Guido Palau’s new hair products for Zara prove that even two of the most rudimentary and common beauty products – shampoo and conditioner – can be improved. It comes as no surprise that this upgrade would be by Palau, the hairstylist who rose to fame in the 1990s by styling the supermodels in George Michael’s ‘Freedom!’ music video; working alongside photographer David Sims on images that shaped grunge style; and being the go-to stylist for Alexander McQueen, Muccia Prada, and many others.

This new collaboration marks Palau’s sixth collection for Zara, the Spanish megabrand known for retailing affordable clothes that can pass as higher-end. The same principle applies to its haircare, which rivals even some of the most premium brands when it comes to results (hair is softer after just one use), scent (unsurprising, considering it was developed by a renowned French nose), and packaging (bold designs that draw inspiration from the Memphis Group).

The line is designed to meet the needs of four different hair types – fine, medium, thick, and curly – with a shampoo and conditioner designed for each, as well as a universal hydrating hair mask formulated for all hair types, and another specially formulated for curly hair. For Palau, formulating the line to address hair texture rather than hair issue, such as dryness or colour-treatment, was a straightforward way to keep the line ‘simple but inclusive’.

For fine hair, which has a tendency to get more oily, Zara and Palau have developed a shampoo and conditioner that cleanses without weighing hair down with too much moisture. Medium hair types will benefit from a shampoo and conditioner designed to enhance natural shine with a lightweight, hydrating formula. The thick-hair formulation, on the other hand, delivers a heavy dose of hydration designed to soften hair, reduce frizz and make it easier to manage.

The curly-hair products also address dryness, with a formulation designed to enhance the natural curl pattern and improve elasticity. Those who need an extra dose of moisture can use one of the masks, which can be left in the hair for a few minutes before washing, or slept in overnight for a more intensive treatment.

Like the other products Palau has designed for Zara, the haircare comes in colourful, display-worthy bottles, and, once used, leaves behind a lingering scent exclusively designed by French perfumer Jérôme Epinette, the nose behind Byredo’s Bal d'Afrique, Regime de Fleur and Chloe Sevingey’s Little Flower, and all the Victoria Beckham scents, among many others.

For Palau, haircare is the basis of good styling. ‘I've noticed backstage that the preparation and styling of hair is achieved well if the hair is prepped well,’ he says. ‘Models often use a generic "hotel shampoo" when travelling that doesn't fully cleanse or condition well enough, so the finish is more difficult, or I have to use multiple products to achieve a certain look. Using a good-formula shampoo and conditioner is a must.’

Working with Zara has given Palau the chance to create the products he always wanted to have backstage and, best of all, has allowed him to share them with the public at an accessible price point. He says, ‘the best part of working with Zara is that we can develop these products to be as high-end and affordable as possible so everyone can have great hair’.

zara.com

Audio experiences are all the rage right now, with listening bars, for example, having a real moment. Unknown Works has brought this principle to a surprising new setting: a London hair salon.

The local architecture studio was behind the design of the second outpost of hairdresser Salt, housed within a former Victorian storehouse in Borough. The space is now both a sleek salon and a cultural hub, where music, sound design and hospitality converge. ‘The brief for Salt Salon Borough was to bring all the things we already do – hair, sound, music, drinks – and elevate it to a completely new level,’ says founder John Paul Scott. ‘I wanted to do something that would shock people… which would put Salt on the map.’

Spanning three floors, each with its own function, the interior incorporates a sound system offering tailored sonic environments that evolve throughout the day – calming ambient tones in the morning, richer textures in the afternoon, and immersive soundscapes by evening.

The first floor is home to a ‘listening room’, which operates as a conventional salon during the day, with cutting stations and a reception area, but transforms at night into a venue for performances, talks and listening events. A pair of huge galvanised steel loudspeakers, crafted using roboforming – a low-energy, digitally controlled metal-forming technique – were developed in collaboration with audio start-up Friendly Pressure. To make the speakers, Unknown Works salvaged metal from Blythe House, the former archival facility for the V&A, the Science Museum and the British Museum (the studio used the same components for the Science Museum’s Energy Revolution Gallery, which opened in early 2024).

The second floor – known as the ‘cutting floor’ – features an open-plan layout anchored by a continuous stainless steel mirror that shifts from buffed and mottled for privacy to highly polished for reflection. Sound is delivered through suspended Friendly Pressure Pickney loudspeakers, while silicone acoustic screens create audio separation between work and staff areas.

On the top floor – the ‘colour floor’ – a striking, half-tonne mirror workstation is suspended from the original timber rafters. Made from ultra-bright stainless steel, it also functions as a light diffuser. Over time, the flooring on this level is intended to bear the traces of the salon’s creativity – hair dye will gradually form a kind of patina.

Sound is embedded into every detail of the design of Salt: aside from the obvious heavy-duty tech, modular chairs made from recycled foam are engineered to absorb low-frequency sound, while floor-to-ceiling silicone panels enhance acoustic clarity. Even the layout has been tuned to make the space a resonant body – essentially transforming the building itself into an instrument.

‘This storehouse has been boldly reimagined as a space where sound operates as both material and medium,’ says Ben Hayes, director of Unknown Works. ‘Every element, from the bespoke loudspeakers to the acoustic furniture, has been precisely tuned to create an entirely new salon experience. It's a fundamental rethinking of what these spaces can be.’

Refillable beauty has revolutionised the industry, with the aim of reducing surplus packaging waste; only about nine per cent of that packaging would have been recycled, according to the British Beauty Council.

Here, across make-up, skincare, fragrance and haircare, Wallpaper* edits a selection of the best refillable beauty packaging designs that you’ll want to keep in pride of place on your vanity table or bathroom shelf, from the likes of Dries van Noten, Hermès, Noble Panacea, Perfumer H, Davines and more.

The best of refillable beauty design, edited by Wallpaper*

Refillable make-up

Refillable skincare

Refillable fragrance

Refillable haircare

Haircare brand Davines, whose sleek, design-forward headquarters lie just outside Parma in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, has been advocating for regenerative farming since 2021. In fact, since its founding in 1983, the salon-first brand has been at the forefront of authentic, sustainable beauty, often outpacing its rivals. (Zero-waste plastics? Yesterday’s news. The cladding on Davines Village buildings actively absorbs emissions from the nearby road.)

‘For us, science and tradition aren’t in conflict – they inform and strengthen each other,’ Dr Simon Jackson, Davines’ global head of botanical research, says. ‘We respect the centuries of knowledge held in traditional systems and use modern science to measure, refine and scale those practices in meaningful, data-driven ways.’

Davines

Wallpaper* was among the first to visit the ‘Davines Village’, the nickname of Davines HQ, shortly after it opened. And on returning four years later, its standout architecture by Matteo Thun & Partners and Molteni&C|Dada, its carbon-neutral manufacturing processes, and its botanical gardens housing more than 4,500 plant species remain standouts. But in 2025, attention has turned to its European Regenerative Organic Centre (EROC), a 17-hectare hub of agricultural research poised to influence sectors far beyond beauty.

This push forms part of a broader agricultural shift underway in northern Italy, where increasing areas of arable land are being turned over to regenerative methods – a contemporary term for what is, at its core, an age-old practice. Rooted in principles drawn from centuries of agricultural wisdom, regenerative farming has long been overlooked in favour of industrial systems that prioritise profit and scale over environmental health.

The approach isn’t without its challenges. Yields can be inconsistent, the process is more labour-intensive, and widespread consumer education is needed before its full value is recognised. Yet the benefits are clear. Crops grown regeneratively can be sold across a wider range of industries, and over time, with reduced reliance on fertilisers and seeds, the method proves cost-effective, not to mention its environmental value, which is harder to quantify, but increasingly vital.

In partnership with the Rodale Institute, a non-profit US-based organisation that supports research into organic farming, Davines has been working to bring local farmers on board, offering training and award programmes. ‘The response has been overwhelmingly positive – and, in many cases, transformational,’ says Jackson. ‘Farmers often begin with cautious curiosity, but once they witness the tangible benefits to soil health, biodiversity and crop resilience, there’s a real sense of renewal. Many speak of reconnecting with the land – farming not just for yield, but with care and long-term stewardship.’

None of this, of course, would count for much if the products didn’t deliver. But with access to top-tier ingredients, it’s little wonder Davines – whose lines include the blonde-focused Heart of Glass, sun-protective SU, and cult favourite OI range – is beloved by professionals and consumers alike.

Regenerative farming promotes biodiversity through the introduction of pollinators and hedgerows, employs cover crops and rotation, and minimises soil disturbance. Natural fertilisers, such as clover, increase nitrogen levels in the soil, leading to healthier, more productive crops. At Davines – a certified B Corp since 2016 – these harvests now also feed into products such as WE STAND/for regeneration, a multi-use butter for hair, body and face, formulated with regenerative organic calendula.

At Davines HQ, in true Italian style, food is never far from mind. The staff ‘canteen’ – though the term hardly does it justice – features a standing-only espresso bar and indulgent multi-course lunches. It’s no accident that EROC’s mission includes strengthening national food supply chains, further enhancing Italy’s already stellar produce.

Wander the village grounds and the connection to food resurfaces time and again: rosemary, caper berry, bergamot, ginger leaf and liquorice flourish in the gardens; Parma violet drifts on the breeze; alfalfa and wheat grow in fields destined for Parmesan and pasta. In its mission and execution, Davines Village feels like the Noma of haircare.

Davines visionary approach to producing haircare products stands out in the beauty sphere, where ‘sustainability’ is so often reduced to a mere buzzword. ‘For consumers, choosing products made with regenerative ingredients means supporting soil health, climate resilience and farming communities,’ says Jackson. ‘It’s a simple but powerful act – one that connects beauty to a much deeper global impact.’

davines.com

Founder of Abra Abraham Ortuño Perez grew up in Alicante, Spain, surrounded by women. ‘My mom, my sister, my aunt... Our home was filled with beauty products,’ he tells Wallpaper*. ‘They were some of the most striking and memorable elements of my childhood.’

Yesterday (5 March 2025) Ortuño Perez drew upon these memories for Abra’s A/W 2025 collection, titled Fashion Boutique. (This marked the brand’s third runway presentation and the second to be included on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule for ready-to-wear).

Abra A/W 2025 beauty: furry wigs, greige lipstick and New Romantic glamour

Ortuño Perez – who moved from Spain to Paris to study at Institut Français de la Mode – realised Abra in 2020, whilst freelancing at Jacquemus, Coperni, Rabanne, JW Anderson and Loewe on shoes and accessories. (Ortuño Perez is behind the S/S 2022 sandals at Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe, where heels took the form of realistic-looking cracked eggs, solid soap bars and bottles of nail polish, to name but a few of his viral designs).

In Abra’s debut runway show for A/W 2024, make-up met clothing once more in the form of surrealist jewellery and bags: eyeshadow palette clutch bags and earrings; lipstick-shaped brooches; necklaces that curved around the décolletage, sculpted to look like bent make-up brushes; and prints on dresses, nodding to the branding and marketing imagery of provincial beauty salons.

‘My mom had a unique approach to make-up,’ Ortuño Perez continues, speaking on the themes of the A/W 2025 collection, which built upon those of A/W 2024. ‘She would use a single pink lipstick for everything, from her lips to her cheeks. She also carried a compact eyeshadow palette filled with glossy, vibrant shades, effortlessly creating her signature look.’

This season’s presentation received its name thanks to the local fashion boutiques the designer would visit with his mother during the 1980s and 1990s, where a commercialised ‘fantasy’ of Parisian fashion, by the likes of Thierry Mugler, would be sold. ‘This was an era where high-fashion drama was effortlessly mixed with the everyday woman’s wardrobe,’ says Ortuño Perez.

The designer worked with French hair stylist Charlie Le Mindu and make-up artist Cécile Paravina to realise the Abra A/W 2025 runway beauty, which fused his mother’s effortless style with the glamorous aesthetics of 1980s pop and subculture. ‘The New Romantics revolutionised beauty and fashion,’ he says.

‘I also vividly remember a scene from Flashdance where she dances in a room filled with flashing lights, wearing the signature make-up [of that time]. As a kid, I was convinced this was the future of beauty.’

To achieve this, Le Mindu styled some of the models’ hair in a typically ‘bourgeoise’ fashion; either loose and natural, cropped short or slicked back into buns which were then tied with scarves. Here, make-up was kept soft, tonal and ‘griege’. ‘The goal was to have a cohesive color story with the 1980s, brownish fabrics of the collection,’ Paravina explains.

‘Before the show, we prepared variations of beige and browns shades by mixing several cool-toned lipsticks to create a kind of gradient and match each model with something that would work on their complexion. We then went for a soft matte base, using minimal foundation and concealer and translucent powder,’ she continues.

In seven out of the 28 looks, however, Le Mindu and Paravina provided shaggy black wigs and white face paint, à la Siouxie Sioux. ‘I had my team start with eyes first to avoid eyeshadow fall out,’ Paravina says, noting that she used a black waterproof pencil to build a structure around the eye before applying matte eyeshadow in deep black and a medium purple-hued grey, finishing the look with a touch of pale lavender. ‘Layering matte shadow helps with creating a diffused look reminiscent of Pater Sato’s airbrushed illustrations,’ she adds.

‘The Abra A/W 2025 beauty look has a mix of punk and goth, but with a futuristic energy,’ Le Mindu tells Wallpaper*. ‘The hair is almost like a hybrid of a Russian ushanka and a 1980s glam rock mullet. It blends elements of raw, untamed textures with sharp, structured layering.’ A combination of natural hair and goat fur provided exaggerated volume, with lengths given a sleek polish. ‘There was some serious teasing and razor cutting to get that jagged finish, alongside matte texturizing products by Savage Panache and powders by L’Oreal Professional.’

‘This vision had been lingering in the back of my mind for a while and the A/W 2025 collection felt like the perfect moment to bring it to life,’ concludes Ortuño Perez. ‘Charlie and Cécile are two of the most exceptional artists working today: their talent and professionalism made them the ideal creative partners to realise this project.’

abra.paris

Mikey Madison, the breakout star of Sean Baker’s Anora, has won the 2025 Oscar for best actress for her titular role in the film. At the ceremony in Los Angeles (2 March 2025), Baker became the first person in Academy Award history to take home all four golden statuettes for best director, cinematography, original screenplay and picture.

Baker’s fellow nominees included Brady Corbet and Coralie Fargeat, the respective directors of The Brutalist and The Substance. (The hair and make-up team who worked on Fargeat’s film to create the grisly prosthetic design worn by Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, won the Oscar in this category).

Albeit in wildly different ways, both The Substance and Anora ask audiences to cross-examine feminist themes in the context of late capitalism. And, although the hair and make-up in each film are also diametric opposites, they are equally important parts of the storytelling.

For Madison to become Anora ‘Ani’ Mikheeva – a 23-year-old sex worker from Brighton Beach who marries the son of Russian Oligarchs – collaboration with New York-based hair and make-up leads Justine Sierakowski and Annie Johnson was an integral part of the actor’s methodology. Here, both Sierakowski and Johnson take Wallpaper* behind the scenes of this process.

Anora: the hair and make-up behind Mikey Madison’s transformation

Wallpaper*: How were you brought on board as Anora’s hair and make-up leads?

Annie Johnson: I had previously worked with one of my best friends, Jocelyn Pierce, who was the costume designer on Anora. She gave me a call and she was like: ‘Hey, listen, Sean Baker is looking for a make-up artist for his new film. Are you interested?’ My ears immediately perked up. She put me in contact with the producers and I went through maybe eight interview rounds in total. I think they had spoken to several different make-up artists and were struggling to find the right person because Sean likes less make-up in his films than you might expect – and that’s a surprisingly difficult thing to achieve on screen. But it’s something that I often do in my work on films, so I got the job.

Justine Sierakowski: When I got hit up to do this job I remember thinking: ‘Oh shit, I love Sean Baker’s work!’ Annie had brought on Callie Filion, another great make-up artist as our HMU swing, who would be assisting on the film. She recommended me for hair. I had worked with one of the film’s producers before I got hired and the rest went from there. The opportunity to work on Anora was like a dream coming true. I had to slap myself and get my shit together! I’d never worked with Annie before, but we immediately hit it off and started a creative dialogue right off the bat. We did a couple of jobs together to see how we flowed – even a Jimmy John’s sandwich commercial. It’s was wild going from a sandwich commercial to an Oscar-nominated feature film.

W*: How did you work with Sean Baker and Mikey Madison to map out what the hair and make-up might look like once filming began?

AJ: Sean put a lot of it in our hands. We knew the gist of what he was looking for, but he didn’t know the specific terminology. He kept calling eyeliner mascara, for example! But he knew what elements of Anora’s character he wanted to communicate through the hair and make-up. Sean is very invested in trusting the expertise of the team he’s working with. So he was really open to ideas.

JS: Annie and I spent a lot of time getting familiar with the script before we sat down to have a conversation with Sean. He already knew that we would be working with Mikey, as he only ever wanted to cast her in the role. And then once we had more of a concrete idea of what we were doing, and what we wanted to do, we moved into collaborating with Mikey.

W*: What references did you have pinned to your moodboards for hair and make-up?

AJ: Mikey has such a unique eye shape. Sean had come to me with some 1970s film references, which was very natural skin but really thick, winged eyeliner. So we ended up doing a toned down and modernised version of this.

JS: In the initial conversations with Sean, he was keen to have something glittery or sparkly in the hair, because Anora’s name means ‘light’. I immediately thought about Adrian Maloof’s hair tinsel extensions in the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I did a lot of research on Pinterest. During pre-production, we did some tests with different colours of tinsel. Mikey then picked out the colours she wanted; a combination of purple, magenta and light pink.

W*: What were the technical aspects when it came to transforming Mikey Madison into Anora aka ‘Ani’?

JS: I used microbeads to attach the tinsel to Mikey’s hair, so they are clamped in. Then everything else is tied on with slip knots. The bottom layer was more permanent than the top, so there was a lot of work resetting her hair between takes. Particularly between her pre-home invasion look and her post-home invasion look. It was more of a beast than I was expecting.

AJ: Mikey’s acting was so physical that she had so many bruises from the fight scenes and the dancing. So equally, Justine and had about three hours of work to do before she would be ready. We would start work every morning at 3am. I also added the bow tattoos on the back of her legs and I went through months of trying to get the process right for this in order for them to look right. I eventually got them made through Tinsley Transfers in LA. They did an amazing job. They sent me hundreds of transfers, as we had to apply them four or five times a day, as they would sometimes rub off on the costumes and when she was lap dancing.

W*: What other products did you use for the make-up and hair?

AJ: To cover bruises, I was using the Sian Richards Hydroproof Palette. Its completely waterproof and transfer-proof. It was in my kit at all times and I went through a whole palette on Mikey during filming. I used Ardell false lashes from the drugstore and Makeup by Mario Ultra Suede lip pencil in the shade Toasty. A lot of setting spray was used. It was really cold whilst we were shooting, too, so I was trying to keep Mikey’s skin hydrated with products from Tatcha.

JS: We kept things simple. I used a lot of the IGK Hair Direct Flightand Jet Lag dry shampoo, which gave Mikey’s hair a lot of texture. We would have to map out when she was able to wash her hair [for continuity]. So the dry shampoo would suck up some of the oil whilst giving her hair more life. The Colour Wow Dreamcoat Supernatural Spray would really help with frizz in the damp conditions when we were filming outside, as she has pretty thick and wavy hair.

W*: There’s a scene in Anora when Ani is outside the club comparing nail designs with another dancer called Lulu. Who created them?

AJ: The nails were done by Joy Accardi of Claws by Joy, an artist based in Brooklyn. She created a custom diamanté butterfly design for Ani, which works with the theme of transformation that runs throughout Anora. The other design in this scene, the dollar symbol nails worn by Lulu, was something that I picked out from one of the images on Joy’s Instagram. There is a lot of symbolism here, too. But this scene wasn’t scripted. It was Mikey using the nails in improvised dialogue.

W*: What was it like when you both watched Anora in full at its premiere in Cannes?

AJ: At Cannes, Justine and I were sitting right next to each other and we were just like holding each other’s hands the entire time. It was truly amazing. There was such a vibe in that room. Clapping, shouting...

JS: Oh it was such an overwhelming moment. Me and Annie were probably the closest to Mikey on set, as we worked so intensely together from really early in the morning to last thing at night. We formed a real friendship and bond. I think the hair and make-up room became a serene, safe place for her, you know. She had a lot on her plate during that movie – she truly gave it everything she had.

anora.film

The best beauty products of the month, according to Wallpaper*, includes eight new launches by a roster of brands. Below, find Prada's latest mascara, used by lead make-up artist Lynsey Alexander in the runway look for the house’s A/W 2025 show on Wednesday this week (26 February 2025).

Plus, Westman Atelier’s bronzing drops, formulated by Gucci Westman. The American make-up artist has recently worked with Anthony Vaccarello and David Sims on Saint Laurent’s S/S 2025 campaign starring Michelle Pfeiffer, in addition to Nicole Kidman – who plays Romy in Halina Reijn’s Babygirl – on the actor’s red carpet appearances during this year’s awards season.

The best beauty products of the month, according to Wallpaper*

The Prada A/W 2025 collection was, as Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss writes in his report, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ ‘pitch for liberation’. Titled Raw Glamour, it subverted typical codes of ‘feminine beauty’, not just through clothing but also via hair and make-up, courtesy of Guido Palau and Lynsey Alexander.

‘A feeling of dishevelment ran throughout – not least the hair, which had been teased and ruffled, as if at the end of a long evening (or, indeed, rolling out of bed),’ Moss continues of the show, which took place yesterday (27 February) during Milan Fashion Week.

Prada A/W 2025 beauty by Guido Palau and Lynsey Alexander

There were distinct echoes of the ‘frazzled’ ponytails Palau created for Miu Miu A/W 2023: a collection that interrogated ‘ways of looking’ and the push and pull of ‘attraction and repulsion’. Here, he used static electricity to lift loose strands at the crown into delicate tufts, by rubbing hair with balloons.

Miu Miu is often thought of as Prada’s ‘little sister’. And certainly, the Prada A/W 2025 woman is a grown up version of her younger self, taking a decidedly darker road through life. On the likes of Julia Nobis, who opened the runway, and two new faces Xaria Carter and Maelie Harambat cast in the show by Ashley Brokaw, Palau backcombed hair into a matted tangle, as though a once perfect blow out had been unwashed and slept on for several days and nights.

Similarly, Lyndsey Alexander made ‘unkempt’ eyebrows the central focus of A/W 2025’s make-up, lending them an exaggerated fuzz and ultra-dense appearance with Prada Beauty’s new Pradascope mascara and soon-to-be-released eye pencils.

In contrast, complexions had a bare appearance, whilst lips were given just a touch of balm. ‘There’s a juxtaposition of ugly and beautiful, coming together to create something quite extraordinary,’ Alexander told Wallpaper* in a 2023 interview, a statement that rings true in her work on yesterday’s show.

Here, co-creative directors Mrs Prada and Raf Simons – alongside Palau and Alexander – have told the story of a woman who is disinterested in the so-called ‘clean girl aesthetic’, multi-step routines and endless ‘shower hacks’ peddled on Instagram and TikTok.

This is a continuation of the agenda laid out at the recent Prada womenswear and menswear seasons, designed as ripostes to the prescriptive, pervasive – and often deceptive – algorithmic image. (As Wallpaper’s Jack Moss reported, the house’s S/S 2025 womenswear show was a rejection of the ‘derivative and expected’, with Mrs Prada stating backstage: ‘We are driven by algorithms. We like things because people tell us to like them.’)

Prada tapped Ottessa Moshfegh to write a series of short stories to accompany the S/S 2025 Ten Protagonists campaign, in which Carey Mulligan plays a roster of different personas, donning various wigs by Guido Palau.

Moshfegh is renowned for her lurid and ‘unsavoury’ female narrators, their beauty, grooming and hygiene habits – or sometimes lack thereof – speak to an unwillingness to conform to the societal expectations dictated by America during various points in history.

‘What does femininity mean today? How can it be defined?’ read the Prada A/W 2025 show notes.

Questions around beauty standards for women, across every demographic and culture, are ever-evolving and infinite. But during a time when technological progression leads to political regression, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons seem to be saying that these questions are even more urgent to ask.

prada.com

Backstage at Simone Rocha’s A/W 2025 show, which took place yesterday (23 February 2025) over London Fashion Week inside Goldsmiths’ Hall, key make-up artist Thomas de Kluyver talked Wallpaper* through his vision.

‘This season, Simone was inspired by the children’s story The Tortoise and the Hare, so we wanted to keep the make-up playful,’ he said. ‘You know when you were a teenager and you’d pluck your eyebrows to be really thin? We referenced this but also kept the Simone Rocha narrative in there with colourful bugle beads. Embellishment has always been a signature of the Simone Rocha beauty look.’

Simone Rocha A/W 2025: Beauty by Thomas de Kluyver, Holli Smith and Ama Quashie

A/W 2025 began with creating a ‘raw’ yet luminous canvas for all models, with skin prepped using products from Dr Barbara Sturm. ‘We’ve kept the skin very fresh, with details then added on top such as the beaded eyebrows or a dark lip,’ De Kluyver said, who had blocked out natural brow hair before etching a thin line onto which pearlescent bugle beads in pale pink, red or black were glued.

In other looks, brows remained natural and fluffed up, exaggerated with Byredo’s Ultra Definer Brow pencils. Neutral tones inside the fragrance and beauty brand’s Desert Road eyeshadow palette, along with a lick of black Astronomical mascara, gently defined eyes. Viynl, satin and matte-textured lipsticks, in shades such as September, On The Edge, Lost Letter, Molasses, Auburn and Calmer, had been daubed onto the likes of Alexa Chung and Andrea Riseborough who, alongside Fiona Shaw, were cast in the show by Julia Lange. A few of the lipsticks also doubled as a blusher. ‘I like to think of each part of the make-up look as fashion accessories on the face,’ said De Kluyver.

This season, hair was taken care of by American stylist Holli Smith, who cut her teeth as an assistant to Guido Palau before attaining a legendary status in her own right. A/W 2025 marked the first time that Smith had worked on a standalone Simone Rocha show, having joined forces with De Kluyver and London-born nail artist Ama Quashie – also present backstage yesterday leading a team of manicurists – on the runway beauty for Simone Rocha x Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture S/S 2024.

‘We wanted to ensure that everyone had something a little different with their hair and the models kept a sense of individuality,’ Smith explained. ‘Although the one thing that tied everything together was making sure that everyone’s look is kept away from the face. But nothing is flat or severe. There’s some messiness, too,’ she continued, noting that Bumble and Bumble’s Thickening and Surf sprays were essential in keeping a nonchalant feel. ‘When these products are combined, it gives a lightweight wet look to the hair, but it’s also quite starchy and structured, so holds its shape and is malleable for playing around with.’

The collection also spoke of Simone Rocha’s teenage schooldays in Dublin, as Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss notes in his A/W 2025 London Fashion Week report. So Smith also gave some of the models hair bunches, before nonchalantly securing them at the nape of the neck using thick black rubber bands. ‘Everyone has the same rubber bands, it’s nothing too special,’ says Smith. ‘We made it look like they did it themselves, almost.’

From rubber bands to Tipp-Ex, in the form of playful yet minimal nails by Ama Quashie, who has been the key nail artist for Simone Rocha shows over the past several seasons. ‘For A/W 2025 we’ve used white polish with a mattifying top coat in full and half-moons and there are some red half-moons in the mix, too. And even though we wanted to keep it youthful, it still has to be perfect,’ she said. ‘It’s a simple, look but sometimes it takes even more work as there’s nowhere to hide,’ Quashie continued, adding that meticulous cuticle prep, hydration and a uniform shape are the foundations of her technical process.

‘The way I work is knowing when to exercise restraint and simplicity, or when to go bigger. But always, it’s important to master the foundation: a perfect, really clean nail,’ Quashie told Wallpaper* in 2023, echoing this sentiment. ‘It’s the groundwork for every manicure. And from there, everything else is added in line with the creative vision … When I work with Simone Rocha it’s often about going with your gut instinct.’

simonerocha.com

Augustinus Bader and La Bonne Brosse have joined forces to design a hairbrush in an electric shade of ‘Bader blue’.

The beloved science-led skincare brand by German stem-cell expert Professor Augustinus Bader, is renowned for the signature TCF8 technology he developed through decades-long research into skin healing and regeneration. But also, its collaborations with the likes of Haider Ackermann and Sofia Coppola. The designer and director count themselves amongst the many fans of cult Augustinus Bader products, subsequently teaming up with the brand to take over The Rich Cream and The Lip Balm in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

The Augustinus Bader x La Bonne Brosse hairbrush

The Augustinus Bader x La Bonne Brosse hairbrush, which is available from today (12 February 2025) as a limited edition, brings together the principles of both brands. ‘Our collaboration with La Bonne Brosse reflects both brands’ shared commitment to innovation, craftsmanship, long-term well-being, and self-care,’ Augustinus Bader co-founder and CEO Charles Rosier exclusively tells Wallpaper*.

‘We also share a dedication to scientific expertise, high-performance materials, and sustainability, making this partnership a natural fit to collaboratively create the ultimate haircare ritual for our audiences I am very grateful for these types of collaborations. Not just for the result but the journey too, which allows us to work with fantastic, hard-working and talented people,’ Rosier continues.

French beauty industry veterans and close friends Pauline Laurent and Flore Des Robert launched La Bonne Brosse at the beginning of 2022, a brand celebrating the ritualistic nature of haircare through a range of satisfyingly sculptural brushes with distinctive twisted handles.

‘We were introduced to Charles Rosier through a mutual contact who saw the synergy between our brands and thought we should meet and discuss collaborating. Our shared obsession was to educate on a sophisticated hair protocol that would boost the effect of their amazing hair range with the efficiency of our exceptional brushes,’ they reiterate. ‘Working with Augustinus Bader confirmed our obsession that haircare formulations deserve excellence! We are aligned on the common vision that haircare - just like skincare - should go beyond mass formulation and offer truly thoughtful and well-formulated products that are underpinned by science.’

Crafted from sustainable and plastic-free cellulose acetate in an array of unique colourways, each La Bonne Brosse brush is given a corresponding number to denote its bristles and what hair types and concerns it addresses, such as the N.04: The Miracle, which uses soft and flexible nylon fibres tipped with epoxy resin beads to satisfyingly massage the scalp, in turn stimulating blood flow to encourage hair growth. It also gently detangles any hair type from root to tip, encouraging products to penetrate the heart of strands, when used wet, damp or dry.

The N.04 is the brush that Augustinus Bader has injected with Bader blue. ‘The N.04 is suitable for any hair type – curly or straight, thin and dense – but also the one in our range that fits with cosmetic usage,’ say Laurent and Des Robert. ‘For example, it can be used whilst applying a mask in the shower or massaging a serum into your scalp. It pairs perfectly with the Augustinus Bader haircare and so was the ideal choice.’

The Augustinus Bader haircare range includes The Rich Shampoo, The Rich Conditioner, The Scalp Treatment, The Leave-in Hair Treatment and The Hair Oil. ‘In our haircare products, TFC8 works by delivering key nutrients to the scalp and hair follicles, creating an optimal environment for renewal and growth,’ Professor Bader tells Wallpaper*. ‘By supporting the scalp’s natural regenerative processes, it strengthens and fortifies hair from root to tip while adapting to individual needs for improved hydration, vitality, and overall hair health.’

Professor Bader has incorporated each of the above products into a bespoke regimen, designed to work in tandem with the La Bonne Brosse N.04 brush, the steps of which he outlines below.

The Augustinus Bader x La Bonne Brosse hair and scalp massage regimen

1. Wash with The Rich Shampoo and The Rich Conditioner. Towel-dry your hair, then brush from root to tip with The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush before continuing with your Augustinus Bader haircare routine.
2. Apply The Scalp Treatment to clean, damp scalp sections from the hairline to the crown of the head, focusing on problem areas. Use The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush to gently massage into the scalp, supporting healthy circulation.
3. Apply The Leave-in Hair Treatment to clean, dry or towel-dried hair. Using The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush, brush from scalp or mid-length to ends of hair to ensure even distribution of product, focusing on areas of need.
4. Apply 1-3 drops of The Hair Oil to clean, dry or towel-dried hair. Using The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush, brush from mid-length to ends of hair to ensure even distribution of product.
5. Lightly rinse The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush with warm water after each use or once your routine is complete.

Augustinus Bader x La Bonne Brosse N.04 The Miracle Detangling Scalp Brush, £158.

augustinusbader.com

labonnebrosse.com

Wallpaper’s beauty products of the month is an edit of the make-up, skincare and haircare loved by our resident beauty editor.

Today (1 February 2025) this includes Celine’s expanded lipstick range, Chanel’s S/S 2025 make-up collection and Mantle’s jellyfish mucin serum pads. Plus, Frédéric Malle’s quintessential perfume Portrait of a Lady by Dominique Ropion, dressed up for its birthday in a red lacquered bottle.

The best beauty products of the month recommended by Wallpaper*

Make-up

Chanel’s limited edition make-up collection for S/S 2025

Chanel’s limited edition make-up collection for S/S 2025 has been designed by Ammy Drammeh, one-third of the house’s Cometes Collective alongside Valentina Li and Cécile Paravina. Naturally, the offering is a celebration of colour and texture, with unconventional shades of Ombre Essentielle solo eyeshadows, or Stylo Yeux waterproof eyeliners. (This season, they come as duo sets in hues of mauve, pink, green and nude). Le Vernis nail polish in creamy pastels, and Jeux de Lumieres highlighting powders, complete the house’s offering.

Chanel S/S 2025 limited edition make-up, price varies, chanel.com.

Celine’s expanded lipstick shades

Celine Beauté’s debut lipstick Rouge Triomphe, which inaugurated the Le Rouge Celine collection, has now been joined by 14 others, each in the same hydrating, long-lasting satin texture. Orange Clea is a sultry red; while La Peau Nue is a classic nude, first featured on the S/S 24 Celine runway. There’s also an array of warm, rosy hues: from Rose Palace, through to cooler pinks and purple tones including Zou Zou (also the name of a fragrance launched by the house last year). Nightclubbing, which takes its name from a perfume as well, is the darkest shade of all – a deep inky violet.

Celine Le Rouge Celine lipstick, £62, celine.com.

Dior’s PH-activated lip balm

Dior Addict Lip Glow, a recent launch from the house of Dior’s make-up line, has been made with a pH-reactive formula, so the sheer wash of colour it provides will morph into a distinct, personal hue upon contact with the skin. It also comes in both warm and cool undertones and is intensely hydrating, containing both cherry extract and shea butter.

Dior Addict Lip Glow lip balm, £33, dior.com

Skincare

Omorovicza’s healing blue serum

Omorovicza’s Blue Diamond Super Serum – an addition to the Blue Diamond Surfacing Peel and Blue Diamond Supercream – focuses on eliminating senescent cells to regenerate skin at a deeper level, with ingredients including diamond peptides, tetrapeptides, hyaluronic acid and Omorovicza’s patented healing concentrate derived from the thermal waters of the brand’s native Budapest.

Omorovicza Blue Diamond Super Serum, £350, omorovicza.com

Mantle’s jellyfish mucin pads

Mantle’s Hydra Serum is powered by the combination of jellyfish mucin (said to bind water three times better than hyaluronic acid), and deep sea algae. Together, these ingredients form the Scandinavian skincare brand’s patented mPelagic2 Complex, which is now also found in its Hydra Pads alongside lactobiotic acid, providing exfoliation and intense hydration in just a few swipes. Keep them in the fridge for an additional de-puffing and cooling effect.

Hydra Pads by Mantle, £49, mantleskin.com

Haircare

Dyson’s automatic hot tool

The beloved Dyson Airwrap received an update in 2024 in the Airwrap i.d., a tool that wirelessly connects to an app via Bluetooth. Here, you are able to create your own profile and styling programme, adapting heat, timing and airflow depending on your particular hair type. Then, at the push of a button, the Airwrap i.d. will carry out the sequence. (Last month, it received a makeover in the form of a limited edition colourway called Jasper Plum, which compliments the packaging of its Chitosan products).

Dyson Airwrap i.d., £480, dyson.co.uk.

Fragrance

Frédéric Malle’s Portrait of a Lady (in red)

Frédéric Malle's Portrait of a Lady was created by legendary nose Dominique Ropion in 2010. Ropion is often referred to as ‘the master of flowers’, a title that he demonstrated with aplomb in Portrait of a Lady, where two variations of concentrated Turkish roses meet with notes of blackcurrant, raspberry, patchouli and amber. To mark its 15th anniversary, the fragrance is dressed up in a limited-edition red lacquered bottle, accompanied by a portrait series by photographer David Sims.

Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady eau de parfum, £290, fredericmalle.co.uk

Acqua di Parma’s interpretation of a classic

Colonia Il Profumo by Acqua di Parma is an intense reinterpretation of the Italian maison's original Colonia. Opening with the citrus notes, Acqua di Parma is renowned for, including Italian bergamot, grapefruit, blood orange, and petitgrain, the heart of Colonia Il Profumo features rosemary and ylang-ylang. Going deeper still, vetiver and patouchli provides the scent with a richness quite unlike any other from the brand.

Acqua di Parma Colonia Il Profumo, £264.00, acquadiparma.com.

Dior’s olfactory lucky charm

Christian Dior was a superstitious man. One of the couturier’s lucky charms, a piece of wood he would carry with him to bring good fortune, is the inspiration behind Bois Talisman, a new fragrance by Francis Kurkdjian for La Collection Privée Christian Dior. Kurkdjian, sharing M. Dior’s superstitions – including keeping a sugar cube as a charm – crafted a perfume symbolising the blend of wood and sugar. This scent is an olfactory exploration of cedarwood and vanilla, with multiple extraction methods enhancing the richness of vanilla.

Dior Bois Talisman eau de parfum, £380, dior.com

Tom Ford’s rose exposé

An unconventional composition of florals and leather, Rose Exposed by Tom Ford has been created to ‘capture the ephemeral beauty of a rose at its peak bloom’. It achieves this through an exclusive co-distillation of rose absolute and rose water. Rose Expose is more complex than it first appears, however: white pepper, pink peppercorn, bergamot, and curcuma give a warm and spicy element. A ‘tactile black leather accord’, as the brand describes, is comprised of sandalwood olibanum, and cashmeran.

Tom Ford Rose Exposed eau de parfum, £222, tomford.com.

Hair oil is usually made from extracts of plants, herbs or fruit, which can improve the condition of hair in a number ways, from moisturising and protecting to smoothing, softening and adding shine.

Oils like coconut and argan can hydrate hair, while jojoba and almond oils lock in moisture. Then, there are heat-protection oils, and oils that exfoliate the scalp to reduce build-up. Rosemary oil is popular for hair growth and combatting hair loss.

Different oils achieve different results, so make sure that you consider your individual hair goals when choosing one. For example, damaged hair might benefit from an oil with higher fat and protein content. However, these can weight fine or thin hair down, in which case a lighter oil, like macadamia seed or abyssinian, would be a better choice.

Read on for some of our favourite hair oils, including those by Augustinus Bader, Davines, K18 and more.

The best hair oils for shiny, nourished and protected hair

The breaking news of Margot Robbie becoming the new face of Chanel No.5 (and starring in a Luca Guadagnino-directed campaign film alongside Jacob Elordi), plus the reveal of Marina Abramović’s new range of skincare, are just two of the beauty features on Wallpaper.com that you loved reading in 2024.

Below, find a wider selection of articles that got you clicking and scrolling, including a look at Dyson’s latest science fiction-like styling tool and a 15-step illustrated guide outlining the meticulous process of a Korean scalp treatment.

The most-read Wallpaper* beauty stories from 2024

1. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi almost become lovers in Luca Guadagnino’s Chanel No.5 campaign

In October, Margot Robbie was announced as the new face of Chanel No.5. (2024 also saw Robbie front a nightclub-inspired‘Rouge Allure Velvet’ lipstick collection). See You at 5, an accompanying Chanel No.5 campaign film also starring Jacob Elordi and shot by Luca Guadagnino, saw the two actors ‘almost’ become lovers, as they attempt to meet one another against the backdrop of the setting California sun.

Read the full feature here.

2. How the 15-step Korean scalp treatment rejuvenates hair like nothing else

For the Wallpaper* February 2024 Design Awards issue, we presented a beauty award to the Eco Jardin hair salon in Seoul, for its meticulous 15-step scalp treatment. Including a microscopic scalp analysis, massage, steam LED light therapy and more, Lucy Birant illustrated each step of the process.

Read the full feature here.

3. Marina Abramović releases a skincare and wellness range ‘inspired by mindfulness’

In January, artist Marina Abramović brought the principles of her ‘mindfulness-based’ Longevity Method to a new skincare and wellness collection developed with Dr Nonna Brenner. The project certainly raised a few eyebrows – was it another performance piece, perhaps? Or was she deadly serious? – the Wallpaper.com feature on the products and ideas behind them certainly got people talking.

Read the full feature here.

4. Poor Things’ Oscar-winning make-up and hair: behind-the-scenes interview

Yorgos Lanthimos’ film Poor Things, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Grey, received critical acclaim. Winning a Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival, it also garnered 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, with Emma Stone winning Best Actress for her performance as Bella Baxter. The hair and make-up design team, led by Nadia Stacey, also received several accolades including an Academy Award and a BAFTA. We interviewed Stacey about her work on the film on Wallpaper.com.

Read the full feature here.

5. First look: how Diptyque used synaesthesia to create its poetic new perfume collection

Diptyque launched a new luxury perfume collection in the summer of 2024, ‘Les Essences de Diptyque’, which was (true to Diptyque’s form) inspired by the natural world. Here, five unique fragrances captured ‘the scent of coral and mother of pearl’, with five unique fragrances designed by a team of noses using synaesthesia. We interviewed them all for a first look at the project on Wallpaper.com.

Read the full feature here.

6. The new Dyson ‘Airwrap i.d.’ will style your hair using an app

Dyson made further strides in hair and beauty in 2024, with ‘Chitosan’ (its first-ever range of hair care products) and the ‘Airwrap i.d.’, an updated model of its beloved ‘Airwrap’ styling tool. Upon its launch in August, we covered the news on Wallpaper.com, revealing the ‘Airwrap i.d.’ works in tandem with the ‘MyDyson’ app to carry out a personalised curling sequence at the touch of a button.

Read the full feature here.

7. The Substance: how Pierre-Olivier Persin transformed Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley with prosthetic make-up design

The Substance was a film on everyone’s lips in 2024, drumming up plenty of ‘discourse’ for its subject matter and visual language. Directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the story of Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore) and her ‘other self ’Sue (Qualley) came to life through the visionary prosthetic make-up design by Pierre Oliver Persin. We spoke with Persin to gain insight into transforming the actors into the grotesque and comedically tragic characters ‘Gollum’ and ‘Monstro Elisasue’.

Read the full feature here.

8. Bleach London’s permanent dyes transform hair (without using bleach)

Session stylist Alex Brownsell (who has worked with everyone from Gucci and Versace to Celine and Marc Jacobs) founded the east London hair salon Bleach in 2010, after growing tired of dying her friends’ hair in the kitchen sink. In 2024, however, Bleach made a revolutionary development for dying hair at home, with its ‘No Bleach London’ permanent box dyes, which create vibrant colour without any bleach at all. Brownsell shared her insights on the products with Wallpaper*.

Read the full feature here.

9. Jamie Dornan takes a bath in Le Corbusier’s villa for Loewe Perfumes

In September, the news broke that brand ambassadors Jamie Dornan and Sophie Wilde were the new faces of Loewe Perfumes. A portrait series and film by David Sims saw Dornan and Wilde make themselves at home inside the master bathroom in Villa Savoye, which was designed and built in the 1930s by Le Corbusierand Pierre Jeanneret. The 2024 campaign also spotlighted four scents from Loewe Perfumes’ ‘Botanical Rainbow’ and ‘Un Paseo por Madrid’ collections: ‘Esencia’, ‘Agua Drop’, ‘Un Paseo por Madrid Doré’ and ‘Prado’.

Read the full feature here.

10. What makes a ‘winter perfume’? The Wallpaper* guide to fragrances that linger on the skin and in the air

As temperatures dropped in November, we turned our focus to a selection of potent and long-lasting perfumes for the winter months. This includes fragrances from the Dior ‘Esprit de Parfum’ collection, also featured in the Wallpaper* December Entertaining Issue, ‘L’Eau d’Hiver’, by nose Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle, and more.

Read the full feature here.

Diffar is a new hair fragrance oil brand hailing from Japan.

‘Different experiences take you far. The impression you get from the same thing can differ from day to day, according to your approach. This is the idea behind the coined word Diffar,’ says Makoto Arii, its 38-year-old founder. With its completely natural composition of essential oils and plant extracts, developed and produced at its laboratory at the foot of Mount Fuji, Diffar not only smells great but nourishes the hair, too.

Diffar

Crafted in collaboration with Tokyo-based hair salon Scent, Diffar’s products are light in texture, including a blend of argan, jojoba, camellia and evening primrose oil, combined with shea butter. In addition, rapeseed helps to repair the cuticle and pressed rice oil protects hair from UV damage. The brand’s first collection offers six fragrances: ‘Tokyo Balance’, ‘Woody Earthy’, ‘Herbal Floral’, ‘Japanese Citrus’, ‘Spicy Wood’ and ‘Floral Floral’. ‘Tokyo Balance’ is inspired by the atmosphere of the city on a rainy day and accentuated by vetiver, while the others can be guessed from their names.

Arii had travelled throughout Japan, to source the key ingredients from specific places: Hinoki from Yoshino, Hiba from Aomori, Yuzu from Shimanto and Sansho (Japanese pepper) from Wakayama. These were blended with other precious ingredients from all over the world, such as galbanum from the Middle East, wild armoire from Morocco and agarwood from India. (A single Diffar scent contains a blend of 15 to 18 ingredients).

‘When extracted during the first 15 minutes of distillation, ylang-ylang offers a surprisingly fresh smell, compared to its usual heady note’, Arii explains, of a discovery he made during Diffar’s meticulous development process. (His background in scientific research, including on natural phenomena such as tsunamis and icebergs, dictates a methodical way of working). This is also demonstrated on the last three digits marked on each Diffar bottle, which indicate the number of samples before the finalisation of the notes. For ‘Spicy Wood’, perhaps the most complex accord composed of agarwood, sandalwood, nutmeg, patchouli and oakwood, the sample was renewed 823 times until Arii finally said: ‘That’s it!’

But where does Arii’s sensitivity to the subtlety of nature’s subtle scents originate? The answer comes from his childhood. ‘Born and raised in Minami Alps City near Mount Fuji, which is thriving with agriculture, I always breathed the smell of freshly harvested ripe fruit, straight from farmers’ hands,’ he recalls. ‘When I moved to Tokyo as a university student, I bought plastic-wrapped fruits in a supermarket for the first time and was so shocked by the absence of smell. It was then I realised the effect of smell on our body and mind is so huge.’

This particular experience led him to persistently research until he tracked down the best food preservation company in Japan, resulting in the launch of Fruitest, a pre-cursor to Diffar, a brand of semi-dried ripe fruit which remains soft, juicy and smells incredibly fresh, which he launched with his creative brand development agency Unsungs&web. (He is also currently working on a new flavoured tea collection).

Diffar’s strong visual identity was developed alongside Arii’s partner in crime, the art director Kenzo Shibata. The minimal design of its bottles becomes a canvas for colour blocking. At the same time, they evoke the colours seen in traditional kimonos. But, they also feel decidedly contemporary.

For the brand’s campaign imagery, he collaborated with London-based photographer Yuichiro Noda. In a nod to the complexity and deepness of each scent, Noda, who was born in Japan, photographed core ingredients in their original form before layering them together in a single black-and-white image, contrasting with the brightly coloured bottles. In addition, he shot six black-and-white portraits of people with various hairstyles, using long exposure.

Alongside the hair oil being used and sold at the Scent salon in Tokyo, Diffar has been showcased over the past year at various collaborative pop-up stores, such as the Shibuya-based flower shop Voice and independent store Fujin Tree 355, in Taipei. It made its debut in Europe earlier this year (September 2024) in Paris at the art gallery Galerie 3m2, which is nestled beside the Serge Lutens store in the Palais Royal Gardens.

We look forward to seeing where Arii will travel with the brand in 2025.

diffar.net

It’s been seven years since Studio I-IN was founded by Yohei Terui and Hiromu Yuyama. In that short time, the Tokyo-based designers have carved out an enviable reputation for creating delicately nuanced spaces and offices for their blue-chip corporate clients including Cartier and Ya-Man.

I-IN’s latest project for tech-led pioneers of Japanese hot hair tools Kinujo, is yet one more feather in its cap: an office space that balances brand diktats with practicality. The first time either party has worked with the other, the office is an exercise in restrained material and colour palettes requiring judicious balancing of spatial planning and porous natural lighting.

Studio I-IN’s spatial design for the Kinujo Tokyo office

Kinujo (the name combines the Japanese words for ‘silk’ and ‘woman’) was founded in 2014 by Tomoaki Hamada who cannily spotted a market for sleekly designed, tech-forward hair dryers, curlers and straighteners. The company’s rapid expansion beyond Asia into the American, Middle-Eastern, Australian and European markets meant that in no time at all, it had outgrown its offices in Tokyo’s Chiyoda quarter.

As Terui and Yuyama tell it, Kinujo needed a functional and sophisticated workspace in alignment with the brand’s identity that also reflected the elegance of its products. At the same time, the office would need to inspire creativity and collaboration between staff.

A chance conversation with the relative of a Hamada honcho led the Kinujo team to I-IN, who quickly recognised the potential for creating an office space to meet the brief. It helped that Hamada had picked the fourth and fifth floors of Escalier Rokubancho for his new office, the stacked volumes of the Ethnos-designed building almost mimicking the unfolding tongs of a Kinujo appliance.

The square-shaped footprint of the almost 3,000 sqft space allowed I-IN to create an open-planned office awash with natural light flowing through a decked terrace, comprising working areas, a lounge, stock counters, product displays and a presentation room.

Taking cues from the minimalist designs and metallic surfaces of Kinujo’s styling tools (which include hairdryers with built-in infrared technology), Terui and Yuyama were careful to keep embellishments to a minimum, focusing, instead, on clean-edged lines and right-angled ceiling grids of stripped lighting. Meanwhile, dividing walls clad in mirror-finished stainless steel and polished concrete pillars create luminous corridors.

To counter the potential severity and coldness of so many hard surfaces, the designers introduced graduated hues of tan, Kinujo’s house colour, on walls and fixtures, alongside metallic gold paint for the covers of desk wiring, and customised textured glass that doubles as wall art.

Arguably, the most striking moment is the generously proportioned hemispheric desk, anchored by a leafy planter at the midpoint, in the centre of the office. ‘It feels like something out of a movie,’ says Hamada. ‘It’s so reminiscent of a secret intelligence agency.’

But beyond providing plenty of room for hot-desking and small break-out meetings to plot Kinujo’s global follicular takeover, the desk’s curves are also a subtle riff on silky hair; the raison d’être, after all, of any hair appliance and the other half of Kinujo’s brand and moniker. ‘We translated the concept of silk into the design through our use of fluid lines in the textured glass artwork, and soft curved work desks,’ say Terui and Yuyama.

Equally captivating is a freestanding fluted marble wall framing the circular desk. Its striated, glowing three-dimensional linear design reflects the delicate flow of hair, but, also stands like a monumental painting.

‘This wall turned out to be more impactful than we’d originally anticipated,’ the I-IN designers add. ‘When the panels were fully assembled, the depth and texture and luxurious touch they added to the whole space was really quite striking.’

i-in.jp

kinujo.jp

The Dyson Airwrap first hit shelves in 2018 and is now a stalwart of hairstyling. Renowned for its ability to smooth, wave, and curl hair of all cuts and textures with unprecedented ease, the Airwrap uses intelligent heat control and an aerodynamic phenomenon known as the ‘Coanda’ effect. (This attracts and wraps hair to the barrel or brush attachment a bit like a magnet, using a spinning vortex of air, if you didn't already know).

Earlier this year in February (2024), the British technology brand released its ‘Supersonic r’ hairdryer, which weighs less than a bottle of hairspray and integrates radio frequency (RFID) sensors to automatically adjust airflow and temperature. The dryer was first tried and tested in salons, and backstage at shows over the A/W24 season, and is now saving the aching arms of hairstylists around the world.

A look at the new Dyson Airwrap i.d. and Chitosan hair styling range

It’s the Airwrap’s turn for an innovative makeover, however, as Dyson just announced it will release the 'Airwrap i.d.' later this month (August 2024). It might sound a little like a futuristic device from Luc Besson’s 1997 sci-fi fantasy The Fifth Element, recalling scenes where nails are painted or eyeshadow is applied at the touch of a button. But this is (well, almost) exactly how the Dyson ‘Airwrap i.d.’ works.

After downloading the ‘MyDyson’ app, which wirelessly connects to the tool using Bluetooth, users can set a programme with ‘i.d. curl’ – a set of personalised curling sequences devised by Dyson engineers to work in tandem with each attachment. One push of the tool’s ‘power button’ then carries out the pattern, chosen according to the desired look, automatically.

‘The app guides users through each step, based on the user’s profile to make curling easier,’ says Low Chen Nyeow, Dyson Beauty’s associate design manager. ‘Adjustable temperature settings change the high and low heat temperatures for thermal comfort, based on their personal preference and maintenance notifications reminders guide them to clean their filter.’

There are three new attachments joining the Airwrap’s existing set of 13, too. The ‘Conical’ barrel is made for tighter and more defined curls at the root, while the ‘Wave+Curl’ diffuser, disperses airflow in two ways to enhance waves, curls and coils. Finally, the Blade concentrator creates sleek hair with high-precision airflow. ‘User feedback has shown that they appreciate convenience so for us, connectivity is about developing ways to help them get the very best out of Dyson machines. And i.d. curl delivers ease of use and a truly personalised journey and experience,’ says Chen Nyeow.

But wait, there’s more, as Dyson will also be dropping ‘Chitosan’, its first-ever line of hair styling products, at the same time as the 'Airwrap i.d.' Made with ‘Triodetic’ technology, the range takes its name from the cellular compound that gives the oyster mushroom its signature structure. The formulas of the debut products – four pre-styling creams with different conditioning levels and a hydrating post-style serum – build a network of ‘flexible bonds’ to preserve Dyson-created styles without overloading hair.

‘Whilst some other styling products use simple polymers that stick the strands of hair together like glue, Dyson’s formulas work Differently,’ says James Dyson. ‘When used in Dyson Chitosan formulas, the complex macromolecule helps create flexible bonds that support hair strand by strand, for two times the hold, with movement and shine.’

The Dyson 'Airwrap i.d.' and Dyson 'Chitosan' styling range will be available in-store and online from August 27 2024 in the United Kingdom.

dyson.co.uk.

For those looking to make a dramatic change to their hair colour, Bleach London is considered one of the best salons to head to, with brick-and-mortar locations in both the UK capital and Los Angeles. But, the brand hasn’t forgotten its roots, which began at founder Alex Brownsell’s kitchen sink.

The session stylist and colourist (who has now collaborated with everyone from Gucci and Versace to Celine and Marc Jacobs) would dip-dye her friends’ hair in technicolour shades during the 2010s, creating one of the most coveted trends of the moment in the process. Before then, as a teenager, Brownsell cut her teeth working at her mum’s salon, where she would use her fledgling skills to rectify ‘bad box dye jobs’, done by clients at home. ‘No one ever seemed to get the results they wanted,’ she says. ‘Usually [getting] flat colours or darker shades than planned. So, from a young age, I got a sense there might be a problem in the market that needed fixing.’ 

Bleach London No Bleach hair dye

This is perhaps why Bleach London’s range of at-home products is so comprehensively thought-out when it comes to formulations. This includes its latest launch, which might just be its smartest to date. ‘No Bleach London’ is a range of seven box dyes that create permanent colour changes with absolutely no bleach whatsoever, thus minimising the damage to your hair without forgoing vibrancy and longevity. 

‘When we switched our focus from bleach and tone and semi-permanent colour products to permanent colour products, we noticed that no permanent hair dyes were made for transforming your colour. Box kits are typically focused on colour matching and covering greys. Yet 48 per cent of the UK population has brown hair and needs a product that will transform their colour without the use of bleach. This range addresses that gap, it's for those who want all of the colour but none of the bleach,’ says Brownsell.

It may sound too good to be true, but Brownsell took around three years to develop this unique formula, and the proof is in the science. The No Bleach range is split into ‘Go Lighter’ or ‘Go Darker’ formulas, with the developer that the colour is paired with determining whether it will darken or lighten your hair. ‘A high level of developer will be too powerful to darken hair and a low level will be too weak to lighten hair, meaning customers will get disappointing results,’ says Brownsell. ‘By tailoring our range, we have been able to pair the right developer with the right pigment to ensure great results. This is something we don’t see any market leaders doing and it’s the main reason so many people don’t get the colour they want from box kits.’

In addition, two different kinds of pigments have been combined in the dyes. ‘There is a traditional permanent colour pigment that will penetrate and lock in deeper into the hair to ensure longevity of colour and there is direct dye pigment that will attach itself to the outer layers of the hair shaft, to add extra vibrancy to the shade,’ says Brownsell. The dyes are also vegan, containing the likes of ‘Hero Sea Silk’, an extract from red algae that restores hair fibres, and cocamide, a rich emollient that adds iridescent to the colour and deep conditions.

The shades themselves span blonde, brown, red, and black. Brownsell drew inspiration from the likes of Sharon Tate, Priscilla Presley, FKA Twigs and Bella Baxter from Poor Things when creating the colours. ‘We also looked at the contemporary colour trends we see in our salons or my session work with fashion clients,’ she says. ‘We aimed to offer modern, trend-led shades that were missing from the market. If I had to describe the colour shades, I would say they’re truly dimensional. Each has been designed to deliver the depth, richness and reflection specific to that shade.’ 

The kits come with different instructions for ‘Go Darker’ and ‘Go Lighter’ shades, so even for at-home first-timers, the application is pretty foolproof. Although, Brownsell has some additional tips. ‘I often see people not using enough product when colouring their own hair. Use plenty of product! Ensure your hair is fully saturated and you’ll get a beautiful result,’ she says. ‘Using a Super Cool Colour as a second step is a great way to customise a shade and we have lots of existing shades that work well with our permanent range. For example, Tangerine Dream will add extra vibrancy to Natural Copper. You can also pair White Heat with Natural Blonde, or I Saw Red with Vivid Red.’

Bleach London is planning to expand the No Bleach colour range, too. ‘We have a long list of dream colours in the works. We’d love to further expand the range in line with customer feedback and trends, creating a definitive permanent range that works for all ages and hair types, cementing our position as a truly modern force in the market and removing the traditional stigma around box dyes (both with bleach and without).’

Bleach London No Bleach hair dyes are available now.

bleachlondon.com

Guido Palau requires little introduction. But, with a career in hair as illustrious as his, it’s always worth recapping a little. A session stylist for almost three decades, he has created the hair for some of the most enduring fashion and beauty imagery in history. One of his first jobs was working with The Supers – Naomi, Linda, Cindy, et al – in George Michael’s Freedom 90! music video, before he went on to define the lived-in insouciance of the grunge era with photographer David Sims and Kate Moss.

To this day, he counts the likes of Sims and Steven Meisel among his collaborators, and is responsible for dreaming up the looks for runway shows and campaigns, including Prada. In December last year (2023) Palau brought his editorial eye to Zara, for a range of limited edition festive hair products called ‘Glitter In Gold’, which included a glitter spray and gel, amongst others.

Guido Palau is shaping a new beauty chapter for Zara

It turns out that this was just the beginning of a new chapter for Zara’s beauty offering. On March 4 (2024), Everyday Basics, which is described as an evergreen group of essential products, will cement the Spanish brand as a major player in the haircare space. ‘I wanted the collection to be really easy to use,’ Palau explains over a Zoom call. ‘With all my years of experience talking to people about what they want from hair products, I knew what the big no-nos were. It couldn’t be too sticky, leave a residual, or feel too oily. So the range has a real touchability to it, and they smell amazing.’ (Nose Jérôme Epinette, who has already put his name to several Zara perfumes, is behind the fragrance.)

Palau goes on to explain that Everyday Basics draws direct inspiration from the essential items in his personal session stylist kit. ‘So it’s six key products I felt that people could do multiple things with,’ he says. ‘They can be used on their own or they can be teamed up together. You could use the Blow-Dry Spray and the Volumising Mousse for your heat styling. The mousse is great for root lift, but still has a softness and a shine to it. And then you could add texture to the result with the Dry Texturising Spray, before finishing it all off with the Hair Balm for sheen, nourishment and to tame flyaways. There’s also the Curl Activator, which is great for textured hair and encourages defined curls to form. You can just put it in and just leave it to air dry. The Hair Spray has hold, but brushes out without residual.’

The Everyday Basics campaign was shot by Baron & Baron and comprises models with three different hairstyles, from blowouts to braids. The vivid, multicoloured packaging was also designed by Baron & Baron, who worked with Palau to create an elevated aesthetic. ‘I wanted to make the packaging appealing in a way that you can build up a collection of products that look great on your shelves,’ he says. ‘The product is the minimal part, in that it performs very well and does exactly what it says. But Zara is a fashion brand, after all, so we needed to keep a fashion edge to the design.’

Palau also reveals that whilst Everyday Basics forms the beating heart of Zara Hair, there is much more yet to come. ‘Again, with Zara being a fashion brand, it’s not just about hair products but hair accessories, too.’ Indeed, Zara’s gold hair collection from December contained matching gold bobby pins, that can be used to a rather dazzling effect. ‘We're making further drops of limited-edition products down the line, including some exciting collaborations,’ he says. We’ll be watching. And whilst our breath might be bated, thanks to Zara and Guido Palau, we’ll also have great hair.

The Zara Hair Everyday Basics collection by Guido Palau is available from March 4, 2024 on zara.com.

Every minute, Chāmpo sells a bottle of its Pitta Growth Serum, a scalp treatment designed to encourage hair growth. It is the kind of stat every beauty business dreams of and one Chāmpo that has achieved in just four years. So what’s the secret? In part, it is that its founder Kuldeep Knox, has created a product that addresses a problem many people (including women) have, but few brands actually address: hair loss.

A number of years back, Knox started to experience drastic hair thinning. Quickly, she realised that many of the women she knew had also gone through the same.  ‘My experience of hair thinning just really knocked my self confidence,’ Knox tells me over a call from her office in London, ‘and it made me realise how important a hair is to self-identity.’

Chāmpo is the fastest growing hair brand in the UK

‘I started talking to friends of mine and I was really surprised that pretty much every single woman I spoke to was also suffering with hair loss concerns, but there wasn't a product on the market that was high performance, natural, and also looked like something we wanted to have on our bathroom shelves.’ So, Knox set out to create the product herself. How exactly she was going to do that though, didn’t become clear until a visit from her grandmother. ‘It was during the time of my own hair thinning that grandmother visited from India,’ Knox says. ‘I noticed that she just had the most incredible long, dark, thick hair even though she was in her late 70s, so I started speaking to her about her hair secrets and the Ayurvedic ingredients and rituals that she'd been using. That was the moment I really started my own personal wellness journey.’

Knox began researching the techniques her grandmother taught her, and quickly discovered that they derived from ancient teachings of Ayurveda. The vision for Chāmpo suddenly became clear, and Knox spent the next eighteen months working with expert trichologists and natural chemists on over 150 rounds of formulations to develop six products that set a new benchmark for what natural haircare performance could really be. 

To those unfamiliar with Ayurveda and its relation to hair care, Knox describes it thus: ‘Ayurveda is an ancient healing system that encompasses yoga, diet, massage, herbal remedies and looks at health holistically, focusing on prevention rather than cure. Ayurveda uses three different doshas to describe different body and character types and tailor recommendations to each. With Chāmpo, we’ve channelled this Ayurvedic diagnostic system to tailor haircare to the specific needs of different hair types: Pitta, Kapha and Vitta.’ 

Pitta products are for fine, delicate hair that needs strengthening and protection. The Pitta dosha’s element is fire, a consumer of energy, and Pitta hair types are associated with hair that has been depleted and worn by environmental and emotional factors. As such, they are formulated with strengthening haritaki fruit extract to thicken hair and sandalwood to kickstart circulation at the scalp.

Then there’s Kapha for thick, heavy hair that may be oily and frizzy. The Kapha dosha, associated with earth and water, represents imbalance and as such is designed to protect against humidity and pollution, while also treating excess oil production from the scalp with turmeric root extract, whilst ends are softened with a mild form of coconut oil. Finally, there’s Vitta for damaged, lacklustre hair, damaged by heat styling and sun exposure. It’s also formulated with coconut to offer a heavy dose of moisture, plus smoothing macadamia seed oil. 

Beyond the dosha shampoos and conditioners, there is a brow serum that, almost miraculously, thickens brows and fills in gaps within a few weeks time. There’s also a styling cream, and new hair growth supplements that taste so good it’s hard to eat just the recommended two per day. And then, of course, there is the serum. The hero product that has earned Chāmpo its cult following. Formulated with caffeine, creatine and haritaki extract, the serum visibly increases the density of hair within a month of regular use. You don’t have to wait that long to see some results though, with hair looking smoother and shinier after only a few uses.

And therein lies the ultimate reason behind Chāmpo’s meteoric success: these products actually work. As Knox herself says, ‘being announced as the fastest growing beauty company in the UK was such a proud moment for us because it took years of consistent, fast and profitable growth. I was really determined to create something that would deliver results to customers in a moment of need, because I know from my own experience how much hair loss can knock your self confidence. So I’m really proud that it's helped hundreds of thousands of people.’

champohaircare.com

Dyson has announced the launch of its ‘Supersonic r’ hair dryer, a tech-focused beauty innovation with an ergonomic design that curves its way around to form an ‘r’ shape. The brand first elevated the hair styling game with the release of its ‘Supersonic’ hair dryer in 2016, beloved by users the world over for its reduced heat damage and speedy drying time. 

The Dyson Supersonic r allows for effortless styling and pin-point direction to easily achieve the perfect frizz-free blow-dry. It weighs 325 grams (less than a bottle of hairspray) and uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. And stylists and their teams working backstage at the imminent A/W 2024 fashion show season in New York, London, Milan and Paris are set to be the first to put the hair dryer through its paces.

Dyson ‘Supersonic r’ hair dryer, an ‘adaptive tool’

The development process has been thorough, with Dyson Beauty beginning the research for the Supersonic r in 2017. Its team surveyed and interviewed over 600 hair stylists to fully understand their environment, habits and needs. It turns out that a stylist can adapt their angle with the dryer up to 30 times during one styling session (and as such, carpal tunnel syndrome can be highly prevalent in the industry).

‘Our in-depth professional stylist trials, research and insights informed the intuitive adjustments on the Dyson Supersonic r professional hair dryer,’ notes Amy Johnson, global head of Hair Care Artistry. ‘This part of the development journey has allowed Dyson to provide professionals with an agile and adaptive tool that responds to real-world demands, delivering superior styling experience and results.’

Dyson is adored for its intelligent heat-control technology, which is continued within the new model, but with a high-tech embellishment. A new streamlined heater – the Dyson Hyperdymium motor – is coupled with RFID sensors within each attachment and communicates with the hair dryer for automatic adjustment to the motor and heater, to deliver the best airflow and temperature for your hair. What’s more, the depth-loaded filter is engineered to capture salon pollutants such as hair sprays and airborne styling products in a 3D mesh, protecting machine performance and meaning the equipment lasts up to two times longer between cleans.

‘The Supersonic r Professional hair dryer builds on the technology and knowledge we have developed, offering fast drying and styling benefits for all hair types with no heat damage,’ continues Gavin Galligan, senior design and development manager at Dyson Beauty. ‘Our new streamlined heater technology developed for this machine is a world-first, combined with our high-speed motors enable the lightweight form factor, and fast precise airflow.’

The Dyson Supersonic r will be available to purchase exclusively by professional stylists from March 2024.

dyson.co.uk

There are more beauty salons in Japan than there are konbinis (convenience stores). Currently, the ratio is around 250,000 beauty salons to 56,000 konbinis. In Omotesando, Tokyo, a battleground for beauty salons, it is said that there are more than 300 within a kilometer radius.

The Japanese obsession with beautiful hair goes back to ancient times, with different historical periods known for different artistic and experimental hairstyles. One notable example of hair art that remains deeply rooted in Japanese society today is the so-called 'geisha hair', which differs depending on social status, age, and other factors.

To get a closer look at Japanese hair art over time, Prissilya Junewin, a Berlin-based, Indonesian-born Chinese photographer, visited three cities in Japan and documented hair artisans’ craftsmanship through different generations and specialisations. 

This article is the first in a three-part series that looks behind the scenes of their work and philosophy. First stop, Kyoto wigmaker’s Kyokatsura Imanishi.

Kyokatsura Imanishi, Kyoto: hair art traditions passed down through generations 

Among the many unique regional cities of Japan, Kyoto holds an exceptional position. In the local redlight districts, such as Gion, there are an abundance of ‘teahouses’ where geishas entertain their customers every day. They are known for their secrecy, and many do not allow first-time visitors without a recommendation from their regular customers. 

Thanks to this system, the industry remains shrouded in mystery. Yasuo Imanishi and his son Yasunori are two of the few people who are allowed to intervene in such a mysterious world. They specialise in making wigs for geiko (senior geishas), differently from maiko (junior geishas), who have their hair done with natural hair. A whopping 90 per cent of all geiko in Kyoto are their clients.

Salon founder Yasuo is a veteran with 70 years of experience in this field. Shortly after the war, he started training at a wig shop in his neighbourhood out of a need to simply make a living. ‘I didn’t know anything about wigmaking back then,’ he says. ‘When I started my training, there was a high demand for Japanese wigs, after the usual New Year’s break we had to work without a day off until summer, from 8am to midnight. I worked three times as hard as others.’ 

After his training, he independently opened Kyokatsura Imanishi in 1966. Currently, the store is run by his eldest son, Yasunori, who has over 30 years of experience.

Yasunori half-jokingly describes himself as ‘naive’. ‘Many people in the field train elsewhere before taking over the family business, but in our case, I was trained at this store from the beginning because of my father’s policy of not wanting me to follow other people’s methods,’ he explains. 

His father has never taught him any of the techniques or know-how verbally. ‘I have never been told by my master to do this or that,’ Yasuo says. ‘Without any guidebooks, I had to learn by watching every step. I just did the same thing to my son, not meddling with him too much, but letting him learn by practising.’

Most of their daily work consists of the maintenance of geiko wigs delivered from the teahouses. ‘Geiko use their wigs every day and re-tie them once a month. Most of them have to be returned within a day or so,’ Yasunori explains while his father sits next to him, constantly combing the hair of a wig. ‘When we arrive at work in the morning, the first thing we do is untie all the wigs and wipe off the old grease. Then put on new oil and use our antique hot iron to straighten the hair. Then we curl the hair and tie it up again. We do this process endlessly, from morning to evening.'

Their wigs are highly regarded by discerning geiko in Kyoto for their meticulous craftsmanship and carefully composed shapes that suit the look of each customer. ‘We know most of the faces of the customers who send us their wigs in for maintenance,’ they say. ‘If we don't know their faces, we ask for a portrait and work on it based on the photo,’ Yasuo continues. ‘To some extent, I can adjust the hair following their requests to make a face look a certain shape. However, we believe that our clients come to us because they like our style, so usually, they let us do what we think is best.’

When we asked the Imanishi family about their future prospects, they replied with concern: ‘We don't know yet.’ Like other traditional crafts, the future of this industry remains uncertain. ‘After all, our core client base is geiko, but their numbers are decreasing nationwide. Since the geisha world is declining, our business is also naturally downsizing. Sadly, that is the reality.’ 

The family are now focusing their efforts on promoting wigs for weddings. ‘Back in the day, when the economy was booming, many brides and grooms spent a lot of money on their weddings, and there were a lot of orders for wedding wigs. But nowadays, the number of people who hold weddings themselves is decreasing, especially for brides who wear kimonos and have their hair done in traditional Japanese style, which is less than 20 per cent of the total. That’s why we have started an Instagram page and are uploading videos to YouTube to promote our products,’ says Yasunori.

‘I became a part of this important Japanese culture without noticing it,’ Yasuo replies when asked why they kept working as wigmakers for such a long time. ‘In the past, we used to have seven or eight employees, but they have all left and are now working other jobs; the situation is the same for other traditional craft stores around me, so I desperately hope one of my sons will eventually take over and keep this tradition alive. That is my motivation now.’ 

Hearing this, his son laughs and intervenes, ‘Really? To be honest, this is all I can do. It’s all I’ve been doing for so long. But when geiko and the brides send us messages on social media thanking us for our work, that motivates me.’ 

Yasuo nods in agreement and says, ‘When the customers are happy, we are happy too, and that's what matters to us.’

kyokatsura_imanishi

On-set interpretation: Tsukasa Tanimoto. Production: Mothership Tokyo

From Pre-Raphaelite beauties to Ziggy Stardust and Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, flaming red hair has been synonymous with rebellion and a fancifully eccentric interpretation of beauty. 

Yet all the romanticism of red hair can easily be quashed by the practicality of maintaining it. Copper and red hair dye fade much faster than their blond or brown counterparts, making daily hair maintenance its own complicated science. So with that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of products for every artificial red head to keep in their bathroom cabinet, including dry shampoos to use in-between less frequent washes, colour protecting shampoos, and hydrating hair oils.

Hair expert James Forward at Hershesons also recommends using a gloss or toner in between root touch-ups to keep the colour fresh and vibrant. Either pop into the salon for a toner every two weeks, or do it yourself at home using one of the products below. 

Pre-shampoo treatment

R + Co's Pre-Shampoo Colour Protect Masque is designed to fortify and seal in colour before washing to ensure that minimum colour is rinsed out during shampooing. In addition, it is formulated with amino acids and white oak bark to hydrate and smooth hair.  

net-a-porter.com

Colour preserving shampoos and conditioners

Alchemic shampoo conditioner in copper or red by Davines

Davines’ colour-enhancing shampoo and conditioner for red and copper tones is a great choice for maintaining colour vibrancy while simultaneously keeping hair hydrated and healthy. Leave the conditioner on for five minutes or more after shampooing to ensure you retain colour after washing. If you like your shades slightly brighter, ask your stylist to add a vibrant red or copper hair dye into the mixture for an added boost of colour. 

davines.com

Semi-permenant toner

Color + clenditioner by Keracolor

Keracolor’s color + clenditioner is a semi-permanent colour treatment that can be used in-between salon visits to maintain colour, or applied at-home to pre-bleached hair for a new wash of colour. After shampooing, leave it on for three to 20 minutes depending on how bright you want the colour to be. It is available in copper or a vibrant tomato red. 

keracolorhair.com

dpHUE’s Gloss+

Another colour booting gloss is  dpHUE’s Gloss+. Free from ammonia and peroxide, this semi-permanent treatment promises to last up to ten shampoos. Its deep conditioning base makes it especially well-suited to dry or damaged hair. Leave on for 3-20 minutes depending on desired colour richness. 

dphue.com

Dry shampoo 

Detox Dry Shampoo by We Are Paradoxx 

The fade-ability of red and copper hair means that it is best to limit washes as much as possible. We Are Paradoxx’s Detox Dry Shampoo is formulated with activated charcoal and kaolin clay to remove dirt and prevent flat, greasy hair. Sprinkle the powder formula onto the roots and shake into the scalp with fingertips. 

lookfantastic.com

Prêt-à-Powder Très Invisible by Bumble and Bumble

Those who prefer a spray-on dry shampoo can opt for Bumble and Bumble’s Prêt-à-Powder Très Invisible dry shampoo. The sprayable formula uses French pink clay to absorb oil and protect hair from UV damage, making it particularly good for coloured hair during summer months.

spacenk.com

Hair hydrators 

Hair Oil by Bread

Bread is a Black-owned hair care brand whose much loved Hair Oil is particularly well-suited to curly or textured hair. Apply to damp hair to moisturise post-wash or dry hair for a boost of shine between washes. The colour-safe formula is a good way to keep hair hydrated and protected from breakage caused by colouring. 

breadbeautysupply.com

Split End Seal by Oribe 

Oribe’s Split End Seal colour treatment is a powerful serum that protects against the brittle texture and damaged look of frequently coloured hair. Specifically formulated for colour treated tresses, the Split End Seal will also help hair retain colour while it moisturises. And if that wasn’t enough, it smells great too.  

cultbeauty.com

Charlie Le Mindu’s hair creations include Lady Gaga’s iconic lip-shaped bouffant, a ponytail whip for Julia Fox, stylized chest hair for London-based label Art School, head-to-toe hair suits for the Berlin State Ballet and many, many more hallucinatory dreamscapes turned hairy realities. 

This week, some of Le Mindu’s most memorable creations will be displayed at Artcurial in Paris with an auction to follow on 5 October. Ahead of the opening we caught up with him to discuss the advice he would give to his younger self, his ideal conditions for creating, and more.

At home with Charlie Le Mindu 

Where are you at the moment? What can you see?

I am in a plane, which is currently boarding at Teterboro Airport, NJ, USA. I am listening to Underspreche while looking at the screen in front of me, trying to find a movie I haven’t seen yet. Out of the window, I can see Jets flying away.

Why did you become a hairstylist?

Because I am obsessed with hair. This medium is all about emotion. I aim to spark emotions in people, or as I like to say: ‘hairmotion.’ I want to make the viewers feel good, or make them think, question what they see.

Also, I wanted to do a job in which I can be free and be able to work and make cash anywhere on the planet in any circumstances. Freedom is really important to me.

How do you define beauty?

Beauty is first and foremost health. I would say it is a clear state of mind. It is not only appearance or an aesthetic: beauty is a feeling that you project on who surrounds you.

Who is your dream collaborator?

I would love to do something with the Japanese architect Tadao Ando: the organic looking architecture he does would create a fantastic dialog with my sculptures.

What are your ideal conditions for creating? How do you get yourself out of a creative slump?

I just let my mind flow, allow it to be free and curious. It will associate visuals or concepts that pop to create fresh ideas. My brain works super-fast, it is a very visual and organic process. It is quite evident to me.

In case of creative block, I need to rest well and be bored. Sometimes, when I need more inspirations, I try to take time off and do nothing: it is very rare, but it can help ideas to pop up in my mind.

If you could go back in time and speak to your younger self, what advice would you give him?

Don’t work only for exposure, it is a pointless joke: everything has to be a balanced exchange. If you are approached by a billionaire or big corporations, and they ask you to work for free because ‘it is good for you’, tell them to talk to someone else.

What project are you most proud of?

Overall, I think I am very proud of my sculptures and the unique identity I created around my work.

I am particularly excited about my next project with Artcurial in Paris: I will have a very exclusive auction sale of some of my most iconic archives. We selected pieces that were emblematic in recent pop culture, worn by some of the most creative and innovative performers you can find. We also picked some items that were displayed in famous cultural spaces, such as the V&A, the Fondation Cartier, the Centre Pompidou, the Palais de Tokyo... It’s mega.

It is a weird feeling to let them go, but I am so happy to give them a new chapter in the hands of the public.

What’s been your biggest failure and what did it teach you?

I really learned to take time for myself, even if it’s not much. The body needs some rest: working in an exhausting environment will kill your ideas at some point. Reset and refresh. Also, always express what you like and be direct. It is okay and necessary to compromise sometimes, but only if there is an understanding and if you know that the result will work out and be worth it.

Can you talk us through your creative process?

It is a long, expensive and rare process. I researched and managed to create unique techniques behind all my sculptures made out of human hair: I draw, I make, I try, I explore. Things evolve until I find the best way to realise what I imagined. It is also very creative: I do a lot of testing to reach the perfect result, this technicality is part of my signature.

What is your favourite beauty trend right now?

For myself, I personally love Ambuja skincare at the moment. For my clients it is more about hair products. I am currently obsessed with L’Oréal Professional’s Metal Detox and Studio 9. And my customers are too. The best beauty tip I can give you is drinking a gallon of water every day. It has changed my life.

How has your understanding of beauty changed over time?

It hasn’t changed much: scientists behind beauty brands make products always easier and better for us to use, which is amazing. I would love to find a brand with better sustainability, with little to no waste. I haven’t found one yet that can offer a mix of the high technicality my level of work requires and a real environmental solution. So, I am still waiting for one to launch.

What do you turn to for comfort?

I listen to Sleep by Max Richter.

What are you obsessed with right now?

Designing costumes for ballet. At the moment, I am working on a new upcoming production with Les Ballets de Monte- Carlo in Monaco. The ballet is choreographed by Jeroen Verbruggen and the set design will be signed by Wolfgang Menardi. I am really looking forward to this collaboration as it is very creative and avant-garde. I am very excited to see it all come together.

Can you tell us more about your upcoming projects?

There are so many exciting projects that are in development at the moment. I am currently working on a new piece for the Ballet in Monaco as I mentioned. I also am doing the art direction and costume design for a cabaret number in Miami, which will have its debut at the end of this year.

Some of my work also has been selected to be presented in an upcoming exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2023, which is very exciting.And of course, there is the auction sale at Artcurial, which will be preceded by an exhibition installed in their space at the Champs-Elysée. The showing will be open to the public prior to the sale during Paris Fashion Week this month.

There will be Blonde Lips, but also some other iconic pieces, such as my Lion Mane’s inspired suits - that were worn on amazing collaborations such as the LIB ballet choreographed by Ekman-, fluorescent hair creatures from the abyss, or even a dress made of 30,000 hand-embroidered nails. 

INFORMATION

artcurial.com

Material science company The Unseen Beauty has just launched a colour-changing hair product. Colour Alchemy is available in five iridescent shades that morph into molten colours according to temperature and sunlight.

The product is suitable for even very dark hair, and the colour range for each is kaleidoscopic, with shades such as Borealis, which transforms from clover green to flame orange to imperial violet, and Phoenix, which transitions from burnt orange to pollen yellow to ultraviolet. 

Colour Alchemy comes a year after the launch of The Unseen’s 'dual reality’ eyeshadow, which appears one way in photographs and another way in real life. This addition of hair 'make-up' to the company’s catalogue furthers its mission to innovate the way that the beauty industry utilises colour. 

'I started The Unseen to create products that open new possibilities in beauty and transform how you see the world,’ says founder Lauren Bowker. 'I wanted to develop true innovations – exploring colour, playing with light and revealing a side of beauty or yourself that you’ve never seen before. We wanted to create a colour that was alive, that moved with you as you move through your world. Why does colour have to be static?’ 

For Bowker, Colour Alchemy is ‘the world’s first hair colour that is truly alive’, because it responds instantly to its surrounding environment, transforming along with you as you move through the world. The product was inspired by the phenomenon of structural colour that appears in beetles, peacocks, and butterflies. Simply put, their pearlescent appearance is a result of the way their coats reflect a certain wavelength of light.

Colour Alchemy mimics that phenomenon through a formula composed of thousands of micro prisms, which expand and shrink in relation to temperature, allowing them to reflect different wavelengths of light in a manner that has never before been seen in a hair product.

Following the debut of Colour Alchemy, Bowker promises there are more pioneering launches coming up.

'We have a wealth of innovations to come and we are focused on dropping products that truly transform their sector. We will do this in time, when they are ready. We won’t conform to the boundaries of a usual beauty business model; instead, we see ourselves as a collaborative community creating a movement in beauty – bringing together people who like us have an insatiable curiosity to explore the world.’

INFORMATION

theunseenbeauty.co.uk

In partnership with Varier

Varier introduces a new series of its ‘Ekstrem’ chair, an iconic piece considered Norway’s first postmodern design. Best known for producing Peter Opsvik’s kneeling office chair, ‘Variable’, the company has been a destination for ‘out of the ordinary’ furniture that encourages a flexible approach to living spaces. 

Conceived in 1972 by Terje Ekstrøm (1944 – 2013), and produced from 1984, the ‘Ekstrem’ chair was designed as a snake-like form whose soft, geometric composition allows for the body to sit, or lounge, in many ways. 

Terje Ekstrøm’s radical design

Graduating from Oslo’s National College of Art and Design in the late 1960s, Ekstrøm had a background as a cabinet maker and upholsterer, and combined his design approach with a deep passion for craft. He operated in the 1970s and 1980s, at a time of significant cultural and social change in Norway, and his work reflected the radical ideas of a new generation of designers who wanted to contrast the aesthetics of Scandinavian design with a more disruptive approach to furniture and objects. 

The chair’s playful name, meaning ‘extreme’ in Norwegian, references the designer’s name, and his design follows the principles of the radical freedom movement of the time. The chair’s original advertising campaign showcased a dozen different seating options, from traditional posture to front-to-back and sideways approaches. 

‘Designers sought to dissociate from ideologies and develop a freer language of form that was less committed to convention,’ observes design historian Denise Hagströmer in the book Ekstrøm Extreme, accompanying an exhibition on the designer’s work at Oslo’s National Museum. This, combined with the emerging trend towards ergonomic design, influenced Ekstrøm’s work towards creating the unorthodox forms of the chair. 

Varier ‘Ekstrem’ chair: a new colour series

Varier now launches a new series of the chair, upholstered in Gentle 2, from Kvadrat Febrik. The new ‘Ekstrem’ is available in six new colourways including four desaturated colours (orange, rose, blue and green), as well as black and white monochromatic colourways.

Febrik’s Gentle 2 is a choice that fits well with the chair’s flexible nature: the knitted velvet upholstery textile is the only one of its kind, and is defined by a voluminous presence, elegantly clinging to the chair’s curves, shining on its sinuous forms. It’s a fitting celebration of a design icon whose aesthetic and construction is as modern today as it was when it was first created. 

INFORMATION

RRP starts at €2,999
varierfurniture.com

Julien d’Ys is saying goodbye to fashion. The influential hair stylist has been one of the industry’s great renegades since the early 1980s, boasting a portfolio that includes a decades-long collaboration with Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo, wig designs for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute, the creation of Linda Evangelista’s bob (which she credits with quadrupling her rate), and the hair on Madonna’s Re-Invention tour, as well as working with some of fashion’s greatest photographers, such as Irving Penn, Peter Lindbergh, Annie Leibovitz, Paolo Roversi and Steven Meisel.

Julien d’Ys creates sculptures for Wallpaper*

But d’Ys (born Pierrick Le Verge) always thought of himself as an artist first, and he’d been growing increasingly disappointed with an industry he feels hems him in. ‘My whole life, working for magazines and designers, I’ve created for them,’ he says. So we invited him to create images without direction. ‘Working with Wallpaper*, I was free to do something very personal, to show that my creativity can go very far away and be very extreme.’

To create the pieces here – also showcased in the March 2022 issue of Wallpaper* and on the limited-edition subscribers’ cover – d’Ys walked the streets of Manhattan, from Chinatown to Harlem, sourcing miscellanea from open-air markets and antique shops, finding creative potential in what others, with less of an eye for the miraculousness in the marginal, might simply call junk. He also went back into his extensive archives, pulling out iconic wigs and headpieces that once graced catwalks and magazine pages.

He found pieces like the towering wigs of The Bee, originally designed for an editorial shoot, which d’Ys has now repurposed into a plague doctor-like mask and outfitted with a set of chopstick wings. And the bouffant wig on La Dame de L’Opéra, which previously adorned a Gibson Girl at the Costume Institute, but now sits on a mannequin that d’Ys painted and draped in flea market pearls. Over the course of two days, d’Ys worked in a trance-like frenzy to collage the pieces into avatars of the many characters that populate his mind.

These characters include Gainsbourg, the corn-smoking loafer with features made out of mushrooms from a Chinatown market. And La Plume du Ris, an amorphous, bird-like figure inspired by the blocky abstraction of Picasso’s portraits, featuring a white feather in homage to Plage du Ris, a beach near d’Ys’ hometown in Brittany, black wings made from dried seaweed, and hair made out of noodles.

As with most of d’Ys’ work, he began with little notion of what the finished project would look like. Rather, he allowed the look and story of the work to metamorphose as he created it, careening from one character portrait to another. Throughout the process he made sketches in his ‘Wallpaper*’ notebook, recording the development of a piece or the bubbling of a new idea.

Every step of the process was captured by his longtime collaborator, photographer Ilker Akyol. D’Ys’ final creations are dream visions that blend his historic oeuvre with the quotidian detritus of modern life to create something beguiling and novel. In his opinion, the role of the artist is to offer a glimpse into an alternate reality, one that is more spectacular than what we encounter in our everyday lives.

‘I think people need to dream more. To see more beautiful things. You look in a magazine [today] and see reality, you see the same things you just saw on the street. Everything looks real now, everything looks normal, everything looks like the way we live. For me, when you show something in a magazine, you have to be different, you have to make people react, to [motivate] their creativity.’

So we invite you to take a journey down this visual escape hatch created by Julien d’Ys and see what inspiration you find. As he puts it himself, ‘What I did here is like dreaming, it is very strange. Maybe people are going to get it, or maybe not, but I hope so.’

INFORMATION

@juliendys; @ilkerakyl

A version of this story appears in the March 2022 Style Issue of Wallpaper*: subscribe today!

‘For me, this is primarily a sketchbook of ideas, and the young models I worked with were willing to be the beginning part of that sketch,’ says Guido Palau about his new book #Hairtests, out 4 December. ‘My imagination was fuelled by their hair. The impulse was to create characters in a purely instinctive way.’ 

Indeed, Palau has made a career out of constructing characters through hair. His distinctive, peculiar styles have made him go-to hairstylist for Prada, as well Balenciaga, Valentino, and more. 

#Hairtests is a collection of Palau’s own iPhone photographs, taken from behind-the-scenes of these shows and more. They are straight-forward photographs, with the single aim of capturing the artistry of the hairstyles from Palau, who made his name stlying 90s fashion icons such as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Tatjana Patitz. 

Inside #Hairtests

In Palau’s hands, the profile shots of fashion’s idiosyncratic beauties become cooly minimal documentations of today’s anti-perfectionist, self-expressionistic beauty standards. 'Studying the models, I was trying to capture their essence,' says Palau. 'Their features, often angular and unconventional, begged many questions: Are they awkward, geeky, rebellious or anarchic? What I do is often only one squirt away from disappearing. As soon as you put water on it, it’s gone, so, often, I only had seconds to capture that character.'

His grainy iPhone images are like modern reinterpretations of Piero della Francesca or Fra Filippo Lippi, and their depictions of Renaissance noblemen and women, with their regal domineer and sculpted braids or angular bowl-cuts (styles Palau himself has become well-known for). 

As Palau puts it: ‘The images present an artist’s rendering, a visual journal of characters. It’s not about the photograph per se. I simply recorded the results on my phone. I am not a photographer, but just like everyone else in the world, I have this device, like an extension of my hand, which records what is in front of me.’ 

#Hairtests is a worthy addition to the library of any fashion devotee or hair aficionado, enabling you to sneak a backstage look at one of the industry’s most celebrated artists. It is also a fascinating testament to the transformative power of hair. 

‘I’m forever in love with how people can change themselves with their hair,’ says Palau. ‘This is a really exciting time because the boundaries of beauty have really broken down. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. I hope this book captures that.’ 

INFORMATION

ideanow.online

Pressed Roots is a newly opened hair salon in Dallas, Texas that aims to provide quality blowout and treatment services to those with highly textured hair. 

‘Speaking directly to the experience of women of colour, I know first hand the hardships when it comes to finding a reliable stylist who is formally trained in how to care for natural, textured hair,’ says Pressed Roots founder Piersten Gaines.

‘After years of traumatic salon visits, I found a stylist who knew how to care for my textured hair while [I was] attending Harvard Business School. I visited her weekly for blowouts and maintenance, but was once again left with no options when my stylist relocated. I realised there was a huge underserved market who were searching for the same care: a reliable, affordable, luxury experience. This led to the creation of Pressed Roots.’

The brand started with travelling pop-up shops in cities such as Boston and Atlanta, before opening a permanent location in Dallas last year, and has plans to open two more Texas locations. The interiors are designed by Coevál Studio, which combined a ‘feminine palette’ of soft pinks and beiges with bold, weighty structures that add an element of punchiness. The open-plan layout facilitates visibility and communication between the various zones. 

For Gaines, it was vital that the space was welcoming and fostered a sense of community. ‘Pressed Roots believes everyone deserves access to quality haircare and luxury services that celebrate their beauty,’ says Gaines. ‘By reimagining the traditional salon experience, Pressed Roots is creating an inclusive community and challenging the broader beauty and haircare industries that have excluded ethnic hair textures for decades.’

Treatments include the brand’s signature silk blowout for either silky straight hair, loose curls or beach waves; as well as hair trims, deep conditioning treatments, extensions, and more. The brand also offers a mini press service for girls under eight years old. 

While the haircare industry has undergone immense changes since 2020, it is an undeniable fact that there is still much to be done, whether that is brands creating products for a more diverse audience or more beauty schools teaching technicians how to work with textured hair.

‘While there’s plenty of national blowout bars, none of them specialise in caring for natural, textured hair,’ says Gaines. ‘Styling highly textured hair is an art – one that is still not part of the mandatory curriculum in cosmetology schools across the USA.

‘What that means for most women of colour is a salon experience that is hit or miss. When you do find a stylist who understands your hair, they are worth their weight in gold – which is why they often cost significantly more and focus on other services beyond blowouts. As the first silk blowout bar of its kind, Pressed Roots is uniquely positioned, specialising in the care and styling of highly textured hair at an affordable price.’

INFORMATION

pressedroots.com

coevalstudio.com

‘Here’s the thing about mullets,’ James Pecis – legendary hair stylist and Session Stylist for Oribe – told us over a recent Zoom call. ‘You say mullet and everyone laughs… but really it’s just a super heavy fringe with some length in the back. It doesn't always have to be an extreme Canadian hockey player or Australian surfer mullet.’ 

It’s true that the mullet has been undergoing something of a makeover lately, going from one of the most derided hairstyles of the 20th century to one of the most cultivated cuts of the 21st. Whether you’re thinking of trying a full-blown ‘Canadian hockey player’ look or going for the more subtle ‘shag’ look that Pecis’ describes, it’s best to consider all your options before taking to the scissors. 

To help, we’ve asked hair stylist and fellow Orbie representative Nicci Welsh to talk us through it all.

Mullet or shag?

‘If you are thinking of trying a shag or a mullet, two of the trending cuts of the season, there are a few pointers you need to know,’ says Welsh. 

‘A mullet is cut short in the front and on the sides, but left untouched or longer in the back. Although hair will be longer in the back, you will only see a short hairstyle straight on.

‘A shag haircut stays longer all the way around the edges, with lots of internal layers. These shorter layers create volume around the crown, which you often loose with a longer layered haircut. This look gives the perception of having longer hair,’ Welsh continues.

‘You can take these looks one step further by attempting the shaggy mullet. The shaggy mullet is a choppy layered combination of the two styles.’

Finding the cut that best suits your hair texture

‘Hair types play a big role with the outcome of these styles,’ says Welsh. ‘Going along with this, hair and scalp health are the main foundation of any amazing hairstyle.’ 

Unsurprisingly, Welsh recommends looking to Oribe’s wide range of products to ensure hair is as healthy as possible, and we have to agree that the luxury haircare brand offers the best selection for all hair-health concerns. 

‘A shag haircut creates fullness from the layers, which is great for fine hair,’ says Welsh. ‘Using Oribe Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse will help pump up the volume, giving your hair an even fuller look.

‘If you have thick, straight hair, both the shag and mullet will suit you. Use Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray to bring out the texture in your hair, while adding lift and volume.

‘Curly hair is best for a mullet, as it creates the perception of a narrow shape to your head. If you want to enhance your curls, use Oribe Curl Control Silkening Crème, which includes a beautiful blend of oils that helps define your curls, while controlling frizz.’

Finding the haircut that best suits your face shape

‘If you have a wide jawline, the face-framing layers of a shag can soften the face frame. Finish the shag look off with Oribe Airstyle Flexible Finish Cream. The product’s natural flower wax blend creates touchable, reworkable texture, giving it that on-trend finish,’ advises Welsh.

‘Avoid either look for small or narrow foreheads, as it will create the illusion of a smaller face. Instead, opt for a longer, sweeping curtain fringe that pulls away from your face. 

‘A mullet cut can also even out a long face with a sharp or more prominent jawline. Use Oribe Rough Luxury Molding Wax to bring out a feathery texture to the back while adding some structure to the top.’

‘A perfectionist view of imperfection’ is how Issac Poleon describes the style of his work, and it’s true that this London-based hairstylist has a particular knack for creating flawlessly executed designs with an expressionist, sculptural flair. 

That signature style has earned him an impressive roster of collaborations, including projects with Gucci, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and, now, Browns. 

The beloved London fashion retailer is hosting Poleon’s residency at their new Brook Street location following the limited-time run of Haeckels bespoke facial space. Poleon’s residency will see him offering seven luxurious treatments from wig consultancy to styled extensions and up-do designs. Below, he offers some insight on them all. 

The perfect up-do 

Poleon is a veritable master of up-dos. For those trying to create their own masterful looks at home, he recommends mixing up styles you might not otherwise consider. ‘I like to combine textures when it comes to up-dos,’ Poleon says. ‘I think anything from a tossed ponytail to a braided bun could work for most events and even daytime looks.’ 

Try gathering braids into a sculptural top-knot, or making curly-textured hair into a couple of explosive, pom-pom-esque ponytails. Whatever you do, Polen’s fundamental trick is a simple one–‘a little hair spray and shine will elevate any up-do/ home-do.’ 

Finding a wig that’s right for you 

For Polen, finding the right wig is all about personality. Before selecting wigs, Poleon runs clients through a character analysis of sorts; ‘wig consultancy for me is an in-depth chat about the clients lifestyle, personality, and beauty,’ says Poleon. 

‘I like to work with the structure of the clients features to tailor the unit to them, I consider wash routines, how the client likes to wear their hair, and then customise the unit accordingly with the information provided by them.’ 

If you’re lost as to what kind of wig you want, Poleon always recommends collaging together some inspiration; ‘I often take to mood boards to inspire new looks the client may have not thought about before,’ her says. ‘Consultations are the most important part of the process.’

How to do extensions 

It can be easy to run into pitfalls with extensions, which is why Poleon recommends not overthinking it. ‘My biggest tip would be treat the hair as if it was your own,’ he says. 

‘The most common mistakes I see when it comes to extensions are product usage. I think generally less is more, most hair that is pre-treated and is washed accordingly with the right products, then all is well.’ 

Ultimately, no matter what style you chose, Poleon recommends embracing the versatility of hair and not thinking of change as a risk; ‘for those looking for a radical change I would say be brave, bold and go off. I think change makes room for growth so take the chance and make a change.’

INFORMATION

brownsfashion.com

The hair industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with an 10 estimated percent of salons in the UK alone already closed since the first lockdown, according to the British Beauty Council.

Yet, in the midst of this extraordinarily difficult period, a number of outlets have banded together to offer assistance and encouragement to those in the industry who need it most.

The British Beauty Council is one such figurehead, as the upcoming launch of its #OhHelloBeauty campaign attests to. 

Since last year, the Council has been tirelessly lobbying for government support with the beauty sector. These efforts include a campaign asking the government to cut VAT for hair salons from 20 percent to 5 percent, as they had done for the hospitality industry, and an open letter Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak petitioning for urgent financial support within the industry.

Their latest campaign, #OhHelloBeauty is a collaboration between the Council and M&C Saatchi Group aimed at getting people back in the salons after the months of lockdown closures. Through a series of bold images running across a variety of digital and print platforms, the campaign is both a celebration of salons reopening and a reminder of the support the industry needs at this time. 

Another British beauty powerhouse, Hershesons, has launched its own campaign in response to Covid-19. With NHS Hair for Heroes, stylists from the acclaimed salon donate an hour per week of their working time to give an NHS nurse a free cut and blow-dry. The campaign launched this month and is slated to continue until September 2021.

The brand's founder, Daniel Hersheson, hopes his salon is the first of many to undertake this initiative. 'Hair For Heroes is a way of thanking our NHS nurses and celebrating everything the British hair industry has to offer,' says Hersheson. 'We‘re asking all salons to get on board and spread this campaign as far and wide as possible.' 

Meanwhile, stateside, Harry's is doing its own bit to support the industry. Astor Place Barbers is a New York City icon, precipitating some of the city's most memorable hair trends, from the messily extravagant cuts of the 1970s punk scene to the intricately pattered fades of the 1980s and 90s.

When Harry's heard the East Village salon was in danger of closing, they decided to help cut down on expenses by donating enough product to be used by the 40 stylists working at Astor Place. Thanks in large part to Harry's help and other donations for loyal patrons, Astor Place Barbers is currently safe from closure.

While the hard times aren't quite over yet, these campaigns prove that, no matter the difficulties, the beauty industry will continue to be a bastion of innovation and collaboration.

Celebrated hairstylist, Editor-in-Chief of Off Black Magazine, and now recycled comb entrepreneur, Sarah Jo Palmer launched Re=Comb with fellow hairstylist Christopher Deagle after years of witnessing the exorbitant waste produced during the fashion show circuit.

Season after season, the pair would donate the hair products left backstage to shelters but, while there was certainly value in saving barely used products from the bin, Palmer realised the real problem was the inherent wastefulness of the products themselves. 

‘We were talking about the tools we use for our kit and what the eco-friendly version of those would be,’ says Palmer. ‘There didn’t seem to be any options that were professional and there were very few consumer products out there.’

‘There just seemed to be nothing out there that was a universal tool which was both professional and also consumer-friendly, a versatile product that could be used anywhere from backstage at fashion shows and also equally used in someone's shower at home. So we just kind of jokingly said, let’s start a company...and then that obviously progressed.’ 

It certainly has progressed. Despite launching at the height of the Covid pandemic last year, Re=Comb has quickly garnered a loyal following and seems poised to grow even more in the coming year.

But why combs? ‘We thought we wanted to start with something quite simplistic and something that also would be completely genderless,' says Palmer. ‘Historically hair can be very genderized from salons to hair tools.’

‘We wanted to remove that completely from our brand and create something for everyone. Simplistic, beautiful, useful and for different types of hair textures.'

Yet, Palmer hopes that combs are just the first step in a larger project to create change in the beauty industry. Ideally, waste will soon be a foundational element of beauty production. This will be through the proliferation of recycled combs and other hair tools, but also refillable packaging, subscription services delivered in bio-degradable packaging, and other initiatives that have been making headway in beauty but are not necessarily the status quo. 

That transition from wasteful to sustainable is inarguably necessary but it's also difficult. When asked to describe the process for making a Re=Comb, Palmer immediately starts listing off various different types of plastics, how they are used, and how they can or cannot be recycled.

The sheer amount of information is dizzying and it drives home that there is, in fact, a whole science behind the creation of something as simple as a plastic takeaway container. 

To keep it simple though, Re=Comb uses recycled polypropylene plastic to create its wade-toothed marbled combs. The brand’s recycled plastics are carefully sourced from many varied avenues ranging from household to manufacturing waste, primarily generated from across the UK. These raw plastics are then shredded down, melted it and then form into a comb using an injection mould process. 

Re=Comb’s production process ensures that everything gets used to it’s fullest, even the off-cuts or remnants from the batch before, which are saved and are reused which then, in turn, generates a whole new special colour.

Palmer and Deagle's years of working within the fashion industry have proven essential to Re=Comb. By speaking to their contacts in both fashion and beauty, the team has been able to learn what sustainable practices of other creatives and incorporate them into their own brand. 

One example is Re=Comb's forthcoming replacement system, which is similar to what many luxury fashion brands offer if a handbag handle is broken or a button goes missing. If a Re=Comb is damaged, customers can send it back to the brand for repairs made with newly melted recycled plastic. 

While replacement systems like this are relatively rare in beauty, Palmer believes such recycling will soon become so commonplace that individuals can do it themselves. ‘Our mission is ‘beauty from waste’ and making recycling cool and interesting, rethinking how we recycle,’ says Palmer.


‘There is so much waste, we’re chucking away all of this stuff, it would be amazing to have a micro-recycling centre in your neighbourhood, you go in, shred down some plastic from your home waste and make a new wonderful and functional object which would be accessible in price too.’ 

For Palmer and Deagle, getting across these big-picture ideas about the future of recycling is an essential component of the Re=Comb project. In the future, they hope Re=Comb will develop into more products range that across beauty and fashion, using new technologies to pioneer new approaches to production. 

‘We think things can really change just by having a new idea and narrative of what waste really is and what it can be next. The value of that message could be a new way to see and engage in the future of recycling.’

We can't wait to see what the brand combs up with next.

INFORMATION

re-comb.com

Although many have embraced comfy clothes, home exercise, and maybe even acquired a new baking habit during lockdown, living without regular trips to the barbers or hair salon has not come quite as easily. Regardless of whether your favourite spot has reopened or still remains closed, here are some worthy essentials that will help tame an unruly mane, or at the very least, keep it video-call ready.

Monday hair care

The New Zealand-based brand Monday has ensured that its natural ingredient-focused and sodium lauryl sulfate-free formulas doesn’t come with a heavy price tag.

Fortified with coconut oil, shea butter, ginger root extract and rigorously developed to ensure hair absorbs all this goodness quickly, Monday’s product range delivers a thorough clean with minimal risk of skin irritation. What’s more, the line’s rectangular-shaped bottles not only allows them to be packed and shipped more efficiently, they are also made from recycled plastic. Even the pumps are 100 per cent recyclable – a coup in the beauty industry.

mondayhaircare.com

Bread Beauty Supply kit 1 wash 

The multi-ethnic haircare market may be known for relying on harsh chemicals for getting results, but a new disrupter in the field is working to reorientate how curly hair can be cared for. Bread Beauty Supply is a clean and vegan line, designed specifically with textured and coiled hair (3A-4C hair types) in mind.

Nodding to the fact that natural Black hair requires more effort to be cared for, the brand has devised a Wash Kit, which packs its milky hair cleanser that cleans without tangling curls, its hair mask that conditions deeply without weighing hair down and its hair oil which serves as a gloss that nourishes hair in-between washes. They’ve also thrown in their extra-stretchy satin scrunchy, which is fully equipped to pull back and hold thick hair. 

breadbeautysupply.com

The Crown Kit by the Crown Affair x Jennifer Behr 

To add some extra flair to your tresses, haircare favourite Crown Affair and accessory maven Jennifer Behr, have teamed up on a limited edition kit that pairs Crown Affair’s smoothing tsubaki seed hair oil with one of Behr’s signature silk headbands.

Inspired by the texture of silk, the versatile Crown Kit is conceived to complement all hair textures and lengths. Use the oil to condition hair, and smooth split ends and frizz, then deploy the elegant, mint green padded headband to effortlessly elevate your everyday look.

crownaffair.com

Klorane dry shampoo

It’s hard to imagine that Klorane’s iconic dry shampoo has been keeping hair refreshed for the last 50 years when washing isn’t an option (or a priority).

Today, the classic hypoallergenic and vegan formula now comes in a variety of options: with oat milk for normal to oily hair, a cooling mint version that helps to detox or refresh sweaty hair, a long-lasting formula with nettle that helps restore texture and bounce for longer, as well as versions for dark hair and in non-aerosol containers too. All of the bottles are made from recyclable aluminium that keeps with the brand’s sustainable mission. 

klorane.com

Ceremonia Aceite de Moska scalp treatment 

Scalp care does not get more indulgent than with this power pair from the Latinx-founded brand Ceremonia. Inspired by the traditional rituals and cultural practices of her heritage, founder Babba C. Rivera created a Dominican Republic-inspired treatment oil, Aceite de Moska, that tackles hair health at the scalp level.

Formulated with Brazilian Patua oil to combat flakiness and aloe vera to soothe and castor oil to add shine, the scalp treatment is best distributed using the brand’s massager or Masajeador, which also exfoliates for an extra feel-good factor.

ceremonia.com

Oribe repair shampoo and conditioner 

With the prospect of returning to a larger degree of normalcy now looming, return your hair to its prime with Oribe’s gold lust shampoo and conditioner. Created to restore and rejuvenate hair, the luscious collection counts on treasured oils like cypress and argan, and Oribe’s own bio-rejuvenating complex of plant collagen, biotin and niacinamide to fortify and strengthen from root to tip.

oribe.com

Jupiter dandruff and scalp care

Stress, poor air circulation and other pandemic-related circumstances can manifest themselves as scalp irritation, flakiness, and even more dreaded, dandruff, which is more common than most people let on. Jupiter is a flake-focused haircare line that treats dandruff while still delivering a luxurious experience.

Pairing proven active ingredients like zinc pyrithione with natural ones such as colloidal oatmeal, argn oil, and jujube, the range includes a balancing shampoo and conditioner, a medicated restoring serum, a soothing scalp elixir, a purifying mask and a scalp brush to keep flakiness at bay.

hellojupiter.com

Kevin Murphy Blow.Dry collection

Ever the innovator, Kevin Murphy has unveiled a new collection of heat-activated products to extend the duration of your blow dry. Developed with long chain polymer technology, the four-piece range delivers salon-esque results to lift, thicken, smooth or add volume, while also sealing in moisture and repelling water to fight frizz.

The effects are also able to last through multiple washes due to the weightless network of polymers, making it easier to achieve and return to your desired results with each use. Simply spray onto towel-dried hair and blow-dry as you please.

kevinmurphystore.com

Mr. Smith Anti-Static comb 

Combing your hair might feel like a thing of the past, but Mr. Smith’s new plant-based, anti-static combs will easily get you reacquainted. As the first tools of the Aussie brand, this wide-toothed comb is made from cellulose acetate, which gives it its static-free properties.

Purposefully designed to be used on all hair types, both wet hair and dry, the comb is ideal applying treatment products to hair or for detangling without excessive pulling involved.

mr-smith.com

Chemistry is an essential element of any collaboration, but the partnership between Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo and hair artist Julien D'Ys is something more akin to alchemy. For more than 30 years, the two artists, renowned for their individualistic visions, have unified to create some of the most remarkable spectacles in fashion – with very little conversation involved.

Sometimes, Kawakubo will share a single word with D'Ys, from which he'll build his elaborate designs. Last year, the word was ‘black'; another time it was ‘invisible'. For this year's Fall 2021 Ready-to-wear collection it was nothing at all. Often D'Ys doesn't even see the clothes until the day before the show when the bulk of his work is finished.

‘No word, no direction,' says D'Ys. ‘Like always with Rei. and I had to find her new ideas. I started with three drawings and sent them to her. Then she sent me back her favorite drawing and from there I had to find the right wigs.'

This year, the right wigs were a series of jet black mullets, with long straight hair in the back and a halo of spikes in the front. D'Ys inspiration was a visual mashup of 1970s England and Pre-Revolution France, dramatically different time periods united in their penchant for extravagant hair. 

‘My idea was English hair cuts, kind of punk, Sex Pistols, and Bowie,' says D'Ys. ‘Then Mozart and the marvellous 18th century. I always like to mix different periods, past and future.'

Below, he offers us an exclusive look inside his New York studio in the days leading up to the latest Comme des Garçons show. The space is home to D'Ys wigs and his plethora of notebooks, which he fills with sketches, polaroids, poems, debris, anything that inspires him in the creation of his show designs.

‘Slowly something is mounting, some more desire and excitement,' Miuccia Prada said in her A/W 2021 post-show discussion with collaborator Raf Simons, and it's certainly true that there was an enthusiastic undercurrent running through many of the beauty looks in the A/W 2021 shows.

The season's helmet haircuts, body paint, face stickers, crayola colour palettes, goth extremism and other inventive takes on beauty, suggested a readiness to get playful, to experiment. Skincare and wellness dominated the conversation last year, but this season hints that there is ‘desire and excitement' around the return to a bolder makeup.

Below, we share some of the most memorable looks from the season to inspire your own cosmetic creativity.

Burberry 

One of the chief inspirations for Riccardo Tisci’s latest Burberry collection was the Arts and Crafts movement of early 19th century Britain, which saw artists like William Morris rebel against the rise of industrially produced goods in favour of handmade craft with wildlife motifs.
 
To translate this aesthetic into cosmetics, Burberry’s Global Beauty Director, Isamaya Ffrench, built on the hyper-minimalist makeup of last year’s show, maintaining the same high-polish skin and no-makeup makeup, but this time faces were scattered with delicate silver stars and face crystals. 

To complement the look, hair artist Jawara Wauchope created a series of military-style buzzcuts and gelled back styles so severe they looked almost as if they were painted on. 

Molly Goddard 

There’s always been a certain playfulness to Molly Goddard’s work, and that sensibility was complemented this season by Luke Hersheson’s whimsical hair, and colourful makeup by Miranda Joyce. Bundles of candy-floss hair were accompanied by crescent moons of neon-pink blush around the eyes and bright red lips.

The effect is like an artistic take on a child’s first experiments with their mother’s makeup cabinet. Hair blow-dried to the max and makeup applied freely and experimentally, without following any rules about where it should go. Its one of the many looks this season that suggests extravagant makeup and hair will be on-trend come autumn 2021.

Ahluwalia

The spraypainted prints of Priya Ahluwalia’s A/W 21 collection were reflected in the airbrushed steaks of colour that adorned models faces. London-based makeup artist Bari Khalique accented cheekbones, brow lines, and chins with strokes of iridescent blue for a painterly take on cosmetic colour application. 

Simone Rocha

Some of the most memorable hair looks of the season came courtesy of hairstylist Cyndia Harvey at Simone Rocha. Rocha was inspired the naivety of adolescence for this collection and Harvey’s long rows of plaits harked back to the uniform hairstyle of many school girls.

Yet, the formation of those braids into gravity-defining sculptures added an edginess to the delicacy, in a nod to Rocha’s signature blend of fragility and ferocity. That mixture was echoed in Lauren Parsons’ makeup, which features sweet, peachy lips and brown eyes that added a suggestion of sleepless nights. Ama Quashie nail art, featuring delicate flowers on a clear base, was a particularly delightful detail. 

Prada 

Within the first few seconds of Prada’s A/W 2021 digital show, the camera turns and follows the model through the OMA-designed set, showcasing her helmet of slicked-back hair. The extravagant minimalism of the look is the perfect foil for the exuberant textures, patterns, and colours that characterised Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ latest collection. While Pat McGrath's clean, barely perceptible makeup added an element of understatement. 

Salvatore Ferragamo 

The beginning of Paul Andrew’s A/W 2021 collection for Salvatore Ferragamo started off with beauty not all that different from the looks in many other shows this season – minimalist makeup paired with slicked-back hair. Yet, as the sci-fi inspired show film, continues shimmers of something different appears.

A model emerges from the white-lit tunnel, a nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey, with splotches of silver paint around her lips, the same appears again, until by the end of the show, models emerged almost entirely covered in silver body paint that complemented a matching silver trench or a revealing chainmail gown.

Yohji Yamamoto

Spooky is probably the best word for describing the hair and makeup in Yohji Yamamoto’s latest A/W 2021 collection. The show’s mixture of 19th-century structures and contemporary streetwear influence was reflected in beauty looks which walked the line between Romantic-era ghoul and modern-day punk.

Long black mains were crimped and flipped into Edward Scissorhands-style disarray, bouffant hair-dos are deflated and tinged with streaks of grey, shorter updos were styled into elaborate braids or gelled upwards and dyed blue, red, and black.

The gothy-punk hairstyles were accompanied by exaggeratedly pale skin and blanched lips for a corpse-like pallor.

Christian Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri called her latest collection for Christian Dior ‘Disturbing Beauty' and it's true that there was a certain element of creepiness to the beauty looks Peter Philips and Guido Palau constructed for the show.

Philips' created a black smoky eye that was dark around the eye's corners and more lightly shaded across the crease for a withdrawn, eerie effect. Palau's hair emphasised the drama with a severe middle part or curtain of glossy bangs.

Dries Van Noten

It’s near impossible not to catch sight of the slightly smeared, vinyl lips in Dries Van Noten’s dance-filled A/W 2021 film. Ranging from rosy pink to brick red and deep berry, the punchy lips were emphasised by slicked back hair, minimal eye makeup, and the occasional bleached eyebrow.

Paired with free-flowing choreography and a Massive Attack soundtrack, the bold cosmetics of this collection offered some much-needed inspiration for the evenings of party makeup that, hopefully, aren’t too far away.

With at-home salons still the status quo in many parts of the world, we asked Alex Brownsell, founder of Bleach London and hair colour extraordinaire, to share some tips on DIY hair dye.

Make sure to consult her step-by-step guide before snapping on your gloves and mixing your colour to avoid any hair-dye disasters. For even more tricks on how to maintain your good work, watch the newly launched Bleach TV series on Bleach London’s Instagram. 

How to prepare

Do your research and read the instructions first, as it’s not a one-size-fits-all process. Your hair texture, length, thickness, and porosity all contribute to the final result and how long you need to leave the bleach on for.

I’d recommend using something like our Blonde Bundles which have all the products you need for each step of the process, which is bleach to life the colour, toner to even it out, and then a hydrating mask to prevent dry out.

If you have fine hair, curly hair and afro-hair or are just worried about damage, choose a bundle with Plex Bleach which lifts while strengthening and protecting with an anti-breakage additive.

A common mistake people make is forgetting to tone after bleaching. Every hair type will have a yellow or brassy hue right after bleaching, so you would colour correct this with a toner, not by leaving the bleach on for longer.

Getting creative with colours

We always mix our semi-permanent to create custom shades in salon, and this is really easy to do at home too. If a colour has a conditioning base its easier to blend, so if you want to make a pastel shade more vibrant or sheer out a colour. 

To soften a colour, mix in a reparative conditioner like our Beer Conditioner to dilute the tone. To make a pastel more vibrant, use a bold shade from the same colour family – like a hot pink with a softer rose, or an electric orange with a light peach. 

Experimenting with styles

To get two-toned hair you can either bleach the front sections of your hair that frame the face, or section the top of your hair from the ear up and try bleaching the bottom half for a ‘peek-a-boo’ effect.

You can leave the blonde to contrast with your natural colour, or go over the bleach with your choice of a semi-permanent for a really funky look. In the salon, pink and peach bits have been a really popular look this year. 

What to do if things go wrong...

Choosing a semi-permanent colour is a good option, so if you’re not 100 per cent on the final colour you can just can shampoo your hair more often and it’ll fade quickly, especially if it’s a pastel colour. 

To avoid any mistakes from the beginning and if you’re apprehensive about the overall process, there are a lot of digital tools and services to help with the at-home process and guide you through each step.

On Bleach’s website you can live chat with a salon stylist and send pictures of your hair for custom product recommendations to and get advice on the best approach.

After you buy your products, you’ll be given the option to book in for a one-to-one video call. You can choose a date and appointment time, where you’ll be joined by a Bleach stylist on a video call. They will coach you through the entire process, so you’ll be an expert in no time. 

How to upkeep

In terms of styling out roots you have a few different options. Touching up your roots at home is much easier than you think and I’d recommend doing it at the 6-8 week mark (approx. 2.5cm long). People think that leaving their hair longer between bleaching will protect it but it's actually the opposite.

You damage hair less by only ever bleaching the first few centimetres, as the heat from your scalp helps to speed up the lifting process- meaning you can leave the bleach on for less time.

If you have very dark roots and want to grow them out in a more fun or experimental way, you can apply a semi-permanent to your old bleach. It makes the dark root look less harsh and more intentional, and the colour will fade out gradually.

If you have grown out highlights or balayage, this is also really easy to blend out at home. We have a product called the ‘Root Blend Balayage Kit’ which includes a balayage board to help create that face-framing, natural placement to blend out your roots. This is a really great technique for curly hair types too as you can target individual curl strands that frame the face.

Have fun! 

INFORMATION

bleachlondon.co.uk

The Victorians were fascinated with hair jewellery, intertwining the hair of deceased loved ones into pendants or rings in a mourning ritual which showed respect for the dead. It is a history jewellery artist Melanie Bilenker builds on in a new exhibition which explores ways in which to capture time. ‘HomeWork’ – taking place at the Sienna Patti gallery in Massachusetts as well as virtually – showcases her jewellery and objects created by gluing a single strand of hair to paper.

‘Upon seeing Tom Friedman’s Untitled (1990), a bar of soap with a spiral of his pubic hair set into the surface, I was struck by the contrast between the humble familiarity of materials alongside the reverence marked in hours spent making a perfect spiral,’ says Bilenker on what originally inspired her. ‘Likewise, in the nineteenth century, miniature memorial scenes were painted using dissolved hair of the departed as a physical stand-in, a beloved souvenir of what once was.’ An ordinary, mundane material like hair becomes imbued with significance, the domesticity of daily life honoured.

‘HomeWork is a reflection on the invisible work that we all take part in behind closed doors,’ she adds. ‘All of the time spent caring for and existing within the spaces we create that only those closest to us see. How we trim our hair over the sink, the way we hold the scissors; these are gestures rarely seen by other people, yet we can recognise ourselves in these small movements.’ Her pieces translate these scenes into simple forms, drawing the intimacy in basic lines: ‘It is an attempt to stop time and present a moment as it exists.’ 

INFORMATION

The exhibition is currently on at Sienna Patti Contemporary, by appointment only.
siennapatti.com

WINNER

Recyclable synthetic wigs, by RadSwan

RadSwan is answering the call for more inclusive and more sustainable beauty products. It is the first brand to offer wigs for Black women made from recyclable fibres.

The three different wig styles range from large, bouncy ringlets to tight corkscrew curls, and come with a list of instructions explaining how to adjust, measure and cut each wig for unique styling. Says founder Freddie Harrel, ‘Hair is one of the ways we’ve always expressed ourselves, forever reintroducing our various angles to a constrained and biased world.’  

By offering high-quality synthetic hair, Harrel hopes to offer a more accessible, creative alternative to human hair, the trade of which is sometimes operated by unethical suppliers. 

radswan.com, @radswan

SHORTLIST

Refillable lipsticks, by Hermès

Perhaps the most hotly anticipated event in beauty in 2020 was the debut of Hermès’ lipstick collection, Rouge Hermès. The range of 27 shades marks the luxury house’s first foray into beauty and the beginning of what is slated to become a full make-up range and skincare line. 

With refillable tubes designed by Hermès’ shoe and jewellery designer Pierre Hardy, the Rouge Hermès collection sees the brand’s signature expression of luxury translated into cosmetics. As Hardy told Wallpaper* ahead of the launch, ‘I thought, let’s act as though nothing else existed. I will try to create the quintessence of an object that is feminine, pure, simple. One that is immediately desirable but will stand the test of time, and that can convey the Hermès style: luxury and sobriety.’ 

That signature Hermès style is imbued in every aspect of the lipsticks’ design, from caps that click shut like the door of a luxury car and are emblazoned with a gold ex-libris emblem, to the lipstick itself, with it shades derived from the brand’s iconic scarf collection and a subtle scent concocted by Hermès’ in-house perfumer. 

hermes.com

Opte printer, by Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble’s Opte skincare printer – which recognises uneven pigmentation and precisely applies correcting make-up to the skin – offers a glimpse into the future of our increasingly tech-centric beauty regimes. Developed over the course of 13 years, the handheld inkjet printer uses minute digital cameras to take 200 images per second of the skin’s surface, and then micro-processes 70,000 lines of code to determine areas of tonal variation, age spots and hyperpigmentation. 

The device then dispenses the system’s Optimizing Serum over the skin at different variations depending on the size, shape and intensity of discoloured areas. Using only three tones of serum, Opte is able to blend a custom shade that is able to match 98 per cent of complexions.

opte.com; @opteskin

Dental routine set, by byHumankind

Since byHumankind launched last year it has been dedicated to eliminating single-use plastics from everyday grooming routines. Now, with their new dental set the brand has extended their eco-conscious ethos to oral hygiene, a form of personal care that is notoriously plastics heavy. The set consists of alcohol-free waterless mouthwash tablets, biodegradable floss in a reusable container, and toothpaste in tablet form. 

All products are entirely free of single-use plastics and the appealingly minimal designs of their reusable containers are well suited to any bathroom counter. Refills can be purchased from byHumankind’s website and come in compostable packaging that ensures every aspect of the products’ usage is eco-friendly. The brand even offsets 100 per cent of their carbon footprint by investing in strategic forest preservation projects for every order.  

byhumankind.com, @byhumankind

Unisex fragrance, by Uniform

Swedish creative Haisam Mohammed created Uniform’s fragrance as an ode to the Swedish high rises in which he grew up. The son of immigrants who had escaped the conflict in Eritrea, Mohammed found that the stairwells of these buildings were places where he could encounter members of other diasporas and learn more about their cultures as well as his own. As he told Wallpaper*, ‘the smell of food cooking, incense being lit and spices being blended used to sip through the cracks of the doors of these families and accumulate in a special scent that I have had with me throughout my life. Hence the name Uniform.’ 

By taking his inspiration from such an atypical source, Mohammed hopes to challenge the notion that luxury perfume must come from a particular heritage and be offered at a certain price point. The brand currently offers three different unisex fragrances, all of which are vegan, cruelty-free and housed in sleek sliver containers designed by last year’s Design Awards nominee, Simon Skinner. 

itsuniform.com; @uniform_scents

When hairstylist Nigella Miller launched AFRA last year, she hoped her line of gold afro picks, hair beads, and braid locks would elevate those, often devalued, objects of African American hair culture to the status to high-art.

It was me wanting to replace these African American hair items with something that was more of a novelty piece, something that was more meaningful,’ says Miller, calling from the Brooklyn studio where she’s shooting the new line of wearable hairpieces that have just joined the AFRA collection.

Miller first made her name with Nigella’s Hair Studio, a New York salon that caters to all hair textures. AFRA, her latest venture, is an artistic expression of her own personal history and a larger celebration of Black hair culture.

‘I feel like African American hair culture is so strong, it's so rich. It's very political and has so many histories tied in with it. So I wanted to kind of create a collection that was a representation of multiple worlds merged together, me being a hairstylist, being African American, being Guyanese, and being able to kind of see how my traditions play a huge part in how I wear my hair.’

The original line includes three different sizes of afro gold picks, intended for display, as well as gold hair beads and gold loc bands that are both wearable and decorative pieces.  

The popularity of the collectible art pieces brought with it a call for more wearable counterparts. Keeping the original look of the afro picks, Miller started playing with the technicalities of getting the pieces to stay in hair. The end result is a line of smaller, gold afro picks that join the hair beads and braid locks in the wearable AFRA collection. 

To celebrate the launch, Miller worked with her friend and photographer Vanessa Granda to produce campaign imagery that, ‘represents the resurgence of regal black hair culture into the modern world' and soon hopes to curate an exhibit for an even more expansive AFRA collection. 

INFORMATION

afranyc.com

There’s a whole lot of meaning attached to how we wear our hair. Run a fine-toothed comb through history and you’ll find identity, politics, and resistance deeply entwined with our tresses. Unlocking these connections has defined the work of photographer and fine artist Nakeya Brown, whose powerful still life series reflect on Black femininity and the cultural codes behind African American hairstyles.

For her latest series, ‘Xpressions: Black Beauty Still Lifes,' Brown takes us on a nostalgic journey through the rituals and trends that have shaped Black female identity from the mid-century onwards. Pairing beautification devices with books, ads, and homewares from the 1950s to the present day, she positions Black cultural ephemera at the centre of her still life photographs, exploring the connections between beauty practices and self-identity.

‘Since 2012 I’ve explored the notion of beauty through my lived experiences as a Black girl and woman' says Brown. 'Through that process I started to collect a lot of objects related to the marketing and selling of beauty to Black women. This series of images draws inspiration from those markets and broadly explores the archetypal depictions of Black women that we encounter everyday as consumers.'

The images chart the dramatic shifts in trends and techniques with the onset of scientific developments in hair technology. ‘I noticed that in the 60s and very early 70’s there were a lot of wig ads. Kanekalon fibers were introduced to America within that decade and since the fibers were so cheap to make, they were made in mass amounts. Whether the manufacturer was in Ohio or Chicago, they pushed out wigs by design catered to Black female consumers.'

 From the 1980s to the 2000s, she documents a shift in marketing towards sew-ins, chemical straightening, and thermal curling, with braided styles promoted more in the Southern and Tri-State areas of the United States. By positioning objects from the home alongside beauty products and marketing imagery, Brown also reflects on the trajectory of Black women’s work lives in America.

‘The domestic interior, the beauty sector, and Black women have been intertwined in a complicated way—one sector (the beauty industry) was a dignified pathway out of another (domestic work). From what I’ve learned, Black women have been not only been defining femininity as how to look and feel, but also how to provide for oneself in a self-determined fashion.' 

In recent times, locating beauty within a wider framework of activism has been an important theme in Brown’s work. ‘Tiffany M. Gill and Maxine Lee Craig wrote extensively about this intersection. It has helped me to learn more about the histories of political activism amongst Black women through the beauty culture industry.' 

‘It also led me to learn more about Black-owned businesses and be able to bring those enterprises into my work so that in turn I can keep that particular strand of history in view. Throughout history, I think there’s been sustained efforts by women to expand how beauty is defined.'

INFORMATION

nakeyabrown.com

I have been a client at 4th floor London hairdressers for as long as Wallpaper* has been around. The founder of the salon, Richard Stepney, is a loyal Wallpaper* subscriber since 1997, contributor (he cut hair for a week as part of Wallpaper* Handmade's 'Street Barbershop’ built by Studio Mumbai and Michael Anastassiades) and the subject of a Vinson View.

I used to visit Richard every five weeks and if I am honest, I don't miss the haircut as much as the banter and, in light of the last few months of cancelled appointments, I thought I would have a virtual chat about the world of hair. I had a dip into Wallpaper’s digital archive from the safety of my own desk and sent off some questions for Richard to answer.

Yayoi Kusama, June 2012

PN: There are many people who regularly get their hair dyed but haven't had access to a colourist the past few months. Would you recommend a DIY job something like Yayoi Kusama’s red bob on our June 2012 cover? And what do you think of wigs as a cover-up option?

RS: The success of DIY hair colouring depends on knowing that you’ve got the right product, there’s treachery on those shelves, be careful. Trying to emulate a professional colourist’s work is practically just not possible, so going bold à la Kusama is a great idea. It’s not a tattoo after all. Many women that have coloured their hair for a number of years are intrigued as to what their natural colour would actually be, now’s the chance to find out – if you’re brave enough. Wigs nearly always look terrible unless they are crafted individually for the wearer, and it’s even worse if it’s supposed to be a secret. Andy Warhol got it right but he was Andy Warhol. 

The claw, November 2014

PN: How long is the big beard trend staying with us?

RS: Well that image by Torbjørn Rødlan somewhat revolting, so hopefully it will only continue with men who can use cutlery effectively. Actually, this lockdown has allowed a lot of men to relax their shaving habits. Not necessarily to go full Grizzly Adams but beards are here to stay for now.

Easy lover, November 2018

PN: The hair in this photo of Jibriil Ollow by Sofie Middernacht and Maarten Alexander is an excellent example of a short back and sides, which must be the classic request. You always give me more on top, but nothing quite like this. I love that this is totally controlled but made to look like it's not.

RS: Absolutely, the short back and sides suits almost everyone in one form or another, essentially it slightly reshapes the head away from its natural roundness. This is a great example of barbershop grooming with a personalised finish. Business underneath – party on the top. 

Death in Venice, September 2008

PN: I think the boys look a little like me after my shampoo at 4th Floor. I have always had a soft spot for that kind of Flock of Seagulls look, especially when making a pilgrimage to Carlo Scarpa’s Brioni cemetery in our September 2008 story. Is this look still working 12 years on?

RS: I think they look great, they are young, stylish and beautiful so yes, they do look like you fresh from the backwash. Is this what you’d call directional hair – it's all going in different directions though so perhaps not. I like these looks as underneath the slightly extreme styling you can see that there is a good haircut, we’d just wear it differently now, hopefully with a more natural finish. Anyway, we all look our best against a Scarpa backdrop.

Curtain call, September 2015

PN: With no access to salons, have you been seeing a lot more fringes? I particularly like this from Brigitte Niedermair’s September 2015 shoot.

RS: I think a lot of people have just been cutting their own fringe, a long fringe is something that can look great to others but can be just plain irritating to the wearer.

Human nature, September 2015

PN: At Wallpaper* we love matching everything, interiors and fashion in particular. This is is a case of matching your hair to your art, which I am sure you appreciate considering the well-chosen and well-hung works in your salon. This shoot is by artist Marc Quinn of dancer Jenny Bastet.

RS: I think this refers to style in the widest sense, in that haircuts should usually reflect the wearer's personal politics and this would include their taste in art and design. Perhaps not as literally as in this image but a haircut has to fit more than just the head and this one certainly does.

Karl’s cut, October 2009

PN: Richard, you also cut my husband Álvaro’s hair. He’s been in Florence and hasn't seen you for a long time and his locks are getting longer by the day. Aside from Karl Lagerfeld, who shot this self-portrait for us in Versailles when he was guest editor in 2009, is a ponytail on a man ever ok?

RS: No, not anymore. The topknot or man-bun has been a more recent version, but I’m afraid a ponytail has too many associations with times gone by. I think to cultivate one now would be seen as an affectation, a little like being a leader of government and having studiously messy hair. Álvaro has perfected the Chelsea side-flick anyway so he’ll be fine.

The white queen, September 2013

PN: You cropped my hair last on March 19th, and I asked for it as short as possible to last the whole summer, not knowing when I get to see you again. I have seen quite a few DIY cuts with clippers on Instagram and apparently clipper sales have soared recently. Is this kind of short tight crop just really practical, modern, and perfect for 2020?

RS: Absolutely, and if someone is thinking of cutting their own hair with clippers this all overcrop is the best shape to go for. It is, of course, practical but it can also look great on both men and women. Obviously, it’s not for everyone but maybe this time is a good opportunity to try a short cut. For men, I would avoid trying to achieve the faded blend that a skilled barber does so well. For women I would say be careful, it’s a very fine line between Jean Seberg and Sinead O’Connor.

Demon seed, September 2019 

PN: I have straight hair and always wanted curls. What would you say to a client that turned up with a mood board for her new look with this Brigitte Niedermair image on it?

RS: I would say that they are in the wrong salon. But I would love their adventure and ambition. Something as extreme as this is clearly not functional for everyday hair-wear but if someone shows this as inspiration they would be a great client to work with.

INFORMATION
Find the latest edition of the Picky Nicky coloum and download the latest issue of Wallpaper* for free here

For much of 2020, social media has resembled a hairdresser’s style book of home haircuts; mostly men, putting clippers to heads, setting grade lengths, and employing various attached guards, in the hopeful achievement of something approaching follicular normality. But the deft art of shears-over-comb, layering, cutting, trimming, thinning? That stuff, it seems, is for the professionals.  

Matt Mulhall, a hairdresser and groomer who has styled male heads for Dunhill, Hermès, Fendi, and Paul Smith, disagrees. He advises caution, patience, and a variety of cutting tools. ‘When using clippers don’t go as short as your normal barber would straight away,’ he advises. ‘Leave hair longer and take it shorter in stages, and take your time – your new style will be looking back at you in the mirror for at least four to five weeks…especially painful if all doesn’t go well.'

When it comes to facial hair, Tom Dixon’s latest collaboration with Harry’s offers a high-design take on the traditional razor. The men's care brand’s ultra-sharp German steel razors are paired with Dixon’s sculptural handle, which is ergonomically designed for easy usage and made out of aluminium to avoid corrosion. 

For a multi-functional shaver option, Braun’s newly released Series 9 uses a combination of five synchronized trimmers and skin guards to create a shave that ranges from smooth to trimmed without any irritation. 

When touching up your locks, Mulhall strongly suggests using scissors with straight, sharp blades like those designed by Dentsu London, Ernest Wright and Son, and Jamie McLellan for Wallpaper* Handmade in 2011. ‘Cut a vertical, as opposed to a horizontal line cut, this will soften the edges and minimise ugly mistakes.' Even the most basic pair of hairdressing scissors is preferable to an expensive set of bacon shears purloined from the kitchen drawer, the sharper the better, of course.

For bathroom amateurs, ‘straight' scissors, rather than the more pro, ‘offset scissors' are easier to handle. Configured to a traditional, ergonomic layout with finger and thumb holes set in a straight, level line, straight scissors are popular with barbers. Invest in a pair with a convex edge for the sharpest, crispest and smoothest cut, like those by Milanese menswear brand Larusmiani. The brand's iconic store, once filled with hundreds of brushes, nail clippers and, most notably, scissors, is now closed but a selection of luxury grooming tools can still be purchased online. 

Mulhall is also an advocate of thinning scissors. ‘They can really help to de-bulk hair and blend in lines and possible mistakes.' Japanese brand Y.S Park has been creating high-end professional hairdressing tools since the 1980s and offers the perfect pair of thinning blades for those looking for a natural, lighter look. 

‘Professional hairdressers like to cut from wet to dry. But for novices, I would recommend washing hair then towel drying hair as much as possible so just damp, combing your hair the way it is usually styled and cutting starting there… little by little.'

INFORMATION

store.wallpaper.com
harrys.com
braun.com
larusmiani.it
yspark.co.jp

Danish design brand Brdr Krüger unveils a previously unreleased piece by Nanna Ditzel. Launched this month, the Arkade chair completes the company’s heritage offering, joining a curated collection of historical pieces by Hans Bølling, and contemporary designs by the likes of David Thulstrup and OEO Studio.

Originally conceived in 1983, this new addition to Brdr Krüger’s collection was part of a collaboration with Ditzel led by Niels Krüger – fourth generation master craftsman in the Danish family company. The result of this decade-long partnership was a body of work that explored a new spirit in design combined with traditional craftsmanship. Many of Ditzel’s design ideas were developed at the company’s wood workshop – such as her iconic children’s furniture – pieces that have maintained their contemporary feel until the present day.

The Arkade chair features some of Ditzel’s most distinctive design traits: her fondness for soft shapes and repetition of circular forms and arches (that give the piece its name), and her signature postmodern, elegant geometries. The combination of materials and techniques in the chair — from woodturning to steam-bent wood, metal and upholstery — articulate the designer’s love for decoration and colours.

The materials can be modified with different finishes to allow for customisation, and the chair is also available in Ditzel’s Hallingdal textile from Kvadrat. A fabric designed in 1965, and continuously produced since then, the two-tone weave was recently relaunched by Kvadrat, and restored to Ditzel’s original palette – it is the perfect wrap to the subtle angles of the chair. 

Since its founding in 1886, as a wood-turning workshop, Brdr Krüger has evolved into a fully-fledged furniture brand that celebrates classic Danish design values whilst embracing modernity. Nanna Ditzel’s commitment to excellence in craftsmanship, using new materials and techniques, aligns with the company’s devotion to utilising mid century Danish aesthetics, reinterpreted for a contemporary audience. 

A version of this article originally featured in the April 2020 issue of Wallpaper* (W*253)

INFORMATION

‘Arkade’ chair, price on request, by Nanna Ditzel, for Brdr Krüger

brdr-kruger.com

Inspiration can be hard to come by during down time. Now that the usual fixes for a creative dry spell – meeting with friends, visiting a gallery, taking a meditative stroll – are no longer options, the quickest creative pick me up is to check in on what other people are up to.

Hair artist Julien D’ys is one person never low on artistic output. Over the years, he has amassed hundreds of notebooks all bursting with sketches, paintings and photographs that have formed the basis of his work with Comme des Garçons, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Marni, to name a few. ‘My notebook is like my brain,’ D’ys says. ‘I draw, I think, from there I built my idea and bring it in life.’

Included here are some of the sketches D’ys made in preparation for the 2020 Marni and Comme des Garçons shows. For Marni, the inspiration was ‘Alice in Wonderland mix with acid and rave, rebel kids,' with colours drawn from the work of ‘Egon Schiele and some Russian paintings.' The end result, a gang of  lanky models dripping with glitter and paint, their sinewy hair lacquered to their faces as if they just emerged from a crowded dance floor, was easily the beauty sensation of Milan Fashion Week.

The concept for Comme was far more simple but no less striking. ‘For Comme des Garçons I always get one word from Rei and this time she said BLACK and I start from there. I made some drawings and from there I created wigs showered by black ink.’

In a time when you might have more time then ever, perhaps take a note from D’ys and pick up your pen or make up brush to make your own beautiful creations.

To celebrate the centenary of Vico Magistretti’s birth, Fritz Hansen presents the Vico Duo chair, a piece created in close collaboration with the Italian industrial designer in 1997.

The chair’s simplicity is an effective combination of the Italian design sophistication typical of Magistretti’s work and the Danish craftsmanship excellence that Fritz Hansen represent.

Magistretti was inspired by a sketch of the letter ‘Z’ he made on a piece of paper while visiting Fritz Hansen’s factory, a sign which was then developed into a sinuous pair of armrests framing the simple line forming the seat and back. The designer was keen to collaborate with Fritz Hansen to experience the atelier’s veneer expertise, combined here with a continuous steel structure supporting the chair.

A truly industrial designer, Magistretti was always fascinated by production techniques throughout his career, and worked closely with manufacturers on all his pieces. ‘In my experience, design is always done 50 per cent by me and 50 per cent by the manufacturer, so much so that I never sketch in my studio,’ he said in an interview in the 1990s. His modus operandi was based on ‘la chiacchiera’, a chat with everyone involved in the production of his pieces, to better understand strengths and possibilities. He famously could give a manufacturer simple telephone instructions to make his designs, which were always based on simple, timeless concepts.

For him, working with Fritz Hansen in Denmark represented a dream come true, as he wrote in a note in the mid-1990s. He had always been inspired by Danish modernism, and cited Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl and Hans J. Wegner, among others, as great influences in his work. When he first arrived at the company, he did not have a project in mind. ‘I knew that the people who had worked [at Fritz Hansen] for years could contribute so much to the project if we worked together,’ he said.

He sat around a table with everyone involved, from carpenter to mould maker, and together they decided on how to create his pieces. ‘Our final goal is to create an ideal of beauty rooted in rationality,’ he said in an interview to Italian newspaper La Repubblica during that tim

The company made minimal changes to this new release of the chair, to make it more contemporary (with new arm pads for added comfort and a black, powder-coated base), but it mostly kept it faithful to Magistretti’s original vision as an essential design piece fit for modern living. Available in black tinted ash, natural walnut and oak, the Vico Duo joins Fritz Hansen’s diverse catalogue featuring icons by Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, and pieces by contemporary names such as Jaime Hayon and Nendo.

‘This chair was, from the beginning, a true collaboration between Fritz Hansen and Vico Magistretti,’ says Christian Andresen, Fritz Hansen’s head of design. ‘By 1997, Magistretti was confident and relaxed in his practice and career. The design has a kind of simple ease and strength that reflects that.’

INFORMATION

fritzhansen.com

After years of catering to the locks of the city’s fashion insiders and who’s who from his apartment, Paris-based coiffeur David Mallett opened his first salon in 2003 inside a grand, yet understated 17th century apartment off the Place des Victoires. Privately located on the second floor of an exquisite hotel particulier, the salon is famed for its impossibly chic, yet welcoming setting, that naturally complements Mallet’s philosophy for creating practical, beautiful styles.

Fifteen years on, with a second salon located at the Ritz hotel in Paris that opened in 2016, Mallett opened his first international outpost in New York this month. Occupying the entire fifth floor of the well-heeled concept boutique The Webster in Soho, Mallett’s newest addition combines his salon’s Parisian culture with nods to his Australian heritage, and muddles in New York’s urban attitude to boot.

Although international expansion wasn’t originally on the cards for Mallett, a conversation with The Webster’s founder, Laure Hériard Debreuil, Mallett’s friend and client, proved otherwise. When Mallett toured The Webster over a year ago, he immediately took a shine to the building’s fifth floor, which was already slated to become Hériard Debreuil’s offices.

A quick pivot aided by the skills of French architect Charles Zana, enabled the 1,600 sq ft space to be transformed into an elegant, intimate salon, very much in the same spirit of the Parisian original. Custom-designed lighting and furniture from the designer Francois Pouenat, including eight statuesque leaning mirrors for each of the salon chairs, fill the salon with an elevated air of refinement, while a central 15 ft marble table, displaying large resin trays resembling tortoise shell from Dinosaur Designs’ Louise Olsen provide a natural counterpoint.

Boasting breathtaking views of Soho’s surrounding historic architecture and filled with pools of natural daylight, the intimate salon is a retreat where clients can enjoy one of the its signature hair facials or an impeccable cut or colour – all performed by Mallet or one of his trusted French team, who will travel in from Paris on a rotating basis.

Also available in the salon is Mallett’s eponymous line of haircare products, which ranges from shampoos and conditioners to hair masks and volume powders. Its latest additions are a duo of hair mists – the cucumber-scented Fresh, which is infused with hyaluronic acid and protective polysaccharides to refresh the hair and skin of frequent travellers, and the hydrating, red raspberry spray Fresh, that hydrates and protects colour-treated hair with raspberry vinegar and organic tomato extract.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit The Webster website, and the David Mallett website

ADDRESS

29 Greene street
NYC, New York
10013

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Osaka-based studio Sides Core cuts to the chase with Flux, a Kyoto hair salon that combines nostalgia with modernism.

Housed on the second floor of a former car showroom, designer Sohei Arao transformed the 148.5 sq m concrete enclave into an urban hairdressing refuge. The salon, founded by Kengo Nakamura, presents a theatrical concept to showcase staff’s hairdressing and styling skills in an immersive space, while also playing with perspective and perception.

In keeping with the parlour’s philosophy to create a ‘flowing’ yet inviting setting that exhibits talent, mirrors are suspended 1.5 m above the floor with only a small selection of key pieces filling cutting and styling areas, like Hans J Wegner’s Elbow chair and Jaime Hayón’s navy Piña seat.

Elsewhere, white draping curtains soften stark concrete silhouettes, enveloped by floor-to-ceiling windows that offer striking vistas of the cityscape. In harmony with its surroundings both in ethos and design, Flux’s intriguing use of depth, a characteristic of Kyoto’s architecture, prompts users to take a step through the looking glass – with the hair to match. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Sides Core website

ADDRESS

Sky House 2F
470 Zaimokucho, Nanajo-dori
Kyoto, Japan

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Filling a gap in the market for beautifully made, understated hair accessories, New Zealand beauty brand Sans Ceuticals has collaborated with designer Talcia Emes to create a trio of everyday hair tools. Comprising a U Pin, wide tooth Palm Comb and Circle Clip, the 'Woods Collection' is handcrafted by Emes from native pre-fossilised totara wood, sourced in small quantities from the lowlands of the Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand's North Island.

Available as light totara finished with a traditional wax application, or as dark totara treated with olive oil and tea tree, this hard, lightweight and straight-grained wood was traditionally used by the Maori for boat-building. However, its abundance of natural oils and rich scent also make it a perfect material for crafting hair tools. Sans Ceuticals founder Lucy Vincent Marr explains: ’Each of the pieces [in the collection] are designed with a swift, one-step process in mind – in keeping with our philosophy of essential and effective.’

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Sans Ceuticals website

It makes perfect sense that a hair salon specialising in colour has a bold approach to pigments, but the Australian Hues Hair has taken that idea to an extreme with its new parlour.

Enlisting local architect Adriana Hanna to design its Richmond outpost in Melbourne, Hues Hair couldn't veer further away from the predictable hair salon typology if it tried in its new space. To begin with, the dusty pink and verdant green colour scheme is a visual assault as soon as you walk in. Add to that the simple geometries at play, dallying with form and scale to create functional zones – sinks for hair drying, stations for blowdrys – creating a genuinely memorable experience.

Adding even further to the optical illusion of the coves, arches and T-shaped cutting area are mirrors at each station, intended very much as key design elements beyond their functional role.

Beyond the space itself, Hues Hair pays tribute to other homegrown heroes too. 'The obvious choice was to start with our styling and colour products,' explains founder and owner Jamie Hughes. 'O&M – OriginalMineral – pride themselves on removing harsh chemicals wherever possible from all their products,' using natural extracts and active minerals instead. Touting local tea and coffee brands, Hues Hair serves a selection of herbal loose-leaf teas by Love Tea and coffee from Industry Beans.

Striking monochromatic furniture finishes off the space, with the graphic houndstooth print by Paola Navone dressing 'Eumenes' chairs – lest your eyes should find a spot of silence amid this sea of chromaticity.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Hues Hair’s website

Photography: Dan Hocking

ADDRESS

211 Swan Street, Richmond Melbourne VIC 3121

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