Australian Hairdressers in the Studio

The Australian Hairdressers Journal Fame Team and a group of hairdressers from down under have just finished a 24 day World Tour taking in Los Angeles, New York and London, culminating in a final day at the MyHairDressers.com studios with Stacey Broughton and Charmaine Piche. The workshop and photoshoot was a huge success and all the attendees returned to Australia full of inspiration and with a little more knowledge than when they arrived. Michelle Sewell, the International Artistic Director of AHJ was on hand to provide her view of the day's proceedings.

Day 24 of the AHJ International World Tour, was never going to be ordinary. Throughout the tour we have spent time in LA with Mark Hayes, Vidal Sassoon (himself) and Jefferson Ntys the Creative DIrector and MD of The Well; in NYC with the amazing Ruth Roche in salon, and the incredible Kris Sorbie, shooting front covers for the AHJ group.

We then travelled on to the UK to work with British Hairdresser of the Year Akin Konizi, London Hairdresser of the Year RIchard Mannah, Toni and Guy, Richard Ashforth of SACO, the legendary Tim Hartley, my dear friend and session stylist Zoe Irwin, the amazing Richard Thompson, my very special friend Andrew Barton and as a special treat Mahogany's Neil Atkinson. 

So after working with this incredible group of iconic names in our industry, we had one more genius to spend the day with. Every artist  we worked with on the world trip have stated that "he is the world's best hair cutter",  "a genius", "a freak when it comes to cutting hair" ....and when the world's best say that about you, you have a lot to live up to. So we thought we would save the best for last - a day with Stacey Broughton. 

In his typical casual, laid-back style, Stacey blew us all out of the water with his talent. ‘WOW’ I thought I had seen it all, how wrong could I have been? Hidden away at Sassoon's for over 25 years, where he worked as Senior Creative Director and initiating Sassoon’s video eduction globally, and now the creative brain behind the amazing MyHairDressers.com, was one of the most inspirational hairdressers I have watched for over three decades .

The day started with a 45 minute minivan ride to Southend-on-sea just outside London, where we arrived at a huge warehouse.  Parked outside was a  VW Kombi van, the type of van you would see at the beach with a surf board sticking out the back.  As we made our way into the warehouse we could smell bacon and great coffee, Stacey had just whipped himself up a bacon butty and a coffee while waiting for our crew of very enthusiastic australian hairdressers to arrive.

As we walked in, Stacey and Charmaine had breakfast waiting for us and after devouring everything in sight we made our way through to the MyHairDressers.com studio, where the magic happens. Every week for the last three years Stacey Broughton, Tim Hartley, Charmaine Piche, Tracy Hayes, Mazella & Palmer, Richard Ashforth and many, many more brilliantly talented hairdressers and colourists have worked within these walls to produce the incredible videos you watch on MyHairDressers.com. And here we were about to spend the day with the charismatic Stacey Broughton, the hairdresser's hairdresser, and the amazing hair colourist Charmaine Piche.

We thought we would let our Fame Team, One of our International Delegates and the AHJ crew share their thought on this special day, this is what they had to say: 

"The looks at the Stacey Broughton afternoon were full of graphic shapes complimented with soft textured interiors. Precision cuts were met with multi-dimensional colours, soft hues of amber and honey gold were juxtaposed with striking flares of smoked-sapphire blue and tectonic black. Hair moved effortlessly into an array of different shapes and styles from ‘Angular Graphic’ to ‘Demure New-age’, looks that are so synonymous with Stacey’s style." Nick Kraut, Australian Fame Team 2011

"Stacey brings a new kind of energy and excitement to cutting hair, he is thrilling to watch. He doesn't work or look at hair like the rest of us do. It's very difficult to explain, you have to see it to understand the purity of his talent and genius. As an educator he delivers his ideas and techniques in a relaxed laid-back manner, sharing his passion for his craft in such a generous way. I absolutely loved the time we spent with Stacey at MyHairDressers.com. Australians are very lucky to be having this wonderful master of our craft on tour throughout March 2012 with Charmaine. I have no doubt they will fall in love with them, like we have on the AHJ World Tour." Michelle Sewell, International Artistic Director for AHJ America, Australia and NZ

"Spending the day with Charmaine was amazing. Her friendly approach to sharing her knowledge was just insane considering her pedigree. She created many multi-dimensional colours, that both highlighted and accentuated Stacey's brilliant haircuts. The craft at this level is mind blowing, it has been such an honour to spend the day with both Stacey and Charmaine at MyHairDressers.com. Its just crazy the people we have been exposed to on this tour, its hard to get your head around it." Bianca Lee-Tinson, International Delegate, AHJ World Tour 2011

"After watching the creative direction of hair by Stacey, I asked him what he envisioned the makeup of the cover shot to be. It was obvious that we needed to point all focus on the beautiful haircuts, so 'simple' was the direction Stacey gave me. The makeup design was created to compliment the strong bold lines that were very visual in the hair, the skin was silky and flawless with a beautiful porcelain finish, eye work was kept very minimal which allowed the strength of the hair to be the focus. The bold lips were the main feature with both looks as this complimented the strong hair cuts creating the powerful look you will see in the AHJ cover images.' Poulina Romano, International Beauty Editor and Creative Make-Up Director

Stacey told us, "It was a great day, everyone was so receptive and eager to learn, which always makes it more enjoyable for me. They were all fans of MyHairDressers.com and it means so much to me that what we're doing in this studio is being seen and influencing people thousands of miles away."