Samuel Cole Salon | Raleigh NC

June 4-5 (RALEIGH) – Samuel Cole Salon stylist, Sara Beard, honed her ability to analyze, communicate and create all aspects of curly and textured hair at Bumble and bumble University’s Curl Workshop in New York City. The intense two day advanced course is designed to apply Bb U Design School’s scissor, razor, and styling techniques to analyzing different curl textures, talking about them, and creating suitable long and short shapes with precision and control (and adding your own professional signature). Beard engaged in daily hands-on sessions with multiple models. She learned how to conduct effective curl consultations and deliver on these by utilizing cutting and styling techniques specific to curly textures.

“As always, going to the House of Bumble is a life changing experience. The curl workshop was incredibly amazing and unique. So few classes in our industry focus solely on cutting and styling curly and textured hair (which is an art form itself). The techniques were very conceptual and I was taken aback at how simple the removal of weight in the hair when used in the right capacity can create such astounding results. I feel tremendously inspired and proficient. I can’t wait to take my “curly girls” in a more modern “get classy” direction”, said Beard who has naturally curly hair herself.

May 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – StyleSpeak – Salon and Spa Journal, India’s number one professional hair and beauty magazine, shined the global spotlight on Raleigh’s own Samuel Cole Salon in their May 2009 issue featuring “Inspiring Salon & Spa Interiors – The Inside Story”.

The salon’s remodeling in January 2007 and subsequent Salon of the Year honor in Salon Today magazine’s décor competition caught the attention of India’s StyleSpeak. In the article, entitled “Inside Out”, Stylespeak describes the salon as “a modern, urban, chic oasis.” It highlights the salon’s “industrial white walls with rich tones of glowing amber….tawny (and ultra-environmentally friendly) bamboo flooring…faux copper focal wall….custom-designed, curvilinear styling area [and] espresso cabinetry with stainless steel accents.”

Samuel Cole Salon is owned by Jack and Joelle Ray, who worked closely with interior designer Clark Hipolito and architect Tom Ammon to create the interior, which has also been featured in American Salon and Raleigh’s Metro Magazine.

Celebrating its 6th anniversary, StyleSpeak magazine is India’s first professional hair and beauty magazine and serves as a monthly guide to hair and beauty trends from India and around the globe.

May 14-16, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – With their immense collective talent Samuel Cole Salon stylists performed stunning hair transformations on the 150+ models at Raleigh Fashion Week. The salons were selected again this year as the official salons for the event after their exclusive involvement in Strut ’08 last year.

“It was my honor to select Samuel Cole Salon as the official salon for Raleigh Fashion Week. Their involvement elevated this event beyond my expectations. The entire team is dedicated, passionate, and professional at all times and was an absolute pleasure to work with. It still amazes me that they created unique runway hair designs for over 150 models with some of these models walking several times during one show which required extremely tight turnaround times on hair design changes,” said Brian Williams, Raleigh Fashion Week producer.

The salons’ stylists delivered hair designs ranging from conservative formal updos to over-the-top, high fashion avante-guarde hair. “These types of events give our stylists a chance to grow as runway artists. They blew me away with their creativity. After working the 9:00-2:30 shift each of the show days in the salons, they would arrive backstage at 3:00 ready, willing, and able to work their magic until midnight each night, not to mention all of the hours they spent preparing. Now that’s dedication and passion. I couldn’t be prouder of our teams,” said Joelle Ray, co-owner of Samuel Cole Salon along with her husband and Master Stylist, Jack Ray.

One of the greatest highlights of the event was the “live” hair makeover performed on center stage by Samuel Cole Salon as the grand finale, Strut ’09. With the audience and teams from both salons cheering on, Jack Ray and his team flawlessly executed a 6 minute hair transformation on the model whose waist-length hair was cut into a chic, angled bob. A Samuel Cole Salon Director delivered a makeup makeover while the cut was in-progress. The model’s 12 inches of hair was generously donated to Wigs for Kids.

“I was so proud to watch Samuel Cole Salon shine up on stage doing what they love to do,” commented one of the Managers at the salon.

April 22, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Samuel Cole Salon styled hair for five designers and their models for a Press Conference held to kick off Raleigh Fashion Week featuring Strut ’09. The stylists created hair for both the designers and their models for this event. NBC-17’s Sharon Delaney was on hand to MC the conference which discussed the upcoming fashion extravaganza. Raleigh Fashion Week’s charity of choice, Interact, was presented with a large donation during the festivities.

April 25, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Samuel Cole Salon stylists were at it again when they created hair designs for 15 models and 10 designers for a promotional event for Raleigh Fashion Week held poolside at the RBC Plaza. The stylists delivered high-fashion hair for all involved. Samuel Cole Salon donated a “Day of Beauty” to support Susan G. Komen’s Fight for the Cure.

May 2, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – The “official salon” of Raleigh Fashion Week featuring Strut ’09 designed hair for 19 models for a promotional event held at The Oxford Gastropub on Fayetteville Street. Samuel Cole Salon stylists showed off their talents and created sexy, chic hair.

“The excitement is building for this first ever Fashion Week in Raleigh. As the event’s “official salons”, we get to show off our passion for the art of hairdressing on the 150+ models. These types of promotional events really allow us to rev up for the upcoming 3 nights of fashion shows culminating with Strut ’09. I can’t wait to see the “runway artist” come out in all of our stylists,” said a Salon Director and Event Coordinator.

April 27, 2009 (RALEIGH, NC) – Bumble & bumble educator, platform artist, and runway editorial artist, Alejandro Jimenez took center stage at Samuel Cole Salon to share his expertise and inspire the design teams. Jimenez has been doing editorial hair with Bumble’s elite runway team for many years (Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show being one of the many). He serves as the Bumble Educator in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Jimenez shared his favorite aspect of hairdressing – styling. “Styling is the moment in the overall experience when you can really make the color and cut come alive,” said Jimenez. He demonstrated many styling techniques using Bumble’s newest products, Gel and Gellac. “This demonstration really gave us ideas and inspiration on what we could bring back to our clients. Alejandro’s use of textures, shapes, and movement combined with different products was phenomenal. I can’t wait to incorporate some of these new techniques into my styling,” said a Samuel Cole Salon designer.

According to Jack Ray, Master Stylist and co-owner of Samuel Cole Salon along with his wife, Joelle Ray, “It was such an honor to have Alejandro in our salon sharing his passion for hairdressing with our teams. He was engaging, inspirational and had a great sense of humor. Samuel Cole Salon is an exclusive salon with Bumble & bumble which allows us the opportunity to bring industry experts, like Alejandro, right here to inspire and teach our teams. This is what helps set us apart from other salons in the area – continual and exceptional education – and a world class salon experience, of course. We are committed to it”.