Twenty-eight-year-old Veena Ramamurthy has made her mark as Top Stylist at the Toni & Guy salon in Bengaluru. She explains to Salon India how patience and understanding are the keys to success for every hairstylist.
Starting out
I started working right after school in a very small parlour around a decade ago in Bengaluru. Even though I had an inclination for this, it was my dad who really pushed me and inspired me into becoming a hairstylist. My sister too is a hairstylist and I followed her footsteps. I fell in love with the job right from the day I started off. What we really liked about this profession was that it has a future, even if it means that you are working as a freelancer or just working from home. I apprenticed in a small parlour in Sheshadripuram, Bengaluru, following which I worked in Lakmé, followed by Jean Claude Beguine and now Toni & Guy.
Status of hair stylists in India
It is very different now as compared to several years ago. Today, hairstylists know what equipment to carry just as consumers know what exactly they want. There is growing awareness among people regarding this industry. I think in another 5 years, hairstylists will really come up, especially since salons these days only hire well-trained people who are aware of every style and texture of hair.
Challenges
The primary challenge is to understand each and every client, their hair and their mind set. Satisfying them is the main challenge.
Change in trends
People have started growing their hair and styling it; they are going in for a lot of Ombre colours. The short hair bobs and pixie cuts are also in fashion.
Advice to upcoming hairstylists
Take up this profession only if you are really passionate about hairstyling because this is not an easy job. You need a lot of patience to attend each client. You have to have knowledge on the kind of hair that your client has. Hairstylists also need to understand what exactly the client is wants. There are several courses available for hair but you need to be thorough with hair colouring because a hair stylist who is not well trained in colouring can end up facing serious problems on the job floor.
The future
In future, I plan to train budding hairstylists. Maybe some years down the line I would like to open up my own salon. I also plan to do a lot of hairstyling for fashion shows and commercials.
About permanent hair colour
Nowadays, there is a plethora of professional hair colour brands from across the world that do not damage hair. Now people across continents use hair colour and each and every brand has its own speciality on offer to give you the best colour results, but it is good to take a post treatment, which is done after colouring, and using a good conditioner so that there isn’t any damage done to the hair. So, it is not just about colouring, but about after care that consumers have to keep in mind after colouring.
Favourite brands
I have been using L’Oréal for almost 7 years. Now I have started using Sebastian and Maybelline as well. As far as equipment are concerned, I like using the triple curling rod, which gives you a very wavy and textured look, which is an upcoming style too.
Wish list
I would like to style Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra, whose hair I really love because it is very curly. Curly hair is a lot more fun to work with, whereas straight hair takes a lot of time to texture.
