Sebastian Professional’s What’s Next Challenge is underway and the judges are stargazing for the galaxy's top trendsetters, from pioneering hair stylists to other beauty junkies, and will appoint two winners who will attend New York Fall ’12 Fashion Week. Wondering what the judges are going to be looking for in the winning submission? MODERN caught up with Professional Lead Stylist Design Team Member and What’s Next Challenge judge Thomas Dunkin, and found out the answers to these pressing questions!

Q: Describe some of the looks you’ve seen so far.
Dunkin: There’s been an incredibly diverse, eclectic mix of hairstyles and from what I've seen, there are a lot of talented people out there.  The standard is incredibly high!

Q: Which looks have you liked and disliked?
Dunkin: It's hard to say what I like most at the moment because there’s an amazing display of talent and stylist personas evident in each look.

MS: What would you like to see more of?
Dunkin: Curly textures!  Curls with texture are so under used.  They have the fantastic ability of combining styles as extreme and diverse as space-aged fictional look with the softest, most feminine styles.

MS: What's your criteria for judging?
Dunkin: I judge the submissions based on the following criteria: how well the hairstyle compliments the model’s face and body shape, how the how the hair contributes to the attitude projected in the picture, and whether or not it shows the best use of product.  Product use can be heavy or light, but it must look like a professional applied it.

MS: Why people should enter?
Dunkin: People should enter because there's no other hair company that offers such a unique opportunity for stylists to submit personal interpretations of an image with hair as the focal point.  I've seen hundreds of variations of product used to create the most diverse hairstyles.  It's a great chance to work with the best products and to get credible recognition within the industry.


MS: What do you like about the contest?
Dunkin: I love the contest for the response it gets from participants. It's incredible to see such honest dedication to creating new looks and it's exciting for me to be involved with such a progressive, creative company with so many talented people on board.

The competition ends November 30th so enter today for your chance to watch art come to life at New York Fall ’12 Fashion Week! To enter: Whatsnextchallenge.com.

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