The hair show for the Auckland regional hair competition was held last Sunday. It was an early start, had to be at the salon to prep at 9.30, drive over to the venue at 2 then show at 4. The day was filled with a lot of waiting, I suppose that is just the norm for any fashion or hair shoots or shows.
I have been doing hair modeling work for the past 3 years but this was my first live show. The competition was divided into many categories. I am so fortunate that I wasn’t entered into the directional cut or colour category. I was so shocked to see the number of girls with shaved heads with random patches of hair in the most random places (this one particular cut, which in my honest opinion resembled a sea anemone perched on top of a shaved head…) , girls with different sorts of colour hair – mint green, fluoro yellow, fluoro blue etc.. I suppose I don’t know how to appreciate these out there hairstyles as yet, but they sure are very technical styles. I feel sorry for the models that need to get their head shaven after the competition.
Although my hairdresser didn’t win for the category I was entered in, she won first place in the hair up category which is super cool.
There is a reason that I keep doing hair modeling work year after year. Let me let you know the perks of being a hair model.
- Free cut , colour to start with – yes you can argue that you could end up with a crazy as cut or colour but hair grows back eventually and hairdressers are not brick walls, they will listen to your opinion and if you’re not happy to get it cut or coloured in a certain way they will take that into consideration.
- Free maintenance – as with a lot of photographic work, the judging part may take a few months so during that period of time, it’s likely that the salon will have to maintain your hair to make sure it looks healthy and to keep up the colour and shape. As for live work the process is much quicker so there is little to no maintenance time.
- Free treatments, products – with all the chemicals and heat they put in your hair, they are bound to give you compensation for it and generally it’s in the form of in salon treatments, shampoo, conditioner etc..
- Free cuts, colour and treatment after the competition – as with a lot of hair work, there is little pay (monetary pay) involved and obviously a lot of your time will have been invested in sitting in the salon or at shows. So usually salons will provide you with some sort of hair care after the competition. For example they may look after your hair until it goes back to how it was before the competition – ie: trims, colouring it back etc.. Last year the salon I did a hair comp for, they gave me free maintenance for the entire year (including cut, colour, treatment, product). We all know hair care is a very expensive. On average a cut would be 100 dollars, having short hair means going to the salon every month and a half – 2 months (max), plus colour is an extra 200 so you do the math.
- You can add the photos and experience to your portfolio.
The biggest reason why hair jobs are great is because how often would you be put into a position where you can change your hair completely? More often than not, we like to stick with what we think looks best or safe. It’s good to be safe but better to be daring. The best thing about it is that it can always be a temporary hair change. And always remember hair grows back!
This is all from my experience, it may not be true for others but the hair salons I’ve worked with in the past 3 years have been awesome. So if you asked me if I’d do another hair comp next year, the answer is definitely yes , in fact I already have one lined up 🙂
Here are some shots I took after the competition. Will be entering the photographic competition so will be doing a shoot for that this week.
Fishing For Fashion 