THE owner of an Ellesmere Port salon which is already up for three national awards has been nominated for two top honours himself.

Richard Phillipart, owner of The Boutique Atelier in Underwood Drive, has earned a finalist place in not one but two categories of the Most Wanted Awards.

He has been shortlisted for the Creative Head Magazine 'Creative Talent' and 'Hair Trend' awards.

He said: "With the last few months of Covid-19 lockdown changing the hairdressing landscape, it's a huge honour to be recognised by the Creative Head awards and helps us look forward to an exciting 2020."

Presented by industry magazine Creative Head and 20 years old in 2020, Most Wanted recognises the most accomplished individuals, teams and salons leading the way in British and Irish hairdressing – the talents impressing with their creative and commercial skills, building business through inspirational teamwork and playing a vital role in their local communities.

Richard is one of five finalists in both the Creative Talent and Hair Trend categories, earning a place at the Most Wanted Grand Final on Sunday, November 29 at Printworks in London.

Here, 750 hairdressing VIPs, fashion A-listers, leading talent agents, business magnates and influential beauty and fashion editors will gather to crown the hairdressing stars of 2020.

The Creative Talent award is for a creative director with exceptional artistic skill and commercial expertise.

The two projects which landed Richard this nomination were his photoshoot in Snowdonia national park, which pushed the boundaries of hair and photography.

Richard explained: “This shoot is one of my proudest achievements in hairdressing.

"Blurring the lines between hair and fashion photography, I created an epic tale of travel, texture and nature.

"The hair looks are inspired by a nomadic lifestyle, collecting influences and directions from across the globe and merging these with natural elements to reflect the beauty of the wild world.

The other was his headline L’Oreal Colour Trophy grand final show in Dublin, which blurred the lines between art and hairdressing. Richard was the youngest independent hairdresser to ever be given the honour of headlining a colour trophy grand finals.

Monica Teodoro, general manager of L'Oréal Professionnel, said: "With always a meticulous eye for detail, Richard's creative vision coupled with his dexterous hairdressing skills are a recipe for hair magic.

"He delighted the L'Oréal Colour Trophy audience in Ireland last year with that very magic, taking us on his creative journey and storytelling through each and every look that he masterminded - his talent, as always, shone through."

Richard is also the one of five finalists in the Hair Trend category. This award is for the best on-trend image of the year.

Richard's shoot for January's Vogue magazine 'Don't touch my hair' has been nominated for image of the year. Richard created this story to focus on natural hair textures which included floor length dreadlocks and square afros.

The image nominated is of a triangular textured bob Richard cut and styled for Vogue.

Richard added: “Being able to cut, style and work with natural hair textures is something that I feel very strongly is missing in UK hairdressing training.

"At The Boutique Atelier we have three hairdressers which are all trained in natural textured hair and I continue to promote and champion this facet of hairdressing.

"We are currently part of the national discussion to implement textured hairdressing into the national NVQ so no person is ever turned away from a hairdressing salon because the salon does not know how to work with their hair texture.

"Having this story in Vogue magazine and now shortlisted as an image of the year shows how important the issue of natural hair representation is and I’m proud to be one of the voices in this field."

The Boutique Atelier has been welcoming their clients back after lockdown restrictions and you can find out more about its post-lockdown salon protocol by visiting www.theboutiqueatelier.co.uk.