Recent trophy wins are the cherry on top for local hair stylist and colourist Alann Sluser.
She took home the 2012 Canadian Colourist of the Year and 2012 Texture Stylist of the Year awards last month – just days before the grand opening of her very own salon.
"I was in shock and it was a very surreal feeling," she said. "It took a minute for everything to sink in."
The awards ceremony, held in Toronto, attracted roughly 1,500 beauty professionals from across the country. Sluser said the ceremony is the hairstylists equivalent to the Academy Awards.
"It was an amazing feeling and honestly, [I can't describe] the feelings that were going through my body at the time," she said.
To qualify for the Mirror Awards, each stylist must submit a handful of before and after photos for each desired category to be evaluated by an independent panel of judges.
Earlier this week, Sluser was prepping models again for the 2013 awards season, during which she hopes to repeat her success.
New beginning
Sluser opened the doors to her salon, Koko the Salon, in mid-April.
"It was just kind of time to branch out on my own," she said. "It's always great when you see something that, yes, you are taking risks, but you have a little bit more control as to the calibre of work."
Sluser said the salon, located south of St. Albert on 156 Street, aims to be an oasis for clients.
"I wanted to do something a little bit different and have a salon that was 100 per cent service-oriented and make people feel so appreciated [and] beautiful," she said.
Sluser has worked in several Edmonton-area salons and partnered with Tony Ricci to open St. Albert's Ricci Hair Co. a handful of years ago.
Her interest in hair styling and colouring as a career began officially in 1998 when she was in high school, but her passion began much earlier, she said.
"I always loved to do hair and all my Barbies from childhood had haircuts and I would colour their hair with markers," she said laughing. "My little sister was not impressed when she got my hand-me-down Barbies because they all had no hair left."
When she moved to St. Albert in her Grade 11 year at Bellerose Composite High School, she enrolled in the cosmetology course, which happened to be her best course.
"I think it definitely was my calling," she said. "When it came to being creative, I definitely soared at that."
After graduating in the class of '99, she enrolled in Marvel College in Edmonton where she received her hairdressing licence.
