Mane men put va-va voom into racy hairstyles

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THE fashion pack rely on their hair stylists and make-up artists almost as much as their clothes to look fabulous – and that's why the skills of celebrity hair stylists Matthew Mansoor and Nthato Mashishi are in such demand.

The Johannesburg men of the mane are brand ambassadors for Motions and Tresemmé, which are aimed at African and Caucasian hair respectively.

Currently with Pulse Salon in Sandton, Mansoor has worked with a number of high- profile celebrities and television personalities such as footballers Ryan Botha and Larry Cohen, Jamali cover girl Gina Goldsmith, as well as former Miss South Africa winners, Bokang Montjane and Tansey Coetzee, M-Net's Koo Govender, celebrity publicist Farah Fortune and Survivor winner, Gigi.

In addition he has also worked with Bollywood stars Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta and served as the lead stylist for Miss Italia 2012, Jet Set 2012 and Miss News Café 2012.

At the spring-summer South African Fashion Week shows, Mansoor and Mashishi revealed what they see women wearing in the next seasons, with several ramp-tacular styles for long hair.

• TOUSLED FULL CURLS: Mansoor describes this look as "anywhere, anytime effortlessly sexy", and uses curling tongs on dry hair, finished off by loosening the curls and then spritzing them with hairspray to set.

• VICTORIAN VOLUME: This modern take on Victorian romance uses volume and lift mousse to achieve the height, and the balance of the hair is finished with a loose ponytail at the back of the head.

• SIMPLY SLEEK: An elegant interpretation of punk rock hip, this effect uses a straightening iron to keep the flow sleek.

Long and loose styles are not only for Caucasian hair and Mashishi uses products designed for ethnic hair to great effect on longer locks also. Although most of his style at SAFW were up-do's, his look for long loose curls was a hit. Mashishi says he loves the sassy attitude of South African street style, knowing that African beauties have the va-va-voom to carry it off.

• VEIL QUEEN CURLS: Nthato Mashishi used Motions products to hold the style in place.

"A look that is all about celebrity and movie-star glamour yet toned down enough to fit into the on-the-go woman's everyday lifestyle," is how Mashishi describes this vampy style.

Mashishi developed four new looks for Motions to complement the collections by designers Gert-Johan Coetzee, Cutterier by Laz Yani, Vino and Rubicon

Mansoor created four styles for Tresemmé to express the Summer 2014 moods of Clive Rundle, Black Coffee, Lunar and Joel Janse van Vuuren. - Gillian McAinsh