Blogs By Warren Holmes

Warren’s Blog – The In Look

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As a hairdresser, one of the most common questions I get asked is: ‘What’s the ‘In’ look – the hair trend of the minute?’ It’s a question I sometimes struggle to answer instantly; without at least taking a few minutes to consider, whilst staring at the person in questions face shape amongst other things.

The easy and simple answer would be: ‘Either what I’m doing there and then or what is generally being asked for the most by clients in the salon.’ Sometimes the answer maybe related to the most commercial look of the moment i.e. those styles which are hitting the headlines and are often associated with style icons such as Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss or Cheryl Cole…….but where is the fun in that?!

In my eyes, surely it’s not cool to look like everybody else? Where’s the sexiness and individuality of having a look half of your friends have or you see four out of ten people sporting on the street? It’s the same as when you go out and somebody is wearing exactly the same jacket or dress as you….we’ve all been there and cringed for a moment or two. Well it’s pretty much the same, but made even worse as your hair is worn everyday!

My argument is that everybody should have a versatile haircut so you can get three or four looks out of it as opposed to the same one. But that’s a different argument altogether and whilst I’m keen not to go off the point, its something you – or rather you’re hairdresser – should consider nonetheless.

Part of my job as a session hair stylist is working on runway shows. This means working backstage at London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks where you would generally do the same look for all 20+ models at each show. You would slightly tweak things here and there to suit the models face shape or length but generally it’s the same throughout. Bearing in mind there are 50+ shows in total and say three or four hairstyles will be chosen as this season’s key looks by the Vogue’s, Elle’s, etc, the most important aspect to consider when creating the look are the clothes and I would say this is one of the things you should take into consideration when choosing your new ‘In’ hairstyle.

When creating the looks for a Fashion show or shoot, I would always try to do something different that hasn’t been seen before. Obviously you can’t do this all the time because something’s just work. If you have a good reference, roll with it, but remember you can always make it individual. Look through your Vogue’s and Elle’s; these are a better point of reference than your tabloid newspapers or hair style books!

My point is this: The cool, trendy, ‘In’ (whatever you want to call it) look of the moment is not what’s the most worn on the streets or requested in the salon, it’s what best suits you, you the individual.

The four most important things to consider when working to this are:

• Face Shape
• Lifestyle – no use having a fringe in your eyes if you’re about to give birth in a month…you will cut it off in labour….Trust me its happened to me before!
• Clothes
• Versatility

Use these four key points and get your products to suit your hairstyle, not the other way round. A good hair stylist will be able to create all of the above for you.

 

When the ‘In’ look can really work against you

A few seasons back, heavy blunt fringes were the thing to ask for. Practically everybody was dropping them. Now to me that’s not cool, trendy or sexy. There was one girl in particular – who I met on a night out – who had a naturally round face shape, a short neck and she was sporting the obligatory heavy wide fringe. To coin a phrase, she was a ‘lamb following the herd’. Her haircut however made it worse, it looked horrendous. It just didn’t suit her, her face couldn’t handle it. It was too harsh a style and made her already wide face look even wider….that was bad form on the part of her hairstylist. Anyway, I gave her a free haircut and advised her on how we could grow the fringe out. I still do her hair now. In short, what would have been cooler would for her to have gone for something that flattered her face; more volume at the top, longer layers and length and reduce the width.

The heavy fringe style was ‘In’ a few years back and was a big hit. If you were to ask me if that would stop me from doing it now, my response would be: ‘No chance!’ I would be more inclined to do it now because it’s less out there!

For me, the sexiest thing in a woman is Individuality. It screams confidence and independence. Be an Individual, make people copy your look…..that’s cool.

Says Warren Holmes, International Creative Director at Nicky Clarke

Posted By Warren Holmes on 28.Jun 2010 under Blogs