Hair how to: the Zambesi Retrospective at NZFW 2019, hair by Michael Beel, L’Oréal Professionnel

Zambesi’s 40-year retrospective show on Friday night at New Zealand Fashion Week was an absolute joy to behold – and one I was lucky enough to play a part in! It had a mix of models and longtime #ZamFam like me walking, with a total of 52 models in all. That was one hell of a lot of work for the hair and makeup teams backstage, but I have to say that they excelled. When I put a photo of my final look on Instagram I had so many comments about what an amazing job they’d done, and I have to say I wish I looked like that every day!

The makeup was the work of the legendary Kiekie Stanners from M.A.C, whilst L’Oréal Professionnel Artist, Michael Beel created the killer hair look to match.

Beel says that he and his team took references from the label’s archives of 40 years of incredible beauty looks and worked out what is the “quintessential Zambesi vibe”. The end result was a lived-in oily root with dry beach texture placed at the ends, and surprisingly easy to recreate with the right product lineup. A few organic looking fishtail and conventional plaits were placed sporadically around the head to give it some structure while looking effortless, and it was called one of the winning runway styles of the week.

To get the look at home using L’Oréal Professionnel:

1. Prep the hair with lots of Tecni.Art Pli Modelling Spray and Tecni.Art Beach Waves. Dry in encouraging any natural movement but keep the roots flat.

2. Go back in and enhance texture with a curling tong to get a beach wave type of texture (if needed).

3. Apply Tecni.Art Liss Control liberally at the roots throughout the whole head till about 10cms down the hair - this will make the roots look oily and lived in.

4. Work with the natural parting, nothing too forced.  Taking random sections add in a multitude of plaits and fishtail braids, keeping it organic and lived in.

6. Finish with a good spray of Tecni.Art Savage Panache.

*all photography by Pikdat*