Congratulations to Leigh Schultz of UNTITLED by Flaunt Boutique in Toronto on her first-place win in the “So You Think You Can Style?” Cut It Short photo contest!
For Schultz, this winning style began with the right model: “The inspiration behind this shoot was Vicktoria. As my model, she has always kindly let me do as I please. She has never limited my creativity. In this case, I wanted to mix the art of classic precision hairdressing with today’s street style colour palettes.”
As a L’Oréal Professionnel portfolio colourist, Schultz gets first access to new launches before they even hit the salons. She acts as a sort of professional product tester—a definite perk! While the base of her model’s colour was created with L’Oréal’s Dia Richesse Demi Permanent, Schultz tested out Blue and Turquoise from the upcoming L’Oréal Professionnel COLORFUL Hair collection (keep an eye out for it in salons starting July 2017) for Vicktoria’s street style–inspired colour.
Schultz finished the cut with a straight blade, perfected the “wisp” of hair in the front with L’Oréal’s Wild Styler Crepage De Chignon and finished with an all-over gloss using Shower Shine Wet Domination. The final step: “Using my favourite technique taught to me by my mentor and industry leader Mandy MacFadden, I separated and added texture to the hair using just my fingers—they are our best tool after all,” says Schultz. The makeup is a look inspired by a past shoot by Bree Collins and recreated by Nicole O’Sullivan.
What was her secret weapon? “Ally Cervantes! Though not so secret anymore! As a photographer she is always able to take the vision and make it whole. Not only has she helped me with shoots, she has given me the courage and inspiration to put myself out there more and enter more contests and competitions,” she says.
Of course, we’re always curious why our winners enter the contest, so we asked Schultz what inspired her to enter: “A goal of mine for 2017 is to reach deep and remember why I fell in love with this industry,” says Schultz. “I will never forget the feeling of Salon Magazine arriving each month, grabbing a coffee and sitting in complete awe. This was pre-Instagram, pre-Pinterest days, when everything wasn’t a click away. You had to wait and yearn. I missed that feeling. By entering this competition, I got that feeling back—the lead-up, the waiting and, of course, the pleasure in winning and being featured.”
Investing time and talent is no easy task, but as Schultz notes, it’s about seizing the opportunity and cultivating your creative side. “I am constantly striving to shine fully in my role as a hairstylist in salon. Whether it be continuing my education or pushing myself out of my comfort zone,” says Schultz. “There is nothing more fun than getting comfortable being uncomfortable—this is when you are in a learning state of self. Whether your budget is big or small, there is always a contest out there to enter and work within your parameters.” We couldn’t have put it better.
Congratulations also go out to our second-place finalist, Anna Panagis, and our third-place finalists, Tara Keating and Tessa Marie LeDuc.
See our past “So You Think You Can Style?” contest winners here and stay tuned for the next contest starting May 26!
Photo credits:
First Place: Hair: Leigh Schultz; Makeup: Nicole O’Sullivan; Styling: Leigh Schultz; Photo: Allysandra Cervantes; Model: Vicktoria Atkins
Second Place: Hair: Anna Panagis; Makeup: Susan Romaine; Photo: Anna Panagis; Model: Stacey
Third Place (tied): Hair: Tara Keating; Makeup: Ariel Fiendel; Photo: Ariel Fiendel
Hair: Tessa Marie LeDuc; Makeup: TMHairStylez; Photo: TMHairStylez
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