Meet the team: Jonny's story

An interview with Jonny Sheppard, the newest member of our Senior Styling Team. Jonny came to hairdressing after another career and it's refreshing to see people with a love of the job discovering it's not just for school leavers and girls!

How old are you? 

26

How did you get into hairdressing?

I actually started off in Mechanical engineering! I always wanted to be a hairdresser. I grew up watching my mum as a hairdresser and was really interested but at the same time I was a bit of a lad and was too embarrassed to admit that's what I wanted to do to my mates. I worked for BMW and studied mechanical engineering. I moved to the Channel Islands for work but they only issue you a 3 year 'right to work' and so when it ran out I decided to try and do what I'd always wanted...hairdressing.

Where did you start? 

Luckily my mum gave me some contacts from her hairdressing days and I came to do some voluntary work for Silhouette du Barry, in Chelmsford. After two weeks, they offered me an apprenticeship. 

How was the training?

Different to engineering! I gained my Level 2 NVQ in hairdressing after 18 months and have now almost finished my Level 3. I've now just been promoted to Senior Stylist at Silhouette du Barry.

What's the coolest part of your job now?

Zoe and Nathan put me forward to work at London Fashion Week and I worked on Astrid Anderson's Men's SS/13 show. It was thrilling and satisfying all at the same time. I've also been sent abroad a couple of times for Matrix conferences which has been pretty cool too. To be honest though, making people feel great everyday in the Salon is ultimately the bit I love the most. 

What are you looking forward to in the future?

I'd love to be like Zoe and Nathan, working in the Salon with clients and working simultaneously on Fashion weeks and TV programmes, styling at the same time. A bit of everything really and maybe one day becoming a director. There is a lot of opportunity in hairdressing if you work hard and I love working hard.

Nathan at New York Fashion Week

New York fashion week is nearly over and Nathan will be back in the Salon on Saturday. Check out the shows he worked on. You are in for a visual treat!

Nathan working on the guys at the Belstaff show

See the full Belstaff slideshow

Image: 3.1 Philip Lim from Style.com

 See the full Philip Lim slideshow

Image: Helmut Lang from style.com

View the full Helmut Lang Slideshow

Image: Joseph Altuzzarra from style.com

See the full Altuzzarra Slideshow

Image: Prabal Gurung at style.com

See the full  Prabal Gurung Slideshow

Which is your favourite?

The Hair Dress by Balmain

We love our new hair dress collection SO much. For anyone who likes to create longer or bigger hair on a regular basis this is perfect and requires very little skill at all. If you can put a hairband on and flip some hair over the top, you are good to go!

These hair dresses come in their very own bag carrier to keep them tidy and can be washed, straightened and treated as your own hair! A huge range of hair colour and variation available.

£94 but available at 10% off throughout December ready for those Christmas and New Year parties.
Call 01245 257137 for more information. 

The X factor 2012

So it's great to have X factor back on our screens and for Nathan and Zoe to be working again with the talented Jamie Stevens and his team backstage.
Don't forget to follow The X factor style pages for great tips and pictures on the contestants and their stylists. You might even get to sneek a peek to find out what Nathan and Zoe have been up to. Recognise anyone?!

The gorgeous Jade

All images : X Factor Style
You might see someone you recognise on this video of Jamie Stevens styling one of the Pandas from last week's X factor! Enjoy the show tomorrow. Who's got your favourite hair?

The 5 minute hair piece demonstration.

We have these amazing new hairpieces in store from our B Loved collection at Balmain.
 We know so many people are often shy about using hairpieces because of how difficult you feel it may be to achieve the look, so here is a quick demonstration by Zoe of how easy it is to clip it in and style yourself in only a couple of minutes!

Zoe BEFORE

 So the first step is to separate the back of your hair from the front. This is best done with a comb.

 Then simply clip the hair piece over the back section of hair.

 Then style the rest of your hair in place as desired.

 With this hair piece I am showing you a small subtle volume suitable for everyday as below.

 And a slightly larger effect for that 'big hair 'look. Just style some of your front section of hair over the hairpiece, backcombing if necessary.

 Gorgeous in minutes!

Prices range from 39.95 and have so many shades that can blend in with your natural hair. For a five minute tutorial, just ask in the Salon or call us for more information.
 01245 257137

Fashion Week 2012

Both Nathan and Zoe enjoyed working on some shows this week for Jamie Stevens team.

Check out the Giles show here

And the JW Anderson shows we worked on here at style.com

Which is your favourite show?

Nathan nominated for 2012 Eastern Hairdresser of the Year

We love working within such a talented team. Right now we are all very proud to announce Nathan has been nominated for Eastern hairdresser of the year at the 2012 British Hairdressing Awards.

Renowned as the Oscars of the hairdressing industry, HJ's British Hairdressing Awards is the biggest and best awards in hairdressing. There are nine regional awards and six specialist awards as well as the much-acclaimed title of British Hairdresser of the Year. Go Nathan!