Indigo Rye

When it comes to creating exceptional hair colour and the hottest catwalk looks for men, a team of hairdressers from Indigo Rye in Wallingford have proved they are among the best in the UK having made it through to the Grand Final of the L’Oréal Colour Trophy 2007.

Ashley White and Helen McFall-Read beat off stiff competition from thirty-nine salons across the Midlands region to clinch their place in the Grand Final in London on Monday 21st May. They are now one step closer to winning the prestigious L’Oréal Men’s Image and a once-in-a-lifetime prize that could see them jetting over to New York to produce a photo spread for fashion bible Vogue.

At the Midlands Regional Final their live hairdressing skills were put under the spotlight by a panel of top hairdressers judges including Errol Douglas, Sean Dawson, Dylan Bradshaw and David Lambert. Industry luminary and guest judge Dylan Bradshaw commented; “It’s always good to see the Midland’s region raising the bar. There was some really interesting work on the floor, making it a difficult competition to judge both for the men’s and the women’s.”

“Our inspiration came from the Dior Homme campaign for A/W 07,” explained Ashley of the vision behind their qualifying look. “We wanted to present a clean, sleek style that had an old-fashioned feel to it. We brought the overall look up-to-date with a natural, one-tone colour that accentuates the fringe.”

The whole room was on tenterhooks waiting to hear who had made it through to the Grand Final and upon hearing their name announced the team from Indigo Rye leapt off their chairs in delight.

“It was completely amazing,” recalls Ashley of the moment her team’s win was announced. “It’s a completely unimaginable feeling. When I got home last night I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t sleep. This journey has inspired us to enter every year and achieve as much as we possibly can.”

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Photo Credits: L'Oréal Professionnel