Headmasters Brighton The Colour Sale We Talk To The Creative Team
Headmasters first opened in 1982 and as their number of clients grew, so did their salons! There are now 56 salons nationwide, with Brighton having opened its doors in 2008. Time is precious and at Headmasters they understand how difficult it can be to take time out of our hectic lives to feel and look good. The Brighton team pride themselves in making sure you get everything you need from a hair salon experience; exquisite cutting, innovative, beautiful colour and a salon where you really are the most important person to your stylist.
Relax and unwind, safe in the knowledge you are in expert hands. All staff at Headmasters are trained to the highest standards ensuring you quality every time you visit. The Headmasters Artistic Team work on prestigious events such as London, Paris & Milan Fashion Week, Catwalk shows, television, plus editorial from RED magazine to Good Housekeeping and The Sunday Times Style. This means the stylists know the latest runway hair trends as they happen and can pass them on to you.
One high-flying member of the Brighton team and Headmasters Creative Colour Ambassador, Alfie Pfeffer, recently put the salon firmly on the map again by winning the L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Trophy Southern Region at the glittering grand finale.
Alfie who’s based in Headmasters Brighton is a passionate colour technician, dedicated to creating new techniques and continual learning. A favourite with Instagram Influencers, especially for his creative colour work, he continually pushes colour boundaries which was demonstrated when Alfie brought home the Southern Region Trophy for Headmasters.
The L’Oréal Colour Trophy journey for Alfie began back in January when, filled with hope and determination he entered his photographic image in to the first round of this iconic competition. His look stood out amongst hundreds of entries and secured him a place in the second round – the live regional finals held in eight locations across the UK. Competing against other teams in the Southern region, he once again impressed the judges with his hairdressing skills and won a place at the L’Oréal Colour Trophy Grand Final.
During an intense day of competition at the L’Oréal International Academy in Hammersmith, an elite panel of highly successful, world renowned hairdressers were brought together to judge each total look including precision of cut, flawless looking colour and catwalk inspired styling. The judges, leaders in the industry, were: Tina Farey, Jason Miller, Paul Dennison, Guy Kremer, Adam Reed, Angel Montague Sayers, Siobhan Jones and Charlotte Mensah.
After the tough judging process the finalists and models arrived at Battersea Evolution, London where each of the models showcased their hair in a stunning catwalk show to the 1200 strong audience. The esteemed judging panel agreed that Alfie had met the brief, he beautifully executed the colour and demonstrated a clear understanding of the latest catwalk trends.
On winning the L’Oréal Colour Trophy Southern Region Alfie said “Colour Trophy always makes me up my game as you are surrounded the best in the industry, to be recognised as the overall Southern Regional winner is an amazing feeling! After five years of reaching the Regional Finals and three of these years reaching the Grand Finals, I can’t explain how amazing it felt to finally get on that stage.
Explaining his winning look, Alfie said “the colour was inspired by the warmth and shine you get from semi-precious metals in particular copper, bronze and brass. It’s a super flattering colour with a fashion forward contrast paired with an undone, vintage wave and a polished pastel green colour full tonal look.”
Andrew Barton Creative Director for Headmasters explains “We are delighted to celebrate Alfie’s success as Southern Region winner of the L’Orèal Professional Colour Trophy. We care passionately about giving all of our clients the advice they yearn for and we are renowned for our hair colour expertise with the largest number of L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Experts amongst our teams. Alfie’s winning look perfectly mirrors our philosophy of beautiful, fashionable confidence boosting hair.”
With such an impressive team and such a loyal client base, Absolute Magazine wanted to see who was the person at the top of the pile, directing this success story. We met up with Hugo Ratzel, Salon Owner and Hair Designer at Headmasters Brighton. Here’s what he had to say….
When did you first decide to become a hair stylist?
I was born into a hairdressing family and started my training in France at my family salon which has been passed down by generations. I went on to manage the salon, alongside my hairdresser sister who still works there now after all these years!
How did you get your first break in the industry?
After starting off at Headmaster’s flagship salon in Wimbledon Village as a stylist, I moved my way up to Salon Manager. I gained as much knowledge and experience as I could from that and then went on to win the L’Oréal colour trophy. After being part of several artistic teams, I then became Headmaster’s Creative Director for 5 years, overseeing the creative vision for the company. I also travelled as an international educator for L’Oréal, moving on to learn from other artistic entities, before coming back to open Headmasters Brighton 10 years ago.
Why did you choose Brighton as a location for your salon and how would you describe your customers?
Where else? Ever since my first visit to Brighton in 2000, it was love at first sight and I couldn’t imagine living or owning my salon in any other area. Being situated in the centre of this busy city allows us to be immersed in the lively atmosphere. As a creative, there is so much to be inspired by in this city. Our clients are all from different backgrounds, whether that be students, young professionals or pensioners, this diversity allows us to pride ourselves in our ability to satisfy all aspirations and needs.
Your team must be big now. Who make up your team and what do you look for when recruiting?
The salon is filled with a very experienced team, from apprentices to colour experts to having a creative Colour Ambassador based here, everyone is constantly keeping up to date with the industry’s latest trends and techniques. Since the growth of social media, clients are now exposed to the new trends very quickly, so our team are constantly training to keep up with the demands of our clients. Our award-winning Creative Colour Ambassador Alfie Preffer is based at Headmasters Brighton
We are proud to say Headmasters has the highest number of L’Oreal Master Colour Experts per salon than any other salon group. This is the highest colour qualification in the industry, meaning that we can confidentially create bespoke colour for each of our clients.
Why do you enjoy working for Headmasters?
Headmasters are constantly keeping our clients ahead on trends introducing new blow-dries & colouring techniques to ensure that we produce beautiful hair. Not only is training and education provided throughout our careers at Headmasters, but our talent is rewarded through competitions and incentives. One of the biggest incentives is that every staff member is entered for a competition to win a brand new Mini Cooper every year!
This year will be your 10-year anniversary. How will you be celebrating?
It’s amazing how quickly a decade has come around. We are so proud of everyone who has been part of team over the years and can’t wait to celebrate with our team. We also want to give our sincere gratitude to our most loyal clients by offering ‘Treat Time.’ It gives us a chance to celebrate with those loyal clients who have been visiting us Andea even been part of this journey over the past decade. Our treat time will offer 30% off all services from the 17th of June until the 1st of July, and to show our passion for colouring hair, all colour appointments during our treat time will receive a complimentary fusio dose treatment. This allows the hair to be transformed at the spa area with a made to measure treatment. In addition to the discount, we will be providing all clients with a glass of celebratory fizz and chocolates and an exclusive gift to take home with them. The salon will be decorated with a beautiful white and gold balloon installation so that even those passing by can admire our anniversary.
Headmasters Brighton has just seen a major transformation. Tell us about that.
As we are a busy salon and so the size of the salon was a concern. Since the refurbishment, we have extended the salon and utilised our space better. Clients can relax and unwind at our newly extended spa area that has five luxury massage chairs that can be used whilst your hair is being cleansed. All our hair stylists are qualified in a unique head massage given to clients free of charge to allow them to fully enjoy their spa experience. The salon was designed with comfort in mind, based on natural colour and a contemporary atmosphere. Even the décor works hard to give you good hair with the natural colours and lighting.
Which hair styling products do you personally recommend?
We offer a wide variety of products for all hair types, to suit our clientele. Our personal favourite brand would be Kerastase. They specialise in all needs to suit every aspect of each hair, from giving glossy nourished hair to their 96% all-natural aura botanica shampoo and conditioner. At Headmasters Brighton, our go-to product by Kerastate would have to be their Thermique creme’s, which are a leave in deep conditioning ritual which also give heat protection whilst blow drying to give you the ultimate soft, gorgeous blow dry!
What does the future hold for you and the salon?
With the success of winning the L’Oréal Colour trophy best in the southern region, I hope this win will continue to allow my clients to see how passionate we are about hairdressing. There are so many opportunities arising outside Brighton, so potentially a new branch coming soon. Watch this space!
Headmasters Brighton are open from Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm and both Saturday and Sunday 9am until 6pm to make it as easy as possible for you to escape the world and spend time on you! On top of all this, Headmasters guarantees you a complimentary consultation with an experienced stylist who will be able to advise you on cut, colour, condition and maintenance at home; a luxury head massage; complimentary refreshments throughout your appointment, plus fringe trims as often as you need them at no extra cost.
www.headmasters.com/salons/brighton
