Sebastian Professional announced the 2015 What’s Next Awards winners during the live finale last night at Gotham Hall in NYC. Professional category finalist Oliver Shortall and Student category finalist Samantha Peters were named winners in the competition for their powerful style and artistic creation in their respective categories.

Shortall is an artist at the Harlot Salon, Venice, California. His winning look captured the inspirational Sebastian Totemic look with a combination of textures including matte lengths and highly shined sides. "I love scultpural texture," says Shortall. "The shine, a key part of this look, was the result of heavy use of Liquid Steel which I painted on the sides with a brush." The grand prize for Shortall is an invitation to style backstage at the 2016 Spring/Summer NYFW collections, an editorial photo shoot featured in MODERN SALON and $1000 in cash.

Peters, a freshly licensed stylist now working at the JCPenney Salon in Escondido, California, won with an intricate but elegant finish. "It was all her hair and took 3 hours to create," says Peters. "Micro crimping was key to hold the look in place." Peters' prize includes a sponsored mentorship for NAHA, an editorial photo shoot to be featured in MODERN SALON and $1000 in cash.

For their finished looks, the stylists were inspired by the Sebastian Professional TOTEMIC spring hair collection, introducing the idea of exaggerated shapes and fabric worked into new ways of weaving and roping to their own hair style creations. The competition took place in front of a live audience and a judging panel comprised of industry leaders, tastemakers and educators including: industry icon, Robert Lobetta; Shay Dempsey, Sebastian Professional Global Art Director; Maggie Mulhern, Modern Salon Beauty and Fashion Director; Heather Rae, What’s Next Awards 2014 Professional Category Winner and Nathalia Ashba, Fashion and Beauty Blogger.

“The What’s Next Awards is a great platform to spotlight the phenomenal talent that lives within the salon professional industry," said Christina McCarver, Director of Education for Sebastian Professional after the winners were announced. "Experienced stylists and students get to take their creativity and innovative style to the next level. The WNA allows them to gain a special lifetime experience while growing them as stylists and pushing their creative limits. We congratulate the winners of this year’s competition as they continue to push their own boundaries and create What’s Next.” 

The Sebastain International Artists, Diva Poulos, Omar Antonio, Anthony Cole and Marylle Koken performed during the evening and introduced 2 new Sebastian products, both inspired by opposing raw elements – Volcanic Ash and Carnauba Wax - infusing them with the latest technology to create the styling products:

EURPTEK: A lava-like paste compounding the heat and energy of volcanic ash to create the ultimate in artistic expression; expansive volume and extreme texture.

RESINTEK: Where nature gives us creativity, technology creates opportunity: the world’s most durable wax is sourced from the Carnauba tree and refined into RESINTEK, a liquid sap that ignites hyper-reflectivity with infinite, remoldable hold the second it meets the hair.

What’s Next Awards Contest

The What’s Next Awards contest encourages new and established artists across North America to create daring hair fashion by expressing their talent through a one-of-a-kind styling competition.

For this competition, stylist entrants were tasked with creating their most fearless hair style, inspired by the versatility of the Sebastian Professional Fall hair collection TOTEMIC. Submissions were posted to the Sebastian Professional Facebook page over a five-month period, where consumers and stylists were able to view, vote and comment on their favorite looks. Out of all of the submissions, 32 semi-finalists (16 per category) were chosen by the Sebastian Professional Education team. In March 2015, eight finalists (four per category) were chosen by the What’s Next Awards judges based on the following criteria: suitability for promotional purposes, visual appeal based on hair collection and overall aesthetic to participate in the live competition for the chance to show the world ‘What’s Next’. 

Sebastian Professional will be taking entries for the 2016 "What's Next Awards" on August 1, and the deadline to enter is November 30.