Winning the young colourist award was 'amazing' - jay bowen
L'Oreal Professionnel Young Colourist Award winner, Jay Bowen, from James Roberts Hairdressing, in Manchester, has the complete package. Jay, 24, saw entering the award as an opportunity to make a name for himself and take his skills to the next level.
"I have a real passion for colouring hair and learning new techniques," he says. "I thought entering the Young Colourist Award would give me great experience for entering future competitions and help me to improve my skills.
"L'Oreal is such a fantastic company, and I knew that if I won they could take me to such great heights and really help me to further my career."
Competition-winning hair needs a great concept behind it and Jay chose one that he could feel passionate about: music, which he says has had a big influence on fashion. 
Nevertheless, he found developing the idea was a very different challenge to producing great hair on his clients in the salon.
"When you are with a client, you have the consultation, then you have a couple of minutes to think about what would look good and you just do it straight away.
"For the Young Colourist Award, I had to work out where the idea had come from and then grow it until I had a result that I was happy with, and one that would wow the people who saw it.
He adds: "Music has had a huge influence on hair and fashion and the colours that we wear. And that impact on popular culture has really evolved over time. I tried to sum that up and hopefully it came across in my model."
Having won a place in the final, Jay made the brave decision to change his look because he was worried that his photographic entry might not have quite the same impact in a live hair competition.
"The image I used for the regional finals looked great because it had a coloured band that really reflected the light," adds Jay. "The problem was that it looked like it could have just been the light reflecting, not the colour, and I wanted something that would show off my skills to the best of my ability."I wasn't worried about changing the image because as long as you are confident in what you do and you push yourself then that is enough. I did my best so I knew I could be proud of my creation even if I didn't win."
Unlike the Colour Trophy and the Men's Image, Young Colourist Award finalists created their final looks in front of the judges two weeks before the Grand Final, which gave Jay lots of time to stew about whether he had done enough.
"I'd had two weeks to prepare myself for the fact that I hadn't won and but I'd also been thinking how great it would be to win; but I didn't really know what to expect.
"Whenever I've been to hair competitions, they always seem to pick a winner I didn't expect and even though I was pleased with my look and my peers were all confident that I'd win, I knew that it might not be what the judges were looking for."
"On the night I didn't know whether to be nervous or excited and when they announced the winner I just sat there with my head in my hands. When they said my name I didn't register until people started throwing me around!
"Once it sunk in, it was an amazing feeling!".With the Young Colourist Award under his belt, Jay's next step is to take a course to be a colour specialist, which will give him skills that will take him all over the world.
But as for his longer term plans, that's simple: "I just want to work hard, keep leaning and do the best that I can," he concludes.
L'Oreal Professionnel Colour Trophy on HJi
Photos
- Regional finalists catwalk photos
- Men's finalists catwalk photos
- Colour Trophy Awards photos
- Colour Trophy glamorous guest photos
- Live Show and Judge Panel photos
News and finalists details
- Regional finals round-up and Grand Finalists details
- Avsh Alom Gur wows regional audiences
- L'Oreal Professionnel Colour Trophy a night to remember
