Congratulations to Julio Rodriguez of Valentini Hair Design in Guelph, Ont., on his first-place win in our “So You Think You Can Colour?” (SYTYCC) Viva Magenta contest! We caught up with Rodriguez to find out more about his winning look.
“I was very excited to get the news about my win!” says Rodriguez. “This was a look that I had created when the colour was announced by Pantone earlier this year, so I was really surprised when the contest came out.”
Rodriguez found his passion for the industry after stumbling into a hair salon as a fine-arts student in university. Since then, he’s been working in the beauty industry for 30 years as a hairstylist as well as an educator with Matrix.
“I think working with a brand is a great opportunity for any hairdresser because it exposes you to different talents that are out there,” he says, adding that he was able to gain mentorship from industry leaders like Nicholas French and Vivienne Mackinder, who he was able to shadow and work under with the Matrix team. Using what he learned with them, he was able to grow his business and soon became known for creating beautiful blonde looks in the salon.
Now, Rodriguez competes regularly and is able to focus on creating looks that are more artistic. “My clientele started to change as I started competing and there’s no better way to promote yourself than when clients hear you’re competing or working for a brand,” he says. “They know you’re working on your craft and that you’ll be learning new ways to create amazing looks for them.”
When creating competition work, Rodriguez says he tends to draw inspiration from his dreams with visions of things he sees on his travels and day-to-day experiences, which he writes down in a journal so that he doesn’t forget them.
For his winning SYTYCC entry, Rodriguez used violet and pink Matrix SoColor Cult shades and worked with clear pigments to help dilute and mix the colours. Since the model’s hair was already a very light blonde shade, he used a colour-blocking technique to apply the colour. “I always experiment with the Pantone Colour of the Year because I like to compete and because I want to see how I’ll be able to use the colour in my upcoming looks.”
Congratulations again to Julio Rodriguez and a special shout-out to our second-place and third-place winners, Meg Boswell and Francine Benoit!
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