On Tuesday the 3rd of September I was lucky enough to not only attend, but to be one of the Judges, representing rescu.com.au, at the 2013 Aveda Colour Harmony Awards, held at The Ivy, Sunroom.
Any celebration of Australian talent in the beauty industry is very much welcomed in my opinion, and it was great to see so much talent and passion for creativity over the past two days throughout the judging process.
With over 80 applications from across Australia, the International Aveda team selected 6 finalists amongst 3 categories and this year the competition had some new elements, which saw a different take on things…
This year, not only did participants have to submit the perfect image of their work, based on a recent Aveda collection ‘Neo Goth’, but also had to present their work and mood board inspiration in front of a panel of Judges.
This can be a daunting task, but great for myself being a judge to really understand how the creation came to life from first thought process to then seeing the end result – very interesting to see different takes on the ‘Neo Goth’ theme also.
‘Neo Goth’ was the Autumn/Winter collection from Aveda and I must say, all finalists had such different takes on this theme, which made it very exciting for all of us judges.
Josh Barnett – Education Manager for Aveda Australia, stated “It is much easier to Judge the works of the participants using one focused theme, than just accepting entries of any creativity the Stylists wish to present – it brings uniformity and fairness to the competition.”
“We were inspired by the Gothic Darkness on the runways, but took it in a direction of our own. We added fragility to the look, and romance – also drew upon the graphic futurism of Japanese manga and anime. The look is Goth… and much more” said Antoinette Beenders, Aveda Global Creative Director
The Judging Panel consisted of Christopher Chu – Director of Education for the APAC region, based in Hong Kong, Jenny Burns –Editor of Culture Magazine and myself (Michael Brown) – Beauty Expert, representing Rescu. com.au.
All have so much experience in the industry and all had different focuses when looking at these amazing entries, but we all agreed that listening to the Aveda Stylists presentation and hearing the ‘How To’ to their look, as well first inspirations really did play a big part in our final decisions.
Judges Jenny Burns from CULTURE Magazine and Michael Brown from RESCU.com.au
Let’s take a look at our 6 finalists entries;
Now as mentioned earlier, the Judging process seems easy once presented with these finalists’ images…
But, once you have the stylist in front of you demonstrating and explaining in detail the in’s and out’s of the colour/style/cut, it does change things, especially seeing what gave them inspiration and the passion to create such a look.
Fortunately, all judges agreed equally on 3 winners who were all awarded last night in a great celebration of great Aveda Aussie Talent.
The 6 finalists sweated out the wait of the announcements, keeping their mind off things by prepping their models that were showcased throughout the evening as each Category was announced.
Tahliaha Law prepping her Editorial Creation
Anmar Sahar get’s his Editorial look ready for showtime
The overall styling, including makeup was also part of the judging, as Andrea Barr was excited about, showing off her talents.
Jake Gray doing last minute checks before showtime!
With the many months of prep, organization, eliminations and the final Judging on Monday, it was time to announce the winners at the official Ceremony which Lisa Jackson, General Manager of Aveda Australia opened the night and seemed so excited to be able to award and motivate such talent, most coming from Western Australia!
The Winners of the night were;
New Talent – Winning a $1500 Hairdressing Kit
Scott Bradley-Darcy
Editorial – Winning a 6 page feature in Culture Magazine’s annual Yearbook edition
Anmar Sahar
And finally, The Colour Harmony Award – Winning a trip to the US to the Aveda Congress
Julie Jeffrey
A Big Congratulations to all 6 finalists and to the 3 winners!
It was a great night and I personally loved the vibe and enthusiasm from all the participants – it made me remember why I got into makeup, to have fun and do what I love, being creative is so empowering and rewarding at the same time.
I can’t wait to see what comes out of the 2014 Aveda Colour Harmony Awards!
