A day with Patrick Cameron: Danelle’s experience
Monday February 15th, 2021 will go down as one of the best days of my hairdressing career! After finishing runner up in the 2020 Patrick Cameron Instagram Challenge - Senior award it was an amazing surprise to be offered the prize of a day with Patrick Cameron himself, after the winner wasn’t able to make it! Patrick kindly extended the invitation to my husband Karl upon finding out he was a hairdresser as well, so we both winged our way to New Plymouth. What an amazing opportunity to spend a day with an industry icon like Patrick and talk shop, careers, hair etc!
The day started with a guided tour around Patrick’s “forever home” situated in a gated community 10 minutes south of New Plymouth. The awesome architecturally designed house sits on a cliff top with a panoramic view of the open ocean and the wild Taranaki coastline with its black sand. Patrick usually spends ten months of the year in London and two months in NZ.
After the tour we were placed like stunned rabbits under the bright lights of his media room as we were introduced to his huge online following while he advertised his upcoming online look and learn show for the UK! Patrick, due to Covid19, has moved to remote teaching through online platforms and social media.
Then for the rest of the day we did hair in Patrick’s studio. For those that do not know, Patrick is a long hair guru! All he does is long hair, not cutting or colouring, but the art of dressing long hair for all occasions.
Altogether we did six styles on our mannequins, four in the morning and two in the afternoon. In between, we stopped for an amazing lunch prepared by Patrick’s multi-talented husband. Chilling, eating and chatting with the million-dollar view as a backdrop.
How often do you get a chance to spend a day with an industry icon like Patrick Cameron? I have told my clients that if it were in a charity auction, I would have happily paid between $5,000- $10,000 for the experience. But all NZ hairdressers need to do is enter! Find a beautiful model, do some “Patrick style” hair and take some shots with your phone. It must be the best prize and the easiest to enter t in the whole NZ hair industry!
A mega big thanks to Patrick, NZARH and The Industry Awards for making it happen.
Danelle Radel
Klone Hair
Danelle Radel was the runner up in the Patrick Cameron Instagram Challenge - Senior award. She is also co-owner and senior stylist at Dunedin Salon, Klone Hair. In her 20 years of experience in the industry, she has won many local and international awards. Check out her and her team’s work on the Klone Hair website.