The Sun, Stars, and Xmas Cheer!

Did you get up nice and early to watch the solar eclipse last month? We did, and the light was amazing: soft, beautiful, and rosy in tone. The best place to see this wonder was in Cairns, and what a sight!

Nadine was in Cairns and Port Douglas just a few weeks earlier for the release of the Sebastian collection called "Nightshade Masquerade", which is all about the glam dark side of shine. Nadine delivered a styling class to the talented group of Supercuts in Cairns. Then it was an early morning trip to Port Douglas to deliver a cutting and styling workshop. Then model prep for her next show, and the thrill of a limo ride down the gorgeous coastline back to Cairn. In Cairns she presented a Sebastian Experience seminar - complete with her secret product cocktails, favourite resources, and signature styling tips. The a quick flight back to Brisbane. Phew!

 

The latest Sebastian collection is based on the sparkly new shampoo and conditioner called Trilliance, and the styling product Shine Crafter. Shine Craft is perfect for blowdrying into thick hair to keep the frizz away during humid months.

BYOB - 21st of January 5pm - 7pm in RED HILL

Want to know how to give yourself the best blow out possible - at home? 

Register now for our BYOB class, or Bring Your Own Blowdryer.

Well show you how to get the best blowdry possible, using your own blowdryer!

Tickets only $10

Simply email us: blowout@rokstar.com.au to RSVP  

Want someone to give you that blowout?

(And a great head massage)

Xmas and NY Hours

Sunday 23rd Dec 8am - 12noon

Monday 24th Dec 10am – 5pm

 

Closed 25th and 26th Dec

 

Thursday 27th Dec 10am - 6pm

Friday 28th Dec 10am – 6pm

Saturday 29th Dec 9am – 3pm 

 

Closed 30th Dec

 

Monday 31st Dec 10am - 5pm

Closed 1st Jan

 

Wednesday 2nd January 10am – 9pm     

Mel will be available in our Red Hill salon and Valentin will be in West End

Valentin Wins RAW stylist of the Year! 

“I originally come from Bulgaria - a small and beautiful country in Eastern Europe. I've been in Brisbane for about a year and a half, I came here to professionally pursue doing the thing I love the most - hairdressing. Being a hairdresser has always been my biggest dream and passion, and I'm thrilled to be a part of this amazing industry here in Australia. I started my career development in Brisbane School of Hairdressing - I completed my Cert III in Hairdressing earlier this year and I'm currently studying towards a Diploma of Hairdressing Salon Management. I also work in an amazing boutique salon at West End - Rokstar Hair Studio. I consider myself lucky to have been working with people who are very experienced in the industry, to learn from them and to share the same passion.” – Valentin Stefanov

 http://www.rawartists.org/valentin

 

 

 

 The Rokstar team are constantly working hard to remain one step ahead of the latest trends.

We're so committed to maintaining our reputation as highly skilled professionals that we have our own Artistic Director, Keelan, who works to motivate, educate, and inspire our team. Keelan delivers training to the team every Monday night, and on top of this we also attend as much education outside the Rokstar sphere as we can.

Today, Mel (Red Hill) and Erin (West End) are part of a small group of cutters who are receiving expert tuition by London stylist extraordinaire, Chris Burton. As a respected educator for some of the biggest names in hairdressing, Chris has worked with Mel and Erin to push the limits of their knowledge and give them the latest techniques so that they can deliver great results to their clients (and share the thrills with their teams). Here are some images (above) from Mel's cutting efforts today!

Festival Hair

As we get further into summer, there is a plethora of music festivals to choose from. You want to look your best, but not look like you've tried to hard. If you'd like the low-down on my tips for rock chic this summer read this step-by-step here: http://www.gorgeousosity.com/tag/nadine-johns-alcock/


And to brighten up your Rokstar look try the new Colorsmash hair shadows. In a range of dip-dyed rainbow colours they are only $24.95. Just smash on and spray to set with Sebastian Shaper Fierce.



Wondering about what's HOT for Summer? Think 1990s. Here are some snaps from our latest collection. We're loving blonde, grunge, deep lips, black liner, and loads of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain attitude.

 Want to learn how to style long hair?

Nadine's long hair styling workshops are still very popular with hairdressers and makeup artists alike.

The first class, Beginner/Bridal equips stylists with the necessary tips and trips to make bridal and formal styling quicker and more polished.

In the second class, Advanced/Editorial, students learn how to research more effectively, how to storyboard, the key to breaking down and recreating styles, and they have a go at producing a look of their own.

 Ready for the party season?

Sometimes it's hot, or you're tired, or you just want to look natural. A tinted moisturiser with SPF of 15+ can take you from the Sunday market, to mid-week meeting, through to a casual Xmas party.
A perfect all rounder and even works as an excellent primer to produce a longer lasting and more even finish for makeup.

 Our work is still being published all over the globe alongside other hairdressers we look up to and admire.

We could not achieve any of this without the gorgeous models who often donate their time (and their hair) and the makeup artists and photographers who kindly work with us.

Our official photographer, Daniel Sangermani from Red Eclipse, works tirelessly and meticulously to help us produce images that are of an international standard.

And... a special "thank you" goes out to the entire Rokstar team who routinely (EVERY week) give up hours of their own time to improve their skills.

They are truly talented.

Nadine.
Rokstar

On trend - hair, makeup and nails!

Yay! Keelan and I worked together to bring home the Silver trophy in the Wella Australia Trend Vision Awards. While I would have LOVED to bring home gold, coming second out of 250 entries Australia-wide is still a great effort! And I would also like to thank David for all of the work he put in to this entry in the lead up to the finals. Our model, Daisy, was extremely professional and worked very hard to help us get this far. And of course we could not have even made it to the finals without our official photographer, Daniel Sangermani from Red Eclipse.

Got a party to go to? Why not try this:
Step 1 Apply INIKA Light Reflect Highlighting Creme all over the eye area as a base and onto the brow area.

Step 2 Using the INIKA Angle Brush, sweep INIKA Eternal Marine Mineral Eyeshadow across the socket area of the eye and slightly onto the brow bone.

Step 3 Slightly dampen the INIKA Angle Brush and apply the INIKA Eternal Marine Eyeshadow under the eye like an eyeliner and into the inner corner of the eye.

Step 4 Wipe off excess eyeshadow from the INIKA Angle Brush and now using INIKA Thunder Mineral Eyeshadow, again with the brush slightly damp, apply to the upper eyelid and lower eyelid to create an eyeliner affect.

Step 5 Dip the INIKA Shadow Brush into the INIKA Platinum Mineral Eyeshadow and lightly dust across the brow area and lightly under the eye to create a luminous finish and soften the entire look..

Step 6 Add lashings of INIKA Mineral Mascara in black to complete the look!

Wondering what's coming in for this summer?
The Rokstar have been brainstorming and watching.
These are our picks for new key trends:
* lots of 90s
* blonde is back
* cuts are going medium length
* styling is going grunge

Our next shoot will be amazing! We're so excited to be doing a photoshoot with some of our gorgeous 50+ clients who are beauty and fashion role models for all of us!

Long Hair Workshops
I will be continuing to educate hairstylists and makeup artists in the art of long hair.
The next two workshops will be:

• date : Monday 22nd October 2012
• time: 9.00am - 3.00pm

• dates: Monday 19th November 2012
• time: 9.00am - 3.00pm

Team member profile:

Originally from Bulgaria,Valentin is a passionate, hard working, and talented stylist. He works in both the Red Hill and West End salons creating personalised colours and precision cuts. Valentin enjoys making his clients feel pampered, relaxed, and beautiful. He is set to be a real star!

Trend Alert!

It's latest craze - multi coloured nails. Why not try our version of Shellac nails with Orly Gelfx. They take 45 minutes and are only $49.50.

Fashion, weddings and education

After a very wonderful experience at Wellington Fashion I was then off to Sydney for Australian Fashion Week to assist Renya Xydis and her team on Magdalena Velevska and Christopher Esber. You're probably thinking of leggy models, haughty makeup artists, hair divas, exotic locations, and gourmet catering - yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. But, if you're early, the calm before the tantrums can be quite peaceful and the peace is enduring with Australia's best hair director at the helm. In the end results were spectacular.

When I returned from Sydney I was so excited to find out that I been selected as a finalist for the Wella Trend Vision awards - a prestigious international award. Of course, I didn't achieve this goal by myself! As always, David was supportive in every way. He found the gorgeous gown by Sarva, he assisted me on the day of the shoot, and he packed and unpacked and cleaned by my side. Thank you David! My model, Daisy Hoftsetter has been so accommodating. She is even walking around with enormous regrowth right now - just waiting for the finals in Sydney on September 11th. And I could never produce images of such high quality with Daniele Sangermani from Red Eclipse, who is patient and sweet at all times.

While all of this creative hairdressing work has been going on I have been slowly sculpting something huge: my thesis. I have been at UQ for a while now, and have just produced a thesis that examines the way revolutionary women of the 1790s used epistolary fiction to explore radical new ideas about love. This was one of the toughest things I've ever done, not really because of the intellectual muscle flexing, but because of the isolation. It helped me to realise how much I enjoy the collaborative nature of my hairdressing career, both within the salon and out in the world. Working on this project inspired me to produce a bridal collection titled "Vive la revolution", which has been picked up by more than 20 magazines worldwide. Here I am in a Bulgarian hairdressing magazine:

Weddings are still a very important part of what keeps me inspired about hairdressing. Looking after brides may not be considered glamourous in the world of editorial styling, but the skills I have honed and the relationships I have made make bridal work an integral part of my passion for styling. I have been blessed to look after many brides lately, but there have been a couple that have really been special. Tanya, Clare, Maria and Amie have married recently, and they have all helped to reaffirm my love for bridal work.

For Tanya and I, this was our second attempt at preparing her for a special day. While the first one didn't go to plan (thankfully!) her recent wedding day was magical indeed. She was calm and elegant and at peace, and so beautiful.

Clare used to work for me as beauty therapist about six years ago, so to have her ask me to look after her hair on her day, and to allow me free reign, was very flattering indeed! Clare is now a very successful (and glamourous) business woman that I look up to.








Maria has been a life-long friend, but friend doesn't quite explain it. She's the one who knows all of my truths, the highs, the lows, my long list of faults, and is always there with warm open opens and a squish that empties my lungs.

And Amie, who not only made my brother feel like he was finally good enough, but who did the same for my son Levi when she let him in.

If weddings are the heart of my business, then Sebastian is the head. Being part of the Sebastian Urban Design Team is challenging, invigorating, and VERY rewarding. Alongside my work presenting seminars and workshops here in Australia, I have recently returned from Singapore where I represented Australia and New Zealand as the core trainer for our region. A week of intensive training on the latest Sebastian collection, "Nightshade Masquerade," pushed me right out of my comfort zone! After 23 years of hairdressing I was given the opportunity to take my cutting and styling skills to a new high, and I was so proud to bring all of this back to share with the ANZ team in Sydney.

So, for the next few months I plan to continue delivering education for Sebastian in styling and cutting that challenges and inspires, and I will also continue to provide long hair workshops and mentor salon groups across Queensland. Pricecutters, Zorbas and Supercuts - you inspire me!

I look forward to sharing more great news with you soon,
Nadine.

Well, here I am at Wellington Fashion Week, working with the ever-amazing Michael Beel. WFW has not been running for the past few years, but I'm so glad it's back! With local hair god Beel, and makeup artiste Olivia Wild (Napoleon) at the helm, the shows are pumping out what has been described as the BEST hair and makeup EVER! And I have to agree. It's been so humbling to see just how much work Michael and Liv have put in to this event, and I'm only half-way through! Each day we're on site around lunch time and I've been flopping in to bed at night (completely shattered, but happy) around 1am. We've had a mixture of soft and hard looks each day that have not only looked amazing, but have been well-structured and able to stand the test of sometimes 20 changes!
This look to left was created by tying 6-8 pony tails through the centre back, up to the top of the head.
Next classic set with a ghd.
Brush down toward the LHS of the face and bring ends up to pin underneath in a horseshoe shape.
Spread hair low, wide and flat across the brows.
Not too swirly now!

 Use Wella Professionals Boost Bounce and Thermal Image to prep, spraying lightly as you go with Stay Styled.

The look on the right was achieved by sectioning of the front RHS with a low and angular parting.
Next, load the remaining back section with a lot of Boost Bounce mousse.
Comb into a low pony with a wide tooth comb to exaggerate comb marks.
Tie off with hat elastic.
Divide pony in 2. Twist and pin into flat, elegant chignon.
Finger wave the front section with plenty of wet mousse (good luck!) and twist ends into chignon.
Paint to enhance the crest of the waves and the partline.
Today will be the time for Wellington's Young Designers to shine, and the hair team is being led by my Sebastian Urban Design Team colleague, Amy McFarlane. Can't wait.


Anyway, better run, but but I hope you enjoy some pics from the shows.
Nadine.



p.s. Don't forget to look out for David's profile in May's Style magazine, along with our AW2012 collection!

Well, I won the mycurl comp!















And, I'd like to send out a big "thank you xx" to my model, Chelsea, and photographer, Jacquie (Red Eclipse) and MUA, Niki Gorissen. What a team! I guess you're wondering what the prize was...? Well ... I was asked to fly to Sydney and work with the Alterna team on the Alex Perry show for RAFW on May 2, which received an enormous amount of publicity. The team, lead by Dario Controneo, were extremely professional: a well oiled machine, alongside a very exuberant Napoleon Perdis.
After the Alex Perry gig it was off to Iceberg's at Bondi to work with the eponymous Renya Xydis on the Kirrily Johnston show. Now this was hardcore. Everything you'd expect: champagne, Samantha Harris, MAC's top MUAs, and a view to die for. Then, back on a flight home to my valued Rokstar clients (who not only love me, but feed me too!). Both of these shows have recently been published in Grazia magazine if you're keen to check out more.

Speaking of publishing.... My bridal collection has been alerting editors all over the globe, and I'm so proud that it is in the process of being published in Canadian Hairdresser! Can't wait to share it with you.

And now for the tawdry gossip: Geordie (Red Hill) is actually a real-life DJ! Who knew! And, apparently, he's quite good at it too!

Most of our team have also been working through ALL of their spare time to produce the best quality photoshoots we've ever done. We're submitting them in the international Wella Trend Vision competition, and hopefully (fingers crossed!) at least one or two or three of us will make it to the national finals in Sydney in September....

September will also be a wild month for me. I'm taking my three boys to London for a micro holiday before working on the Sass and Bide show for London Fashion Week. Wish me luck!
Nadine.

Sneak peak

I've also just (only a moment ago) sent off an entry into another competition for mycurl (above).

You might think I'm jumping the gun, by showing you before any else gets a look, but... the truth is, I'd love your opinion. I'm determined to do well this year, and I have a lot to look forward to. There's fashion weeks in Sydney and London, not to mention working for Wella throughout Australia. So, give me hand, let me know what kind of work you'd like to see. What's going to seal the deal?

Today I have also finished an entry for the Lakme competition and I just can't wait to share it, so here's a sneak peak:

Well, what do you think?
What would you like to see?

Nadine x