When great minds come together, the results are uniquely beautiful. A diverse group of inspiring artists—namely Luis Alvarez for BaBylissPRO, Jay Majors for Barberology, Ramon Claudio for Barberology, Nicole Fowler for BaBylissPRO, Leslie Wilson for Aquage, and Wanda Alvarez for Satin Smooth—united to explore the concept behind chiaroscuro, which would eventually become the name of their new collection. “We call our compilation Chiaroscuro, which is an art term that describes the treatment and transition of light to dark,” explains Alvarez. “Essentially, that is what makes a ‘fade’ visually impactful—this similar effect.”
FADE IN “The fade is essentially about transitioning between the revealing of skin and fluidly increasing length until the skin becomes draped with hair,” says Luis Alvarez for BaBylissPRO. “The beauty of current fashion is that for women it is no longer just about an undercut. Women today are just as comfortable wearing fades and ‘design work’ as men. For our collection, we combined ultralight blonde shades to either increase or reduce contrast with the three haircuts performed on the female models.”
TOOL UP “For a barber or cosmetologist to properly create a seamless transition between zero and longer lengths, high-performance tools are essential to cut with precision,” says Alvarez. “That is why our Metal Collection of clippers and trimmers are a must-have to create today’s looks. They deliver state-of-the-art performance, wrapped in outer casings that are elegantly and ergonomically designed.”
CLIP IT “When creating these looks, we opted for a clipper over a trimmer,” notes Alvarez. “The BaBylissPRO GoldFX and RoseFX Clippers feature a five-point taper control lever that allows micro-adjustments of the blades, which gives the artist ultimate control over blending from 0 to longer lengths. In contrast, the BaBylissPRO RossFX Trimmer incorporates a t-blade that’s ideal to carve hard lines with the entire length of the blade and curvature with the corners. Essentially, this is our go-to tool for detail work and revealing skin.”
LASTING IMPRESSION “My favorite part of this shoot was experiencing the precision and perfection of Jay Majors’ fades along with the exquisitely crafted translucent blondes of Nicole Fowler,” enthuses Alvarez. “Together, we coined the term ‘barberology’ to define the seamlessly blended marriage between barbering and cosmetology. Seeing this shoot unfold was a thing of beauty.”
Photography: Luis Alvarez; @luis_alvarez_babylisspro; Barbering: Jay Majors, @jay_majors, Ramon Claudio, @hotbarber; Hairstyling: Nicole Fowler, @nicole_fowler_babylisspro, Leslie Wilson, @sh_diddy_babylisspro; Makeup: Wanda Alvarez, @dutchpolaroid
