NO GUTS, NO GLORY

When Mark Sherwood took the biggest prize in colour, guess what he did next. He went for it again…

When you win the biggest prize in Irish hair colour – the L’Oréal Colour Trophy – the trick is to bask in eternal glory by never entering again, right?

Err, wrong – or at least, that’s not what Mark Sherwood did. The colour expert and educator, who’s spent almost his entire career at Zeba Hairdressing in Dublin, won the Irish L’Oréal Colour Trophy title in 2023 with a stunning long-haired look that combined gorgeous melting golden copper hues with a dramatic geometric shape created by Zeba colleague Augusto Miranda… and then surprised everyone by entering again this year (he came second). So, why did he take that risk?

“When I won in 2023 my boss said to me, ‘I’ve been a salon owner for 30 years and you’ve achieved something I was never able to’. But I just didn’t want to stop there,” says Mark. “Just because I’ve achieved it once doesn’t mean I can’t do it again. I know I’m on a list of people who’ve won the competition but there’s an even smaller list of people who’ve won it twice. That’s the list I want to be on.”

It’s not the first time Mark has followed his instinct. He was more than halfway through a degree in video game development when, after a week’s work experience in a salon aged 21, he dropped out and moved to Dublin, in order to pursue a career in hair. And he excelled. He was sent on L’Oréal’s prestigious Colour Specialist Degree course when he was still an apprentice, and he’s now one of three Zeba hairdressers currently on the brand’s ID Artist programme. Interestingly, he still takes inspiration from characters in the video gaming world for his work in the salon.

“Being on the salon floor is where I’m most creative,” says Mark, “because the people I work with inspire me. It’s not a competitive thing, as such, but when I see someone creating something amazing, I want to push myself to do that too – or better. So, we all end up elevating each other. We’re not just going into the salon five days a week and then going home. We all want to do a bit more, we have that ambition.”

Mark’s personal ambition is to expand into education, so he can share his passion and knowledge with others. “I’ve done a little bit here and there, and I really enjoy it because I love passing on what I know. And it’s funny. When you leave your salon space and start educating somewhere else, it can be the little things you do that can make the biggest difference to others – the way you pick up your meche from the trolley, for example. People who book a course and think their mind is going to be blown and they’re going to operate at a completely different level afterwards – they’re heading in with the wrong ideas. But if you can pick up two or three little details that will make you better in your work, then it’s been worthwhile.

It’s really satisfying when people message me to say they’re using whatever I showed them and it’s made a difference. It’s really nice to be able to pass on what you do to other people.

It’s very enriching.”

And will he be entering Colour Trophy again next year? “Of course!” says Mark, with a big, bearded grin. @sherwoodhair