When you’re suddenly thrown into the complex word of hair repair and rescue, hair activation, of semi-permanent and demi-permanent, ammonia-free or high definition hair colours, you’re a bit unsure whether you’re in a lab or a salon.
But at Bangalore’s ASK Academy – it is the Schwarzkopf Professional Academy, a Senior Stylist (referred to as SS in future as his name is a secret not to be revealed!) demystifies it all for you, if you care to ask.
ASK is where your neighbourhood hairdresser perhaps goes to, to learn hairdressing in all it crowning glory, from high-profile technicians at workshops. A basic amount of knowledge is assumed in a hairdresser, and skills and technicalities layered in, like with the hairstyles.
SS, over a cuppa talking about hairdressing with the passion of scientist says how nearly 2,000 hairdressers are trained every month at their place in styling, colouring and more. He makes hair colouring a colour-coded, numbered, digitised science – how much you mix, with what you mix, proportions, how you apply, emulsification – all need to come together perfectly.
And he makes it look all sound cool and glam. “A good stylist, when he sees a client’s hair, should be able to tell what kind it is, what kind of colour it can take… while you’re thinking light brown or dark brown, he or she should be thinking in terms of shade number 5-60, style type and so on,” he says.
There is colour, and then there is a shine that can be added, to give hair that sun-kissed look. And who can say no when you’re offered a shade of chocolate? “Every hairdresser must travel with their own tools,” he says whipping out a neat little black kit. As he squeezes out tube after tube of colour, and medium and gets busy mixing, introducing you to the world of Schwarzkopf’s latest range in India — Essensity and Igora, Bonacure, and OSIS — all with exotic names and performing exotic functions to keep hair good looking and good feeling.
While patiently colouring your hair, SS becomes the all-essential hairdresser who shares many tips on hair care, as well as entertains you with Bollywood gossip; he’s an insider who’s worked with star clients but keeps the confidentiality intact with just hints of who he might be talking about. “They come back because we keep all talk and treatments confidential,” he smiles.
During the wait to let the colour soak in, it’s easy to get lost in a world filled with row upon row of bottles and cans that “freeze” your style, wax hair sprays, hair moisturisers and serums that promise you a cross over into the world where hair is perfectly in place, shining healthy, and just right.
He mentions how important it is for stylists to be able to communicate – that’s what brings a client back. And how important it is to educate your client on what to do next, post-salon. You don’t really wake up with a salon look the next morning, do you? While drying out hair SS talks of how your hair needs to be 80 per cent damp for you to use a blow-dryer effectively.
“Every autumn the dramatic style books that are bought down from the ramps of Milan and Paris are Indianised to our liking. Very few will go all out and change a style dramatically here. Length is important for women in India,” says the stylist, recalling how he made his first woman client cry when he cut her hair to less than half when he had just set out and was all of 16. Lessons learnt on the first day of work, tend to stay for life.
Between bits of hair secrets of the stars, and the glamorous world of Bollywood, he has sectioned out hair and layered the style to perfection, stopping every now and then, swivelling the chair around. Voila, you have been turned into a very different-looking person, thanks to the magic wand that he waved. The mirror is held up, propping the head in sunlight streaming in through the window…yes, the sun has kissed the hair, all right!
Oh… and, by the way. Says SS: the real mark of a hairdresser? One who dares to wear a white shirt while colouring client’s hair!
