the salon is 20th of July she is working a few Sundays to fit her loyal clients in.

Har Expo 2010

We are all still recovering from the biggest weekend of the year- Hair Expo! This year, Stevie English Hair directed all the stage shows for O&M- a grand total of 21 shows! Verity was Artistic Director for every show! Meaning she was there from open til close every day, working backstage with the fabulous stylist Bola,  helping and prompting  the O&M team to make all the looks current and as a collection,as well as staring onstage for the Stevie English shows. Kirsty and Jade both did their THING onstage too, to say they rocked it would be an understatement. The senior girls were supported by Elly and our apprentices Naomi, Raquel, Jake, Stephen and Ruby  who all assisted backstage during the shows. MEGA hard work! But awesome fun. We are all sleeping this weekend. Here is a few sneak peak of the pics, wait for the professional

Stevie himself was quite the man about town at Expo, working for O&M, where he talked about colour on stage, while the clever girls did awesome editorial styles, wait for pics! ProHairstylist where he interviewed, tweeted (like thats different from normal life) and covered the shows and seminars , Simplesalon where he helped the guys talk about the awesome product showing how to use it on ipad! And was also asked to talk for Australian Hairdressing Council (AHC) about making salons greener, and the environmental policies for the AHC which he is really proud to be a part of.

Seventh Wonderland Australian Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010







So This week in Sydney is Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, and Verity and Raquel are out of the salon working on shows. We are going to be giving Verity's tips on how she created the looks for designers over the next few days. Most of it is going to be for the hairdressing nerds, but hey, we like to keep you informed. At The English: "Knowledge is Power".

These photos here are from the Seventh Wonderland show. "Hair was heavily gelled and section by section, working from the nape to the forehead, it was smoothly wrapped back and forth against the head. Front sections directed forward and then swept up and back in the crown sections. The very front/top sections were sculpted wet onto the face and flowed around the sides and onto the neck. The finished look was wet, modern, 20's/50's skull bathing cap. Was really beautiful with the swimwear",said Verity.
Love your work V.