MATITIMANE SIBUYA SNIPS UP THE GOLDEN SCISSORS AWARD!

Interested in a career in hairdressing? Read on to find out how Matitimane Sibuya, the winner of the Dark and Lovely Golden Scissors Awards, started his career.

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The Dark and Lovely Golden Scissors Awards is a hairdressing competition in search of exceptional hairdressing talent in South Africa. It is a great platform for South Africa’s hairstylists to showcase their talent and demonstrate how creative they can be with hair. Dark and Lovely searches and invites stylists nationwide to compete for the coveted Golden Scissors Award and win amazing prizes up to the value of R200 000. The panel of judges selects the winners based on the creativity and technicality of their hair creations.

Comedian, Mpho Popps, had the crowd in stitches as the host of the event at Fox Junction in Johannesburg. Stylists were given the theme ‘War-style’ which they could interpret in whichever way and be super flamboyant with their hair creations to secure the judges’ votes. Matitimane Sibuya took home the trophy after wowing everyone with his extraordinary elephant design headpiece.

WHO IS MATITIMANE?
Matitimane comes for the township of KwaThema in Johannesburg, where his salon is situated. He’s had a passion for hair from an early age and his father, who is a barber, ignited it. Matitimane has been entering the Dark and Lovely Golden Scissors Awards competition since 2009, never giving up, always challenging himself. This year he finally took the title and could not be prouder of himself and his salon!

WHAT HAS KEPT YOU IN THE HAIR INDUSTRY FOR SO LONG?
Hairstyling is my passion, I love what I do because I get the chance to make my clients look and feel beautiful. The monetary rewards are also satisfying to me in that I don’t see myself working anywhere else or for someone else, because I possess a skill that allows me to be an entrepreneur for the rest of my life.

YOU WERE GIVEN THE THEME JUNGLE QUEEN, WHAT INSPIRED YOU?
The theme ‘jungle’ meant Kruger National Park to me firstly, and when I thought of all the jungles all over the world, the one animal that’s always constant is the elephant. From then on I was inspired to make my jungle queen headpiece to resemble an elephant head with accents of colourful flowers to marry the meaning of jungle and queen.

HOW HAVE YOU UP SKILLED YOURSELF AS A HAIRSTYLIST?
I attended the Dark and Lovely Hair Academy and studied other hairstyling methods, and learnt modern skills about managing and styling hair. The Academy gave me an opportunity to further craft my skills and move with the different trends in the hairstyling industry, such as different ways of relaxing hair and taking care of ethnic hair. The academy also helped with fine-tuning my cutting skills and I learnt more about what the international hair community is up to, and how to keep up.

WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACED WITH DAILY AT WORK?
Clients that do not want to pay the set amount when at my salon. It's frustrating because there is a lot of care and sometimes technical ability needed for certain hairstyles, and some clients refuse to pay the costs, but I always try to keep them happy and they always walk out my salon looking and feeling beautiful.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS WITH YOUR WINNINGS?
I would like to expand my salon into a franchise business. I’d also like to build my brand profile as the winner of the Golden Scissor Award and use the Dark and Lovely platform to create a bigger name for myself. I aim to reach new levels in the hairstyling space. It’s my dream to renovate my salons to match international standards and expand my client base nationally.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEW HAIR STYLISTS?
Don’t give up! Get more information about the hair industry. Follow your passion because that is what will feed you and help you earn a good honest living. As long as you’re doing something that comes from your heart everything will fall into place.

WHAT’S NEXT IN LINE FOR YOU?
I would like to start a mentorship programme to help other upcoming hairstylists in my community. To share my experiences and knowledge that I have acquired along the years with others and teach them that you can create a fruitful livelihood as a hairstylist, just like I have done.

Dark and Lovely Golden Scissors continue its search for the most fabulous hairdressing talent in South Africa. Stylists can enter the competition by submitting photos that showcase their cutting and colouring skills online at www.goldenscissorsawards.co.za.

See some highlights from this year’s event.