Form found

Breath-taking colour, fresh styling and commercially relevant looks fuel the L’Oréal Colour Trophy competition year after year. Who found form at the Ireland Grand Final at Dublin Royal?

The challenge set out by L’Oréal Professionnel Paris was always going to get those creative juices flowing… an opportunity to showcase your unending self-expression and Find Form. That’s what the L’Oréal Colour Trophy 2024 has been laser focused on capturing. It’s been a journey of discovery to pioneer the future of hair artistry – powered by innovation, elevated by tech but always created by the hair professional.

This year’s competition has felt distinctly amplified, as also signalled by its move to Dublin Royal as the Grand Final venue. It certainly inspired Irish salons to deliver the goods, as an astonishingly artistic array of colour-led finishes took to the stage. For judges Darren Ambrose, Andrew Mulvenna, Alan Edwards, Nathan Walker and Marcello Moccia, the task of selecting a winner for both the L’Oréal Colour Trophy and its young talent focused STAR Award was going to be a tricky one…

Intermixed with the army of Colour Trophy models on stage were two exceptional shows, inviting a mix of talent to get playful. Mashup from Jason Hall Hairdressing’s Jason Hall and Strictly Xtended’s Abigail Butler gave a team of young Irish assistants the chance to get experimental in front of a huge crowd. Later, the ARKIVE by Adam Reed team shared a cornucopia of theatrics, played out in front of a film featuring Adam himself.

Ahead of the Grand Final, some names were already known. The L’Oréal Colour Trophy Future Talent Award had unveiled its cadre of tomorrow’s hottest colourists in Alex Doherty, Brandon Merchant, Elise Macdonald, Francesca Bay and Isla McKelvie. The L’Oréal Colour Trophy Moving Image Award had also been scooped by Lauren McNeela, Stripe Colour Studio in Wilmslow.

But as it came time to reveal the winners, you could feel the buzz in the room… So just who took home the coveted prizes?

That winning feeling!

L’ORÉAL COLOUR TROPHY WINNER

MARK BYRNE & LISA MAY, NEW HAIR ORDER

L’ORÉAL COLOUR TROPHY 2ND PLACE

MARK SHERWOOD & AUGUSTO MIRANDA, ZEBA HAIRDRESSING

L’ORÉAL COLOUR TROPHY 3RD PLACE

GRAHAM SANTELIZ MOLLOY & JAMES COLEMAN, BROWN SUGAR

L’ORÉAL COLOUR TROPHY STAR AWARD

JAKE MURPHY, ZEBA HAIRDRESSING, DUBLIN

Two tribes

The L’Oréal Colour Trophy Grand Final spoiled guests with not one but two jaw-dropping shows from Jason Hall and Abigail Butler, and Adam Reed and his ARKIVE by Adam Reed team. Inspiration incoming…

Colin Horgan

Mashup by Jason Hall and Abigail Butler

Striking silhouettes and elaborate fashion pieces, Mashup from Jason Hall Hairdressing’s Jason Hall and Strictly Xtended’s Abigail Butler delivered a delicious show with fashion designed by Colin Horgan, elevating the energy over the top of a mash-up mixtape playlist of trending tunes. It was also an important showcase for a group of young assistants from across Ireland – Peter Mark College’s Daryl Behan, Georgia Haverty, Kelly Byrne and Rebecca Robinson, Peter Mark’s Sadhbh Clifford, Hillary’s Sian Lloyd and Yolanda Dunne from Wildflower.

CREATIVE DIRECTION GarethWalker, assisted byVictoria Edge. MAKE-UP Lan Ngyuyen-Greallis, assisted by KerryWhite, Kelly Mendiola.

fRAmEwoRk by ARKIVE by Adam Reed

It was a display of true craftsmanship from Adam Reed and his ARKIVE by Adam Reed team. There was a distinctly theatrical, even cabaret spin on proceedings, narrated through a VT featuring Adam and the team. The featured statement headpieces with bold fashion styling and design? Of course, they came direct from Adam Reed himself, brilliantly assisted on hair by Andrew Plester, Janet Barone, John Spanton, Luke Logan, Pia Wyatt and Samantha Bickle.