Manx brides will reap the benefits of a two-day training course held recently on the Island to help local hairdressers develop their bridal styling and hair-up skills.
Stylists from across the Island took part in the event, held at Salon 3 in Douglas and taught by its Creative Director, Janet Lancaster, to give them access to training they would only otherwise receive by travelling to the UK to study. In most cases this is not an option due to the fact it is incredibly costly and also means stylists need to find appropriate childcare. 
During the first part of the course, students were given a theory lesson before being shown a number of ‘hair up’ styles that they can develop and create to suit the needs of their individual clients including fishtail plaits, deconstructed, textured buns, retro-modern styles worn by the singer, Adele, and loosely-curled and pinned looks. Styles were demonstrated by Janet and her two Senior Bridal Co-Ordinators, Lauren O’Neill and Colleen Devereaux.
The second part of the course saw students learning how to do a variety of bridal styles including using extensions, veils and hair ornaments to create a combination of modern and classic looks.
Janet is a multiple award-winning stylist, trainer and assessor, having been placed in her first ever UK competition when she was just 15 years old and the youngest participant. This is the first of a number of courses she will run for her industry colleagues on the Isle of Man to help them develop their skills, technique and confidence, and save them the expense of having to regularly train in the UK.
In addition, Lauren and Colleen offer a ‘go to’ and one on one training service for hairdressers, where they will work with individual stylists or in salons to help develop talent, whether it is with staff who have no experience of hair-up and bridal styling or those who require more advanced tutoring. They also offer a ‘day to night’ service where they will attend a wedding to transform the bridal party’s hair from a daytime look to a different, evening look – a service which is already proving popular with Manx brides.  
Jenna Grose, formerly of JM Hair and now residing at the Hairport in Douglas, is one of the stylists who took part in the course. She said: “This has been fantastic and just what I needed to really develop my skills and give me some more confidence in doing hair-ups. I’ve learned that I shouldn’t be as finicky as I normally am, as I’m usually quite a ‘neat’ stylist. The key to hair-up and bridal hair styling is actually in learning to apply the correct technique to the type of hair, and type of bride, which I really understand now.”
Another participant, Anna Hughes of Bray Hill Hair in Douglas, commented: “I loved it! I’ve learned something different and been put totally out of my comfort zone. One thing I’ve really taken from this is that ‘styling’ doesn’t have to be perfect – ‘messy’ styles actually look fantastic. I will certainly be practicing what I’ve learned on clients in my salon, and it’s really fantastic that we’ve been given the chance to do this here on the Island.”
Janet Lancaster commented: “Seeing how much the participants have taken from Salon 3’s course has really proved to me how much of a need there is for specialist hairdressing training here on the Island, and how much Manx stylists require just a little bit of help and encouragement to really bring on their confidence to try new things with their clients. I am really proud of the hard work and enthusiasm that all of the participants displayed, as well as the huge amount of effort put in to teaching the course by Lauren and Colleen.
“An important part of styling hair is about understanding current and future trends, and choosing the right style to suit face shape, skin tone, dress and personality – getting this right is half of the job. All of the participants have really impressed me with their willingness to learn and try new things out of their comfort zone, and the best thing is that there’s been no inter-salon rivalry; everyone is here to help and learn from each other and, as a growing industry in the Isle of Man, this is absolutely vital.”