A year as a Colour Creative Genius

Carolin Matthews took home the title for Colour Creative Genius in 2021, so we’ve checked in with her to see how she’s doing and how much more creative her colours are getting since bagging the trophy.

Caroline’s Background

From the age of 5 Caroline knew she aspired to be a hairdresser, the social activity and creativity really excited her. That kind of explains why art was her favourite subject at school… So Caroline became a hair artist. “I joined Lewes College when I finished school to study a full time NVQ level 2. It suited me well as they also included theatrical make up which I was equally as interested in. At the end of the course I managed to bag 1st prize for a competition that included costume design, body paint and hair pieces. I was thrilled! But continued with a journey in hairdressing as I was able to start right away and didn’t have to travel to London for further education.”

Winning Colour Creative Genius

How does it feel to have won? 
As a hairdresser/artist and someone who strives for perfection I will always be self-critical and working on bettering myself. Self belief is important and looking back at winning this award helps me pick myself up when I am overly hard on myself. It’s a great feeling and I am extremely grateful.
Where’s the trophy now?
Next to my picture profile in Simon Webster hair window.
What encouraged me to enter?
 Lockdown! I had so much time on my hands and was very keen to turn the time off into a positive rather than a negative.  It allowed me to really think about what I wanted to do and although controversial that for the first time we were allowed to enter blockheads… I actually loved it! I could take my time, not worry about finding the right model, with the right face shape and right hair etc. I could be creative and do exactly as I wanted and my model was silent. No busy schedule to fit it around and explaining what you wanted to do. Perfect!
Any advice for colourists thinking about entering?
– Start by kicking away and self doubt.
– Find an image that inspires you… this could be anything, a leaf, a puddle, a building…Do you like the way the colours look and does it excite you? Can you think of a way to recreate it on hair?
– Take your time to get it right.. allow more time than you think you need so there is no pressure and you execute it well.

Caroline’s trend forecast

We’ve seen the shags and mullets do the rounds this past year. As this has been so exciting for everyone, I think it will still be trending into the end of 2022. With this came the resurgence of volume and texture in the way of razor cutting and big fringes.  I’m also thinking 90’s vibes – big bouncy blowdry’s and glossy hair – Rachel Green eat your heart out.

Balayage is shape shifting to facial contouring. After the continuous breaks from lockdowns people still love to keep a low maintenance hairdo, but now highlights and lowlights will be used around the face to accentuate or change focus of attention and using face shape or contrast in hair for visual deception of thickness.

Richness and shine is back..so using deep chocolates or rich mocha’s to counteract the over done dry ombre’s will be a winner, still keeping some little points of interest for contrast. Personally for me, I’ve been transforming a lot of old balayage or highlights to super natural and glossy looking coppers. One of my favourite things to do is take someone copper and make it look like they were born that way.

Caroline’s favourite techniques

For my glossing I enjoy working through from darker at the root to lighter shades on the ends to keep dimension. OR working through alternating sections with a darker and lighter shade so the depth and contrast is stunning.

I also love a simple foilage to help a super bright blonde have lower maintenance; and bespoke lightening – using the face shape and haircut to decide which pieces to lighten.

Peekaboo vivids are also great fun, allowing you to get creative and don’t require as much upkeep.
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At Colour World UK we believe in colourists being equally important as hairdressers to the success of a salon business! Clients deserve excellent colour services, embracing the importance of a great colour consultation through to end result. We salute manufacturers and brands offering a great product innovation which enables colour technicians to explore their creativity and offer a bespoke colour to every client. We offer colour conversation and inspiration for you to browse, and respect colour-focused education and events from what’s on and where to our own Colour World UK event which support our industry and promise to do our best to bring you news and information to help you succeed.

Looking for some more colour inspiration? Here you go: INSPIRATION