Curly Hair Expert in Sydney
Alex. A Curly Hair Expert
Curly Hair Superstar -
I have been hairdressing for 23 years, and in my time there are a few people that stick out in my mind for having real skills with understanding and dealing with curly hair: so I would like to introduce one of my up and coming stars #Alex. Alex works in both of our salons - Tuesdays in Glebe and Wednesday through to Saturday in Bondi. He was an Art Director at the massive English salon chain Rush, and also a landscape gardener before working at Stevie English Hair.
Tell us a little bit about you -
I’m 33 years old from Sussex in England. My first taste of hairdressing was as an assistant in a hair designers in my local town- I was encouraged by a friend of my sisters who was popular, happy and always had money and this appealed to me. It was at Rush in London where I undertook my apprenticeship, working with some of the best hair stylists in the UK.
I worked my way up to Art Director, moved to Sydney in 2013, did a year on landscape gardening then started with Stevie English Hair. I'm one of the educators under Dave Edwards and I just LOVE HAIR.
When did you realise you wanted to specialise in curly hair/how did you get into cutting curls?
I have massive curly hair and I have had many people try to tame it over the years. I have watched amazing hairdressers torture curly hair. So I guess I really thought about my hair and what I like, and started applying those principles. I think having curly hair myself gives clients confidence in me and I gradually started seeing more and more curly-haired clients and voila! I love giving people tools to understand their hair and I love making curls look their very best. Curls are sexy!
Whats the secret to curly hair ?
I’m not sure there is one because everybody’s hair is different and every curl is different too. I was taught in London to cut curls wet. I very rarely do that these days. I treat every curl differently and I love working with peoples natural shape. I was a landscape gardener when I first arrived in Australia and I see some similarities between sculpting a tree and curly hair - its a real art! I do love to teach my clients about their curls, and I'm a big believer in loving your curls. The whole naughties with straightening scared me. But with good education, a few must have products but only a few, I can tame any curly head.
What products do you recommend ?
I personally only use my Cleansing Conditioner from Matrix Biology. You pop it on once a week for about 10 mins and it cleans and conditions all in one - its amazing on my curly hair and my clients that I have recommended keep coming in to re-buy. To be honest that’s it really. Sometimes I use a Biolage defining gel-cream again from Matrix but thats it. I think most hairdressers use way to much product in curly hair and my nightmares are filled with straightened curly hair.
What your 3 biggest tips for people with curly hair?
My 3 biggest tips for curly hair are:
1. Only put in curl products in when the hair is soaking wet.
2. Air dry your curls
3. Avoid razoring curly hair.