Fellowship scholarship winner cilesté rogers week two diary

Fellowship scholarship winner Cilesté Rogers gives us an exclusive look at her second week on her fantastic opportunity with The Fellowship for British Hairdressing.

After an incredible first week in August, Cilesté Rogers from Be My Guest returned to the Sassoon Academy for her next 5 days of fabulous education.

We caught up with Cilesté to find out what she got up to and this is her diary of her week.

Day One

I couldn’t wait to head back to the Sassoon Academy, but I was a little bit nervous about starting this course as I don’t have a lot of experience in men’s hairdressing. This was an opportunity for me to get lots of tips and education in this aspect of hair and I was definitely going to make the most out of it.

I arrived back at the academy and was introduced to Michael and Oon as my educators for the day. The morning started with an incredible lecture, including a description of their famous ABC cutting technique, plus guidance on suitability and scissor over comb.

After a quick tea break we were treated to an amazing demonstration by Michael and Oon. They were fairly similar but showed different ways to begin the cut depending on head shapes and partings. It was also amazing to be able to see how they refine the style and cross check their work.

The afternoon was our chance to get working on our own models. I worked with a square cut shape that had bevelled corners which Oon referred to this as “sqround”. The finished look was stunning and worked with my model’s slightly curled hair.

Day Two 

After a great first day I was back armed with my Denman tool roll ready for another brilliant day. Not only do I get to spend another week at Sassoon’s but I am lucky enough to have been gifted a beautiful kit from Denman. Definitely still feeling very fortunate to have won this opportunity!

My educators today were Davide and Michael and the morning was an opportunity to learn all about the key principles and phases of men’s cutting. I took lots of notes so I could take all the information back to the team in my salon.

Davide then demonstrated a look that is definitely a trend this year and it really reminded me of Elvis Presley, while Michael described his demonstration as “modern and young.”

After lunch we worked on our own models and my haircut had a slightly triangular square layer with slight length towards the front. I couldn’t help but repeat in my head “refine, refine, refine” as I finished the style.

Day Three 

This week has flown by and each day I jump on the train can’t wait to learn more! Talking about the train I have to say a big thank you to Hairdressers Journal for contributing towards my travel. Such a huge help!

As I made me way over on the tube I had a huge smile on my face. It is so nice to be in London again and I will be so sad when I come to the end of my Scholarship, but I still have another two weeks to go after this.

Today we were with Davide and Michael again and were taken back in time. An insight into how fashion and hair has changed over the years, including different shapes and techniques that could be interpreted to recreate certain haircuts.

Davide then created a beautiful classic and sleek 1920s haircut, while Michael went for a stunning rock’n’roll look working with the natural curl.

I always look forward to the afternoon’s workshops as they are a chance for me to really develop all the tips the educators give us in the morning sessions. My model definitely allowed me to break some of my existing habits and I was encouraged to slow down and take a step back to really assess what I was doing. This was brilliant as I could clearly see what needed refining. Being able to be so creative is amazing and it was a fantastic day!

Day Four

The penultimate day of ABC Men’s Cutting began with a morning seminar with Michael. He went over all of Sassoon’s incredible collection and we discussed how we could achieve the renowned looks, including sectioning patterns and styling. We also talked about fashion and the impact this has on new hairstyles and current trends.

A quick tea break and we returned for a demonstration with Michael and Daniel who created a similar look but a look that was also different at the same time. They went through their sectioning choices with us and conveyed to us the importance of using different combs when using scissor over comb. It was amazing, and I absolutely loved Michaels demo in particular. His model had a very 90's feel and everything worked perfectly from the styling to the finish.

After lunch we were back for our workshop and I was given the task of completely reshaping my models look. I assessed the head shape to decided where to place the corners and how to work with weight distribution. It was a challenge but I loved every minute and I left today with a huge sense of achievement.

Day Five

I cannot believe how quickly this week has gone and I am sad to think the second week is coming to an end. I still pinch myself at how lucky I am to have this opportunity!

Instead of a morning seminar we worked on our own model straight away and I had a chance to really work on my scissor over comb techniques. I even got to use the clippers over the perimeter.

The afternoon was then a chance to watch an amazing demonstration before we were given our Diplomas for the week.

This really was an amazing 5 days and although it was a challenge, I feel so much more confident now in men’s cutting. I understand the importance of face shapes, suitability and technique plus I can honestly say I have so much more confidence now. A big thank you to The Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Sassoon Academy, Hairdressers Journal & Denman for making it all possible!