Hairdressers a cut above rest

– Elizabeth Moorhead, on work experience

Two award-winning hairdressers from Kiama’s Spectrum Hair and Make-up won five medals at the Wollongong International Hairdressing Society awards recently.

Spectrum hairdresser Rachel Spinelli, who has only just returned from working backstage at New York Fashion Week in February, was impressed with Sydney’s fashion parades.

“Sydney Fashion week was awesome. New York is as good as it gets, as big as it gets, but Australian fashion has come so far,” she said.

Angela Bennett, also from Spectrum Hair and Make-Up, joined Ms Spinelli backstage at Sydney’s Fashion Week.

On Monday, April 27, Ms Bennet, Ms Spinelli and Natasha Edwick, all from Spectrum, entered eight models in the International Hairdressing Society Wollongong Awards.

Ms Bennett won four pre-done divisions, including catwalk, men’s colour, men’s cutting and women’s cutting.

Ms Spinelli won a silver medal in the pre-done bridal category and Ms Edwick placed second in apprentice women’s colour and third in apprentice men’s colour.

Having conquered the regional competitions, with wins recently in Bateman’s Bay as well, Olwyn Frost, the owner and head stylist at Spectrum Hair and Beauty, is keen to see her team enter the NSW hairdressing competition circuit next year.

“I’d love to see the girls try some timed comps, where you have just 45 minutes to style the hair with judges watching,” she said.

“That’s the real art. The comps are great because people are realising you don’t have to go to Wollongong or Sydney because there’s really good work happening in smaller salons.”

Ms Spinelli, who won the opportunity to go to New York’s fashion week on the strength her male hairstyling prowess, might have found the key to competition success.

To find models willing to have their hair styled into dramatic and impressive catwalk styles, Ms Spinelli looks to the new-age local male population.

“It’s more about stunning hair than pretty hair,” she said.