Project X Wig Training With Sam Burnett

The latest date on the Project X calendar was a training day with Hare & Bone’s Sam Burnett, learning all about wigs at the Alan d Academy in London.

Wigs are becoming more and more important in the industry. With celebrities such as Kylie Jenner and Katy Perry regularly reaching for wigs, clients are becoming savvy to the idea that they are the best way to get the ultimate colour change. Not only this, but the British Hairdressing Awards have changed their rules on wigs this year, allowing two in any collection. With these advances in the wig industry, hairdressers need to step up their wig-game to fine tune and improve their skills to meet demand.

Wigs are certainly becoming more mainstream due to celebrities opting for extreme hair changes through the use of wigs, says Sam, wigs and hair pieces are more readily available on the high street these days so we need to ensure that we know how to use them. From an industry point of view, if we want to create stronger images with stronger cuts and colours, wigs are such a handy tool in doing this. You can create the hair you want on the model you want without paying all the extra costs for cutting and colouring. They provide more opportunities and more creativity.

Sam spoke to the Project X team about the ins and outs of wigs, sharing all his top tips and advice. He showed them wigs he had created for shows and shoots, including the first wig he ever created. One of the key parts to Sam’s session was showing how to complete a wig wrap, which he demonstrated on a model, showing the team how to get all of the real hair as flat to the head as possible.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Fellowship workshop without the chance to have a practice, so the team spent the afternoon cutting and styling wigs themselves with the guidance of Sam. Having previously asked them to create a mood board based on the bowl cut, as it is the most basic shape to create on a wig, Sam got the team to create their interpretation of it, resulting in some fantastic looks.

Sam says,

I really enjoyed working with the Project X team. They had so much energy and enthusiasm – a great bunch. Considering none of them had any previous experience with wigs, they created some really impressive work!

I loved our wig training day with Sam, says team member Luke Hopkins from John Olivers, It was really nice to hear that his career path was slightly unconventional in the sense that he didn’t spend years assisting before becoming a session stylist. It was down to opportunities through the Fellowship such as the F.A.M.E Team which began his upward spiral. Truly inspirational stuff!

Team member Katie Masters from VAE Hair says,

Learning about wigs was so inspirational. It really opened my eyes to how much you can do! It was great getting our hands on the wigs and having a go too. Everyone enjoyed it so much!