Apprentice Colour Magic Wins L'Oréal Colour Trophy

WHAT INITIALLY SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN HAIRDRESSING?
I can’t pinpoint exactly when my passion for hairdressing began. I grew up in a family where I was the only one with curly hair, while everyone else had straight hair. No one, not even my hairdresser, knew how to handle my hair when I was younger. As I got older and started caring more about my appearance, I had to spend time researching how to care for my hair, style it, and keep it healthy. This journey ultimately led me to the world of hairdressing.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT A TYPICAL WORKING WEEK LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU?
Every day, I arrive at the salon early to prepare for the busy day ahead. This involves setting up equipment, sorting laundry and ensuring the salon is all set up. Then I’m greeting clients, managing appointments, processing payments and working with clients to ensure they are happy with their final look. I also collaborate with the stylists to apply color, blow dry, shampoo, and style hair. At the end of the day, I complete tasks and set up the salon for the next busy day.

YOU’VE ONLY BEEN AN APPRENTICE WITH KLEEK SINCE LAST NOVEMBER, BUT WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT TO DATE, AND WHY?
I would 100% say winning the L’Oreal Colour Trophy Future Talent Award in July was the proudest moment of my life. It was an amazing experience. I had so much fun being creative and thinking outside the box to create the perfect look. Even at the awards in London, it was such an astounding experience to see all the hard-working hairdressers and their models, and to show everyone my work. My model Chloe has an ethereal aura. This gave me the inspiration to create a clean smooth look for her hair. For the colour, I created a pastel blonde with a touch of pink. I imagined a smooth pastel pink, with a vision to make it shiny and iridescent. My Salon Director, Jess, helped me with the make-up and photograph.

SO, ISLA, CAN YOU TELL US SOME OF THE BEST BITS OF BEING AN APPRENTICE AND MAYBE SOME OF THE NOT-SO-GOOD BITS?
The best part of my job as an apprentice is having the opportunity every workday to be creative, meeting new people, and seeing the client’s satisfaction when they see the end result. The challenging part would be the pressure that comes with the job, feeling like you cannot make mistakes and have to stay on top of everything. However, mistakes are okay as that’s how you learn and improve!

 Pictured left: Isla's winning look