Georges El Mendelek, the Lebanese celebrity hairstylist who serves as Regional Ambassador for Color WOW, can trace his path into hairdressing to the six or seven months he spent in Cyprus as a boy of seven or eight, when his family left Beirut during the civil war and he began to wonder why his father, the haute coiffeur Simon El Mendelek, kept leaving them to work with royalty across the Gulf. Speaking to Emirates Woman at Color WOW’s hair transformation experience at Marsa Al Arab, the first proper activation with big names he has done for the brand, he reflects on the tough love his father showed him and on the Dream Coat that first won him over to Color WOW some six years ago, while also sharing the techniques readers can repeat at home.
What are your earliest memories of your father, the renowned haute coiffeur Simon El Mendelek, and when did you know hair would be your path too?
During the civil war in Lebanon we left for Cyprus and lived there for six or seven months, around 1988 or 1989, when I was seven or eight. We missed our father, who travelled constantly to the GCC for private work, and I remember wondering why he kept leaving. That was when I linked it to hairdressing and to the royalty he worked with in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and elsewhere. What drew me in myself was a love for women. I think every woman in the world is beautiful, regardless of shape, hair type or hair colour, and you can make anyone look good if you look at the right spots.
What first drew you to Color WOW?
My first experience with the brand was around six years ago. I was working with other brands at the time, doing education and shows, but one of Color WOW’s star products for me was Dream Coat, which protects against humidity and has plenty of other perks we can come to later. Every time I worked with another brand I would still reach for Dream Coat, and it became my number one product in Lebanon, where we work with a lot of brides and a lot of weddings happen outdoors in very humid weather. Dream Coat was the first product that got me addicted to Color WOW.
Arab women have a style that feels very much their own. What is your take on the way they approach hair?
From my experience, the younger generation nowadays is very similar to Europeans, they just do it more neatly. They are very demanding ladies because they like to change their looks a lot, which makes our job a bit harder and probably makes Arab hairdressers more skilled, since we have no choice but to flip hair and change it very fast. Arab women know their fashion, and you can’t get away with anything that doesn’t look perfectly done because they know it. They’ve been there.
Has working in the region ever shown you that something you took for granted doesn’t apply here?
It happens every day, with every client, if you learn to listen. I work on the floor like any other hairdresser, so I learn a great deal from clients, especially older women with thinner hair. The older generation has a more subtle, chic taste, while younger clients prefer something looser and more laid back. Working with both gives me a much wider spectrum than most hairdressers have.
What can guests expect from the experience at Marsa Al Arab, and what do you hope they take away from it?
This is the first time I have done a proper activation with big names, since most of my work with the brand is education in academies and salons. Guests will learn that the range was developed to help hairdressers, with tools other brands were not focusing on, and that it works just as easily at home. In tech, when you say Apple you mean something that will work for twenty years, and I think the founder’s approach to hair is very similar to that of Steve Jobs.
What is the practical difference you notice when you use Color WOW, compared with other products?
You never have residue on the hair. Even if I put a whole bottle of Bombshell on the hair, it never feels hard or sticky. The One-Minute Transformation cream is the same, since it gives the effect you want and disappears as soon as you apply heat. As a hairdresser, that is one of the biggest differences I have seen.
Which tips can readers repeat at home to get professional results?
The Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer can be applied on wet or dry hair and gives a beautiful voluminous bounce once blow-dried. It’s also great for curly hair, to give volume and curl formation with no crunchy results. Curls that are full and soft.
Dream Coat has 3 versions, Dream Coat Super Natural, this suits most hair types that want to smooth and fight frizz, then you have Dream Coat Extra Strength version for hair that is a bit more course and or coily. There is also a version for curly hair for people that want to keep their natural texture, curls, and coils. All 3 protect against humidity, fight frizz and leave the hair feeling soft with a no product feel. Dream Coat is so great it lasts in the hair for up to 3 shampoos. I would give two tips for using it at home. Frist, apply it thoroughly to towel-dried hair, section your hair and saturate well. Second, you need heat and tension to activate! So blow-dry the hair with your blow-dryer, also brushing into the style. Then you’ll see the results you want and have results that will last.
With a lot of leave-in products, you feel something staying in your hair, and if you over apply it gets oily, sticky or looks greasy, but with Color WOW Dream Coat you never get that feeling so don’t worry about over applying.
How different is it to create hair for a television show or a photo shoot compared with working with a client in the chair?
Once I start working with the hair I disconnect from everything, whether I’m in the salon, backstage or with a celebrity. On shoots and TV shows we work with celebrity stylists and match the hairstyle to the dress. With a celebrity the look has to be more meticulous, because audiences expect it to change all the time. It was far more stressful when I began, but it becomes part of the game.
Was there a moment in your career when you felt you had made it?
I never think I’ve made it, because there is always more to do. The first time I worked with Elissa, a huge artist in the Middle East, was overwhelming, and I felt that if I could please someone who had worked with so many big names, I was doing well. I’m very self-critical, and I still learn every day, mostly from my clients.
What is next for you, and for Color WOW in the region?
Color WOW is really gaining momentum in the region. It’s a fantastic, highly visible brand with incredible products, and I genuinely believe it’s going to grow tenfold now that it has its own dedicated team in the Middle East. The team is young, dynamic, and full of fresh ideas, and I’m learning so much from them, particularly when it comes to social media and new ways of connecting with consumers. As for me, no two days are ever the same. Every day brings a new client, a new opportunity and a new challenge, which is what keeps things exciting. I don’t have one particular thing I’m looking ahead to; I’m genuinely grateful for where I am today. My focus is simply to keep learning, evolving and growing, both personally and professionally.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: emirateswoman.com
