Source: Pro Beauty

Once again, Aveda students are proving they’re second to none. The North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) Student Hairstylist of the Year 2021 winner and three of the five nominees come from Aveda Institutes—and we couldn’t be more proud of them!

Joey Posner of Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Minneapolis, Amber Hensley of Aveda Institute Tucson, and NAHA Student Hairstylist of the Year 2021 winner Alisha Kemp of Aveda Institute Los Angeles were all chosen for their outstanding submissions.

We talked to Posner and Hensley about the creative process behind their NAHA entries, and they spilled the details on putting together a photoshoot, choosing a theme and much more.

Joey Posner

@joeymarcelowigs

Inspired By: “Inspiration for my submission came from Japanese Harajuku street fashion,” Posner says. “I wanted soft, bold colors. Dusty pastels are popular right now, but I think true pastels are underappreciated.” Posner also tapped into anime when creating his looks. “I like big, long hair, but I wanted some texture in there, too—it’s more interesting.”

While he loved all his models’ looks, he was particularly happy with the pink model who wore “drill” hair.

“The one giant ringlet (drill) looks so cool in anime artwork—I wanted to see if I could achieve it in real life,” he says. “And I wanted to incorporate texture in the look, so I placed the puffs at the base of the drills.”

Advice from Aveda: Posner was attending school online due to Covid-19 during the time he was working on his NAHA images, which created some challenges. “My Aveda instructors were great,” he says. “After class, they’d stay online with me to answer all my questions about hair color, how to put my shoot together and all the other questions I had.”

One of Posner’s instructors put him in touch with a stylist who had previously entered NAHA, which turned out to be a game changer for him.

“She helped me take it seriously, and based on her advice, I went for more fashion than fantasy.”

Assembling a Team: Posner, a recent high school graduate, tapped into talented friends to make his shoot happen. Some models were old friends; some were new, and some canceled last-minute, leaving him to throw himself at the mercy of classmates, who came through. His photographer was a friend from high school and his makeup artist was someone he met on Instagram.

“I was a student fresh out of high school and didn’t have the money for an expensive photographer, so I pulled it together with what I had,” he said.  My friend had a studio in her basement where we were able to do a test photoshoot to choose lighting, background color, etc.”

As for the wardrobe and styling, Posner took that on himself.

“I bought the dresses and set up the photo session in my parents’ four seasons porch,” he says. “I moved couches around, and set up three stations to do makeup, wig styling and prep.”

Words of Wisdom: “More than anything else, I had to be a manager/producer on this shoot.

“The hair was the easy part. Managing all the people involved and putting the shoot together was the hard part.”

Posner advises planning ahead, and don’t procrastinate on any part of it. “Get a few different models and have a back-up plan—things don’t always run smoothly!”

Source: Pro Beauty

Amber Hensley

@amberh1013

Inspired By: “I wanted to show female empowerment through history—specifically the Renaissance era,” Hensley says. “The color of the hair is modern, but the styles are inspired by Renaissance artwork. For the updo, we did three different looks, and it was really hard to choose which one to use. We ended up going with a look that was the most cohesive with the other two in the collection—it was more flowy, less structured.”

Advice from Aveda: During her application process to Aveda Institute Tucson, Hensley learned about NAHA, and got inspired. “I wanted to work hard and improve so I could enter. And when it came time for the audition process for NAHA, one of the instructors helped guide me so I could submit my very best,” she says.

Once chosen, Hensley came up with a vision, and a team of her Aveda mentors and Institute director helped her set her concept in stone and map out the process.

Assembling a Team: Hensley colored and styled her models’ hair, and her Aveda team helped her find wardrobe and a photographer. Her Institute director served as makeup artist, and Hensley found herself executing her first professional photo shoot.

“I learned that not everything has to be structured and professional—it’s ok to have fun, and enjoy little dance breaks while still getting the work done.”

“This helps keep the mood lighter and joyful for everyone involved,” she says.

Words of Wisdom: Hensley admits to feeling intimidated, but says it fueled her creativity and desire to showcase her talent. “I had to overcome self-doubt, and talked to my mentors about my nerves. They helped calm me down by sharing stories of how they overcame mistakes and turned them into something good.

Source: Pro Beauty

“Don’t let your fear hold you back,” she says. “If something makes you uncomfortable, you’re on the right path to grow into the stylist you need to become. Push through and the reward will be great in the end.”

Watch the NAHA 2021 Awards here on August 29th.