Ways to style the mane

Useful information

The workshop was held by Melroy Dickson, the Education Manager of Matrix, to enlighten hairdressers of Bangalore about a few new techniques of cutting and colouring hair. Along with his team of experts, Melroy guided the participants by demonstrating different hair styles both on a board as well as on a team of models.

“One of the most common things women ask me to do is to maintain the length of their hair. As hairdressers, we have to go by this and work with this length,” said Melroy.

 Working on the assumption that most Indian women prefer to have long hair, he took the participants through a few different haircuts that retained length and yet played around with the layers around the crown of the head, as well as the mid-length portion of the hair.

He also demonstrated a few different techniques through which the front section of the hair could be styled. Showing a great attention to detail, Melroy gave the audience a few helpful tips and tricks when it comes to cutting and styling hair; ranging from the choice of comb to the width of the sections parted for styling.

A world of information was imparted to the Bangalore-based hairdressers assembled at the show. He also spoke about the history of hair-styling, explaining how trends were heavily depended on Bollywood, but rarely showed any dramatic change.

A classic example of this was the fringe. “It may have become lighter over the years, but the style still remains,” he said.

Melroy also demonstrated a ‘dry haircut’ on stage. This is a method of cutting hair when it is perfectly dry, rather than wet— which is what most hairdressers prefer. He expertly showed the audience how to use the heel of the scissor to simply slide through hair, rather than chopping of lengths of it, which is a perfect method both for maintaining length and getting a little texture.

Suresh, a member of Melroy’s team, spoke to the audience about the different colouring techniques he had used on the models present. These included several technical details, such as colouring along vertical slices of hair and explaining the directions of the streaks he had applied. He also enlightened the hairdressers present about the importance of oil in a daily haircare routine.

“Oil massages help in terms of relaxing, de-stressing and promoting circulation in the scalp,” he said. The event also included a dazzling fashion show based on the ‘red carpet look’.

The models took to the ramp in beautiful evening gowns, but the highlight of the catwalk was the range of haircuts that they sported: ranging from perfectly straight locks to curls and coiffeurs.

The showstopper of the event was Deepti Gujral, who looked stunning in a red and black gown and wavy hair. The demonstrations were also interspersed by dance performances by Tobby Fernandes and his Mumbai-based troupe. Shaking a leg to popular songs like Ringa Ringa and Character Dheela Hai, they kept the participants entertained throughout the event.