Dark and Lovely is a Black & African American Haircare brand owned by Loreal. Loreal is committed to Corporate Social Responsibility projects though out the African Continent. In conjunction with Loreal and Dark and Lovely Academy, the international brand Dark hosted the Golden Scissors Awards (GCA) final regional competition at Kwa Lechaba in Soweto. Actress, Event-Planner & Co-owner of KwLechaba Lifestyle, Sophie Ndaba said “This competition was an amazing opportunity to showcase the natural-born talent and we are happy to be a part of it”
The Finale will be held in 2020 where the winner will walk away with the grand prize. The competition brought together aspiring hairstylists from Johannesburg South, East, North and Pretoria to compete for the Golden Scissors Award and the R200 000 prize which includes a salon make-over and Dark and Lovely prizes.
The Dark and Lovely Academy is based in Johannesburg CBD. The academy does 60% of practical work and 40% of theory and teaches hairstylists how to run a professional upmarket salon and how to manage their money and bank accordingly. According to Thought Leader & Golden Scissors Judge, Hansen Ndabeni “ We want the hairdressers to think outside the box and we expect them to use the criteria which was issued to them. prior to the competition as a guideline.
Editor of Onstyle Magazine said the competition was created to celebrate and acknowledge South African hairstylist creativity by giving them a platform to showcase their craft. The GSA Awards competition is made up of 2 parts, a cutting session where the stylists revealed their skillset and a Warrior Queen session which exposed the contestant’s creativity. The cutting session had models who had vibrant coloured hair. The principal of Dark and Lovely Academy, Mimmi Bigger said “The academy is aligned with the necessary authorities and the students are accredited internationally. The academy also encourages entrepreneurs to employ stylists who are accredited. She highlights that it is vitally important for them to understand what is hair, and what happens when chemicals touch the hair.
The judges announced the four finalists at the end of the competition on and Masabata Seakhela was the only female who made it through to the finale. She owns Sabie Hair & Beauty Salon and has 2 employees “I have been doing hair for over 19 years and I entered this competition 3 times and I am happy that I’ve made it into the finale. She entered the competition because she wanted to inspire other female hairstylists to believe in their talents.
By Amanda Mkhize
