Kelsey Lyons from Aart on St Andrew in Dunedin has dominated the inaugural Redken NYC Hair Awards taking out the Runway to Reality Award and top honours as the overall winner.
Kelsey’s cherry red page-boy cut entry has won her a trip valued at $7,000 to the International Redken Symposium in Las Vegas in January 2013. The event is the largest single manufacturer hair show in the world and is regarded as the Holy Grail for stylists around the world.
“I was inspired by the warm tones of autumn to create the look. I wanted it to be soft and simple with a pop of colour,” says Kelsey.
To style the look Kelsey used a combination of Redken Fashion Work 23 super strength hairspray, Redken Satinwear 02 prepping blow dry lotion and Redken Glass 01 smoothing serum.
The Redken NYC Hair Awards competition was established to find new talent and empower stylists to advance their skills to reach new heights, build creativity and transform their jobs into life-long careers.
Exclusive to Redken NYC Club 5th Avenue Salons, the Redken NYC Hair Awards is a platform for colourists with a flair for creativity to showcase their talent.
There were three different awards up for grabs vied by the contestants – Runway Colour, Runway to Reality and Male Expert.
Each of the categories was based on the ‘Colour Generation’ theme in recognition of Redken’s recently launched Chromatics range.
The 2012 judging panel was headed by two of Australia’s most experienced stylists, Lorna Evans and Kristina Russell.
“It was a huge honour to judge the NYC Hair Awards,” says Lorna Evans creative director and owner of the prestigious Zumay salons.
“Awards such as these are an opportunity for stylists to showcase their talents and inspire others. They are often the catalyst for stylists to take their careers to the next level.”
Lorna won the Victorian Hairdresser of the Year and Salon Manager of the Year at the Australian Hair Fashion Awards and Excellence in Salon Marketing at Hair Expo. She was recently part of the Redken International Colour Generation team, the inspiration behind this year’s NYC hair awards.
Kristina is one of Australia’s leading hair colourists. As a long term International Colour Artist for Redken 5th Avenue NYC, she is a regular judge and mentor for Redken Australia’s Annual Colour competition.
“The awards are life-changing for the winning stylists and the exposure will fast track them to their dream career. The standard of colour and design was very high in this competition so congratulations to all the winners and everyone involved,” says Kristina.
Runway to Reality Award
The Runway to Reality Award was a two-person race, with Jo May of Durham Hair, Auckland and Kelsey Lyons of Aart on St Andrew, Dunedin receiving nominations. The brief was to create an on-trend, wearable cut and style. Kelsey’s cherry red page-boy cut was declared the winning look and the judges agreed the style fulfilled the brief of taking a high-fashion look and translating it into a wearable street style.
Notes
Redken NYC Hair Awards 2012 Winners
Overall Winner
Kelsey Lyons of Aart on St Andrew, Dunedin
Runway Colour Award
Winner: Lyndsay Miller, Soho Hair & Beauty, Christchurch
Finalists: Louise Dick, Soho Hair & Beauty, Christchurch and Kelly Latu of Blaze, Auckland
Runway to Reality Award
Winner: Kelsey Lyons of Aart on St Andrew, Dunedin
Finalists: Kelsey Lyons of Aart on St Andrew, Dunedin, and Jo May of Durham, Auckland
Male Expert Award
Winner: Brenda Ardern Cutting Edge Hair Studio, New Plymouth
Finalists: Tom Burke, Corkin + Friends, Christchurch, Leigh Lategan , Colors Hair Company,
Hamilton