THIS summer, hairdressing learners showed off their innovative creations and designs at the ‘Celebrating Creativity and Sustainability in Hair Design’ competition held at ACL Colchester.

ACL Essex teamed up with Debut Training Academy and Kleek Apprenticeships to put on a hairdressing showcase at ACL Colchester. The event aimed to show the importance of sustainability in the industry.

For the event, learners had to create a ‘Sustainability Look’. The stylists needed to use natural and recycled elements like leaves and old clothes or creatively show the themes of waste and recycling.

Lisa Jarentowski, ACL Essex Principal, was pleased to see what ACL Essex’s hair and beauty learners have achieved this year. She said: “It’s great to come together with other providers to celebrate our learners like this. With support from their tutors, our hairdressing learners came up with creative and sustainable hair designs. I’m so proud of all their hard work and dedication.”

Iasmina, the competition winner, completed Level 2 Hairdressing last year and is now close to finishing her Level 3 Hairdressing course at ACL Essex. She said: “The theme was sustainability. I used jeans material as you can use it for anything. From one pair of jeans, you can make bags you can make materials for gardening tools, kids toys and so much more. It took me two weeks to plan the idea using my son’s old jeans then to come up with a mood board.”

Iasmina added: “I think this creative work is what I would like to do going forwards, more than normal hairdressing. I like to create things. I’m a creative person. I’m going to try and find more competitions where my designs may get noticed.”

Another hairdressing learner, Lisa, decided to change careers after realising her previous job role wasn’t the right fit. Lisa said: “I had my 30^th birthday and I wasn’t in love with my job. I wanted to try something else and found there was a hairdressing course at ACL Essex. I threw caution to the wind and signed up. Now I just love it. I love talking to people, doing hair, creating something different; I love all of it. I even love the science behind it, learning about scalp conditions, colouring and mixing. I never thought I’d like science!”

Lisa continued: “Next year I’m going to do Level 3 Hairdressing and Barbering, and in the future I’d love to own a salon. I think that’s achievable in the next couple of years with what I’ve learnt on the course.”

The showcase gained support from the Vocational Training Charitable Trust (VTCT). The Green Salon Collective also sponsored the event. The collective works to recycle salon waste and encourage salons to be more sustainable.

Fellow learners, industry professionals and sustainability advocates were in the audience.

ACL Essex provides a range of hairdressing and barbering and beauty and complementary therapies courses. These include accredited courses and qualifications from Levels 1 to 3, for those looking for a career in the industry, and a range of courses focused on various skills.

To find out more about hairdressing and barbering courses at ACL Essex, visit www.aclessex.com/hairdressing-barbering.

To find out more about beauty and complementary therapies courses at ACL Essex, visit www.aclessex.com/beauty-complementary-therapies.