Meet the 65th year l’oréal colour trophy 2021 grand finalists

It's the 65th year of the L’Oréal Colour Trophy and what better way to get to know the Grand Finalists from the UK and Ireland than by asking them for their most interesting facts! Find out who will be crowned a winner and don't miss out on the L'Oréal Colour Trophy Grand Final The Virtual Edition taking place on Monday 13 September at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale now priced at £30. Buy them here!

UK L'Oréal Colour Trophy Award finalists 

"My mum used to have to hide the kitchen scissors when I was younger due to me attacking my own hair (literally attacking!). I fell back into my old ways in lockdown but no harm done…I don’t think!" Alexandra Mary Watkin, CRC Cutting Room Creative     "We have a life sized calf called Moorial as a salon mascot!" Kelsey Purves and Joe Simpson, Milk Hairdressing       "I achieved L’Oréal colour specialist in 2018. I’m the tallest female at Charlie Miller." Rachel Parkin, Charlie Miller       "We always smile, we like to make noise and you can always hear us in a salon! We are not the most quiet people – we like to laugh, smile and enjoy life!" Egle Razvadauskaite and Alessandro Barca, TONI&GUY Canary Wharf       "Fun fact from a colleague 'you're a speed demon with highlights – hold onto your tint brush baby, you've done half a head in 5 minutes!!' I have to say, I do love highlighting! A couple of years before starting work at Contemporary, I went on a Trevor Sorbie seminar in Leeds, I remember seeing a chap stood with Trevor at the bar afterwards, chatting away. That chap had been helping behind the scenes and I remember thinking 'how amazing to be chatting to Trevor Sorbie – what an inspiration'. That chap has been my fantastic boss for the last 18 years!" Claire Marsay, Contemporary Guisborough "Elita Loves house music and disco balls 🌐  Her nickname is disco nana 💃🏽. When Aimee is out of the salon she loves weight lifting and enjoys being by the coast with her two crazy boxer dogs wild swimming and paddle boarding." Aimee Lucy Jones and Elita Francesca King, Hair by Jones (Monmouth) Ltd   "Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success!" Janes Carl Aucamp and Chloe Marie Etherington, Guy Kremer Lymington       "I was part of the 2012 LO’real Colour academy as I won the Northern Irish region in 2012." Lorraine Hume and Kerry Beck, Lorraine Hume Hairdressing       "I was in Italy going to see the David Gilmour show in Pompei in 2017. I was in the queue to get into the venue waiting to show my ticket to the security. After three  long hours of standing waiting I realised I wasn't in the queue for security, but the queue for the gents' toilets." Dario La Porta, TONI&GUY Westfield London     "Although I am right handed I can do some haircuts as a lefty. I also drink 10/15 espressos a day." Andrea Dorata, Dorata Hairdressing (Marlow)       "One of my favourite things to do is to travel around Italy learning new cooking skills." Jack Kilpatrick, JKP Hairspa       "A fun fact about us is Paul used to be the lead singer in a rock band and I’m always the last to leave the party 🎉" Heather Anne Shaw and Paul David Corbett, Francesco Group Stafford Academy     "Im incredible at High Kicks which I find doing a lot after a perfect blend." George French, Nashwhite       "I've been working in hairdressing salons working since I was 13. I even did my wife's wedding day hair." Benedict Okane, Benny@Mcgills       "I am going to be a first-time father in a couple of weeks to beautiful baby girl, she will be a the next future Colour Trophy winner!" Spencer Silver, Spencer Silver       "The fun thing about me is that I have  an incredible spirit of adventure and if the invitation is going to take me for  a walk on the wild side - to places and people yet undiscovered - I'm the first in line with my bag packed, however difficult the journey." Hanna Karoliina Saunders, Karoliina Saunders Hair Design     "A fun fact about me is that I highlight books when I’m reading! Even fiction!" Lloyd Court, Skyler London       "Our ages combined is 65, so hopefully this will be a good omen 😜" Anthony Osborne and Jade Stephenson, Royston Blythe Shrewsbury         "I once met and got a hug off sir Ian McKellen in a local bar before a Cher concert!" Troy Boyd, Anthony John Salons        

UK L'Oréal Men's Image Award finalists

"I love being creative and making things from side tables and chopping boards  to Terrariums. I have an obsession with plants, I have over 200 houseplants in my home. It is often referred to as a  jungle by family and friends. " Branislav Hamorsky, Francesco Group Congleton     "I see myself as an easy going laid back individual who enjoys all aspects of life and just having fun and making the most of the opportunities presented." Chirag Hirani, Hair Lab       "Charles does a great peacock impression and Jordan was once the Under 18s Scottish champion at Butterfly stroke" Charles Rose and Jordan Gaskell, Crate Hair       "Richard: Richard trained, in lockdown, as a vaccinator. No, inflicting pain was not the driving force here! Lorenzo: Lorenzo loves art, however once on a school trip, he walked through a pebble sculpture, in a London gallery, worth 30k. He left swiftly after..." Richard Monk and Lorenzo Colangelo, The Gallery Hairdressing     "Not only is this the first time we’ve competed in the L’Oréal Colour Trophy, it is also the first time we have entered a competition as a duo!" Terri Brown and Joseph Golden, Royston Blythe       "The model I’ve used for my entry is actually my husband!" Oliver Francis, Oliver Charles Hair Studio       "Since forming the Eden Hair mother and son team, my model Joe and I have had such fun and enjoyed the challenge of getting through to the final in 2019 and now in 2021." Andrea Grosvenor, Eden Hair LTD       "I can do an amazing Gollum from lord of the rings impression." Darren Cunningham, The Secret Garden         "We started hairdressing together at the age of 16 and became great friends. Now we are Grand Finalists in the L’Oreal Colour Trophy 16 years later. " Sophie Stanness and James Parr, Nashwhite       "I know the Lady Gaga Bad Romance dance routine and I taught Coleen Nolan how to slut drop at Manchester Pride one year." Craig Simpson, Craig Duncan Hair        

UK L'Oréal Colour Trophy AFRO Award finalists

"We've entered the LCT Afro award three times, with the first time being 9 years ago. Fingers crossed it's a case of 3rd time lucky!" Amy Lauren Horsman and Samantha Laura Shillito, CRC Cutting Room Creative       "I have worked for Toni & Guy for 23years and spent 2 of those years working and helping train some of the team for Toni & Guy Miami which I LOVED!' Amy Woods, TONI&GUY Newbury       "I once cried after a month because a job I worked at said I could only have natural colours in my hair. I have way too many hobbies all of which are arts related – painting, drawing and sewing to name just a few." Tevae Humphrey, Headmasters Mayfair    

UK L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalists

"I’m quite an arty person, from drawing, painting to making things, which has definitely influenced my path in hairdressing! I’m a fan of Ru Paul's Drag Race because, 'we’re all born naked and the rest is draaaag!'" Destiny Linwood, Bloggs Salons       "I'm a cheese-aholic! I dream of cheese day and night. My dream date would be eating a cheese platter, in the Maldives with Justin Bieber!" Eloise Moorshead, Headquarters Hair Salon         "I like listening to Disney and musical theatre music. I can make my eyes look in different directions." Charlotte Lowndes, TONI&GUY Peterborough      

" I began my hairdressing journey when I was 14 years old as a Saturday girl at the same salon I am still at now at almost 21. I absolutely love dogs and if I wasn’t a hairdresser, dog grooming would be my next go to career - hair, but for dogs!" Chloe Jack, Emma Wallace Hair Studio

 

Ireland L’Oréal Colour Trophy Award Finalists

"When things get too serious, Sara sings Total Eclipse of the Heart to make Michael laugh ( it’s not a sad song when you sing it with a Spanish accent 😂)" Sara Cubero Escudero and Michael Corcoran, Peter Mark College        "In a job interview I rambled on about how I investigated mermaids for a good 20 minutes and that I believe they're real 🤣🤣" "I love to do things for the craic! I was completely booked out on a Saturday in the salon, the whole salon knew I was going out the night before. My manager made it clear to me not to be late. Every Saturday we had 15 minutes Team meeting. So I rang our receptionist and said I was sick and wasn’t going to be to come in. She was absolutely terrified to tell our manager, we had two entrances into the salon. So I snuck up the back stairs and hid under a stool and our manager storms into the meeting was roaring at the top of lungs Aoife is nothing coming and was telling the team that she couldn’t believe had let them down. She had asked our receptionist to start moving clients out of my column. I could have sworn, she looked right at me 3 times but was so fuming couldn’t see me. The whole team started laughing and she couldn’t understand what was so funny and right at that very moment jumped up to surprise her. I she thought was going to pass out with relief and kill me all at once 😅 😂😂😂" Jessica Hanna and Aoife Bradley, Cats Hair Salon Courtney:"I didn't know tuna was a fish" Shauna: "I can rap any song from the 90's." Courtney Hennessy and Shauna McGrath, Komb Professional Hairdressing       Jamie: "I started up my own dried floral company in lockdown this year." Amy: "In my picture, I've just had a face peel so that's why I look a bit red! We only got the email last night and I had to take my headshot today!" Jamie Browne and Amy McLoughlin Foley, Brown Sugar Blackrock     "A fun little fact about me is when I was younger and making my confirmation, I did not understand what a confirmation name was. I assumed it was my middle name, (it wasn’t), so my actual full name is Liam Patrick Patrick Finn (thankfully I never have to put that on  any official documents!)" Liam Finn, Peter Mark Blackrock       Shane: "I'm 32 years old and I'm still waiting on my phone call from Hogwarts." Hilary: "I'm the self-appointed salon TikTok queen." Shane Farrell and Hilary O Reilly, Hillary.ie       "Before I became a hairdresser, I wanted to be a marine biologist!" Kate Murtagh, K Club Hairdressing         Michal: "I played the cello for two years and if I didn't do hair, I would be a pilot. I used to spend hours in flight simulator." Andreea: "This time last year Mike was my educator. Now I have qualified and we are competing in the LCT together." Michal Szerszen and Andreea Lucaci, Zeba Hairdressin     "We are both obsessed with 1970s fashion, hair, makeup and music." Kevin Heavin and Angie Dromgoole, Zeba Sandymount team         "I chopped my fringe off when I was seven. I mean, straight off, to the scalp." Danielle Garner, Wildflower

Ireland L'Oréal Men's Image Award Finalists 

  "We enjoy karaoke and love a 90s throwback night!" Helen Barry and Clara Jones, Trim       "We joined the same shop on the same day and instantly gravitated towards each other as newbies. I've got all Joanna’s log ins to social media as she cannot use it and can never remember her log in details. Joanna is the Ying to my Yang. She tells me when I need to reign it in with my ideas and I tell her when her ideas need to be more elevated. We are the perfect match." Graham Molloy and Joanna Fogarthy, Brown Sugar Blackrock     "At the beginning I used to struggle pronouncing Irish names, and was always asking at the desk how I should pronounce them many times during the day. It is common to hear me singing while I work, even though I’m not a singer at all!" Clayton da Silva Barbosa, Hillary.ie     "A fun fact about me is I opened my own salon when I was 23 and I had just had a little baby boy 5 months ago. " Louisa Murphy, Saints Colour Specialist & Beauty       "We are a married couple and our 19 year old model, Christopher, is our son! A little bit of uniqueness to L'Oréal's 65th year..." Lavinia Quinn Gorman and Richard Gorman, Richard Michaels Hair Design team       "The Academy Barber employs more female barbers than men #girlpower." Sandra Keegan and Emma Clancey, The Academy Barber Celbridge       Keith: "I was a topless waiter before I fell I love with hair." Dean Somers and Keith Monks, The Academy Belle Hairdressing         "Words can't describe how honoured I am to be able of the 65th L'Oréal final, best of luck to everyone involved." Rachael Ward, The Academy Barber Maynooth      

Ireland L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalists

"I’ve a twin sister and my little sisters are also identical twins." Victoria Christie, Style Club, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist       "I colour code my bowls with the highest level of peroxide being red... Curly blow dries are my thing, I could get a curl ruler straight 😜 " Zoe Chaytor Rankin, Cutculture Colourhouse, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist       "I am an animal lover with a blind rescue dog who keeps me company every day as he sits at my salon door. I am a freelance hairdresser running an award-winning salon based in Rural West Cork and a third-generation entrepreneur. I also have mayonnaise on everything!" Aisling Hurley, Hair by Aisling, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist     "I am a 'college dropout' and after studying Video Games Development for three years I decided it wasn’t for me. I pursued my true passion in hair and here I am today!" Mark Sherwood, Zeba Hairdressing Arnotts, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist     "Two of my friends and I bought and renovated a campervan last summer and we used it to travel around Ireland over the summer and weekends. Also, I prefer cats over dogs. I have a cat tattooed on my ankle!" James Armstrong, Marbles Academy, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist     "Danielle and I have known each other over 10 of years, we were in the same secondary class for 6 years and then drifted apart due to different paths in life... but then a year after leaving school we ended up having the same passion for hair, working together in the same job, on the same path with a love for competitions." Danielle Tolan and Jade Mcdermott, Frame Creative Hair, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalists     "I have never broken a bone in my body, I think it’s down to broccoli being one of my favourite foods and I love a pint of milk so my calcium intake is never low! I also have extremely curly hair and as a child whenever I went on holidays they would call me the Irish Shirley Temple!" Shannon Kenny, Wildflower, L'Oréal Colour Trophy STAR Award finalist     Date for your diary: L'Oréal Colour Trophy Grand Final The Virtual Edition taking place on Monday 13 September. Tickets are on sale now priced at £30. Buy them here. This is a sponsored post in collaboration with L'Oréal Colour Trophy.