AN Ellesmere Port salon is celebrating even more success as one of its up and coming members of staff is now through to the finals of a national competition.
After being shortlisted this year for the STAR award at the L'Oréal Colour Trophy and being named as one of the North West's top five 'up and coming' names to watch in hairdressing, Shea Morris has now been crowned the North West regional final trophy winner.
Shea, who works at The Boutique Atelier in Underwood Drive, Ellesmere Port, had to recreate his photographic entry and present it in person at the Isla Gladstone Conservatory in Liverpool.
Shea Morris has made it to the finals of the L'Oreal Colour Trophy STAR award.
He spent an afternoon colouring his model's hair and the following morning styling and finessing the look ready for the competition.
The glamour never ends for Team Boutique Atelier with Shea having to do all the final touch-ups in the car park before entering the competition venue. Shea had to present his model to the three industry-leading judges along with a mood board explaining his inspiration and concept. They then quizzed him on the technicality of the colour technique he had designed and the science behind the formulas he had mixed.
The team of judges looked for work that was exceptionally executed and technically precise with a clear vision and direction. Shea took inspiration for his look from his trip to London to work backstage at the Mulberry London Fashion Week runway, where The Boutique Atelier salon owner, Richard Phillipart, had designed the hair look.
The Boutique Atelier, Ellesmere Port.
Not only did Shea get to work backstage, assisting with creating the hair, Richard arranged for Shea and fellow Team Boutique Atelier member Rosie Dooley to have a front-row seat and watch the catwalk presentation.
Shea talked about seeing the whole process from start to finish and the glamour of the catwalk inspired his look where he took references from the hair, making a more polished and client friendly interpretation and how the clothes, textures and textiles inspired his sectioning patterns, colour formulas and final finished texture of his models look.
The next stage of the competition will see Shea travel to London for the grand finals of the L'Oréal Colour Trophy on June 27. He will again recreate his entry and present his look and concept for a different round of judges at the L'Oréal Academy in Hammersmith, where he will compete with the finalists from each region to be named the UK's top rising name in colouring and receive the STAR award.
This is the 10th year a member of The Boutique Atelier team has been highlighted by L'Oréal Professional as one of the leading colourists in the country.
Shea said: “I was extremely excited to get the email telling me I had been shortlisted for the L’Oreal Colour Trophy STAR award. I worked really hard on my concept and entry colour makeover and to have that recognised by the judges is fantastic.
"I’d like to thanks Richard for his guidance and support with my career and showing me everything the hairdressing industry has to offer. I was so nervous for the regional finals and proud to have been named the regional winner.
"I can't wait for the next stage in London and thanks everyone at the salon and all my clients for their support”
As one of the UK's leading names in the hairdressing industry, Richard has been judging the L'Oréal Colour Trophy since 2016. Of course, Richard could not judge the North-West region as that is where his salon's team has been competing, but he has travelled the UK judging colourists in Scotland, Ireland, the Midlands and London regional finals.
Richard has been asked for a third time to design the hair for the grand final spectacular show which will take place after the black tie dinner. Richard was the youngest independent hairdresser in the competition's history to be given this honour when, in 2016, he first designed the hair looks for the grand final show.
In 2019, he was invited to headline the Irish L'Oréal Colour Trophy grand final where he created a ruckus show which fused punk rock attitudes with high fashion glamour.
He said: “The L'Oréal Colour Trophy is the industry's longest running and leading in person hairdressing competition. Over our 10 years of nominations, my team are proud to have racked up 23 regional nominations between us with multiple grand finals and UK wide wins.
"Our biggest accolade in the competition is when our team won the UK grand finals with her men's image award in 2018. Now with Shea stepping in those footsteps and starting his career with such an accolade can only mean good things for his future.”
For more information about The Boutique Atelier, visit www.theboutiqueatelier.co.uk
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