A PASSIONATE PARTNERSHIP

By Louise May

Paul & Paul Salon was founded by multi-award-winning and internationally trained stylists Paul James Graham and Paul Philip Dumenil. With a combined wealth of experience, Paul James & Paul Philip worked in some of the best salons in the country and related industries.

These two Queensland-based hairdressers have forged a unique brand of hairdressing that delivers a professional and positive hairdressing experience to all valued clients.

With a very long list of accolades including 2021 AHIA Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year, Paul James has worked with various fashion designers and has worked or been featured in fashion magazines such as Oyster and Instyle just to name a few and his attention to detail and ability to interpret trends makes him a hot commodity in the hair/fashion

Internationally trained stylist Paul Philip began his career over 12 years ago in Toronto, Canada and has been voted and listed as one of the top 10 best hairdressers on the Gold Coast for 2015, having worked as part of the ghd styling team for the Katy Perry tour.

He has previously worked as an independent hairdressing educator to younger emerging stylists and has a passion for creating flawless lived-in blondes using advanced colouring techniques.

Editor Louise May , had a chat with Paul James Graham , one part of this dynamic duo to find out more…

How long have you been in Partnership with Paul and Paul Salon and how did it all begin?

Paul & Paul Salon pretty much started 14 years ago. My Husband Paul and I met, sharing among other things a love of hairdressing. What started out as a date turned into a deep love for each other and our business.

What are both your roles within the business?

Our business has seen many changes over the years. We have learnt to listen and adjust our attitudes to fulfill a multitude of different roles. Be it admin or dressing hair, we do it all.

We know each other’s strengths and shortcomings; we understand that sometimes one has to be strong for the other and that part of working smarter is knowing when to work hard. It has been our experience that you need to be ready to be everything in your business, you won’t always see opportunities or the hurdles coming your way.

Can you tell us about the Paul & Paul Salon experience, what is it like for a guest to visit the salon, and what makes you unique?

The client is always well informed when they arrive. Rarely will we experience a client that has no direct goals for their hair. We believe in providing the client with all the relevant information so that they can make an informed decision.

We have built a really loyal client base, virtually all our clients have been coming to us for over a decade, so a visit to our salon is like meeting up with a dear friend. What makes us unique? We’re not afraid to have the hard discussions with our clients.

We really want to carve out the process of what service we will provide, so both ourselves and the client feel confident and comfortable moving forward. Nothing is happening to the clients hair that they don’t fully understand and agree with first.

It was a chance encounter. As a hairdresser that has been an active part of industry events and competitions for many years, I came upon the advertisement for CPR’s Mane Event colour competition in an issue of Hair Biz.

The competition was open to non-CPR salons, and I saw this as a great opportunity to get creative in preparation for the AHIA Creative Awards in 2024.

After working with the products and meeting the CPR team we knew we had found a fantastic salon partner. We love Cass and the CPR team. CPR genuinely cares about their salons and their products are great to work with.

As well as being a wonderful salon partner CPR has been a truly great financial decision.

What is your favourite product and why?

It’s hard to narrow the selection down to just one product. There are so many advantages to using CPR colour and products. I do really love how the Definer Paste is so lightweight and doesn’t clump in the hair. I love a product that I can use on virtually every client, and the Definer Paste is the perfect finish to every haircut.

Can you tell us about the education and support that you have with CPR?

CPR are just about to launch a fantastic education program that will allow apprentices to attend courses for free. I am partnering up with CPR in 2024 where I will myself be running a look and learn seminar on how to create an award-winning look.

I will go through my process of creating an awardwinning look, as well as shooting, styling, and editing. This will be an interactive experience where attendees can ask lots of questions and hopefully walk away with more knowledge that will help grow their reputation and salon brand.

You are known for your love of Avant Garde, and amazing collections, where does your inspiration come from when creating a collection?

Inspiration comes from everywhere. But I find more freedom and comfort to be creative when I work with the right team. I usually work with the same creatives and models, but over the years I have discovered that the right model will lead the charge in creative inspiration. A muse if you will. When forming a collection, especially Avant Garde in nature it is important to work with a model that will best sell your look and tell that story.

A truly great model isn’t concerned with looking pretty or glamorous, they allow you to dress them up and seek opportunities to make magic in front of the camera. They take direction and together you hopefully create lightning in a bottle.

You are going to be a guest contributor for Hair Biz for 2024, what are you going to write about for our salon owners and our creatives?

There is so much noise today, coming from everywhere. So many products and people claiming to have all the answers, it’s hard to distinguish what is helpful and who is simply trying to part you from your hard-earned money.

I would hopefully like to write about my own learned experiences in hairdressing and what has worked for myself and our business. I imagine that there is a hairdresser out there, in the backroom on their lunch break, sipping a coffee and scanning the pages of HAIRBIZ, whose eyes land on an article I write that might help them in some way.

@paulandpaulsalon

Salon shots by Jarred Stedman ©mocha group