A Liverpool hairstylist who has thousands of followers on social media is launching her own brand of hair colour tools.
Olivia Gallagher, an expert hair colour specialist, is launching her own range after spotting a gap in the market.
The signature product in the range is her Blending Brush, a tool to help colourists blend dyes while doing bayalage, a highlighting technique that doesn't use foil.
The 29-year-old who opened her first salon seven years ago on Smithdown Road in Wavertree, moving to new her new flagship salon on Dovedale Road in Mossley Hill, named Gallagher & Washington.
Olivia told the ECHO: "I'm in partnership with my best friend from school Sophie Washington, I do hair, she does makeup. We opened in July last year, but then obviously had to close again in lockdown, we're hoping to have an official launch party in the summer.
"I decided to launch my own range of hair colour tools because my staff and I were always fighting over this one tool that I came across about four years ago.
"It's like a brush that you use to blend when you are creating a bayalage look. There's nothing like it on the market so I decided to make my own and tweak it for how I use it when I'm colouring hair."
Olivia, who grew up in Calderstones, always wanted to be an accomplished hair colour specialist and stylist.
She left St Edward's College in West Derby at 16 to train with the renowned Liverpool -based salon Barbara Daley, and three years later she pledged to follow her dream and become a self-employed hair colour specialist.
She said: "When I was 15 in school everyone told me not to be a hairdresser. But I didn't love school, I think I got one GCSE but that was because I always knew I wanted to be a stylist and my goal was always to have my own salon.
"So I went to London at 19 to do more training, it was a six-week intensive training course where I learned so much about hair colouring.
"Everything has progressed so much since I started in the business 10 years ago. Bayalage has been around for years but it's the last sort of five years that its become popular in the UK. I don't see colouring hair as a job, to me it's an art form and takes a lot of creativity and skill.
"That's why I like to go as many training courses and teach my own stylists, I'm hoping to open my own training academy."
In 2017, Olivia graduated from the L'Oréal Academy as a hair colour specialist and since then, has gone on to secure partnerships and ambassadorship with some of the most prestigious brands in the hair and beauty industry around the world including L'Oréal pro.
She is also an official L’Oréal partner salon, GHD Pro and Bellami, an American brand with which just a handful of people work with in the North West. Olivia has also become a Bellami mentor.
Her success has led to a huge following of more than 12,000 on her Instagram account Olivia Gallagher Hairdressing. She has earned a reputation for colour transformation corrections and is regularly asked for advice and her opinion from other hairstylists.
Since opening her first salon in 2014, Olivia worked tirelessly to create a brand that is built on quality, luxury and beautiful results, whilst also giving other hairdressers and beauty technicians a space to work from in her salon.
During the pandemic, Olivia focuses on developing her new product line and believes now is the time to diversify the Olivia Gallagher Hairdressing brand.
She added: "After a decade in the industry and working to perfect my skills and knowledge, I feel so ready to launch my first line of hair tools to help other hair colourists and those who are in training with creating perfect results every time.
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"As hairstyles and trends change and adapt, my hair tools will be applicable to each and every process including highlights, full colours and more intricate requests like balayage. I really hope industry specialists love them as much as I do.
Olivia Gallagher Hairdressing tools will be available to purchase via her Instagram page @oliviagallaghercolourtools, before Olivia launches a dedicated website.
