On Monday night L’Oréal Professionnel’s Style & Colour Trophy ANZ 2024 winner was crowned at the live grand finale in front of over 300 attendees at Ciel The Venue in Southbank, Melbourne.
A night filled with energy, excitement and no shortage of talent, the top prize went to Ben Semple, Expert Stylist at Circles of Hair Western Australia with his inspiring blue creation which spoke eloquently to this year’s theme, Utopia.
The transformation of a good colour and a great hair cut can’t be over-stated – nor can the feeling of walking out of the salon with shiny, healthy looking hair. So it’s perhaps fitting that this year’s theme for the competition was one of hope and optimism.
With a brief that encouraged freedom, harmony and self-expression, Semple delivered him stunning blue toned creation, which he said was inspired by a mythical tree.
Beautiful to watch, Semple worked tirelessly all Saturday and Sunday under intense conditions (think six judges, constant cameras and a stopwatch) to create his inspiring look. Tears of relief rolled down his cheek when it was tools down on Sunday afternoon. And more disbelief came on Monday night when the humble stylist was crowned.
“I can’t even put into words how I’m feeling right now,” says Semple of his win. “This was already such an incredible opportunity. Then to win the L’Oreal Style & Colour Trophy 2024 for Australia has been the best experience.”
Second place was awarded to Natasha Monastra at Koko Blaq Coiffeur Western Australia, and third place to Loren Polidori at Ensemble Salon in South Australia. Both of these Utopic, nymph-y looks were so inspired, some of us at marie claire are considering a switch to copper.
Now in its 68th year globally, L’Oréal Professionnel’s Style & Colour Trophy is the world’s longest running and most prestigious hair event – and at marie claire we can’t get enough. marie claire has been a proud supporter of the incredible event here in Australia for over 30 years so, of course, we were in Melbourne to support our talented hairdressing community and congratulate all the well-deserving winners.
Open to professionals from across Australia and New Zealand, the competition encourages experts to push the limits of their imaginations, challenge what we think is possible with hair and come up with hairstyles that we have never seen before.
And boy, did our hairdressing community deliver.
The calibre of this year’s eight finalists was incredibly high, and the skill level of each expert was off the chart. A huge congratulations to all of the finalists and all of the other category winners from the night.
We wish Ben the very best of luck for the international awards in Paris later this year!
Read more on the L’Oréal Professionnel’s Style & Colour Trophy ANZ 2024 at L’Oreal Professionnel.
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