Meet the Finest Hairdressing Talent in India

This year, the international salon brand hosted the 4^th edition of the Indian Hairdressing Awards (IHA) on 23^rd March 2022 at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Each year, the best hairdressers from salons across the country compete at the IHA, raising the standards of creativity and hair artistry, making these awards the most coveted for the hairdressing community in India. The awards ceremony was held in a hybrid model (virtual and on-ground) bringing together an evening of colour, glamour, and celebration.

The awards were divided into two main categories: Creative and Business. The Creative Awards had three sub-categories: The Style & Color Trophy, The Young Colorist Award and The People’s Choice Award. The Business Awards category comprised of The Best Digital Marketing Salon, The Best Social Commerce Salon and The Young Entrepreneur Award. 

For this year’s IHA, the participants had to create their own spin on French Balayage—L’Oréal Professionnel Paris’s signature hair colour service that entails a 2-step technique, to create perfectly blended, natural-looking hair colour that is completely customised to the lady in the salon chair. Hairdressers from across the country had submitted their entries and there were 26 finalists—15 in the Style and Color Trophy and 11 in the Youngest Colourist Award who participated in the technical finale held in Mumbai on 22^nd February.  For the finale, the contestants conducted a real-time consultation with a model provided to them and executed a French Balayage look that would best suit her skin tone and face shape. 

The Jury Members at IHA

The final contestants were judged by an illustrious panel of jury members that included photographer Jatin Kampani, make-up and hair design expert Venus Ferriera, celebrity hairdresser Aalim Hakim, founder and artistic director of Elle Hair Studio Group, Malaysia Simon Koh and the creative director and training programme director of the award-winning Pastels Salon in Dubai, as well as L'Oréal Professionnel international ambassador and trainer Natalie Kasses. 

Meet the fabulous IHA winners below:

Winner, The Style and Color Trophy: Raju Rajak from Geetanjali Salon, Gurgaon

1st Runner Up:  Sunnykumar Limbachiya from Sunny Anand Spalon, Mehsana

2nd Runner Up: Sandipbhai Limbachiya from Mihir Salon, Vadodara

Winner, The Young Colorist Award: Santosh Kumar from Rexan Salon, Ahmedabad

1st Runner Up- Shibhangi Bhagat, AN John Salon & Academy, Kolkata

People’s Choice Award: Rehan Ahmed Shaikh from Envi Salon & Spa, Thane

The Best Digital Marketing Salon: Green Trends

The Best Social Commerce Salon: Enrich

The Young Entrepreneur Award: Priyansh Khatri from CV Salon, Jabalpur