Heavenly Hair’s Janene makes the cut at elite hairdressing masterclass
Our very own Janene Hawkins has just returned from an intensive year spent at a prestigious hairdressing masterclass called ‘Project X.’ Here, she explains what it was like learning from the best hairdressers and stylists in the UK, and how excited she is to bring her new skills and knowledge back to Heavenly Hair.
Being selected for Project X was a dream come true. This elite course, run by the Fellowship of British Hairdressing, has been described as ‘the ultimate hairdressing finishing school’. It is notoriously picky about who is selected.
The course ran for a year, and there were so many big names and brands attached, such as Sassoon, wig making specialist Sam Barnett, session styling from hairdot.com and presentation skills from Edward Hemmings from Alan d, Angelo Viallio and Bruno from Marc Anthony.
The competition for places was fierce, so, when I realised I was going, I knew 2019 was going to be an epic, intense year… and as it turned out, I was right.
Learning from the masters
One of the highlights was working with Kai Wan our mentor, who is considered among the best new hairdressers in the UK. He showed me how to use a mood board to create a look. I then took what he had showed me and worked together with a stylist on the same model to create a cohesive look with the creative direction of Bruno. It went so well that our work was published in a glossy magazine, which was amazing.
I was then taken under the wing of avant-garde icon Robert Masciave. Robert really showed me how to translate ideas. We learnt how to make shapes and structure for avant-garde show work.
It was intense, to say the least, but with the support of the other people on the course, and my mentor, Kai Wan, I was expected to put all my newly developed skills to the test at Phase 8 fashion show for their annual conference.
As part of the course, I also worked at salon international in London for 3 days presenting and carrying out looks on stage for the Fellowship, Choose Hair and The British Barbers Association.
The big finale night took place at the L’Oréal Academy in Hammersmith, and gave me the chance to showcase the skills I had learnt in front of our peers and industry greats. One of the key things I took from the course, was that great style often came from creativity, and thinking outside the box… and in my case, for the finale, that turned out to be a box of Sharpie pens, which I used to create an exact colour match for my model’s hair colour!
From London to Saxmundham
Now that I’ve graduated from Project X, I can’t wait to show my new and regular clients some of the new techniques and styles I’ve developed, and I plan to pass on elements of these skills to my fellow stylists in the shop. After all, if I can create styles good enough for glamour magazines and fashion models, then I can do the same thing for my clients at Heavenly Hair.