Trend topper: Expert haircare advice

Mana Dave believes in knowing what his client wants. Photo / Supplied

An expert adviser offers winning ways with hair.

Ever fancied a consultation with a top stylist? We asked Mana Dave of Blaze salon in Newmarket to share his tips on what to seek out next time you are in the salon. He has just been named New Zealand Hairdresser of the Year at the Schwarzkopf Sydney Hair Expo.

What trends are you loving that you would like more women to try?
It sounds scary, but I really love incorporating elements of undercutting into shapes. There are variations of this idea within my collection [of three looks that won him the title]. When used well, undercutting allows the client to have more movement and versatility with their haircut. The word "undercutting" isn't very client-friendly, so I will normally talk about small areas of "disconnection" when I'm offering this as an option in consultations.

What do you aim to deliver to clients wanting to refresh their look?
I'll ask a lot of questions. I want to know about you: your lifestyle, your persona, what you want to say to people about yourself. Those are the key things that will help me to create a style that helps you look and feel good. The hair looks represented in my collection are like high-end fashion pieces, an extreme version of a trend, for the individual that likes some serious wow factor. Refreshing your look is about tailoring those hair trends to suit you and your lifestyle - diluting to taste, that's my job.

Any tips for adopting a more fashion-forward style and/or colour?
Find a stylist you like and trust, someone who listens to you and "gets" what you're about - then trust them. The easiest way to adopt a more fashion-forward hairstyle is to bring in just a subtle reference to a current hair trend. It's similar to the way you would introduce the "it" colour of the season into your wardrobe - through an accessory like a belt or piece of jewellery in preference to jumping in head-first. You might incorporate an element of undercutting or fashion colour into your current style to get a feel for it before adopting it in a much stronger way.

What are your tips for achieving believable, beautiful hair colour?
The key is to make it look natural with dimension and shine. Most women have to colour their hair to blend away the natural grey highlights they dislike so much. One of the tricks to keep it looking natural is to have some type of variation within the colour - this doesn't mean bold, chunky pieces of contrasting colour, it's about subtle contrast to stop your hair colour from looking too saturated and flat. Hair colour needs to look dimensional otherwise it can appear very "wig-like".

The perfect hair colour for you is a shade that suits your complexion with little or no makeup on, and a great colourist can help you to figure that out with a very thorough consultation.