Congratulations to Karly Menzies from Nanaimo, B.C. on her first-place win in the “So You Think You Can Style?” (SYTYCS) Short and Chic contest! We caught up with Menzies to find out more about her winning look.
Menzies has been working in the beauty industry for more than 14 years as a hairstylist and educator. While she’s entered (and been a finalist) in SYTYCS in the past, this entry is her first win!
“I feel like I’ve been a runner-up a lot when it comes to hair competitions,” says Menzies. “To have a win behind me feels so good! To get a win based on my skills and not the amount of social media followers I have means a lot to me because I don’t put a lot of emphasis on my social media.”
Menzies decided to become a hairstylist because of her passion for editorial and competition work. “Getting my work published in print has been the reason I started my journey as a hairstylist, so I was really happy to win this contest” she says, adding that she discovered
Salon while she was in hairdressing school and would search through the magazine for inspiration and to find local hairstylists who could possibly become her mentor.
“I think that our calibre of work as Canadian hairstylists is so inspiring and I’m grateful to have such a creative mentor like Edwin Johnston,” says Menzies. “He has really pushed me forward as a stylist by helping me understand the quality of work that contests are looking for. His mentorship inspired me to take risks and push myself out of my comfort zone.”
For her winning entry, Menzies drew inspiration from finalists and winners of popular hair competitions, such as the Contessa Awards and the British Hairdressing Awards. Although she knows that SYTYCS encourages entries with images taken in the salon, Menzies decided to enter an image that was a part of a previous Contessa entry to this competition.
“This image is a part of the first collection I photographed by myself when I initially became a freelance artist, so I’m really happy I was able to utilize it in this competition,” she says. “I try not to get too worked up about whether I win a competition or not, as long as I see improvement in my skills and work.”
Menzies used Goldwell colour products and Kevin.Murphy styling products to complete this look. During the consultation with her model, she made sure to ask questions about what the model is comfortable with in terms of colour and hair length. Since her model was comfortable with almost anything, it inspired Menzies to step outside the box to create this edgy yet chic look, which was created with a combination of clipper and scissor work.
After becoming a freelance stylist and refocusing her purpose as a session hairstylist and photographer, Menzies decided to further develop her role as an educator to junior hairstylists and is now also educating at her local hair school. She looks forward to creating more “lightbulb moments” for other hairstylists and inspiring them with the knowledge and skills she’s learned over the years.
Congratulations again to Menzies and a special shout-out to our second-place and third-place winners, Angie Hunt and Dana Mawer!
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