Carm Manno

After working in the industry for 30 years, Ontario-based stylist Carm Manno started her journey as a salon owner four years ago and decided to compete in the Contessa Awards as a means of bringing her team closer together.

“My favourite part of being a hairstylist is being in the salon and working with other people,” she says. “I don’t normally like to compete because it can be very intimidating, but I thought it would be really good for the girls at the salon. We felt like we needed a creative outlet after the pandemic, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to bond.”

In addition to her salon being named a finalist for Canadian Salon Team of the Year, Manno was a finalist for Canadian Colourist. For her collection, she says she took a lot of inspiration from sunsets and sunrises. “I love how the colours melt together, and that’s really what I wanted to showcase—how colours can work together and melt beautifully,” says Manno, adding that she and her team split up the work for the collection to showcase each of their strengths. “Much like how colours work together, my team worked together to create this collection, as well as our Canadian Salon Team entry.”

“I had all of these ideas before we started, and it goes to show that you can plan something pretty well in your head but when you’re actually doing it, it just takes off in a different direction,” she adds. “I just went with it, started colouring and it created itself. There were no patterns, and I was just placing the colour where I thought it would work.”

For her model with textured hair, Manno decided to take a different approach to colouring that respected the client’s hair integrity and curl pattern. “I pre-lightened her hair and did a balayage technique,” she says. “I think the biggest thing I keep in mind when colouring natural textured hair is going low and slow. Her texture was finer, and I think it’s really important to be mindful of the texture of the hair that you’re working on. It’s going to be different on every client, so really taking the time to determine what their texture is and then working accordingly is the best way to approach it.”

Although Manno and her team didn’t win this past year, the lessons they learned from creating and competing together were priceless. “For me, it wasn’t about winning,” she says. “I think a lot of other great things can come from competing. You’re able to push your limits, put yourself out there and gain exposure to others in the industry.”

“Creating this collection was so much fun,” she adds. “I think for a lot of people, including myself, when you’re intimidated by something, you just have to go for it, push yourself outside of your comfort zone and put a strong team together that can help you with your vision. My mission was to make the team even stronger than it already was, and I think we accomplished that. Just seeing how everyone pulled together and how excited they all were about what we were doing, and watching the collaboration in real time was so cool. We’re all very different, and I think this collection was such a great way of showing how well we can work together and how strong we are as a team.”

“We’re surrounded by so many different people, so it’s important to celebrate all of those differences and be on the same page about showcasing diversity because that’s when you’re really able to make the biggest impact.”