Mana Dave, head stylist and co-owner of Auckland's BLAZE hair salon, was named NZ Hairdresser of the Year at the prestigious Hair Expo awards in Sydney last night.
The annual awards bring together the Southern Hemisphere’s hairdressing community, saluting the talent, dedication and drive of the most revered hair artists in Australasia.
Redken artist Mana is already an acclaimed national and international artist who has performed all around the world in shows and events.
Mana won the New Zealand Hair Expo Hairdresser of the Year in 2005 and 2010 among many other accolades. He was the first international artist selected by Redken 5th Avenue New York to be part of the Redken International Symposium, presenting with UK hair legend Lee Stafford. Recently, Mana was selected to be part of the 2012 International Mentorship Program where he is mentored by Redken Global Artistic Directors in New York. In April he was a winner at the Redken Club 5th Avenue awards in Dunedin where he scooped the award for NZ Salon of the Year. This is awarded to a Redken salon that demonstrates excellence in education, marketing and overall business achievement and growth.
The NZ Hairdresser of the Year award is the country’s most prestigious hairdressing award recognising creativity, leadership, teamwork, customer service, business acumen, industry development and trend setting.